VIA C3 CPU Support \ VOGONS

VIA C3 CPU Support

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First post, by appiah4

Posted on 2020-10-03, 20:03

appiah4 Offline

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Is support for VIA C3 CPUs an uncommon thing in Socket 370 motherboards? Just asking because I inserted a Samuel C3 667MHz into a PCPartner PM601TMS3-T898C motherboard and it would just not POST - no beep, no nothing, fans turn and the northbridge gets warm, and that's it. Maybe my CPU is a dud, or maybe the board just doesn't know how to treat a VIA chip (but being a VIA PL133T motherboard, isn't that unlikely? Or is it a BIOS thing after all?) but it just didn't POST. It's a real bummer because I was hoping to do a VIA build with this combination. If I want to use a C3 motherboard, do I have to look for any specific kind of motherboards?

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 1 of 4, by Nexxen

Posted on 2020-10-03, 20:22

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Not an expert on the subject but the boards that I have that support C3 cpus do POST and those that don't do not.
My 2 cents: unless they were explicitly supported don't expect support or if it does POST consider yourself lucky.

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

Reply 2 of 4, by appiah4

Posted on 2020-10-03, 21:22

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Fair enough. All references to CPU support for this board I can find online only explicitly state Pentium, Celeron and Tualatin CPUs, no C3 support mentioned.. I'll probably throw a Celeron 1000A on it and overclock it to 1.33GHz. That should be a beastly CPU for Win98 and late DOS, and I can probably bring it down to fast 386 / slow 486 speeds with SETMUL L1D

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 3 of 4, by kaputnik

Posted on 2020-10-03, 23:17

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Not the most impressive statistical basis perhaps, but successfully ran a C3 Ezra in both 440BX Slot 1 boards I've tried it with. One is an Abit BH7, the other a MSI MS-6119. My impression is that at least 440BX boards will work as long as the VRM can supply whatever voltage the CPU needs.

I'm sure I've read about trouble running C3 CPUs in those Via chipset S370 boards before. Quite ironic...

Reply 4 of 4, by MKT_Gundam

Posted on 2020-10-03, 23:27

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appiah4 wrote on 2020-10-03, 21:22:

Fair enough. All references to CPU support for this board I can find online only explicitly state Pentium, Celeron and Tualatin CPUs, no C3 support mentioned.. I'll probably throw a Celeron 1000A on it and overclock it to 1.33GHz. That should be a beastly CPU for Win98 and late DOS, and I can probably bring it down to fast 386 / slow 486 speeds with SETMUL L1D

Even the ASUS CUV4x dont mention the c3 CPUs.
Maybe you will need a BIOS update.

Retro rig 1: Asus CUV4X, VIA c3 800, Voodoo Banshee (Diamond fusion) and SB32 ct3670.
Retro rig 2: Intel DX2 66, SB16 Ct1740 and Cirrus Logic VLB.

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