What motherboard size will fit?

[Kalannar]

Hey everyone,
I'm new to the boards and I have a question. I have an old Pentium computer that I bought 5 years ago. I want to build a new machine but the wife doesn't like the idea. She wants to buy a complete system or upgrade what we have. Don't ask or this post will last forever. What I need to know is, can I get newer boards that will fit into a Baby AT form factor case. I don't care if I have to replace power supply but modifying the case is out of the question. I have a 233mmx in a Mini Tower (3 5 1/4" and 2 3 1/2" bays) already and this board is maxed out with ram and everything so what is the fastest processor that I can get for this type of tower. Any help is appreciated. I know what components I want for a new system but she doesn't like the idea of buying it one at a time.
Thanks
Mike


"That which does not kill us, strengthens us!"

 

[PCcashCow]

Just try getting a bare bones system from tcwo.com, tigerdirect.com or newegg.com. They do need some hads on, so you can handle that. They are cheap all you need to add is some ram and a cpu most of the time and your all set. You can save money and at the same time not worrie yor wife about it.

Not worth messing with baby at or atx mods. In the long run your just digging yourself a hole.

-Tim

It seems that every time I reboot my wallet gets smaller.

 

[o1die]

Pricewatch lists several venders under each cpu type in the "pc kits" section.

 

[Kalannar]

Thanks,
I was trying to find a cheap and easy temporary solution until this winter when I will buy or hopefully build a new computer. I was thinking of getting a board with a K6-2 for now just to get up above the P2 requirements for some games I want.
Mike

"That which does not kill us, strengthens us!"

 

[Kalannar]

One other thing. This computer will be given to our daughter for her learning games which now require a P2 or above also. So it won't be a waste to upgrade this one a little farther.
Mike

"That which does not kill us, strengthens us!"

 

[jankphil]

let's see, you want a cheap system that will last you for about 6 months....can someone say e-bay? I don't know many places that still make P2/AMD K6/P3 systems anymore. You'll have to pretty much go to a small OEM dealer and have them build it =\

"What kind of idiot are you?"
"I don't know, what kinds are there?"

 

[Crashman]

You can probably use an AMD K6-2 400, 450, or 500 in the board you already have. Nice eh? Need instructions?

You could look around for an Asus P2B-B, which is the Baby ATX version of the P2B, has a BX chipset, and accepts PIII's up to 1000MHz.

You're more likely to find some cheap PC-Chips knockoff of the P2B-B, their are a lot floating around under various brand names

I once saw a Socket 462 AT board floating around also.

<font color=blue>By now you're probably wishing you had ask more questions first!</font color=blue>

 

[Kalannar]

I've read all the information for my motherboard and I had to go to there web site to get the jumper settings for my 233 upgrade because the book only listed to 200 (I bought it as a 133) How can you tell if it will support a k6-2?
Mike

"That which does not kill us, strengthens us!"

 

[Crashman]

What board? A lot of boards not made to support the K6-2 will anyway. I have about a dozen such systems in service right now, running the processor at 2.8v instead of 2.2v.

OK, K6-2 350 and faster will support a feature that makes 2x multiplier on the motherboard be interpreted as 6x by the CPU. So if you set your board at 133MHz processor settings, it comes up as 400MHz!

The K6-2 is made to run at 2.2v. The closer you can get to that voltage, the cooler it will run. Many PentiumMMX boards had 2.5v as well as 2.8v and 3.3/3.5v settings. So 2.8v will work, but 2.5v is better, and 2.2v is ideal

If you need to run higher than specified voltage, you'll need better than standard cooling. I recommend a $10 Athlon/Duron type socket cooler for this. While many people don't know this, these coolers will fit Socket 7 also. Even a cheap "Socket A" cooler is superior to a top notch "Socket 7" cooler.

So all you need to do is set the core voltage at 2.8v or less (2.8v is the norm for Pentium MMX aka P55C), set your multiplier to 2x, and add a large cooler. Then you can run a K6-2 at 400MHz.

If you have a higher bus speed available, you can run a faster CPU. Since 2x=6x, 6x66.6=400, 6x75=450, 6x83.3=500.

About 10% of the boards I've tried will not work with the K6-2 due to bios issues. Of the boards that do work, some will report the wrong speed in BIOS simply because the faster CPU is not in the BIOS CPU table, but this does not prevent them from operating at full speed. A windows program such as WCPUID will offer you proof that you're running at full speed in that situation.


<font color=blue>By now you're probably wishing you had ask more questions first!</font color=blue>

 

[Kalannar]

Thanks for the all the help Crashman. I have my dad sending me his old k6-2 400 hopefully this weekend and I'll try it out as soon as I get it. Thanks again.

"That which does not kill us, strengthens us!"

 

[Crashman]

Sure. Just make sure it's well cooled, and if you're one of the unlucky 10% with the BIOS problem, at least you won't damage it.

<font color=blue>By now you're probably wishing you had ask more questions first!</font color=blue>

 

[Kalannar]

Crashman,
The board I have is a Tekram P5V30-B4. I am pretty sure on this. I just looked it up on their website but it's the only model that matches mine. I just moved so all my computer manuals are still packed away. Do you know if this is one of those 10%? Thanks


"That which does not kill us, strengthens us!"

 

[Crashman]

In fact I don't. But I don't think it is.

<font color=blue>By now you're probably wishing you had ask more questions first!</font color=blue>

 

[Kalannar]

Thanks for the info. If it doesn't work what would you recommend for a extremely cheap but stable (yeah I know) motherboard and proccesor with case to replace my current setup?

I will reuse everything that I possibly can from my old system so these are the main components to replace.
"That which does not kill us, strengthens us!"<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Kalannar on 08/02/02 09:32 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Crashman]

I can recommend an MSI 745 Ultra ($65) and a Duron 1000 ($30).

<font color=blue>By now you're probably wishing you had ask more questions first!</font color=blue>

 

[Kalannar]

Thanks for the help Crashman. Hopefully my processor will be here sometime this week and I will be able to give your advice a shot. Thanks again.

"That which does not kill us, strengthens us!"

 

[Kalannar]

Hey Crashman,
I finally got the computer from my dad. I had to do a lot of searching but I found which motherboard is in it. A pcchips m598. From what I've read this is a piece of crap and explains all the problems my dad was having with it. I was possible going to use this board because of the dimm sockets but not anymore. I will try your suggestions on using the k6-2 400 in my existing motherboard. Thanks for all your help. I'll let you know how it goes.

"That which does not kill us, strengthens us!"

 

[Kalannar]

Crashman,
Thanks for the help. I got the processor in this weekend and works great. When it boots up it only registers at 66mhz but I ran WCPUID and it registers at 398mhz for a K6-2 400. Idid notice a little bit better performance but it still has simms so I think this machine is totally maxed out now. It only supports 128 mb ram. I wish I could use the other board but it is a PcChips board so I would rather have more stability rather than a little bit more speed. Thanks again for all your help.
Mike

"That which does not kill us, strengthens us!"