Ive been looking at teh C3 chips and I want an Ezra/t model so Ill wait till one hit eBay and buy that but till then the K63+ 500 will do nicely.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-11, 12:02:

Ive been looking at teh C3 chips and I want an Ezra/t model so Ill wait till one hit eBay and buy that but till then the K63+ 500 will do nicely.

You don't have to wait for an Ezra-T. I already bought a bunch of them from this very reliable Chinese seller (to the mods: I don't know him 😁 ): https://www.ebay.com/itm/393476098056

Almost all CPUs that I bought can be easily overclocked to 1.26 GHz (9.5 x 133 MHz) and at this speed they are more or less equivalent to an Intel Pentium 3 "Katmai" @ 600 MHz. And as for flexibility... they can hit ANY speed point down to a slow 286.

And, most importantly, you can use them with an Intel 440BX motherboard. So you get the best of both worlds: stability/speed and granular speed adjustments (all for a lower price).

Damn, there were 5 CPUs available when I pasted the link above, now there are only 3 left.
Coincidence? I think not... 😅

EDIT: Only 1 left 😮 I hope you also managed to buy at least one of them, because I have a feeling that they will be gone in less than 24 hours... 😁

I'm amazed that 10k of these were sold.

bloodem wrote on 2022-02-11, 11:13:

Well, the 550 is a collector's/best of the best item, so logic goes completely out the window when people buy these. 😁 I would never pay this insane amount of money for it, BUT I can understand why some people do (still, it's a bit less than $600 - for now it's more like $400 - 450).
However, the K6-3 500 is really not that special, so I think that $100 is a bit much (but that's just me). I'm pretty sure that somewhere around the world (probably China) there are still warehouses filled with NOS K6-3+ CPUs, which will eventually end up on eBay for more reasonable prices.

Tbh, I'm kinda surprised that apparently even the K6-3+ 400 ATZ eventually ran out.

bloodem wrote on 2022-02-11, 12:55:

Damn, there were 5 CPUs available when I pasted the link above, now there are only 3 left.
Coincidence? I think not... 😅

EDIT: Only 1 left 😮 I hope you also managed to buy at least one of them, because I have a feeling that they will be gone in less than 24 hours... 😁

I picked up the last one, thanks.

I will get a 3x 570 2+ at some point but a bit expensive. I've got a K6-3+ 400 1.6v that overclocks to 500MHz fine so that is good enough.

Tag me if you guys see any good deals on ebay for k6+ chips that aren’t a 550 or 570. I still need basically all the other plus ones.

I saw the 100$ Deal and also had the same thought you guys did 🤣. Um, that’s not a “550 3+, so no” 🤣

Sphere478 wrote on 2022-02-12, 01:02:

Tag me if you guys see any good deals on ebay for k6+ chips that aren’t a 550 or 570. I still need basically all the other plus ones.

I saw the 100$ Deal and also had the same thought you guys did 🤣. Um, that’s not a “550 3+, so no” 🤣

550 3+ is 500 - 600 ish USD with only one seller recently,

100usd for a 500 works when faced with no other options on that model, and there are very few options for the 500acr .

It’s ok to not agree with prices they are stupid right now but after trawling eBay for a while 100 usd for this model is ok when seen in the light of all the other ridiculous prices.

Like 200 usd for the k6 2 500, that’s a hard pass for me.

TrashPanda, did you manage to buy at least one of those Ezra-T CPUs?
I have a feeling that it was a mistake to write it publicly, I should have sent you a private message. 😓

bloodem wrote on 2022-02-12, 06:57:

TrashPanda, did you manage to buy at least one of those Ezra-T CPUs?
I have a feeling that it was a mistake to write it publicly, I should have sent you a private message. 😓

I saw it while at work ...dont have access to my eBay account there 🙁 by the time I got home they had sold out.

Mebe they will get more.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-12, 07:15:

I saw it while at work ...dont have access to my eBay account there 🙁 by the time I got home they had sold out.

Mebe they will get more.

Too bad...
Yeah, hopefully they'll add more.

bloodem wrote on 2022-02-12, 08:32:

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-12, 07:15:

I saw it while at work ...dont have access to my eBay account there 🙁 by the time I got home they had sold out.

Mebe they will get more.

Too bad...
Yeah, hopefully they'll add more.

well if you see them before I do drop me a PM wouldnt mind having one to tinker with, I have a few spare 370 boards which I believe support Via C3.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-12, 08:46:

well if you see them before I do drop me a PM wouldnt mind having one to tinker with, I have a few spare 370 boards which I believe support Via C3.

Will do. 😀

bloodem wrote on 2022-02-12, 12:28:

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-12, 08:46:

well if you see them before I do drop me a PM wouldnt mind having one to tinker with, I have a few spare 370 boards which I believe support Via C3.

Will do. 😀

Just grabbed one !

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-12, 20:54:

Just grabbed one !

