Which one? Aopen AX 59 Pro, Iwill XA100 or GB GA-5AX

Discussion relating to Socket 7 hardware.
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Mau1wurf1977
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Which one? Aopen AX 59 Pro, Iwill XA100 or GB GA-5AX

Post by Mau1wurf1977 »

Hey guys!

Looks like I found the best website for this very specific question!

I have my eyes on these 3 boards and was wondering which one to go for...

Speed isn't really of concern, but I want something that works reliably. I would prefer if there are BIOS updates and manuals available as well.

The Aopen has a VIA chipset, the others to ALI Aladin 5.

These are for a "slowdown" project. Basically I am trying to hit 386 or 486 speeds with more modern hardware by disabling Caches and slowing down timing and so on. (If anyone has experience please let me know!)

The GB board has BIOS and manual on the support page, Iwill I have never heard off, but I found a review on Anadtech and the board seems decent.

Aopen also has BIOS and manual on their website.

I kinda really like the Aopen board, the green PCB with black connectors looks very nice...
Jim
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RE: Which one? Aopen AX 59 Pro, Iwill XA100 or GB GA-5AX

Post by Jim »

The Via chipset is inherantly slower than the ALi 5 so if slow speed is what you are aiming for, that is probably the route to go.
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Mau1wurf1977
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Post by Mau1wurf1977 »

Sounds good!

I will get the Iwill and Aopen as they are from the same seller. Cheaper postage per item that way...

The Aopen board has excellent support on their website. Bios, Manual, Drivers it's all there. Even a document

P54C 100 MHz seems to be slowest Pentium...

I take it I can use a 166 or 200 or 233 and simply change the multiplier to a lower setting right?
Jim
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Post by Jim »

Pentium 1s went down to 75 MHz.
Superpuppy 3
K6-3+ 450 ACZ (6x100)
DFI K6BV3+/66 Rev B2 (2 Meg) w/ 2x28mm Chipset Fans
2x256 Meg PC 133 Hynix SDRAM
1x 20G Maxtor (7200)
2x 80G Maxtor (7200) Ducted w/ 2x486 Fans Mount
52/24/52/16 LG CDR/RW/DVD
8/4/3/12/24/16/32 LG Super Multi
ATI 9000 aiw Radeon AGP
SB Audigy 1 MP3 Sound
CMD 649 IDE Controller
NEC USB 2 Card
Mau1wurf1977
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Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2010 7:01 am

Post by Mau1wurf1977 »

Yes that is true, however it seems this board can't go low enough on the FSB...

66 MHz FSB x 1.5 Multi = 100 MHz seems to be the lowest setting when looking at the jumper tables...
Jim
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Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 7:10 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by Jim »

There are other boards which can go lower. Above Alll Electronics here in Toronto has lots of them. QDI Titanium + boards will go down to 75 MHz because If I remember rightly they have FSB speeeds as low as 33 MHz
Superpuppy 3
K6-3+ 450 ACZ (6x100)
DFI K6BV3+/66 Rev B2 (2 Meg) w/ 2x28mm Chipset Fans
2x256 Meg PC 133 Hynix SDRAM
1x 20G Maxtor (7200)
2x 80G Maxtor (7200) Ducted w/ 2x486 Fans Mount
52/24/52/16 LG CDR/RW/DVD
8/4/3/12/24/16/32 LG Super Multi
ATI 9000 aiw Radeon AGP
SB Audigy 1 MP3 Sound
CMD 649 IDE Controller
NEC USB 2 Card
Mau1wurf1977
Newbie K6'er
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2010 7:01 am

Post by Mau1wurf1977 »

It looks quite good!

A fellow autralian did a quick test on a 200 MMX with L1 and L2 cache disabled and he got a system system information score of 11.03!

That's perfect allready (my goal is it to get 386 like speed). And from there I can play with the multiplier and get even more granular settings...

Is it possible to change the multiplier on the fly? (While the system is running)? Or will it crash the system
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