Recommend a good socket7 mobo for a Pentium Processor

[EvilDonnyboy]

I wanna replace the fried motherboard in my pentium system. Everything else if fine, except the mobo.

Its stuff are:
Pentium 200 (non-mmx)
2X 16mb EDO Simms
6.4gb ATA-66 Fujitsu HD
isa generic sound card
isa SMC 10baseT NIC
isa USR 56K voice modem

Can you guys recommend a good mobo for me? Overclocking settings would be a plus. It doesn't have to be EDO simm compatible, as i can get a 64mb PC66 sdram dimm for cheap.

 

[EvilDonnyboy]

c'mon, somebody here must remember the pentium days...

 

[EvilDonnyboy]

i'll bump twice mor

 

[MasterMind]

Computer Surplus Outlet is a good place to get parts for old systems. The Tyan board looks pretty sweet for $60.00.

 

[Cosmic_Horror]

anything with a TX chipset should be fine :&quot

 

[cockeyed]

An Abit IT5H would be my pick if you could find one. I had this mobo with a P200MMX, and at the time, many people considered it the King of the hill; very fast and stable. Tom's Hardware and Anand might still have their review available.

 

[oldfart]

Check the for sale/trade board. I just sold one recently for $25. There are usually a few over there for cheap.

 

[EvilDonnyboy]

could you guys please sort these chipsets from best to worst(presumable also latest to earliest):

-HX
-TX
-Triton.

 

[GustySoul]

Hey EvilDonnyboy,

"Triton" was not a specific chipset, it was a a name used to refer to all the Intel chipsets. If I remember right (correct me if I'm wrong) the Socket 7 Itel chipsets were in order of appearence...

430 FX
430 HX - 430 VX
430 TX

The TX was the latest and, I believe, most advanced chipset, though I remember some saying it really wasn't any better than the HX. The VX was actually a low end version of the HX. Hope that helps. Oh and if your not tight on cash, I recommend the Epox MVP3G2 / MVP3G5 motherboard based on the VIA MVP3 chipsets. They are Socket 7, and they are a quick upgrade path to the AMD K6-X processors if your friend ever wants to upgrade. Best Super Socket 7 boards ever in my opinion.

obispo21

 

[oldfart]

I like HX. VX and TX have a 64 meg cacheable memory limitation, which sucks if you want to put >64 meg of ram in it. The HX doesn't have that problem. The TX has UDMA33, the VX and HX are PIO 4 max.

 

[EvilDonnyboy]

Ok thanks guys.

btw, it's my system. "fried" isn't typo for friend. I fried the mobo, so it is no longer functioning. The manual said it was a "triton II", though i remember reading somewhere that there is no such thing as a triton II and that it has to do with some kind of marketing crap. Sandra says it's an HX chipset, though sandra is unreliable.

I got a baby-at case (a mini mini-case) so the Abit IT5H is outta the question, since it's supposed to be bigger than most AT boards.

I'm looking at the Aopen AP5T, a TX board, since its in baby-AT form, supports ATA-33 and Tom's ancient socket7 round-up says it performs near the top of the pack.

The 64mb limit don't bother me, because i'll prolly just use my current pair of 16mb edo simms.

 

[oldfart]

Sounds good.

 

[cockeyed]

As already said, the TX is the newest and is a good chipset, but a lot of people still feel that the HX was the best chipset during that time. Just as today, the i815 is the latest and greatest, but the older 440BX still is considered a terrific chipset. The Abit IT5H has an HX chipset but they also made a TX5 mobo with the TX chipset that was also very good. My preference would be the HX if I had a choice.

 

[GustySoul]

I'm guessing Sandra is probably right and it was an HX chipset.

"Triton" was often used to refer to the FX, Triton II to the HX (VX?) and Triton III to the (TX) though by the
time the TX came around, I think the nomenclature had sort of died out, or it might not have been officially used by Intel.

obispo21

 

[Pederv]

I like the Epox MVP3G5. I currently have a K6-3-450 running at 500 on it, but it will support the old pentiums. It will also give you the option to upgrade your cpu, if you desire. With this board you could try running your old 200 at 100 X 2, and with the 2MB L2 cache it'll help your performance a little.

 

[MasterMind]

The VIA MVP3 chipset supports AGP 2x and ATA-66. It gives a little more room for upgrades over the 430 TX boards if you don't mind going away from Intel. My personal preference is for Tyan but that's only because I haven't used a Epox before.

 

[Pederv]

I had a Tyan 1598, it didn't like the Asus 6600 Gforce. So I slapped a Rage 128 in it and gave it to the kid, she plays 2D games and watches DVD so it does what she wants.

 

[jamarno]

Some very old motherboards, including the Abit IT5h before version 2 and the Tyan Tomcat before ver 4, use a linear voltage regulator for the CPU that may overheat if used with a Cyrix or K6 CPU and then short and expose the CPU to a full 5 volts. Look for a donut with some thick wire wrapped around it, a sign that the voltage regulator is the switching type.

The FIC PA-2007 is one of the better choices among older boards, but if you can't find it cheap, it's probably better to get their VA-503+, which Fry's often has on sale with a 333 MHz K6-3 for $79.

You may be able to restore your current motherboard by replacing the large transistors (transistors that work in pairs usually short out together) and large capacitors next to them (cylindrical). Companies like www.bdent.com have them cheap.

 

[Workin']

I have and like the SOYO 5EHM super socket 7 board. MVP3 chipset, lots of settings, etc. I have one running a K6-2/550 as one of my secondary computers and it's been excellent. I did a lot of research, and if you need an AT form factor SS7 board, this is one you should seriously consider.