First post, by nztdm
Hello!
Have made use of this forum a lot in the past.
Made an account to post this (and helped someone else on the way past).
My current retro rig is:
Pentium III 550 SL3FJ (Katmai, FSB100, 512KB L2 Cache (slower cache than the Coppermine's 256KB I guess?))
Epox EP-6VBA (Rev0.6) (Edit: VIA Apollo Pro+ (693)) (Slot1)
1 x 64MB PC100
NVIDIA VANTA 16MB
3com PCI Fast Ethernet
40GB Seagate 7200.7 IDE
ASUS Beige DVD DL Writer IDE
2 x 3.5" floppy
Aywun 420W (22A 5V)
Windows 98SE, Windows XP, Linux (need more RAM really)
What I have coming to try:
NVIDIA FX5500 256MB ($15)
3 x 512MB PC133 (new, Chinese) ($22)
3 x 256MB PC133 (16-chip modules) ($15)
What I'd like:
Best CPU I can fit
Opinions (or facts) about the following.....
(While I wait for the parts)
(Edit: I don't have the VIA Pro133, I have the Pro+)
The VIA Apollo Pro 133 apparently supports 3 x 512MB modules.
The board came out in 1999, and its manual says it supports 3 x 256MB modules as maximum. In 1999, were 512MB modules a thing? Do you think the 512MB modules will work?
Not a worry if they don't; I'll sell them and use the officially supported 256MB modules.
Running the FSB at 133 will cause the 5.5X-locked 550MHz CPU to jump to 731MHz; think this'll work? If not, I think the CPU allows lower multipliers.
My board has the latest BIOS: 09/13/00.
Board supports 137GB HDDs max.
FSB is set with jumper from 66 to 150.
Multiplier is set with DIP switch.
Apparently you can set RAM clock to FSB minus 33, or plus 33. But in the BIOS I can set RAM to FSB, 2/3FSB, and 4/3FSB.
There is also a Autodetect DIMM/PCI Clock option. I don't know what this does. Enabled by default.
And I can't figure out what this option does: "CPU Host Clock (CPU/PCI)". The CPU Clock is simply multiplier times FSB no? I thought PCI was decoupled from FSB.
See the video here for intra-BIOS clock settings: https://photos.app.goo.gl/pb4qoe1QX21pDBfA2
Are there any clues as to what the max processor is that this board will take?
Could I get a P3 1GHz FSB133 (SL4BS) and turn the multiplier down if needed? Or if it's not compatible, it just won't work full stop?
Otherwise, I can get:
800MHz FSB100 SL457 (how much would this OC? If I set FSB to 133, I imagine I can drop the multiplier a couple notches to keep it stable if it's not stable at 1064MHz ?
There's also:
700MHz FSB100 SL3XM
In the Recommended Processor List, my board is there, but only in 1.0 revision, not 0.6. I wonder what changed...
In an older Recommended Processor List, my board but Rev0.2 was listed, with much lower compatibility (and older BIOS alongside it). Maybe the only thing that changed with revision was factory shipped BIOS?
"Recommended" processor list. I wonder what that means too..