FIC PA-2013 : 100MHz X 2x =600HMZ ???

I would go for the K6-3 450 over the K6-2 500, even at stock speed. The
added cache of the K6-3 should more than make up for the difference in
clockspeed.

Running a BBS? People still do that?! ;-)

--Alex



Gibby wrote:
> Kyle, Alex, et al:
> Thanks for all your thorough comments. I do have a last question for
> now. Running an FIC PA-2013, do you think that an AMD K6-2/500MHz or a
> K6-3/450MHz would give the best performance for running a bulletin
> board (BBS). The K6-3/450 is a 2.2 voltage cpu (not a plus). I was
> thinking that running the K6-3/450 at 500 (100Mhz X 5x) might not
> require an increase in voltage, being such a small increase. If I could
> do yhis, then the obvious choice would be the K6-3 cpu. Remarks
> welcome.
> Best regards, Gibby
> Kylesb wrote:
>
>>"Gibby" <> wrote in message
>>news: groups.com...
>>| Kyle:
>>| I did SYSID benchmark on each setting and the results were:
>>| Using 100MHz X 5.5x =550 I got 559 CPU and 265/379 CPU/MMX
>>| Using 95MHz X 6.0x = 570 I got 578 CPU and 245/353 CPU/MMX
>>| I'm not quite sure what to make of the results. Which of the two is
>>| the better benchmark?
>>| Gibby
>>|
>>
>>The down side of the 95 MHz FSB is the PCI bus will run at 95/3 or
>>31.67 MHz and the memory and cache will run 5% slower. Thus, PCI bus
>>transfers will be ever so slightly slower. However, actual CPU
>>internal computational speed will be a bit higher. I have no idea
>>what the Sysid benchmarks represent or measure. With my systems, I
>>prefer to run 550 MHz with 100 MHz FSB versus the 95 MHZ FSB and 570
>>MHz CPU speed. However, I got that 1 k62+ CPU that likes to run at
>>95. In addition, I have a couple of Jbond MVP3 mobos (both still
>>running I might add) and neither board was properly designed to run
>>100 MHz FSB (I had to add a jumper to the mobo to enable running the
>>memory and FSB at the same speed, seems the designers omitted the
>>jumper b/c the boards were not a stable design at 100 MHz). I still
>>have a spare 503+ and a spare Soyo 5EHM that are just hanging out,
>>lol.
>>
>>With the price of a 1600 Duron at about $40 that will easily
>
> overclock
>
>>to 2000 MHz, and refurb nforce2 mobos from newegg at $35, the old k6+
>>CPUs are looking mighty slow nowadays.
>>--
>>Best regards,
>>Kyle
>
>

You can find brand new nForce2 boards starting around $55 at Newegg or
$60 at ZipZoomFly. Obviously, the more bells and whistles you add, the
higher the price, and brand always influences price. You will find that
pretty much all of them come with integrated LAN, audio, USB, etc. Some
add Serial ATA, Firewire, and hardware audio. For most people, though,
the "software" integrated audio of the cheaper boards is adequate...
integrated audio is better now than it used to be.

If you are looking more for features than pure speed, you may also
consider motherboards based on the VIA KT600 and KT880 chipsets. Those
have more features built into the chipset directly (like Serial ATA).
In terms of speed, though, nForce2 > KT880 > KT600.

You can buy a Socket A Sempron or Athlon XP processor starting at around
$60. The faster you want, the more $$$ you have to spend. For RAM, you
can get 512 MB PC3200 (DDR400) for about $70-$80. I have had good luck
with both Crucial and Corsair Value Select.

At this point, you may almost consider jumping all the way up to an
Athlon 64. Socket 754 motherboards have come down under $70, and even
Socket 939 (the wave of the future) can be found below $90. The problem
is that the CPUs are more expensive, with Socket 754 starting around
$125 and Socket 939 starting around $165. They do take the same PC3200
memory, though.

If you have fairly new Antec cases, you should be fine. All of these
motherboards come with the same basic ATX form factor as the PA-2013.
The main thing to watch out for is the power supply, since all these
CPUs do require more power than the K6-3. Fortunately, Antec does make
good power supplies. What size PSU do you have? Does it have a P4
power plug?

