VOGONS


First post, by galanopu

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Yes what I have here is a very rare Super Socket 7 Motherboard with the ALi Aladdin V chip-set and 1MB of onboard Cache!!

This video is a complete review of this motherboard, including an in-depth optimization guide!
Some o the tips also apply to other SS7 and ALi motherboards in general.

Finally we have a 600Mhz showdown of K6-2, K6-2+ and K6-3+ processors.
In total 16 different configurations were measured in 12 benchmarks!!

I hope you will enjoy this. Please like, comment, share and subscribe for more!
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8W6A-VKroE
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdkc7IHZ-ug

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Last edited by galanopu on 2021-02-15, 08:49. Edited 4 times in total.

Let's mod everything! Check my youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ6ULBqIKhxuNslAbqFNJUg
Interested in my devices? Check my store:
https://migronelectronics.bigcartel.com

Reply 1 of 36, by weedeewee

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funny, I had the same board on the table two days ago Just to get some data for the SIV developer, already boxed it back up.

edit missed the 1M cache, mine is only 256K and rev 1.03 of the board.

Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
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Reply 2 of 36, by dataino.it

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I find one in the trash last week , fixed a little problem on battery cmos .

my revision is 1.04 but only 512K of cache.

i can't see in the video the cache chip code can u post a pic ?

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Reply 3 of 36, by red-ray

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weedeewee wrote on 2021-02-09, 18:51:

funny, I had the same board on the table two days ago Just to get some data for the SIV developer, already boxed it back up.

edit missed the 1M cache, mine is only 256Kand rev 1.03 of the board.

Not quite, you have a L2 256KB cache in the AMD K6-III+ (Sharptooth) CPU and a L3 512KB cache on the motherboard, that said I don't think the L3 cache really helps

Reply 4 of 36, by weedeewee

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red-ray wrote on 2021-02-09, 23:36:
weedeewee wrote on 2021-02-09, 18:51:

funny, I had the same board on the table two days ago Just to get some data for the SIV developer, already boxed it back up.

edit missed the 1M cache, mine is only 256Kand rev 1.03 of the board.

Not quite, you have a L2 256KB cache in the AMD K6-III+ (Sharptooth) CPU and a L3 512KB cache on the motherboard, that said I don't think the L3 cache really helps

you're right. that explains the cache Chip ID perfectly UM61L6464AF which is a 512KB (64K x 64) chip
I think it could be replaced by the UT61128C64-5 ... if one could find such a beast (still looking for alternatives...). though would that be enough for the board to know it has 1MB of cache ?

Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
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Reply 5 of 36, by red-ray

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galanopu wrote on 2021-02-09, 18:47:

Finally we have a 600Mhz showdown of K6-2, K6-2+ and K6-3+ processors.

I am wondering how fast I can het my K6s to run and wondering ,is there a utility that will change the K6 multiplier on-the-fly, ideally one that runs on NT4/W2K/WXP please ? If there is only one for DOS then does anyone know which CPU registers need to be updated?

Reply 6 of 36, by weedeewee

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red-ray wrote on 2021-02-10, 10:41:

I am wondering how fast I can het my K6s to run and wondering ,is there a utility that will change the K6 multiplier on-the-fly, ideally one that runs on NT4/W2K/WXP please ? If there is only one for DOS then does anyone know which CPU registers need to be updated?

https://www.philscomputerlab.com/k6-2-2-3-resources.html Has plenty of utilities for setting the multiplier and other optimizations normally set in the bios.

Scrolling though it I see at least one that claims NT/2K support.

k6speed_4-24-01.zip

Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
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Reply 7 of 36, by red-ray

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weedeewee wrote on 2021-02-10, 12:23:

https://www.philscomputerlab.com/k6-2-2-3-resources.html Has plenty of utilities for setting the multiplier and other optimizations normally set in the bios. k6speed_4-24-01.zip

Thank you, but I had in mind a program that changed the K6 multiplier rather than causing a BSOD 🙁

It fails to use a SEH and crashes the system while trying to write MSR C0000086 which is not present
f8a565b0 b9860000c0      mov     ecx,0C0000086h
f8a565b5 ba00000000 mov edx,0
f8a565ba b8f1ff0000 mov eax,0FFF1h
f8a565bf 0f30 wrmsr
f8a565c1 66baf8ff mov dx,0FFF8h
f8a565c5 ed in eax,dx
f8a565c6 8945ec mov dword ptr [ebp-14h],eax
f8a565c9 b9860000c0 mov ecx,0C0000086h
f8a565ce ba00000000 mov edx,0
f8a565d3 b8f0ff0000 mov eax,0FFF0h
f8a565d8 0f30 wrmsr
f8a565da 8b45f4 mov eax,dword ptr [ebp-0Ch]
f8a565dd 8b4dec mov ecx,dword ptr [ebp-14h]
f8a565e0 8908 mov dword ptr [eax],ecx
f8a565e2 8365f000 and dword ptr [ebp-10h],0
f8a565e6 e948010000 jmp k6speed+0x733 (f8a56733)
f8a565eb b9870000c0 mov ecx,0C0000087h
f8a565f0 0f32 rdmsr

I feel inclined to add K6 support to Menu->Edit->Options->CPU Tweak to change the K6 multiplier, but this is only possible for K6 mobile (Model 13) CPUs, I don't have one and suspect they won't work in desktop motherboards.

