Intel 430TX. It just works, whether in AT (Shuttle HOT-569) or ATX (Asus TX97-XE) form factor boards. The 64mb cache limit was never an issue for me (I never went beyond it anyway 😊 ).

It's too bad I no longer have the HOT-569, but the TX97-XE has been (and continues to be) a worthy replacement. I currently use it as the foundation for my 90's DOS/early Windows 95 gaming build. I have tried other Socket 7 boards with different chipsets, but the 430TX is the one for me 😀

Gigabyte GA-5AX rev 5.2 powered by the Aladdin V chipset is the number one for me.
Very fast, good compatibility and perfect overclocking capabilities

I am using for several years now a MVP-3 mobo (HOT-591p) , no problems either...

Does SS7 count as well? Then Ali-V for me.
As for just S7, then I have no favorite.

brostenen wrote:

Does SS7 count as well? Then Ali-V for me.
As for just S7, then I have no favorite.

Absolutely, SS7 counts, and ALI-V and VIA-MVP3 seem to be popular choices.
In fact, there was a similar thread a couple of years ago that were specifically comparing the ALI and VIA. Good times with lots of competition back then.

Intel 430HX. Only 430TX comes close.

used to be ali5, but now i have to go with mvp3.
for 66fsb ones, go with 430hx.

Intel 430HX. Intel 430TX could be better, but Intel went PII route and had it cut down, a folly if you ask me. My POV is that Intel should have gone with Pentium MMX for low-end instead of Covington. These chips have a lot of unrealised potential and are known to work at up to 300MHz overclocked. Several steppings further Intel would make 366 MHz Pentium MMX real. Moreover, it would not have lost Socket 7 entirely to AMD.

My favorite board so far is ASUS P/I-P55T2P4.

I suppose the 430VX is nothing special, but my M-Tech R533 with a 430VX chipset was the most trouble-free PC I had for the surrounding several years. It was quite a relief after all the instability I had with our preceding 486 system. The 430VX let me finally just relax and enjoy everything working without issue.
Our 430VX was superceded by an MVP3 board which added performance and capabilities that I definitely had a lot of fun with, but that board was also a major source of frustration, precisely because of that MVP3 chipset. I feel like I understand it at this point, so I wouldn't be afraid to use it again, and it can do things the Intel socket-7 chipsets can't do. But the quirkiness makes it hard to label as my favorite. On the other hand, 100FSB and an AGP slot are huge bonuses, even if it's quirky. So this is a tough category for me.

I didn't have a 430HX back then. I have one now, but I've never made extensive use of it. Objectively, it appears to be a great chipset. But relying only on personal experience and sentiment, I will give my vote to the 430VX for all the good times it gave me without any of the troubles I had with other chipsets around that time. The 430VX let me enjoy my games trouble free, so it deserves the credit.

I am rather fond of the 430VX chipset, it was my first Pentium class chipset (Cyrix PR166) and it was the most stable and reliable chipset ive ever owned, including my current z77 chipset.

A special mention goes to the Via MVP3 which brought me into the 3d gaming world with a Voodoo Banshee 16mb card.

Somewhere between VIA MVP3 and ALi Aladdin 5.

Probably the MVP3 as I always found them reliable, fast and flexible... Also cheap. I have two boards in operation based on the MVP3 and neither of them has had a problem unless you count the weird "AGP_CLK" jumper on one of them that does nothing more than produce a burning smell - I suspect that to be a problem with Chaintech's design more than VIA's chipset.

The compatibility on features are also good, the versions with on-board VIA Audio have good enough AdLib and Sound Blaster capability to be able to run alongside my GUS Classic and off-set the problems encountered in some DOS software when using that card. On-board video is also a good enough middle-of-the-road chip that gets the job done in 2D, though I use a Rage in one and a Virge in the other leaving the on-board chip doing nothing, if you had nothing else though or wanted to wire up a Voodoo it would be more than adequate.

I only had one socket 7 system, which had the original Triton 430FX chipset. Worked like a charm. Still does actually.

My favourite is the SiS 5571 chipset.

Not only it is reliable,but it's a good replacement to Intel's TX,and iirc it also works with K6-2s,even if it lacks AGP.

Back in the day I had a FIC-PA2007, based on the VIA Apollo VP2 chipset. In combination with an IBM 6x86MX, it was a great chipset - supporting 1MB cache, SDRAM and the 6x86 linear burst feature.

Intel Triton II (VX/TX) is hard to beat for stability though. TX is probably the pick of the bunch for me as it supports modern high density SDRAM and has stable USB support. Four 64MB SIMMS are harder to get hold of and more expensive than a single 256MB DIMM. With a K6-3, cacheable memory limits aren't a problem.