VOGONS


First post, by andre_6

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Hello everyone,

I have the chance to buy a Soltek SL-65KV2-T socket 370 motherboard, and I would like your help in finding the best or most adequate Pentium III CPU for it, or a few references to guide my search: https://www.cnet.com/products/soltek-sl-65kv2 … et-370-pro133t/

Just want a stable and fast late 90's build so I can use the configuration for years to come, I have not any intention (or indeed knowledge) to overclock it.

I also have two RAM units of 512mb each, would you recommend getting one extra to max it out at the board's 1.5GB?

This PC would be used as my Win98SE gaming build. DOS games compatibility is not much of a priority, I have an HP Vectra Pentium Pro for that.

Thank you so much for all your suggestions.

Best,
André

Last edited by andre_6 on 2020-08-20, 20:59. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 2 of 18, by andre_6

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darry wrote on 2020-08-20, 20:52:

Best CPU is a 1400MHz Tualatin with 512 cache .

More than 512MB with Windows 98SE makes it unstable unless patched . More than 512MB for Windows 9x is pointless, IMHO

Thank you for your fast reply, in my area I'm able to find Pentium III's between 500 and 866mhz, maybe a little more but definitely not a Tualatin! Should I go by the fastest or is there more to it than that?

Reply 3 of 18, by darry

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andre_6 wrote on 2020-08-20, 20:54:
darry wrote on 2020-08-20, 20:52:

Best CPU is a 1400MHz Tualatin with 512 cache .

More than 512MB with Windows 98SE makes it unstable unless patched . More than 512MB for Windows 9x is pointless, IMHO

Thank you for your fast reply, in my area I'm able to find Pentium III's between 500 and 866mhz. Should I go by the fastest or is there more to it than that?

My suggestion is to use what you can get cheaply for starters but keep an eye out for a 1400MHz Tualatin with 512k cache. IMHO, it is worth it . A good middle ground would be one of the Tualatin Celerons in the 1200MHz to 1400MHz range .

TLDR: IMHO, you are lucky to have a Tualatin capable board, get a Tualatin .

Reply 4 of 18, by andre_6

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darry wrote on 2020-08-20, 21:00:
andre_6 wrote on 2020-08-20, 20:54:
darry wrote on 2020-08-20, 20:52:

Best CPU is a 1400MHz Tualatin with 512 cache .

More than 512MB with Windows 98SE makes it unstable unless patched . More than 512MB for Windows 9x is pointless, IMHO

Thank you for your fast reply, in my area I'm able to find Pentium III's between 500 and 866mhz. Should I go by the fastest or is there more to it than that?

My suggestion is to use what you can get cheaply for starters but keep an eye out for a 1400MHz Tualatin with 512k cache. IMHO, it is worth it . A good middle ground would be one of the Tualatin Celerons in the 1200MHz to 1400MHz range .

TLDR: IMHO, you are lucky to have a Tualatin capable board, get a Tualatin .

I didn't realise it is such a find, thank you

Reply 5 of 18, by darry

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andre_6 wrote on 2020-08-20, 21:03:
darry wrote on 2020-08-20, 21:00:
andre_6 wrote on 2020-08-20, 20:54:

Thank you for your fast reply, in my area I'm able to find Pentium III's between 500 and 866mhz. Should I go by the fastest or is there more to it than that?

My suggestion is to use what you can get cheaply for starters but keep an eye out for a 1400MHz Tualatin with 512k cache. IMHO, it is worth it . A good middle ground would be one of the Tualatin Celerons in the 1200MHz to 1400MHz range .

TLDR: IMHO, you are lucky to have a Tualatin capable board, get a Tualatin .

I didn't realise it is such a find, thank you

Tualatin CPUs came out late in the Pentium 3 platform's existence . Most socket 370 boards do not go beyond Coppermine unless using expensive rare/adapters or a converter from a dude in Korea who still makes and sells thems as combos with a Tualatin CPU .

Reply 6 of 18, by andre_6

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darry wrote on 2020-08-20, 21:13:
andre_6 wrote on 2020-08-20, 21:03:
darry wrote on 2020-08-20, 21:00:

My suggestion is to use what you can get cheaply for starters but keep an eye out for a 1400MHz Tualatin with 512k cache. IMHO, it is worth it . A good middle ground would be one of the Tualatin Celerons in the 1200MHz to 1400MHz range .