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Last edited by red-ray on 2021-02-11, 16:58. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 8 of 36, by Nemo1985

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Does anyone knows if it is possible to upgrade the cache? With the right cache chip and memory tag?
I have the Asus p5a rev 1.04.
If so which cache chip and memory tag should I use? I wasn't able to identify them from the video
Thanks

Reply 9 of 36, by The Serpent Rider

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Don't bother. Performance increase is too small and you're stuck with 128 Mb anyway.

I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.

Reply 10 of 36, by Nemo1985

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The Serpent Rider wrote on 2021-02-10, 18:02:

Don't bother. Performance increase is too small and you're stuck with 128 Mb anyway.

That is a wise advice but still it's something i'm looking to do for some time and since I have 2 Aladdin V boards, I like to modify one in such way, maybe the gigabyte would be better, but I don't know if it is possible 😀

Reply 11 of 36, by The Serpent Rider

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It also might not be possible to do on chipset early revision due to TAG problem.

I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.

Reply 12 of 36, by galanopu

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As I said in the video the performance boost is 2-3%.
The cost is so high that I can not recommend them too.
These boards are only for people that really want the best of the best and have disposable income.

Now for your 1.04, I do not know, but I agree with "The Serpent Rider"...
it is probably impossible due to the bugged internal tag chip.
In theory it might be possible with two external TAG chips, but again very difficult and dangerous to do.

PS: To my knowledge... A M/B with the E variant chip and 1MB cache was never produced.

Last edited by galanopu on 2021-02-12, 00:26. Edited 1 time in total.

Let's mod everything! Check my youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ6ULBqIKhxuNslAbqFNJUg
Interested in my devices? Check my store:
https://migronelectronics.bigcartel.com

Reply 13 of 36, by weedeewee

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galanopu wrote on 2021-02-10, 18:23:

PS: To my knowledge... A M/B with the E variant chip and 1MB cache was never produced.

Could you post a picture with the Cache Chip and tagram IDs clearly visible & readable. Thanks.

I think, from looking at other boards online, this chip ID is the 1MB cache EliteMT LR61 64128... , interchangeable with the UT61128C64-5
Tag Ram on the 512KB board is the Winbond W24257AJ-8

Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Do not ask Why !
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Reply 14 of 36, by Nemo1985

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Thank you for the feedbacks, you are probably right, if the cache chip is pin to pin compatible it's probably better to go with Gigabyte GA-5AX rev 5.2 that uses the G revision of the chipset.
I'm sorry but I really have this ocd about the ss7 platform 😀

Reply 15 of 36, by Nemo1985

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I checked the Gigabyte, it also has the E revision of the chipset, so if I have to risk a motherboard between those 2, I prefer to sacrify the P5A, I have been able to identify che cache chip used: LP61L64128F-4.
The main problem is to find working chips, as I said I tried to buy 2 on ebay some months ago and I received non working stuff.
Any idea where to get them?

Thanks

Reply 16 of 36, by weedeewee

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Nemo1985 wrote on 2021-02-16, 16:37:
I checked the Gigabyte, it also has the E revision of the chipset, so if I have to risk a motherboard between those 2, I prefer […]
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I checked the Gigabyte, it also has the E revision of the chipset, so if I have to risk a motherboard between those 2, I prefer to sacrify the P5A, I have been able to identify che cache chip used: LP61L64128F-4.
The main problem is to find working chips, as I said I tried to buy 2 on ebay some months ago and I received non working stuff.
Any idea where to get them?

Thanks

Nope, Only Idea I have is asking around,email or message some chip sellers on ebay or ali and hope someone still has some stock and is not eager to scam you.

Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Do not ask Why !
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Serial_port

Reply 17 of 36, by Nemo1985

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weedeewee wrote on 2021-02-16, 16:50:

Nope, Only Idea I have is asking around,email or message some chip sellers on ebay or ali and hope someone still has some stock and is not eager to scam you.

Probably on ebay\aliexpress they are all the same seller with different name, I thought to buy from utsource, they have some form of warranty in such way, it's not easy to prove that the chip doesn't work

Reply 18 of 36, by galanopu

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Some of you were asking me about the price of this 1MB Motherboard.
It is impossible to put a price to something that it is typically not sold.

I will let the market decide the correct price.
So I just put one for sale in Ebay...
In general I do not like Ebay and their high fees.
But Yea I did this is for price discovery.

Last edited by galanopu on 2021-03-03, 09:22. Edited 1 time in total.

Let's mod everything! Check my youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ6ULBqIKhxuNslAbqFNJUg
Interested in my devices? Check my store:
https://migronelectronics.bigcartel.com

Reply 19 of 36, by Deksor

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Can you post a picture of your motherboard here before you sell it. I'd like to add it to uh19 😀

http://www.win3x.org/uh19/motherboard/show/858

There's already my board in there but a picture of a rare variant would be a great addition 😁

Trying to identify old hardware ? Visit The retro web - Project's thread The Retro Web project - a stason.org/TH99 alternative