This webpage shows a review roundup of socket 7 PCI motherboards, including boards with the Intel 430TX chipset -

http://www.thg.ru/mainboard/19971201/print.html

I noticed in swaaye's list of pentium 1 mobos, the last one is called lone tree, LT430tx. I spotted one on ebay, and bought it. It turns out to be from a Viglen PC, a company which was later bought by Amstrad. It's interesting that the P200MMX has only a heatsink and no fan. Also, the heatsink next to the power socket is quite awkward, when removing the PSU power cable. In the top right section, you can see 3 "soldered out" areas where optional goodies have been "surgically withheld". The red thing at the back is where stuff like the power and reset and LEDs are plugged in to. If you look carefully, it's only got 1 COM port. It also has a sticker on it which reads "233mhz = 1.5x, 66mhz". Another sticker reads "Made in Ireland". It came with 1 stick of 32mb RAM.

It all seemed to work OK. 😀 I did my usual test of attach my old windows 98 HDD to it, and see windows 98 fairly impressively adapt to the "sudden" change of mobo+chipset+whatever else has changed, and see the Control Panel System area to not have any yellow alert icons next to the hardware list.

retro games 100 wrote:

I noticed in swaaye's list of pentium 1 mobos, the last one is called lone tree, LT430tx. I spotted one on ebay, and bought it. It turns out to be from a Viglen PC, a company which was later bought by Amstrad. It's interesting that the P200MMX has only a heatsink and no fan. Also, the heatsink next to the power socket is quite awkward, when removing the PSU power cable. In the top right section, you can see 3 "soldered out" areas where optional goodies have been "surgically withheld". The red thing at the back is where stuff like the power and reset and LEDs are plugged in to. If you look carefully, it's only got 1 COM port. It also has a sticker on it which reads "233mhz = 1.5x, 66mhz". Another sticker reads "Made in Ireland". It came with 1 stick of 32mb RAM.

It all seemed to work OK. 😀 I did my usual test of attach my old windows 98 HDD to it, and see windows 98 fairly impressively adapt to the "sudden" change of mobo+chipset+whatever else has changed, and see the Control Panel System area to not have any yellow alert icons next to the hardware list.

Ahhh...have two of these mobo's.
Was used in Gateway 2000 machines also like the machine I have on the pic below which now house my dual P Pro micronics monstrosity 😀

Many OEM systems from back then were fanless beyond the PSU. There were Pentium IIs with enormous (at the time) passive coolers.

Yes of course! I just remembered I've got some passively cooled P3 CPUs. Speaking of which, I've finally got around to ordering a PowerLeap PL-iP3/T 1.4 GHz Celeron slot 1 CPU (revision 2.0). I'm looking forward to testing this with my Asus P2B board..

I found this image of an Alfredo Mainboard. Maybe it could be implemented into the initial post...

BastlerMike wrote:

I found this image of an Alfredo Mainboard. Maybe it could be implemented into the initial post... […]
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I found this image of an Alfredo Mainboard. Maybe it could be implemented into the initial post...

Ugh...that board looks terrible 😒

I added the photo to the original post. Thanks for finding it!

(Sorry for the poor photo quality, a mobile phone camera is all I have right now)

Photo #1: AP440FX - untested (I couldn't find an AT power supply with the 6-pin aux connector yet); I also have the riser card somewhere...

Photo #2: probably Plato - does not post (CPU and RAM known to be OK), I'm hoping it's because it needs the 6-pin aux connector too (if someone has a board like this, a hint about whether that connector is mandatory or not would be greatly appreciated)

Some manuals:

http://ftp4.de.freesbie.org/pub/misc/x86.org/ … nuals/motherbd/

And some BIOS files (see INDEX.TXT - it mentions ION systems, but I hope those are unmodified Intel BIOSes):

ftp://www.ioncomputer.com/HardWare/SYSTEMS/1990s/199xBIOS/

Hello everybody,
I'am looking for an Intel Classic/PCI Expandable Desktop (Ninja) motherboard. If anybody has one, and is willing to sell it...

Please, I was searching everywhere to find this motherboard... 😀

Thank you,
Boris Yanchev

Some days ago I obtained an Intel SR440BX. 😀 A µATX Slot-1 Mainboard with Riva TNT graphics and an Audio PCI 64V. It has one ISA slot for the usual Retro soundcard goodness. All this makes for a very compact setup.

Coppermine CPUs
In regards to running coppermine Pentium III Processors on this board. With any BIOS newer then Version P06 you will get this message at boot:
"Warning : This motherboard is not compatible with this processor's voltage requirements. The system has been halted." etc.
P10 is the latest BIOS.

BIOS Versions P06 and earlier will run with a coppermine CPU without complaining. Usually it is written that this board cannot give a Core Voltage below 2 Volt, as required by coppermines. But this is unlikely:
P-III 450 /512/100/2.0 V S1 SL35D: I measure 2,06V
P-III 600E/256/100/1.65V S1 SL3H6: I measure 1,70V
P-III QH31ES @3.5x66=233MHz: I measure 1,68/1,69V
I measured at the underside of the board next to where one leg of the large coil is connected.
What is more likely is that the voltage regulators have trouble with high currents at the lower voltages. That and marketing decisions.

BIOS
With most BIOS versions I can just go to Setup with the F2 key, and I can leave that configuration mode jumper alone.
There is not much of interest in the BIOS, just the basics.