TLDR: IMHO, you are lucky to have a Tualatin capable board, get a Tualatin .

I didn't realise it is such a find, thank you

Tualatin CPUs came out late in the Pentium 3 platform's existence . Most socket 370 boards do not go beyond Coppermine unless using expensive rare/adapters or a converter from a dude in Korea who still makes and sells thems as combos with a Tualatin CPU .

I have a GeForce 4 MX 440 that I was thinking of using for this PC, is it a good card for this build, or would you recommend a more powerful one?

Reply 7 of 18, by darry

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Again, a good start, but I would consider a Geforce 3, Geforce 4 Ti variant or even a mid to high end Geforce FX . That last one would be overkill, TBH, but I am happy with my FX 5900. Anything newer than that is likely to have either backward compatibility or stability issues .

The Geforce 4 MX family is a Geforce 2 on steroids, and is limited to a Directx7 feature set .

Reply 8 of 18, by andre_6

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darry wrote on 2020-08-20, 21:24:

Again, a good start, but I would consider a Geforce 3, Geforce 4 Ti variant or even a mid to high end Geforce FX . That last one would be overkill, TBH, but I am happy with my FX 5900. Anything newer than that is likely to have either backward compatibility or stability issues .

The Geforce 4 MX family is a Geforce 2 on steroids, and is limited to a Directx7 feature set .

Duly noted, it really is funny how I started from simply looking to replace a Celeron 600mhz CPU in an obscure Supergrace board model to talking about the type of build that would make me cry with joy as a child.

Thank you so much for all your help, really appreciate it!

Reply 9 of 18, by Repo Man11

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You know you're getting old when it seems like it was just the other day that Lin Lin adapters were inexpensive and readily available. But it was 2006 when I bought one for cheap to use on a Via chipset AT motherboard - it needed one to boot with a Coppermine CPU, but to my surprise, it also allowed me to use a 1.2 Tualatin Celeron. Now they seem to be as rare as hens teeth.

"I'd rather be rich than stupid" - Jack Handey

Reply 10 of 18, by darry

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Repo Man11 wrote on 2020-08-20, 22:29:

You know you're getting old when it seems like it was just the other day that Lin Lin adapters were inexpensive and readily available. But it was 2006 when I bought one for cheap to use on a Via chipset AT motherboard - it needed one to boot with a Coppermine CPU, but to my surprise, it also allowed me to use a 1.2 Tualatin Celeron. Now they seem to be as rare as hens teeth.

Time does fly indeed . I am really happy that the OP has a Tualatin capable board without the need for adapters . The only Tualatin adapter I personally really like is the PowerLeap one, because of it's VRM , which avoids stressing a board's integrated VRM by asking it to provide 1.5V or less . Anybody using a Tualatin adapter without it's own VRM should check that cooling on the board's own VRM is adequate, IMHO .

Reply 11 of 18, by darry

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andre_6 wrote on 2020-08-20, 21:27:
darry wrote on 2020-08-20, 21:24:

Again, a good start, but I would consider a Geforce 3, Geforce 4 Ti variant or even a mid to high end Geforce FX . That last one would be overkill, TBH, but I am happy with my FX 5900. Anything newer than that is likely to have either backward compatibility or stability issues .

The Geforce 4 MX family is a Geforce 2 on steroids, and is limited to a Directx7 feature set .

Duly noted, it really is funny how I started from simply looking to replace a Celeron 600mhz CPU in an obscure Supergrace board model to talking about the type of build that would make me cry with joy as a child.

Thank you so much for all your help, really appreciate it!

Happy to help !
Enjoy the experience and take your time if some stuff seems expensive . Deals still do happen if you wait.

Oh, and when buying inexpensive stuff, try to get always get a bit more than you need . Duds do happen .

Reply 12 of 18, by andre_6

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darry wrote on 2020-08-20, 23:08:
Happy to help ! Enjoy the experience and take your time if some stuff seems expensive . Deals still do happen if you wait. Oh, […]
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andre_6 wrote on 2020-08-20, 21:27:
darry wrote on 2020-08-20, 21:24:

Again, a good start, but I would consider a Geforce 3, Geforce 4 Ti variant or even a mid to high end Geforce FX . That last one would be overkill, TBH, but I am happy with my FX 5900. Anything newer than that is likely to have either backward compatibility or stability issues .

