Socket3 wrote on 2022-04-12, 14:28:

Super Socket 7 is also a good match for a voodoo 3, but it will not bring out the card's full potential. They are expensive nowadays

Although I fully comprehend that you're perfectly right, the mere idea of SS7 boards being expensive makes another corner of my brain twitch.
Utter cognitive dissonance 😜

Just to add a bit more to the Socket A equation: Consider hunting down a Mobile Athlon or even better a Geode NX: The Geode NX 1750 (1.4 ghz, 133mhz fsb) has like a 25 watt TDP and the NX 1500 (1 ghz, 133mhz fsb) is something like 9 watts. Last time I checked they could still be found NOS on fleabay. They're basically really highly binned T-bred Athlons, so they should just work in most cases. The only hitch I've found is some boards interpret the Geodes Vcore settings as desktop Vcore settings (the Vcore jumpers mean different things Mobile vs. Desktop), so the board will set the Vcore at 1.35v instead of 1.25 for a NX 1750 or 1.25v (I think) instead of 1v for a NX 1500. Theres a chart out there that tells what jumper settings give what voltage in a desktop vs. a mobile aware mobo. Not a real problem because these are standard T-bred cores just extremely good silicon that can be undervolted like crazy. A halfway decent modern psu should be able to handle a such a load on the 5v rail with minimal difficulty.

AthlonXP-M and even moreso Geode will not work in most motherboards though.

appiah4 wrote on 2022-04-12, 18:37:

AthlonXP-M and even moreso Geode will not work in most motherboards though.

Maybe not officially, but my Geode has worked on the handful of mobos i've tried, namely a KM266 based asrock board and (I think) a KT400 based MSI board. Slightly higher voltage was the biggest issue, which to me was a minor one.

Jackal1983 wrote on 2022-04-12, 18:11:

A halfway decent modern psu should be able to handle a such a load on the 5v rail with minimal difficulty.

Just as it should be able to handle any other socket A CPU with nothing more than a Voodoo3 and the usual clutter.

But, from an environmental standpoint, saving energy is much appreciated.

IIRC, the mobile XP-M 2600+ ought to play nice with an Abit KR7A and the MSI KT3-ultra2. Think it's still somewhere on the heap.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-12, 19:42:

Just as it should be able to handle any other socket A CPU with nothing more than a Voodoo3 and the usual clutter.

Not really. Some time ago, I tested a Barton 3000+ on a KT880 motherboard + a GeForce 2 MX (4Watts), with two modern PSUs and one of them (Corsair VS450) didn’t even turn on.
The other (a Seasonic S12II 520w) did turn on, but the 5V rail voltage dropped to an alarming 4.7V. The power draw shown at the wall outlet was ~ 150 - 160W (and that’s with a minimalistic system). It’s hard to say what the actual power draw was when factoring in the PSU’s efficiency (which probably goes out the window with modern PSUs, when most of the current is drawn from the 5V & 3.3V rails). I did try to add a bit more load on the 12V rail, but it didn’t make a difference.

Anyway, my guess is that the power delivery designs on these old motherboards were very inefficient, so simply taking into consideration just the theoretical CPU TDP for the total power consumption is wrong. Bottom line, I’m only using these beasts with period correct PSUs (and, thankfully, I have plenty of these). The only caveat is to always make sure that they are in good shape (especially the caps from the capacitor plague era).
Lower tier Athlon XP CPUs usually work fine with most modern PSUs, though.

Well, to be fair, "a halfway decent" is a bit of true scotsman.

bloodem wrote on 2022-04-12, 20:23:

Not really. Some time ago, I tested a Barton 3000+ on a KT880 motherboard + a GeForce 2 MX (4Watts), with two modern PSUs and on […]
Show full quote

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-12, 19:42:

Just as it should be able to handle any other socket A CPU with nothing more than a Voodoo3 and the usual clutter.