Awesome, have fun with it!
Now you just need to pair it with a nice 440BX motherboard (with software FSB control - ideally using the softfsb DOS tool, or at least a BIOS SoftMenu). I strongly recommend the Gigabyte GA-6BXC rev 2.0 (or even 1.9, if you are willing to replace the voltage regulator chip).
The VIA C3 Ezra-T (in conjunction with this board) is a retro gamer’s dream. 😀

bloodem wrote on 2022-02-13, 06:25:

Awesome, have fun with it! Now you just need to pair it with a nice 440BX motherboard (with software FSB control - ideally using […]
Show full quote

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-12, 20:54:

Just grabbed one !

Awesome, have fun with it!
Now you just need to pair it with a nice 440BX motherboard (with software FSB control - ideally using the softfsb DOS tool, or at least a BIOS SoftMenu). I strongly recommend the Gigabyte GA-6BXC rev 2.0 (or even 1.9, if you are willing to replace the voltage regulator chip).
The VIA C3 Ezra-T (in conjunction with this board) is a retro gamer’s dream. 😀

If using that board I guess I would need a slotket too, since its a slot 1 board, any suggestions on that front, I personally have never bothered with a slotket before or are there socket 370 boards that would work just as well ?

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-13, 08:17:

If using that board I guess I would need a slotket too, since its a slot 1 board, any suggestions on that front, I personally have never bothered with a slotket before or are there socket 370 boards that would work just as well ?

The slotket of choice is usually the MSI MS6905 "Master Slotket" (ver 2.0 or 2.3).
But I've also used some cheap generic ones (like the 370SPC Rev:1.0), and they worked great with both Nehemiah & Ezra-T CPUs.

Regarding socket 370 440BX motherboards, there might be some that tick all the boxes (such as having a clock generator that is supported by RayeR's SoftFSB/SMB utility), but I would imagine that if such a board existed, we would've known about it by now. 😀

As I said, the next best thing is having a motherboard with FSB control through a BIOS SoftMenu, however, in the case of this particular CPU, this will not help you reach the highest possible speed (if you set the FSB at 133 MHz, the POST will most likely fail, because 1.33 GHz is usually a bit too much for the Ezra-T.

bloodem wrote on 2022-02-13, 08:47:

The slotket of choice is usually the MSI MS6905 "Master Slotket" (ver 2.0 or 2.3). But I've also used some cheap generic ones (l […]
Show full quote

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-13, 08:17:

If using that board I guess I would need a slotket too, since its a slot 1 board, any suggestions on that front, I personally have never bothered with a slotket before or are there socket 370 boards that would work just as well ?

The slotket of choice is usually the MSI MS6905 "Master Slotket" (ver 2.0 or 2.3).
But I've also used some cheap generic ones (like the 370SPC Rev:1.0), and they worked great with both Nehemiah & Ezra-T CPUs.

Regarding socket 370 440BX motherboards, there might be some that tick all the boxes (such as having a clock generator that is supported by RayeR's SoftFSB/SMB utility), but I would imagine that if such a board existed, we would've known about it by now. 😀

As I said, the next best thing is having a motherboard with FSB control through a BIOS SoftMenu, however, in the case of this particular CPU, this will not help you reach the highest possible speed (if you set the FSB at 133 MHz, the POST will most likely fail, because 1.33 GHz is usually a bit too much for the Ezra-T.

Well that particular model is ...not on eBay at all, I did find one that might work its a 370 CPU card rev 3.2 https://www.ebay.com/itm/224762233292?hash=it … CEAAOSwuPtg-cvU, I dont know enough about these things to determine if it will work or not.

You think this one will be ok ? otherwise what should I be looking for on a slotket for this CPU?

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-13, 10:24:

Well that particular model is ...not on eBay at all, I did find one that might work its a 370 CPU card rev 3.2 https://www.ebay.com/itm/224762233292?hash=it … CEAAOSwuPtg-cvU, I dont know enough about these things to determine if it will work or not.

You think this one will be ok ? otherwise what should I be looking for on a slotket for this CPU?

Yes, the MSI Master slotket is more rare nowadays, although with a bit of patience you can still find it for a decent price (apparently one was just sold today).

I'm not familiar with that generic slotket, it might very well work fine with VIA C3, but never tested it myself. Though, it's not clear from the eBay pics if it supports auto-voltage or not (it probably does). If it only supports manual voltages, seems the the lowest possible voltage signal request is 1.6V (which is a bit too high for the Ezra-T, but probably still within acceptable limits).

Based on my experience, any slotket that has Coppermine support usually works fine with VIA C3 too.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-13, 10:24:

Well that particular model is ...not on eBay at all, I did find one that might work its a 370 CPU card rev 3.2 https://www.ebay.com/itm/224762233292?hash=it … CEAAOSwuPtg-cvU, I dont know enough about these things to determine if it will work or not.

That is a Shuttle Hot slotket. It has auto voltage & manual jumper settings 1.3=>3.5 volt but no jumper for Cyrix cpu's.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-13, 10:24:

You think this one will be ok ? otherwise what should I be looking for on a slotket for this CPU?

Here a promising looking issue from Japan:
https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/t1033376407
Also has auto voltage & manual jumper settings 1.3=>3.5 volt plus a jumper for Cyrix cpu's.