Just in time for Christmas…the postman handed me a package containing an Athlon 3000+

It posed straight away at 133x17 (2266MHz)

Started some stability tests. So far it looks more stable than the 2600+ in so far as it can actually run software and it doesn’t immediately crash/reboot at this speed.

FullYes wrote on 2025-12-24, 19:02:

Just in time for Christmas…the postman handed me a package containing an Athlon 3000+

It posed straight away at 133x17 (2266MHz)

Started some stability tests. So far it looks more stable than the 2600+ in so far as it can actually run software and it doesn’t immediately crash/reboot at this speed.

Is it one with unlocked multiplier?

^Yes. It’s build week is 16 of 2003 so it’s unlocked. I’ve only been looking for unlocked CPUs. I would take a locked AXDA2800DKV4C to see how that behaved with its factory 16x multi, but I’ve never seen one for sale.

I left the machine running overnight at 133x17 (2275MHz according to CPU-z ) with memtest86. 13 passes with no errors

Unfortunately I’m seeing some issues with stability in prime95. A bit unusual. Instead of reporting an error, the system hard locks. Sometime after a few mins, sometimes after longer. I guess it depends on the test. It also does it at 124 x 17 which is LOWER than the CPUs rated frequency. If anything, this setting is even more unstable than 133 x 17

So, new theory time. This magic 17x133 multiplier/fsb setting that posts, isn’t stable.

I’ve been running 140 x 16 and that seems stable. No errors in prime 95 after 8 hours. This is (according to CPU-Z) 2248MHz. I’ve bumped the FSB again now to 142MHz which gives me 2280MHz and I’m seeing how stable this is.

My oscilloscope and post code analysers have arrived so I can do some more fundamental tests now on the buses and the voltage rails to see if any other issues show up

Nope. I was wrong. 142 x 16 hard locks the machine again on prime95 after a while, so it seems I might be at the limit of this CPU. Damn!

I can’t explain what was up at 124 x 17 though. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Now trying 141x16 which should be 2256MHz but in CPU-Z is reporting 2266MHz.

I might get time tomorrow to check some base freqencies. I don’t remember having such a variance between actual freqency and target freqency on any motherboard. Ok it’s only 0.5% or so, but I’m used to stuff being much closer. Maybe I can change the crystal or the clock generator

I wouldn't run it at that frequency without a voltage bump. Prime95 may not test the CPU fully, it is not a replacement of manufacturer's validation tests. Typically one would find the highest stable frequency and then decrease the frequency by 100Mhz to account for lack of comprehensive tests. I ran my Athlon XP at 2.3Ghz at the time, max frequency was 2.4Ghz.

Am I correct in thinking that you are intending to have 3 retro PCs? The Pentium MMX for DOS, the Athlon XP for late DOS and Win98, and an i7 PC for XP?

If so, then I am not sure if you need to have a CPU as fast as the Barton in this Socket A system. The 3DMark scores you posted are extremely high for Win98 gaming.

I get that it's fun playing around with hardware, so keep at it whilst it's enjoyable. But don't feel bad if if you need to use a slower CPU. It will still be a killer Win98 system.

Yeah I’m already with you on that. I’ve gone down a bit of a Rabbit hole just trying to get this setup to work the way I thought it would. Since it’s not really playing ball, I am going to reverse the multiplier mod and go back to stock I think. As you say, I have a faster machine if I need it.

It hard locked after about 18 hours running at 2266MHz.

I’ve been mainly gaming on the Pentium system due to the issues with the athlon!

FullYes wrote on 2025-12-27, 23:19:

I’ve been mainly gaming on the Pentium system due to the issues with the athlon!

My Pentium MMX is the system I use most. It's a surprisingly flexible machine.

I have a lot of love for socket 7. It was the basis of my first home-built PC back in 1998 and I kept it for the next 20 years. I’m sorry I sold it, but the system I’ve got now has more potential

In that regard I have acquired a voodoo3 2000 PCI. Installed it today and it’s working perfectly. Spent a while benchmarking and playing some games on it and noticed it gets very hot. Apparently the norm.

Been watching BitsUndBolts videos about the work he’s done on one of these and have already added thermal paste to the voltage regulator heatsinc. The volt modding he did looked very interesting as well. For now I’ve just added a fan to the case. I had an arctic F12 kicking around.

It’s stuck to the bottom of the case using a couple of double sided sticky foam pads and it’s held to the voodoo and sound blaster using some twisted wires (will swap to cable ties later!). It’s made a huge difference to the temperatures. So now I can do some more gaming safe in the knowledge it isn’t about to expire (hopefully!)

Voodoo 2000? Nice! You certainly don't hold back when you dive into a project!

What 3d-accelerated games are you playing on it? I found the Pentium MMX to be a bit of a bottleneck for my Voodoo 3, so I have put that in a Pentium III machine instead.

I have a Voodoo 1 with the MMX. Voodoo 2 with MMX is also a fairly common choice, but is a bit less compatible with early Glide titles. Most titles can be made to work though I think. How are you finding DOS glide compatibility with the Voodoo 2000?

I think I might have gone a bit over budget messing with the Athlon. Spent way too much! But I don’t feel like I’ve spent money I can’t get back again if I decide to sell.

