Need MicroATX motherboard with AGP 3.3v slot

JazzJackRabbit · Post by **JazzJackRabbit** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:28 am

Yeah, I know this is a very odd request, but I need a MicroATX motherboard that has AGP slot that can supply 3.3 volts.

For years I wanted to build game rig for old DOS games (such as Carmageddon, Gobliiins, Transport Tycoon Deluxe, Duke Nukem 3D, Need for Speed, etc, etc, etc). I actually do have it and it's working, along with all the components of companies long gone (Voodoo 5500, Aureal Vortex SQ2500), however the problem is that it's all very loud.

So what I want to do is build a microatx rig powered by a single fan only. I will replace fans on Voodoo 5500 with zalman NB heatsinks, install fanless PSU in a NSK3400 case, laptop hard drive and it's all will be cooled by one exhaust fan. In theory it should work alright. The biggest problem is the motherboard and CPU.

So here is what I need from motherboard:
1. Must be MicroATX
2. Must have AGP slot that can supply 3.3V (the only voltage Voodoo 5500 will accept)
3. CPU type doesn't really matter and I suppose the second requirement above will limit to socket A/370 anyway. However, if it's socket A motherboard, I would prefer if it could support AthlonXP-M for lower operating temperatures. I would also prefer if the socket orientation allowed me to install front to back heatsink (such as scythe Katana). I highly doubt that I can find P4/754/939 microATX motherboard with AGP 3.3v slot, but if those exist and can run Win98SE (I heard that Win98 cannot be installed on newer CPUs), those will be considered too.
4. If the motherboard has integrated NIC, that would be a definite plus too

I think this is all I really need. So, can anyone recommend such motherboard?

Max Slowik · Post by **Max Slowik** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:16 am

I know this is a complete divergence from what you're asking, but do you know about DOSBox?

Max Slowik · Post by **Max Slowik** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:35 am

I did a little reading and it seems you want a motherboard with an AGP 1x/2x slot, or universal 1/2/4x or 1/2/4/8x slot. The Voodoo 5s need that 1x/2x lovin'. Those are really hard to find; mostly you'll only find AGP 4x/8x 1.5 & .8V motherboards.

You're probably better off asking around to see if someone has one, here, or maybe on the [H]ard|OCP forum. I suspect that if you pay for shipping and packaging, you can get something for free.

jackylman · Post by **jackylman** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:43 pm

I MIGHT be able to help you out. It depends on whether you're willing to be flexible on the uATX thing.

I have a dormant PII-450 system (Asus P2B-VE mobo, 440BX chipset, 256MB PC100 SDRAM, 1 AGP 2x slot, 4 PCI slots, 1 ISA slot). It has been sitting in my basement for 2 years, so I would make sure it still works before shipping it out.

Looking around the web, it appears these boards are commanding quite a price (even more expensive than new budget mobos in some cases). I would be willing to let you have it for the cost of shipping since this is such a special project.

I also have the 145W LiteOn PSU that came with it (I'm guessing you can run it fanless as long as you get some airflow), a spare PCI 10/100 LAN card if you'd like it, and an Ensoniq AudioPCI ES1371 sound card (has an onboard amp that needs a special 24V plug, which is on the LiteOn PSU).

Let me know if you're interested.

JazzJackRabbit · Post by **JazzJackRabbit** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:11 pm

Max Slowik
I want something more than plain DOS box, if you noticed I've got Voodoo 5500 so I obviously want to take advantage of 3dfx enabled games such as Carmageddon and Need for Speed 2 SE both of which are 3dfx only. I don't think dosbox would be able to handle that.

jackylman
Thanks for the generous offer, but I have most of the stuff I need, I've got Voodoo 5500 videocard, I've got Aureal SQ2500 sound card, SDRAM/DDR memory and old 100MB NICs lying around (although I doubt I will connect that PC to network). I even got old P3 and Athlon-XP cpu's lying around that I can use if I can find suitable socket A/370 motherboard. I have spare laptop drive as well. Really, the only thing I need is suitable MicroATX motherboard, 3400 case, fanless power supply and heatsink all of which I can buy on my own.

