Microstar MS6156 Ver 1.0 Bx7 Slot1 Motherboard - the fastest PIII this will support? \ VOGONS

Microstar MS6156 Ver 1.0 Bx7 Slot1 Motherboard - the fastest PIII this will support?

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First post, by DrLucienSanchez

Posted on 2021-02-18, 11:16

DrLucienSanchez Offline

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Hi everyone, I need some CPU advice for a possible upgrade!

I'm currently running a "Tiny" branded OEM setup with the Microstar MS6156 Ver 1.0 Bx7 Slot1 Motherboard - Pentium II Deschutes 400Mhz. There appears to be two versions of this particular board, the V1.0 (OEM) with an AMI BIOS (which I have), and the 2.1 board with an Award BIOS - this supports Pentium III, with a BIOS update, up to Coppermine 933 and basically any other 133 FSB Slot 1 CPUs, but the V1.0 has no additional BIOS, and the official CPU support list only shows support (which me be outdated at the time of publication) of Pentium II/ same era Celeron, all up to a max FSB of 100.

With that, would any PIII Slot 1, with an FSB of 100 work with this mobo? I'm thinking of getting the Pentium III SL3JM 600Mhz, Katmai, 100 FSB, 2.05v, but concerned that this would not be recognised, although I have heard conflicting info on the net saying that usually any Slot 1 mobo will work with any CPU as long as it's 100 FSB, with Pentium III Katmai within this bracket.

Anyone have any information to if this would work at all?

Thanks 😀

Classic rig - MS6156 Ver 1.0 Bx7 Slot1 Motherboard - Pentium II Deschutes 400Mhz, 320MB PC100 RAM, 20GB SATA Toshiba 2.5 via IDE/SATA converter, Intel i740 8Mb AGP, Sun Microsystems 16" CRT Monitor - PN17J0 CRT monitor

Reply 1 of 3, by Oetker

Posted on 2021-02-18, 11:29

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Do you know which chipset the board uses?
Chances are it'll work, but sometimes in situations like this the BIOS will refuse to boot. I don think those are very expensive processors so it might be best just to try? At least you don't have any risk of blowing the new CPU up as they're both 2v parts.

Reply 2 of 3, by DrLucienSanchez

Posted on 2021-02-18, 11:40

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It's an Intel 440/BX. Yes, I may just take the chance. You're right, they're not much money, and part of the fun will be seeing if it will be recognised. That's what I love about Slot 1, the versatility - anything speed sensitive, I'll just plug in the PII. I'll update this thread once I have the PIII.

Reply 3 of 3, by Oetker

Posted on 2021-02-18, 11:48

Oetker Offline

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DrLucienSanchez wrote on 2021-02-18, 11:40:

It's an Intel 440/BX. Yes, I may just take the chance. You're right, they're not much money, and part of the fun will be seeing if it will be recognised. That's what I love about Slot 1, the versatility - anything speed sensitive, I'll just plug in the PII. I'll update this thread once I have the PIII.

You could also first try a really cheap e.g. 450MHz P3, but it's up to your local pricing whether that's worth it.
If you take a look at the VRM that's on there, you could get lucky and have one that supports Coppermine chips, in that case a slotket + coppermine might be fun to try. However, as it's an older board, you're probably out of luck in that regard.

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