I say go for it. I love the coin cell and the 496 chipset rocks.

UMC is a faster chipset from my testing, you can run a voodoo card in the sis if you want to mess around with that sort of thing, personally I'd go for the UMC as I have an adapter that can run PS2 mice/keyboards and 3D cards aren't practical for this kind of CPU anyway.

dirkmirk wrote:

I have an adapter that can run PS2 mice/keyboards

Like a ISA card with PS/2 ports or just a regular DIN -> PS/2 adapter?

Probably that dual PS/2 cable with active circuitry.

I understand UMC is a good chipset, but replacing the battery is a huge pain, i dont have the proper tools.

I have a board based on a 85C496 chipset (Chaintech 486SPM) and although I only used it briefly for testing it handled everything I threw at it (I didn't had a 5x86 at the time though). The coin cell battery is definitely an advantage, and if it has a PS/2 port even better.

Even if the UMC board is faster I doubt you'll notice any difference. However, I haven't done any comparison tests between those two chipsets. Someone else may have more information.

Stojke wrote:

replacing the battery is a huge pain, i dont have the proper tools.

What do you mean, you can buy a new RTC and replace it, or is there no RTC socket?
Opening up the Odin to replace the battery is troublesome i agree, you need to use a dremel and patience for that purpose.

There is no socket, and its confined inbetween ISA and PCI slot, and a jumpers.
I dont have an good desoldering tool 😒