--Alex



Gibby wrote:
> Kyle:
> Thank you for the more detailed information on brands of Nforce2
> MB's.
> What is a fair price for one of these? Will it fit in systems that
> currently use the FIC PA-2013 MB? What would be your choice of CPU's
> and Ram for the Nforce2? I use nice Antec ATX cases, so I'm hoping they
> would accommodate the Nforce2 as I gradually change over.
> Have a great day!
> Gibby
> Kylesb wrote:
>
>>Nforce2 is a chipset made by Nvidia. There are countless mobos using
>>this chipset from all the top manufacturers. The "best" version is
>>the 400 MHz capable version coupled with the MCP-T southbridge, which
>>includes the "Soundstorm" audio and Firewire built in. One example
>
> is
>
>>the Asus A7N8X-DLX and another is the Abit A7N (think that's right).
>>
>>--
>>Best regards,
>>Kyle
>>"Gibby" <> wrote in message
>>news: groups.com...
>>| Alex:
>>| Does the Nforce2 have different revisions ( like the Pa-2013 does,
>>| 2.1 being the newest)? If so, what Rev. is best?
>>| Thanks again.
>>| Gibby
>>|
>
>

All this talk about nForce2 motherboards prods me into submitting my $0.02
worth. I built a system awhile back for a friend of my wife, using a
Biostar M7NCD Pro motherboard, which uses the nForce2 Ultra400 chipset. It
has an Athlon XP Barton 2500+ (unlocked version) and 512MB of GeiL PC3200
dual-channel DDR (it was on sale at Newegg) and it runs at 400MHz FSB
without batting an eyelash. XP3200+ equivalent for about $250 when I bought
the above components. The CPU was used, of course, but works fine.
Robert
"Kylesb" <> wrote in message
news:...
> "Gibby" <> wrote in message
> news: ups.com...
> | Alex:
> | I'm using a K6-III/450+ cpu and I can get 550 MHz from it using the
> | standard v2.0. I can also get the 570 at v2.0 (using 95 X 6). I'm
> also
> | able to enable many settings in BIOS rather than disable them. Now,
> | having said that, I got 600 to work using v2.2, but it took about 15
> | minutes for everything to load properly. EXTREMELY slow.
> | Found myself having to disable this and that.
> | After thinking about it, I decided that I had benefitted nicely from
> | the cooler CPU (v2.0) and additional speed increase of 550, plus
> | stability, so I've decided not to pursue 600, even though I think I
> | could get it working with lots of man hours.
> | Always appreciate your replies as well as the others. Many thanks,
> | Gibby
> |
>
> If the system ran slower at 600Mhz, then there was a serious problem,
> don't bother with 600, it's not worth corrupting your HD.
>
> Most all of the Nforce2 mobos (that I am aware of ) have onboard NIC
> and audio that both work nicely. One trend I've noticed is the
> dropping of a serial port for more USB ports, which is good unless you
> still have a need for 2 serial ports. The answer to your questions
> about features of newer mobos are easily answered by browsing
> newegg.com. The ECS K7S5A is the best bang for the buck to use pc133
> memory with an AMD CPU. This board has audio and NIC. I have one, it
> worked well for quite some time. However, the nforce2 mobos with 400
> MHz ram speed and dual channel memory are quite a bit faster by
> comparison to the older 133/266 speed boards.
> --
> Best regards,
> Kyle
>

No, you can't fit modern ATX motherboards in older cases (like the one for your
PA2013) because of the I/O plates newer motherboards require. It's strange how
the ATX standard became non-standard isn't it? I wonder if the newer A64
motherboards will fit in the same case that my Abit NF7s v2.0 does?

>Kyle:
>Thank you for the more detailed information on brands of Nforce2
>MB's.
>What is a fair price for one of these? Will it fit in systems that
>currently use the FIC PA-2013 MB? What would be your choice of CPU's
>and Ram for the Nforce2? I use nice Antec ATX cases, so I'm hoping they
>would accommodate the Nforce2 as I gradually change over.
>Have a great day!
>Gibby


-Bill (remove "botizer" to reply via email)

If the I/O plate is removable, I don't understand why one cannot use
an older ATX case. Heck, I have an old Enlight AT mid-tower case that
has a removable I/O plate (sort of a universal box, it accepted AT and
ATX mobos, and with the right I/O plate, don't see why a new ATX mobo
won't work, of course I'll need a new PS and a new power switch).