Newspeed
So on this board I could test the mysterious intel Newspeed.exe tool.
I tested it with about 5 different P-IIs and P-IIIs. What is common is that every 66MHz FSB Processor was set at 233MHz by default, every 100MHz FSB Processor was set at 350MHz by default. A 100MHz processor that I previously rewired to a 66MHz FSB was also at 233MHz.
So they were all reporting a value that translates to multiplier 3.5x. But this multiplier value was only actually used with the two (partially) unlocked CPU's I have. On the other CPU's this setting is totally ignored.
The (partially) unlocked CPUs could be given values higher then 3.5x, and they would run as such after reboot. Unfortunately the program would not accept any value below 3.5x (233MHz).

FSB speed
The FSB speed is determined with a CPU autodetect, through pin B21. The PLL IC does not even support anything else then 66 and 100MHz. CPU's with a 133MHz default FSB speed will not run on this board. I tried it, but the system does not boot. The SoftFSB software does not support this board.

Some soldering hacks regarding the SR440BX. This probably also goes for the other intel i440BX mainboards. Sources used: datasheets.

Here is how to make a manual FSB speed selection jumper, instead of the auto detect speed selection.
Disconnect ICS9248-20 Pin-25 from the board, and connect it to a jumper block.
Connect Pin-25 to 3,3V for 100MHz (jumpered). Disconnect Pin-25 for 66MHz (open).

Not a bad photo for a 6 year old SE phone. 😀

Edit 1: Something is missing in the above: The 66MHz setting must be jumpered towards Ground, instead of floating. Then it works reliably.
Edit 2: Note that there is no jumper to switch the AGP divider inside the north bridge between 2/3 and 1/1. That one is still on autodetect. I added such a jumper on an Asus P2B v1.04 once, but I don't think I will bother in this case, as 133MHz FSB speed is not an option anyways

Here is how to make a Slot-1 133MHz FSB Speed Pentium III EB work with the SR440BX, although it won't be running at 133MHz FSB.
Remove the resistor R19 on the slot-1 card, because otherwise the mainbaord will ground it through Pin A14. Then connect it to a 3,3V source at R18.

So There I have it my way: Running the SL3XG Pentium III 533 at 266MHz on the SR440BX.

Another LPX board ( manual here: http://ftp4.de.freesbie.org/pub/misc/x86.org/ … bd/28167102.pdf ), 1.8MB photo.

Not mine, but if I decide to buy it I'll give it a proper cleaning and post a better photo.

gerwin wrote:

Here is how to make a Slot-1 133MHz FSB Speed Pentium III EB work with the SR440BX, although it won't be running at 133MHz FSB. […]
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Here is how to make a Slot-1 133MHz FSB Speed Pentium III EB work with the SR440BX, although it won't be running at 133MHz FSB.
Remove the resistor R19 on the slot-1 card, because otherwise the mainbaord will ground it through Pin A14. Then connect it to a 3,3V source at R18.

So There I have it my way: Running the SL3XG Pentium III 533 at 266MHz on the SR440BX.

But why? Didn't the SL3XG already work on 440BX motherboards? I know the multiplier is locked but the FSB should still be selectable from the BIOS or a jumper, right? So shouldn't selecting the 66mhz fsb without the hardware hack give the same result?

cdoublejj wrote:

Anonymous Coward wrote:

I want to know where I can get one of these: […]
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I want to know where I can get one of these:

with matching CPU card:

[/img]

😳 holy heck what is that monstrocity? on another not i hate that proprietary BS but, some times it's part of the fun.

Thanks to our friend GL1zdA in Poland, I now have one of these weird boards on the way...though with a dual P60 card rather than the P90 card shown. I'd like to get a hold of the P90 card if possible...I have an evergreen spectra 400 here that wants to see some VLB/EISA action.

sliderider wrote:

But why? Didn't the SL3XG already work on 440BX motherboards? I know the multiplier is locked but the FSB should still be selectable from the BIOS or a jumper, right? So shouldn't selecting the 66mhz fsb without the hardware hack give the same result?

On the 440BX Intel boards I've messed with, they will refuse to boot at all if they detect a 133FSB processor. They won't let you run it at a reduced bus speed, they want you to go back to the store and get a different processor.
On dual boards, they will also actively detect whether you have a terminator installed and refuse to boot if you left an empty socket. Intel wants everything by the book.
I'm curious if they strictly enforce the specs regarding when registered memory is required, I haven't tried trolling them on that.
The thing I love about Intel though is they have the most precise and detailed motherboard manuals I've ever seen. And you have to read them because when they lay down rules, they mean it.

Intel believes in FSB autodetect, they don't want it adjustable. But the board mod described earlier would defeat that.

Exactly, Intel BIOS has no such options, while they are common for most other BX boards.
Normally (without the hardware mods and BIOS P6) The CPU has to be listed as supported and will be configured automatically. In any other case the intel board will refuse to run.

An early Intel iSBC 386AT-25 motherboard (you can add the photo to the first post, although it's watermarked - I doubt the seller will care about it, it's one of these recyclers who trade something they don't know much about):
http://allegro.pl/plyta-intel-z-1985-88-zabyt … 3106256811.html
It's one of the earliest Intel motherboards (there are two older: iSBC 386AT and iSBC 386ATZ). You can find these motherboards in the Intel OEM Boards and Systems Hanbook 1989. It's similar to the Intel System 302 motherboard.

I would be thankful if someone would scan these articles about the above motherboards:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/55045705
http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/55060141
http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/55107334 (issue)
http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/55107359
http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/63740692

An Intel 486 EISA motherboard, probably a 403E:
http://allegro.pl/plyta-intel-eisa-serwer-32- … 3430800797.html