So what would be the best way to boost performance? By upgrading nearly everything! by using my old budget Thunderbird build as the base!

Motherboard - Shuttle AK37 Socket 462 with VIA KT400 chipset.
CPU - AMD Athlon "Thunderbird" running at 1400MHz. No need to worry about the 72W power drain, as this motherboard uses the 12V rail to power the CPU!
2D/3D card - ATI Radeon DDR 64MB. because why not enjoy early 2000s games while I'm at it?
Glide workhorses - the very same 2X Voodoo's
Sound - the same Diamond MX300
RAM - 512MB DDR266
OS - also, the same Windows 98SE

So how does this thing perform?

Unreal: 800x600 - 91.4 FPS; 1024x768 - 58.9 FPS
Quake 2: 800x600 - 108.2 FPS; 1024x768 - 69.3 FPS
Quake 3: 800x600 - 73.2 FPS; 1024x768 - 46.7 FPS
3DMark99: 5720 3dmarks, 22115 CPU 3dmarks

Quite the FPS boost @800x600! Noticeable advantage even @1024x768. Even beat the 1400MHz Tualatin! (maybe with some help from the more modern memory/chipset 🤣 )

Sorry, I liked the Slot A better... Slots have more character. With its ISA slot, would make a good dos/Win9x cross over PC.

Well, there is nothing that would require a Thunderbird CPU but run comfortably on a Voodoo 2 SLI so it's not really a very meaningful build in my opinion.. That said, I like crossover Frankenstein builds that cover a wide gap of years, and actually have a P3 700MHz Win98SE build with a GeForce 2 GTS and a single Voodoo 2 myself, so I can understand the effort here.

Yeah, admittedly I did feel a bit of a hesitation when moving the Voodoos into a Socket 462 build, but I believe that there are more positives than negatives. This helped me free up the only 5V-heavy PSU in my possession, removed any possible CPU bottlenecks AND it saves precious space by doubling as an early 2000's build I wanted to do for my Radeon DDR 😎

I can always use my Voodoo3 3000 in the Slot A, which actually seems like an even better fit 😀

Munx wrote:

I can always use my Voodoo3 3000 in the Slot A, which actually seems like an even better fit 😀

Yes please!

By popular demand, the Slot A Athlon is making a comeback! 😀

Keeping the same 600MHZ Ahlon, Diamond MX300, 128MB of PC133 RAM, but exchanging the Rage 128 and Voodoo2 SLI combo for a Voodoo3 3000!

How does it compare against the other two K7 builds?
Unreal: 800x600 - 73.1 FPS; 1024x768 - 57.0 FPS
Quake 2: 800x600 - 113.3 FPS; 1024x768 - 79.9 FPS
Quake 3: 800x600 - 56.4 FPS; 1024x768 - 50.3 FPS
3Dmark99: 800x600 - 4999 3dmarks and 9914 CPU 3dmarks

Quite the performance boost!
Predictably, Voodoo3 surpasses the Voodoo2's when using the same CPU and actually comes out on top in high-res Quake 2 and 3 vs the Thunderbird build, though the CPU-hungry Unreal still prefers the V2 SLI/Thunderbird combo.

yay! and I whole heartily agree the V3 is a better match 😀

Wow great setup 😀
I have the same slot A setup stuffed away in boxes for a 99 build project in the future, really get my excited to build the slot A setup when I see this topic 😀

wim wrote:

Wow great setup 😀
I have the same slot A setup stuffed away in boxes for a 99 build project in the future, really get my excited to build the slot A setup when I see this topic 😀

Thank you!

Slot A might have been short-lived, but it achieved quite a lot and deserves attention. The more people do builds around it the better 😀

Munx wrote:

wim wrote:

Wow great setup 😀
I have the same slot A setup stuffed away in boxes for a 99 build project in the future, really get my excited to build the slot A setup when I see this topic 😀

Thank you!

Slot A might have been short-lived, but it achieved quite a lot and deserves attention. The more people do builds around it the better 😀

True 🤣
Thats exact the reason why i bought the Slot A parts when it crossed my path, i now have a 500 and 700 mhz CPU and a MSI K7 mobo.
But i just stumbled on a brand new mobo for spare!