To keep it simple I'd recommend a S478/Pentium 4 machine instead. While later Socket A motherboards often used 12V power, S478 had that as standard. This way you can use any new power supply and not worry about rails.

Look into older Enermax or Seasonics from around 2003 up to 2007. They were about the last I remember being beefy enough to drive Athlon XPs.

And defo recap that mainboard.

PcBytes wrote on 2024-01-28, 13:34:

Look into older Enermax or Seasonics from around 2003 up to 2007. They were about the last I remember being beefy enough to drive Athlon XPs.

And defo recap that mainboard.

Perfect, thanks! Regards the motherboard I'll be looking for a replacement, appreciate any thoughts on particular models or even chipsets to look for (or avoid!).

i have a pair of abit kw7 boards with via chipsets from that era that are still going strong. got xp 2500+ bartons overclocked to 400mhz fsb. is your xp 2000+ a palomino or thoroughbred? palominos will run stock in kt7a boards with an isa slot.

a modern psu will work so long as it has a decently rated 5v rail. i don't think you have to worry about -5v without isa slots. i use an evga 450w bronze psu which i think has -5v anyway.

Since Socket A motherboards were manufactured in the midst of the capacitor plague, I find a lot of them are unreliable. Even boards with caps that appear physically fine can still have bad caps.

If you are buying a Socket A motherboard, I'd recommend one that has either been properly refurbished (e.g. recapped) or at least one that has been tested and confirmed working.

For PSU because of the high 5V requirement, you can either look for older working PSUs that put out decent amps on the 5V rail (e.g. 25A or more) or modern PSU that do the same.

I have an Athlon XP 2000+ build using a modern Seasonic Focus GX-1000. It puts out 25A on the 5V rail. This is higher than most modern PSUs which typically max out at 20A.

Older PSUs from that era should put out 30A or more.

stanwebber wrote on 2024-01-28, 16:31:

i have a pair of abit kw7 boards with via chipsets from that era that are still going strong. got xp 2500+ bartons overclocked to 400mhz fsb. is your xp 2000+ a palomino or thoroughbred? palominos will run stock in kt7a boards with an isa slot.

a modern psu will work so long as it has a decently rated 5v rail. i don't think you have to worry about -5v without isa slots. i use an evga 450w bronze psu which i think has -5v anyway.

Fantastic thanks, I have a spare modern Corsair HX520w PSU which is rated 24a on the 5v rail - should be fine then? I'm not sure what the XP 2000 is, I'll run a check on the code.

As @stanwebber suggested - ABIT KW7.

If I may add a few to be on the look for:

-Epox 8RDA6 Pro
-ABIT NF7
-MSI K7N2 Delta-ILSR
-Soltek SL-75FRN2-L

Apart from the last one, most of them should be easy to find (well, maybe not so much the ABIT - I couldn't find any in my country anymore...).
Soltek would be the hardest to find - I don't think I've seen another golden Soltek (or even pink, for that matter - it came in either gold or pink) pop up in quite a long time.

jimnastics wrote on 2024-01-28, 16:52:

Fantastic thanks, I have a spare modern Corsair HX520w PSU which is rated 24a on the 5v rail - should be fine then? I'm not sure what the XP 2000 is, I'll run a check on the code.

24a should be ok. athlon xp tdp ranges from the mid 30's (low voltage model) all the way up to 80w so not all are equal. the xp 2000+ you have is either 70w (palomino) or 60.3w tdp depending on the generation.