This type of build is on my "to do" list, just saving my pennies because prices are eye watering to say the least.

ill take some of my pentium CPUs, take pictures of all of them side to side, and maybe you can tell me just by looking at them, which are fake and which are the real deal.

SETBLASTER wrote on 2023-09-18, 19:08:

ill take some of my pentium CPUs, take pictures of all of them side to side, and maybe you can tell me just by looking at them, which are fake and which are the real deal.

Sounds like fun! I'll take mine out too and see if I can show you more about what I'm talking about.

That fake pentium mmx. I have plain pentium that was remarked same way, looked wrong then found out by scratching bit of top layer off revealed 150MHz instead of 166, that was back in the day from a customer's computer.

Cheers,

tauro wrote on 2023-07-07, 11:16:

* How does a S370 VIA C3 compare to a an S7 MMX regarding very old software? I have the impression that even if a C3 can be slowed down, it can't match a Pentium in terms of how smooth it can get at very slow speeds (feel free to correct me and provide information).

It depends, both Ezra-T and Nehemiah can outmatch a Pentium MMX in terms of flexibility when paired with a suitable motherboard that has a compatible PLL where RayeR's SMB can be used to switch the FSB on the fly in DOS. This is in addition to the slowdown capabilities available with SetMul.

I would recommend checking the following thread to see the overall pefomance of these CPUs: VIDEO BENCHMARKS (Original title: Settling the VIA C3 performance debate once and for all)

I'm aware of the SETMUL method, which attracted my attention in the first place, using CCD DCD BPD VPD to emulate a 386DX running at about 30MHz. Then I would probably need another software to slow it down further. Which one would you recommend? I tested some of them, but I don't know which one is better for this particular build.

Throttle, which another method to slow down the computer using ACPI functions if the motherboard chipset supports it.

For ALi Aladdin V chipsets, there is a similar utility: Throttle for ALi Aladdin 5 Socket 7 boards

Gmlb256 wrote on 2023-09-18, 20:29:

It depends, both Ezra-T and Nehemiah can outmatch a Pentium MMX in terms of flexibility when paired with a suitable motherboard that has a compatible PLL where RayeR's SMB can be used to switch the FSB on the fly in DOS. This is in addition to the slowdown capabilities available with SetMul.

I would recommend checking the following thread to see the overall pefomance of these CPUs: VIDEO BENCHMARKS (Original title: Settling the VIA C3 performance debate once and for all)

The C3s can outperform the modest P-MMX, but my main focus is if they can under-perform it, so to say. I skimmed through that thread and its centered around top performance. Still, thanks for mentioning it. I'm very interested in the C3 CPU. I think we should make a comparison about how slow can a S7 Pentium go (with a 50MHz bus, for example) vs. a S370 C3.

Gmlb256 wrote on 2023-09-18, 20:29:

Throttle, which another method to slow down the computer using ACPI functions if the motherboard chipset supports it.

For ALi Aladdin V chipsets, there is a similar utility: Throttle for ALi Aladdin 5 Socket 7 boards

I wasn't aware of this at all, thank you.
I've used throttle in the past and it felt a bit "stuttering", but I'll keep in mind this particular version for ALi V motherboards.

So I took some pictures and these are the best tips I can give you to tell which chips are original and which are fake. First I'll upload the pictures and then I'll point out the differences which will become apparent.

SL24R
FAKE

SY022
I think this one is a FAKE but the coat of fake paint is more or less intact.

SY027
ORIGINAL

As you may have already noticed, the fake chips have an extra coat of paint of a slightly different color that can be noticed if you look at the processor's edges:

And the typography/fonts on the top of the CPUs is slightly different too. Moreover, if you touch the surface with your finger, you will feel that the letters on the fake CPUs feel depressed, as if they were etched, while the original CPUs look as if they were printed, and you can feel that the letters stick out.
That's why I think that with the fake CPUs you can't clean the thermal compound easily, as it gets stuck in the crevices of the etched letters (just an hypothesis).

The typography/letters on the back of the CPU are much more relative according to what I could see in my processors, so I couldn't find a pattern.

Ok this is a first batch of pictures cpus,
here are the ones that came with cooler and non-ceramic,

notice anything strange?

in about an hour i will post the ceramic ones.
i have many fake ones that are ceramic hahaha because im trying to clean them and the paint comes out 🤣

Yeah the Pentium MMX is going to be a much better fit for what you want to do. Very flexible.

I have much less PPGA P-MMX processors, and only one of them is fake (SL23W).

I could tell because they marked it wrongly as 233MHz when in fact it should be 200MHz.
And more importantly, the letters are VERY DIM and you can never see them clearly.

Yours seem to look dim too. If you have other PPGA CPUs see if they have clearly readable yellow-looking letters, such as this:

All the ones I have (except the fake one) sport these yellow/whitish letters and I think they are originals.

The top of the PPGA processors seems to always be the same since that part bears no markings, so I don't think it's relevant.

You could try your PPGA chips and see if they perform well at the rated voltage and see how they overclock. Check their multipliers too. That will help you decide if they are originals or fakes.

Now about the CPGA processors, I can't tell if they are fake or original by looking at their back side. I have lots of them and I've seen different typography, sizes, placement, etc. I'd like to learn more if anybody knows how to identify them this way.

Your SL23X could be a fake, but I'm not sure, as the only way to really tell is by removing the heatsink and scraping it to see if the paint comes off. But an easier way is to get a flashlight or a strong light and take a look at the edges and see if you spot fake paint traces, like I pointed out in my previous post.

On the ones with the attached heatsink+fan, carefully remove the fan (there's a clip) and see the markings inside the cooler:

Maybe you could find a surprise there too.

ok here comes the cheap fakes

Here is a picture of a pentium 100 and a pentium 75
I belive these are real, i don´t think they used to fake pentium 100s

Here are 3 pentium 120, the 2 on the left are different.
the one on the far right was a 166mhz fake, that if you scratch the surface ended up being a 120, notice how they faked the 166mhz on the back too 😀

Here are 2 pentium 150, the one on the left looks strange

these are 3 pentium 166, and to be honest, the only one that looks real to me is the one on the left.

lastly this is a 133mhz and a 200mhz
while cleaning it, the paint was gone, am sad because i wanted a 133mhz, so they faked even 133mhz!
the other one 200mhz must be fake too