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My first Pentium build.

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First post, by DesktopDynamite

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Hi,
possibly be building a Win95/DOS dedicated machine based on Pentium chip.

Case form factor, required will be in the ATX form, looking for the InWin A500 or V500.

Which motherboards do you recommend?

Most of the searches redirected to these Intel ones.

Intel Socket 7 Pentium 1 https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/intel- … dvanced-ml-marl

Please, am totally new to this as I come from the Amiga land.

TIA

Reply 1 of 6, by Matth79

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Socket 7 in ATX format is rare, and will cost you a bomb.
Maybe consider a Socket A / 462 Athlon, though it may be overpowered for DOS

Reply 2 of 6, by Shponglefan

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It's hard to recommend a specific motherboard since a lot will depend on availability, budget, and specific features you are looking for.

You mention doing a build based on a Pentium chip, but there is a range of Pentium processors in the Socket 7 format from the Pentium 75 up to the Pentium MMX 233. Did you have a specific Pentium processor you were looking to do this build around?

Pentium 4 Multi-OS Build
486 DX4-100 with 6 sound cards
486 DX-33 with 5 sound cards

Reply 3 of 6, by Starcat

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^^^ This. Having a specific processor in mind is a key consideration as not all Socket 7/ATX boards were split rail designs capable of supporting MMX processors.

You mentioned InWin cases. Case selection can be tricky with early Intel ATX boards as they were mostly geared toward OEMs and the ATX I/O shield design as we know it today has evolved since then. For example, take a look at Tiger Eye:
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/intel- … 430vx-tiger-eye

It's ATX, however, the Dell and Gateway I/O shield designs at the time were proprietary and case specific. Your only option might be a DIY I/O shield depending upon the specific board you choose. It's something to be aware of.

Something else to consider is the chipset support in Windows 95 or perhaps more specifically, Intel Chipset INF utility (a.k.a. Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility) availability. Support for the 430xx chipset disappeared quickly. By version 3.20.1008 (2001), only 430TX was still supported:
https://downloads.bl4ckb0x.de/downloadcenter. … /eng/readme.txt

UNIX is a simple, coherent system that pushes a few good ideas and models to the limit.
Ritchie, D. M. Reflections on Software Research. Commun. ACM 27, 8 (August 1984), 758-760.

Reply 4 of 6, by Bruno128

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DesktopDynamite wrote on 2025-08-31, 20:22:

Case form factor, required will be in the ATX form, looking for the InWin A500 or V500.

Which motherboards do you recommend?

Those cases have removable trays most of which have screw standoffs for both ATX and babyAT sized motherboards. That means you are not limited by that factor.

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Reply 5 of 6, by Pino

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Get a super socket 7 Motherboard, they work great with Pentium 1s and if you feel the need for more power in the future you can install a K6-2 or a 2+

Reply 6 of 6, by DesktopDynamite

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Thanks for your replies, eventually I got an AT case now and 2x Socket 7 motherboards.

Details posted in the below link:
Re: Pentium MMX build

TIA