Tod O'Brien

August 28, 2000

 

Eric,

 

Read your article on the ABIT BP6 and I have a quick (and perhaps silly) question.

 

My question is: Can Socket 7s be used in a board like the BP6?

 

I am finding alot on Socket 370 dual CPU boards. I want to put a pair of AMDK6-2 450s in an NT box, but am not finding anything stating S7, but a lot of S370, and they LOOK the same. Was wondering if they are.

 

I guess that I am clinging to the 'old school' when I continue to build boxes based on Socket 7 CPUs but they work great for what I need and if it ain’t broke, why try to fix it?!

 

Thanks.

 

Tod

 

Tod,
Unfortunately, socket7 will not work with that motherboard. I also think you should probably start thinking about moving to a new type of processor....
 
Duron and Athlon are excellent choices....as are the 533 to 800 MHZ Celerons and P3s.
 
Eric
 
(Note: I re-read the e-mail and then sent a follow-up)
 
Tod,
I was re-reading your e-mail and thought that since you are OK with AMD processors that you might want to consider a single processor Duron or Athlon system.
 
I think you will find that for the same amount of money as a dual Celeron system that you could get a faster single processor Athlon system. I'm going to do a new rev of the dual Celeron system and I think that a single processor Duron or Athlon will be a better bet even for a server. Also, if you wait another couple months, AMD will come out with their new dual processor chipset.
 
Eric

 

August 29, 2000

 

Eric,

I was wanting to do a dual AMD K62 box since I have one CPU doing nothing and can get another fairly cheap. I don't have any hard core alligence to Socket 7 stuff. I just have some laying around that works fine & thought I could put it to use. Thanks for the insight. I'll keep an eye on the site to see what you come up with.

Tod
 

Tod,
 
I don’t think anyone ever built a dual K6-2 motherboard.
That having been said, I think there are some good uses for a K6-2 box:
 
  • Domain Controller – There is nothing wrong with an inexpensive K6-2 being a DC.
  • Intranet Web Server or other low-volume web server.
  • Print Server
  • Firewall for up to a T-1 (a decent K6-2 should be adequate)
  • Server for a security system (I’m using a P200 for a 75 person company…why not a K6-2)
  • Setup with Linux or any other OS you want to learn about
  • A computer for Mom (she probably just needs to access the Internet and do a little word processing)
Sure, the box may not be good for application development, CAD or (dare I say) games, but this platform has certainly not gone the way of the 486….yet!!!
 
Sorry I couldn’t be more help…..
 
Eric Svetcov
 
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