At this point I'm not really asking for anything, I just want to know what motherboards are out there that I could use. I would prefer a socket 478 or 754 motherboard so that I could use passive ninja heatsink but I don't think there are any motherboards out there that still support AGP1/2x with 3.3V. I'd be happy if someone proved me wrong though. If I can't find such a motherboard I would be fine with Socket A motherboard (prefferably one that supports AthlonXP-M) or a socket 370 motherboard with front to back heatsink mount. Once I know what I'm looking for I can find it either for sale on ebay or some other hardware forum.

EDIT: I think my best bet would be i815 motherboard, that is unless someone can suggest more modern motherboard with AGP1x/2x support... Anybody?

bitpoh · Post by **bitpoh** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:51 pm

You may want to look for micro ATX Socket-A boards based on VIA KT333 chipset because they usually feature Universal AGP slots that would work with your Voodoo 5500. KT333 is arguably more modern than i815 because it supports DDR SDRAM wheras i815 is limited to SDR SDRAM.

The KM266 based Biostar M7VIG may also work:
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Biostar-M7VIG-P ... dZViewItem
More details here:
http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdetails.as ... 7vig+pro+d

jackylman · Post by **jackylman** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 4:06 pm

http://www.playtool.com/pages/agpcompat/agp.html
^^ The best explanation I've found as to what motherboards/chipsets you can use.

To summarize from the above:
Socket A - VIA KM266, SIS 735/745
Socket 370 - Intel 815E, VIA PM133

Thanks for the generous offer, but I have most of the stuff I need.

You're welcome, and if you can't find a mATX mobo and want mine, the offer still stands.

One possibility:
#1

hmsrolst · Post by **hmsrolst** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 5:04 pm

My son likes some DOS games from the early 90's, so I have a similar machine. I'm using an ASUS MEB-VM with a passively cooled Celeron 300A. I use a 6GB laptop HDD and a PCI Matrox G200, but it also has an AGP slot. I picked mine up on ebay a few years ago for about $20. Here's a link to the mobo:

http://support.asus.com/download/downlo ... uage=en-us

ASUS made a number of MATX boards that fit what you want and if you dig around you should be able to find one on ebay.

jackylman · Post by **jackylman** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 5:04 pm

bitpoh wrote:You may want to look for micro ATX Socket-A boards based on VIA KT333 chipset because they usually feature Universal AGP slots that would work with your Voodoo 5500. KT333 is arguably more modern than i815 because it supports DDR SDRAM wheras i815 is limited to SDR SDRAM.

Some of the boards built on that chipset are 1.5V only though, according to the source i linked to in the above post.

Fayd · Post by **Fayd** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 5:57 pm

i have an MSI km2m combo-L

it's a via km266 chipset.

but i'm hoping you'd take the processor with it

edit: i have an applebred duron 1.8ghz that's sitting in it right now...

along with some sticks of ram. btw, it will accept both SDram and DDR, 2 sticks of either.

JazzJackRabbit · Post by **JazzJackRabbit** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:44 am

Thanks for the answers everyone. I think my best bet would be to search for socket 370 i815 motherboards with front to back socket position. I got spare P3-800EB which is rated 21W heat envelope so they should be easily cooled with scythe katana by a 120mm exhaust fan.

So let me rephrase question, does anyone know i815 microatx socket 370 motherboard with front-to-back socket position and with cpu socket that isn't overly close to either edge (because there isn't much space in nsk3400)?

alglove · Post by **alglove** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 3:34 pm

It looks like there are a few AOpen MX3S motherboards available on eBay right now. Will those do?

Btw, on eBay, go to "Computers & Networking" --> " Desktop & Laptop Components" --> "Motherboards for Desktop PC" --> "Socket 370 Motherboard" and do a search on "AGP", including within the descriptions. Several other suitable motherboards may pop up.

hmsrolst · Post by **hmsrolst** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 3:59 pm

alglove wrote:It looks like there are a few AOpen MX3S motherboards available on eBay right now. Will those do?

I had an MX3S-T for awhile--it was a very nice board and, IIRC, it supported Tualatins.