Not really. Some time ago, I tested a Barton 3000+ on a KT880 motherboard + a GeForce 2 MX (4Watts), with two modern PSUs and one of them (Corsair VS450) didn’t even turn on.
The other (a Seasonic S12II 520w) did turn on, but the 5V rail voltage dropped to an alarming 4.7V. The power draw shown at the wall outlet was ~ 150 - 160W (and that’s with a minimalistic system). It’s hard to say what the actual power draw was when factoring in the PSU’s efficiency (which probably goes out the window with modern PSUs, when most of the current is drawn from the 5V & 3.3V rails). I did try to add a bit more load on the 12V rail, but it didn’t make a difference.

Anyway, my guess is that the power delivery designs on these old motherboards were very inefficient, so simply taking into consideration just the theoretical CPU TDP for the total power consumption is wrong. Bottom line, I’m only using these beasts with period correct PSUs (and, thankfully, I have plenty of these). The only caveat is to always make sure that they are in good shape (especially the caps from the capacitor plague era).
Lower tier Athlon XP CPUs usually work fine with most modern PSUs, though.

Another option could be going with a higher tier Barton or T-bred and undervolting (if the mobo allows for it) and underclocking (dropping the FSB should be an option even for locked processors, a Sempron 3000 gives you 1600 mhz @ 133mhz FSB and 1200 mhz @ 100mhz FSB). That should bring the stress on a modern PSU down. I wager most any K7 will max out even a OC'd Voodoo 3 3500 at around 1.4 to 1.6ghz and 1.2 likely gets you 95% of the way there.

meta note: Funny how I accidentally necroed a thread about a system for a voodoo that's no longer there into yet another discussion about the most boring component in personal computers.

Everyone should have a TB 1400 with an Enermax 350 W dual fan.

Jackal1983 wrote on 2022-04-12, 18:11:

Just to add a bit more to the Socket A equation: Consider hunting down a Mobile Athlon or even better a Geode NX: The Geode NX 1750 (1.4 ghz, 133mhz fsb) has like a 25 watt TDP and the NX 1500 (1 ghz, 133mhz fsb) is something like 9 watts. Last time I checked they could still be found NOS on fleabay. They're basically really highly binned T-bred Athlons, so they should just work in most cases. The only hitch I've found is some boards interpret the Geodes Vcore settings as desktop Vcore settings (the Vcore jumpers mean different things Mobile vs. Desktop), so the board will set the Vcore at 1.35v instead of 1.25 for a NX 1750 or 1.25v (I think) instead of 1v for a NX 1500. Theres a chart out there that tells what jumper settings give what voltage in a desktop vs. a mobile aware mobo. Not a real problem because these are standard T-bred cores just extremely good silicon that can be undervolted like crazy. A halfway decent modern psu should be able to handle a such a load on the 5v rail with minimal difficulty.

Hunting down a Geode NX and a compatible KT 133 is not exactly hassle free... And I'm not sure it's exactly cheap. Out of the 3 KT 133 boards I own, only one will post with a Geode NX 1750 - my Abit KT7 - and those are not exactly cheap. In fact I found listings on ebay for 70 to 150 usd for the motherboard alone... on the other hand a pentium 3 + a socket 370 motherboard with an Apollo Pro 133A chipset and an ISA slot can be had together for under 30$.... A bit of digging and these machines should still be available locally in most countries.

[EDIT]

I guess an alternative would be a KT333 motherboard... the ECS K7VTA3 can be had for 50$ on ebay, but I don't know if it will post with a Geode or an Athlon XP-M...

Dunno, for me hassle free means something I can pick up locally, either by browsing the on-line marketplace or at a flea market... And spending the least amount of money on it. Looking for specific parts and brands, models, having to pay for international shipping and worrying if the parcel actually gets here kind of defeats the purpose.

Socket3 wrote on 2022-04-13, 18:22:

Hunting down a Geode NX and a compatible KT 133 is not exactly hassle free... And I'm not sure it's exactly cheap. Out of the 3 […]
Show full quote

Jackal1983 wrote on 2022-04-12, 18:11:

Just to add a bit more to the Socket A equation: Consider hunting down a Mobile Athlon or even better a Geode NX: The Geode NX 1750 (1.4 ghz, 133mhz fsb) has like a 25 watt TDP and the NX 1500 (1 ghz, 133mhz fsb) is something like 9 watts. Last time I checked they could still be found NOS on fleabay. They're basically really highly binned T-bred Athlons, so they should just work in most cases. The only hitch I've found is some boards interpret the Geodes Vcore settings as desktop Vcore settings (the Vcore jumpers mean different things Mobile vs. Desktop), so the board will set the Vcore at 1.35v instead of 1.25 for a NX 1750 or 1.25v (I think) instead of 1v for a NX 1500. Theres a chart out there that tells what jumper settings give what voltage in a desktop vs. a mobile aware mobo. Not a real problem because these are standard T-bred cores just extremely good silicon that can be undervolted like crazy. A halfway decent modern psu should be able to handle a such a load on the 5v rail with minimal difficulty.

Hunting down a Geode NX and a compatible KT 133 is not exactly hassle free... And I'm not sure it's exactly cheap. Out of the 3 KT 133 boards I own, only one will post with a Geode NX 1750 - my Abit KT7 - and those are not exactly cheap. In fact I found listings on ebay for 70 to 150 usd for the motherboard alone... on the other hand a pentium 3 + a socket 370 motherboard with an Apollo Pro 133A chipset and an ISA slot can be had together for under 30$.... A bit of digging and these machines should still be available locally in most countries.

[EDIT]

I guess an alternative would be a KT333 motherboard... the ECS K7VTA3 can be had for 50$ on ebay, but I don't know if it will post with a Geode or an Athlon XP-M...

Dunno, for me hassle free means something I can pick up locally, either by browsing the on-line marketplace or at a flea market... And spending the least amount of money on it. Looking for specific parts and brands, models, having to pay for international shipping and worrying if the parcel actually gets here kind of defeats the purpose.

In case someone got curious about the geode, there's an offer for a board including one for just 22 bucks:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/254344267685
(no affiliation!)
Not too sure about the merits of the SIS 741GX chipset, but would make for a really compact socket A system without addon graphics or sound. (not that that would make much sense to me, but?)

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-13, 18:39:

In case someone got curious about the geode, there's an offer for a board including one for just 22 bucks: https://www.ebay.de/i […]
Show full quote

In case someone got curious about the geode, there's an offer for a board including one for just 22 bucks:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/254344267685
(no affiliation!)
Not too sure about the merits of the SIS 741GX chipset, but would make for a really compact socket A system without addon graphics or sound. (not that that would make much sense to me, but?)

Am I missing something? There are a lot of Geode CPUs available on eBay for pretty decent prices (I also bought a few some years back for $10 a piece). 😀

bloodem wrote on 2022-04-13, 20:18:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-13, 18:39:

In case someone got curious about the geode, there's an offer for a board including one for just 22 bucks: https://www.ebay.de/i […]
Show full quote

In case someone got curious about the geode, there's an offer for a board including one for just 22 bucks:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/254344267685
(no affiliation!)
Not too sure about the merits of the SIS 741GX chipset, but would make for a really compact socket A system without addon graphics or sound. (not that that would make much sense to me, but?)

Am I missing something? There are a lot of Geode CPUs available on eBay for pretty decent prices (I also bought a few some years back for $10 a piece). 😀

No, at least here in the Germany bay, they're not really rare. The 1000 MHz one seems somewhat more numerous or cheaper. But all are in the lower two digits. So, quite serious money for a keychain hanger.

- But 22 €, free shipping, for a somewhat interesting, exotic motherboard including one, with matching backplate, that's quite nice.
(it has the CMI9738 onboard sound which sadly, AFAIK, is just one click too modern to have any DOS support, unlike the 8738)
And the board is confirmed to work with the geode, even on the manufacturer's own list.
Never held a great opinion of Asrock, but was quite impressed by their support for 20 year old gear, btw. Clean, complete, quick, comprehensive:
https://www.asrock.com/mb/SiS/K7S41GX/#CPU

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-13, 20:31:

And the board is confirmed to work with the geode, even on the manufacturer's own list.

Cool. I pulled a K7S41GX out of a system recently and it came with a 1400mhz Duron. The board seems to work fine, I was able to boot the existing windows xp on the pc before taking it apart. I was planning on benchmarking the K7S41GX with a 2400+ too, but haven't gotten around to it yet...