The Geforce 4 MX family is a Geforce 2 on steroids, and is limited to a Directx7 feature set .

Duly noted, it really is funny how I started from simply looking to replace a Celeron 600mhz CPU in an obscure Supergrace board model to talking about the type of build that would make me cry with joy as a child.

Thank you so much for all your help, really appreciate it!

Happy to help !
Enjoy the experience and take your time if some stuff seems expensive . Deals still do happen if you wait.

Oh, and when buying inexpensive stuff, try to get always get a bit more than you need . Duds do happen .

Will do, thanks again!

Reply 13 of 18, by aureal

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That cnet site listed in the OP doesnt work anymore unfortunately.

Does anyone know what the difference is between the 65kv2-t and the 65kv2-ct ? And the 65kv2, if thats a different variant as well.

Does anyone have the full manual for the 65kv2-ct? Theres a partial manual for the ct at: https://www.driverguide.com/driver/detail.php … driverid=363366 but it's only one chapter and missing the specs and memory information. The multipliers are different but it has the same number of dip switches as the t so im wondering if its just an earlier release with a older bios. Can the ct take 1.4 tuatalins?

Reply 14 of 18, by PC Hoarder Patrol

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aureal wrote on 2022-04-28, 09:47:

That cnet site listed in the OP doesnt work anymore unfortunately.

Does anyone know what the difference is between the 65kv2-t and the 65kv2-ct ? And the 65kv2, if thats a different variant as well.

Does anyone have the full manual for the 65kv2-ct? Theres a partial manual for the ct at: https://www.driverguide.com/driver/detail.php … driverid=363366 but it's only one chapter and missing the specs and memory information. The multipliers are different but it has the same number of dip switches as the t so im wondering if its just an earlier release with a older bios. Can the ct take 1.4 tuatalins?

The T & CT variants do seem to be specced very similarly, though a quick look in the manuals show some minor differences in listed processor support - maybe just component refreshes? Don't think the 65KV2 supports Tualatin processors.

You can dowload the full manual chapters for the CT variant here (bottom of page) - https://web.archive.org/web/20040620091843/ht … _st=SL-65KV2-CT

Reply 15 of 18, by aureal

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I keep forgetting webarchive exists. Some of the chapters are not there so I couldnt get the full manual but from what I can see confuses me a little. The ct is listed in the specs to support faster processors but it also shows the t supporting bus ratios from 5.5x to 12x on unlocked cpus while the ct has 3x-7.5x shown. Will the ct still run a 1.4 tuatalin at 1.33 x 12 ? I cant tell which board is supposed to be better.

Reply 16 of 18, by flupke11

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aureal wrote on 2022-04-29, 16:00:

I keep forgetting webarchive exists. Some of the chapters are not there so I couldnt get the full manual but from what I can see confuses me a little. The ct is listed in the specs to support faster processors but it also shows the t supporting bus ratios from 5.5x to 12x on unlocked cpus while the ct has 3x-7.5x shown. Will the ct still run a 1.4 tuatalin at 1.33 x 12 ? I cant tell which board is supposed to be better.

As far as I know and as far as my experience with them goes, Tualatins will disregard the set multiplier on the motherboard. The 1,4 will run at FSB*10.5.

Overclocking is only possible by increasing FSB speed: 150*10,5=1575MHz

Reply 17 of 18, by PC Hoarder Patrol

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aureal wrote on 2022-04-29, 16:00:

I keep forgetting webarchive exists. Some of the chapters are not there so I couldnt get the full manual but from what I can see confuses me a little. The ct is listed in the specs to support faster processors but it also shows the t supporting bus ratios from 5.5x to 12x on unlocked cpus while the ct has 3x-7.5x shown. Will the ct still run a 1.4 tuatalin at 1.33 x 12 ? I cant tell which board is supposed to be better.

Try this 😀

Filename
Soltek 65kv2-ct (Full Manual).zip
File size
1.94 MiB
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41 downloads
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Fair use/fair dealing exception

Reply 18 of 18, by aureal

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Flupke11 - Awesome. It's good to know the ct can take advanatage of the 1.4 tualatin and o/c it as well. I was worried that would be past the limitations of the board. I'll try to find a nice taulatin to put in the ct that i have. Right now it has a 866mhz p3 running at 6.5x.

PC Hoader Patrol - Thank you so much. That fills in the missing gaps in the manual for me. :D