--
Best regards,
Kyle
"Wblane" <> wrote in message
news:...
| No, you can't fit modern ATX motherboards in older cases (like the
one for your
| PA2013) because of the I/O plates newer motherboards require. It's
strange how
| the ATX standard became non-standard isn't it? I wonder if the newer
A64
| motherboards will fit in the same case that my Abit NF7s v2.0 does?
|
| >Kyle:
| >Thank you for the more detailed information on brands of Nforce2
| >MB's.
| >What is a fair price for one of these? Will it fit in systems that
| >currently use the FIC PA-2013 MB? What would be your choice of
CPU's
| >and Ram for the Nforce2? I use nice Antec ATX cases, so I'm hoping
they
| >would accommodate the Nforce2 as I gradually change over.
| >Have a great day!
| >Gibby
|
|
| -Bill (remove "botizer" to reply via email)

In article <>, Kylesb <>
writes
>If the I/O plate is removable, I don't understand why one cannot use
>an older ATX case. Heck, I have an old Enlight AT mid-tower case that
>has a removable I/O plate (sort of a universal box, it accepted AT and
>ATX mobos, and with the right I/O plate, don't see why a new ATX mobo
>won't work, of course I'll need a new PS and a new power switch).
>
Is the I/O plate an essential requirement?
--
Roger Hunt

I don't suppose that it's really essential... It has 3 major functions:
1) provide a supplemental ground path for the connector shells of all the
PCB mounted connectors (KB/Mouse, USB, LPT, Serial, Sound, etc) on the
motherboard;
2) Seal the opening in the case which these connectors protrude through from
air leaks (OK, not much of a seal) to aid proper airflow;
3) (for newbies) identify the connectors on the exterior of the case.
I guess if you didn't have the correct one, and just wanted to cover the
opening in the case, you could cover it with duct tape and use a hobby knife
to cut out the openings for the connectors.
Robert
"Roger Hunt" <> wrote in message
news:x5MKKKAcqYBCFw$...
> In article <>, Kylesb <>
> writes
> >If the I/O plate is removable, I don't understand why one cannot use
> >an older ATX case. Heck, I have an old Enlight AT mid-tower case that
> >has a removable I/O plate (sort of a universal box, it accepted AT and
> >ATX mobos, and with the right I/O plate, don't see why a new ATX mobo
> >won't work, of course I'll need a new PS and a new power switch).
> >
> Is the I/O plate an essential requirement?
> --
> Roger Hunt

In article <GQiNd.13875$uc.12905@trnddc08>, Robert Akins
<> writes
>"Roger Hunt" <> wrote in message
>news:x5MKKKAcqYBCFw$...
>> >
>> Is the I/O plate an essential requirement?

>I don't suppose that it's really essential... It has 3 major functions:
>1) provide a supplemental ground path for the connector shells of all the
>PCB mounted connectors (KB/Mouse, USB, LPT, Serial, Sound, etc) on the
>motherboard;
>2) Seal the opening in the case which these connectors protrude through from
>air leaks (OK, not much of a seal) to aid proper airflow;
>3) (for newbies) identify the connectors on the exterior of the case.
>I guess if you didn't have the correct one, and just wanted to cover the
>opening in the case, you could cover it with duct tape and use a hobby knife
>to cut out the openings for the connectors.

That's three good reasons. Thanks
--
Roger Hunt

Kyle: I'm using the newer ANTEC cases - one a SLK2600AMB (300 watt)
super mini tower case and the SLK3700AMB (350 watt) super mid tower
case. Just seems likt they'd support Nforce2 MB's.
Not sure though.
Gibby

Gibby, it just so happens that the system I put together in the earlier
post, is in an Antec SLK2600AMB. Works fine (with the Biostar M7NCD Pro,
anyway).
Robert
"Gibby" <> wrote in message
news: oups.com...
> Kyle: I'm using the newer ANTEC cases - one a SLK2600AMB (300 watt)
> super mini tower case and the SLK3700AMB (350 watt) super mid tower
> case. Just seems likt they'd support Nforce2 MB's.
> Not sure though.
> Gibby
>