The Pentium on the other hand has hardly cost me anything so far. If I think about what I sold my last socket 7 system for, if I include what I sold my voodoo2 for (which I sold separately), I am moreorless at break even with it right now including buying the voodoo3. I got it for less than £100. Which still feels like a lot of money, but there’s a lot more out there for crazy prices

I was on the lookout for a Voodoo2 but could not find one at a price I was willing to pay. The voodoo1 didn’t really appeal as i would ideally like to play at 800x600 on games that support it.

I installed a few games yesterday but it was all in windows. I wanted to play grim fandango. I game I somehow never played back in the day apart from the demo.

Not tried any dos games yet, was mostly in windows yesterday. I did have a quick go on dungeon keeper to see if there was an improvement on that in high res mode but I couldn’t really tell.

Looks like it might be tricky to get dos games running glide on the v3? But the list of games isn’t very long and most of them are not high on my list

Swapping from the S3 to the Voodoo3 game me 3 extra fps in the quake benchmark in Phil’s dos benchmark pack. It’s now just under 60fps (overclocked to 263MHz) at 320x200

The voodoo2 and above are definitely considerably held back by socket 7. Im only getting ~1300 3dmarks in 3dmark99 with this cpu. I would like to try a k6-2+ or 3+ in this board. Done some memory benchmarks and it seems to do quite well for a non-super socket 7. I got a k6-2 400 coming to try out, but prices of the 2+ and 3+ are off-putting

FullYes wrote on Yesterday, 10:50:

I think I might have gone a bit over budget messing with the Athlon. Spent way too much! But I don’t feel like I’ve spent money I can’t get back again if I decide to sell.

True. Unless you overpaid, you should get back what you paid, or maybe even more.

FullYes wrote on Yesterday, 10:50:

The Pentium on the other hand has hardly cost me anything so far. If I think about what I sold my last socket 7 system for, if I include what I sold my voodoo2 for (which I sold separately), I am moreorless at break even with it right now including buying the voodoo3. I got it for less than £100. Which still feels like a lot of money, but there’s a lot more out there for crazy prices

Yeah, that's a good price I think. I got my Voodoo 3500 and 3000 a few years ago. Prices have increased for sure.

FullYes wrote on Yesterday, 10:50:

I was on the lookout for a Voodoo2 but could not find one at a price I was willing to pay. The voodoo1 didn’t really appeal as i would ideally like to play at 800x600 on games that support it.

True. Voodoo 1 is quite limited. But the leap up from software rendering on the MMX is night and day. Voodoo 2s are very expensive now. I am sure I overpaid for mine, as I waited too long. I had Voodoo 1 and Voodoo 3 and for the longest time convinced myself that I didn't need Voodoo 2.

But, my direction changed and I am going for more builds that are period correct (and games should work out of the box). Rather than fewer builds that are overkill and may need patches to work with older games.

FullYes wrote on Yesterday, 10:50:

I installed a few games yesterday but it was all in windows. I wanted to play grim fandango. I game I somehow never played back in the day apart from the demo.

Not tried any dos games yet, was mostly in windows yesterday. I did have a quick go on dungeon keeper to see if there was an improvement on that in high res mode but I couldn’t really tell.

Looks like it might be tricky to get dos games running glide on the v3? But the list of games isn’t very long and most of them are not high on my list

I too never played Grim Fandango back in the day. I have it on disk now, but haven't got around to playing it. I haven't tried Voodoo 3 with dos glide games TBH, so can't advise on that.

IMHO Voodoo 3 is the last Voodoo worth getting. By the time the Voodoo 4 and 5 came out, most games supported DirectX or OpenGL and nVidia and ATI were better at it than the Voodoo.

FullYes wrote on Yesterday, 10:50:

Swapping from the S3 to the Voodoo3 game me 3 extra fps in the quake benchmark in Phil’s dos benchmark pack. It’s now just under 60fps (overclocked to 263MHz) at 320x200

The voodoo2 and above are definitely considerably held back by socket 7. Im only getting ~1300 3dmarks in 3dmark99 with this cpu. I would like to try a k6-2+ or 3+ in this board. Done some memory benchmarks and it seems to do quite well for a non-super socket 7. I got a k6-2 400 coming to try out, but prices of the 2+ and 3+ are off-putting

Really depends what your goals are TBH. Pentium MMX is a bit more flexible when it comes to slowing it down. But, it is of limited use for 3D gaming. Half-life 1 and Unreal 1 is about it's limit.

A K6-2 will be a better match for your Voodoo 3 for sure (though will still limit it). Are you sure that your motherboard supports the required voltage for this CPU? Don't want to accidentally fry it!

Yeah the mobo goes down to 2.0v. Even supports ss7 multipliers!

Not sure what my goals are tbh. I kinda feel like the socket 7 will do most of what I need with the Pentium cpu. I had a k6-2 in my last one and took it out, but I think now I should explore early 3d windows games a bit more. Any that run too slow on the k6 will be good on the Athlon.

FullYes wrote on Yesterday, 19:46:

Yeah the mobo goes down to 2.0v. Even supports ss7 multipliers!

Great. Will be interesting to see what difference it makes. I believe for integer math the K6-2 will be way ahead. For floating point math, I think it's much slower than the MMX, but the higher clock speed will probably make it about the same overall.