VOGONS

Super Socket 7 AT build

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First post, by th1r5bvn23

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I was inspired by the famous PhilComputerLab's 3-in-1 SS7 build and wanted one since 2019. Not until recently I finally made my mind to build one. This post is a showcase of my choices of hardware and the final result.

CPU: AMD K6-2+ 500
It's cheap. I know it's not logical but it was sold at a lower price than any other frequency of K6-2 or other variants. This is the star of the show, which made it possible to build an 3-in-1 machine.

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Motherboard: FIC VA-503+ (1MB cache)
This is one of, if not the most, best-selling SS7 boards back in the day. It's feature-rich and stable. VIA MVP3 is the best SS7 chipset. I've tried ALi M1541 from an ASUS P5A rev1.06, but it runs slower than the MVP3 even with proper resistor mod. The MVP3 is also less troublesome than its ALi counterpart in terms of AGP implementation.

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RAM: 128MB SDRAM PC133 from Ramaxel
Sadly I didn't take a picture of this RAM module. The chips are from Hynix and runs super stable at 2-2-2 timings.

Video card: 3dfx Voodoo3 2000 @ 166MHz (V3 3000 speed)
The best video card for SS7 platform. Period. This card is a V3 2000 flashed with V3 3000's BIOS by one of the previous owners. According to some information, a V3 2000 uses lower voltage than a 3000 and is therefore cooler. The overclock is super stable and I didn't notice any problem.

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Sound card: YMF719 by Labway
This is the only ISA sound card I have with a nice, clean and balanced output. I also have 2 ES1868 cards but they sounded too filtered in lower frequency which I don't like. In my perception, Labway cards are high-quality and redemption from the past.

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Wave table: SAM2695, hobbyist-made
I used to have an NEC XR385 (Yamaha DB60XG rebranded) but it's too big for this sound card. I came across this hobbyist-made SAM2695 module which looks tiny. I'm satisfied with it's MIDI quality and I think it's enough for my enjoyment.

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AMD K6-2+ 500, FIC VA-503+ (1MB cache), 128MB SDRAM PC100, Voodoo3 3000 AGP, Labway Yamaha YMF719 with SAM2695

Reply 1 of 7, by th1r5bvn23

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Network card: 3Com 3C905
According to this post, 3C905 without any suffix has the least performance impact on a low-performance platform like SS7. I also flashed plop boot manager onto the card but I don't think it's useful to me, however.

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Storage:
3.5" floppy disk drive: Samsung SFD-321B
5.25" floppy disk drive: Mitsumi D905V2
CD-ROM drive: Sony CDU5221
Hard disk: Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 80GB IDE
The hard disk drive is the only 2 IDE drives I have on hand. The other one is also 80GB from Western Digital. The Maxtor one runs more silently. The latest beta BIOS of FIC VA-503+ support hard drives more than 64GB, otherwise it will stuck at the POST screen.

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Case: no-name low-quality case
I don't have other choices as the price of an old AT-style case is rather high these days. The case looks OK, though warped in many locations. I'll give it a pass since its tolerance is better than the other ATX case I use.

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PSU: FSP SPI-300G
NOS AT power supply from a big brand. The case came with one originally but I don't trust it and even didn't bother testing that one.

Final build:

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AMD K6-2+ 500, FIC VA-503+ (1MB cache), 128MB SDRAM PC100, Voodoo3 3000 AGP, Labway Yamaha YMF719 with SAM2695

Reply 2 of 7, by th1r5bvn23

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The keyboard is a Fujitsu FKB4726.

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AMD K6-2+ 500, FIC VA-503+ (1MB cache), 128MB SDRAM PC100, Voodoo3 3000 AGP, Labway Yamaha YMF719 with SAM2695

Reply 3 of 7, by kiacadp

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Lovely PC. A nice, clean build.
Parts fit well with each other and you can always slowdown those "+" CPU's via software if you ever need to.
Some benchmarks?

Reply 4 of 7, by ksiumaxx

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A really cool PC. I have to finally get to work and do something with an AMD K6 I have lying around, but firstly I need to finish a Pentium 133MMX build I'm currently working on, which I'll do a post about soon.
Anyways, you got any CPU cooler recommendations? I can't find one that will fit the Socket 7; even though people say that Socket 370 coolers should work, all the ones I have don't fit.

Reply 5 of 7, by Intel486dx33

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That’s NOT enough cooling.
The AMD K6 runs HOT and so Does the Voodoo.
I would remove the hood of your case for now.
But you want a Good CPU Cooler.
Also you want to get a fan for your Voodoo card. That Voodoo chip gets very HOT.
Maybe $20 for a CPU cooler
$10 for a Voodoo fan 20mm x 40mm with Molex connector.
$10 for a fan Speed controller Molex

Reply 6 of 7, by bertrammatrix

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Intel486dx33 wrote on 2025-06-01, 00:06:
That’s NOT enough cooling. The AMD K6 runs HOT and so Does the Voodoo. I would remove the hood of your case for now. But you wan […]
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That’s NOT enough cooling.
The AMD K6 runs HOT and so Does the Voodoo.
I would remove the hood of your case for now.
But you want a Good CPU Cooler.
Also you want to get a fan for your Voodoo card. That Voodoo chip gets very HOT.
Maybe $20 for a CPU cooler
$10 for a Voodoo fan 20mm x 40mm with Molex connector.
$10 for a fan Speed controller Molex

That is period correct cooling 😀

Personally I prefer passive heatsinks so I'd probably leave the one on the voodoo alone, however a fan mounted at the front of the case blowing towards the CPU/graphics would probably be a good idea along with leaving the slot cover directly under the graphics card off

Reply 7 of 7, by Intel486dx33

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Heat raises to the Top of the case.
It’s Amazing what a small fan can do to help keep a chip cool.
I am not kidding. Those Voodoo cards are getting hard to find in working condition because they had engineering, design, and manufacturing problems.
That why allot of them burn out because they over heat.
The 3dfx chip gets very hot, So does the MOSFET.
Also these cards where created with baked on components to the Circuit board.
This process of baking the components did not work very well maybe bad solder compound, equipment, or baking duration
This was the manufacturing plague that effected allot of PCI and AGP cards in the 1990’s.
But for what ever reason allot of these board fail Also baked on memory chips solder joints break so they stop working.
That’s when you see Artifacting.
The 3dfx chips were baked on with solder balls and flux.
When the solder ball connection breaks you will not get any output from the video card.
When the card over heats it causes the capacitors to burst and leak their stuff onto the circuit board and it eats away at the traces destroying them.

So a small investment in good ventilation and cooling will help prolong the life of you computer
And help keep it running at its optimal performance for a longer duration.

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