So should I scrap this Cyrix?

[Kdwom]

Hmm. Got this cute little thing called a Cyrix in my donataion pile. Works like a charm but...of course I find no updates I want and I start reading about it and OOPS comes to mind. I fear to tread there. I really do. Thinking about cannabalizing the thing even tho it runs well enough for the beginners. Just cause they always come running back if they have a probelm...ANY problem, hehe. Or should I give it to the computer museum here in Montana?

[david eaton]

Personally, I would either scrap it or donate it to a museum.
Never had any success with those chips. there always seemed to be some basic incompatabilty issues with any variety of windows.

[pentachris]

Never had any success with those chips. there always seemed to be some basic incompatabilty issues with any variety of windows.
As well as a propensity to run hot...

[saphalline]

What kind of Cyrix chip is it? If it's one of the old 5x86 models, then dump it (and replace it with a Pentium). If it's one of the newer MII's, I say keep it. Those models were very reliable with proper cooling (they do tend to get a bit hot but not outrageously so).

[Kdwom]

For one thing it calls itself a 188/266.......so what IS it in comparison to the Pentium line? Then there is the fact that I find absolutely nothing about it anywhere online, a few old sites have dead links...I can see myself giving it to someone who falls in love and then if it poof's...I am already coming up dry on the specs and techs of it, seems a dead end road. Changing over to a Pentium, if I can find it's match, seems a less painful way to go.

[saphalline]

It runs at 188MHz (I believe it's 2.5x on a 75MHz FSB) but it has a PR ("Pentium Rating") of 266MHz. Of course, this is in comparison to a 266MHz original Pentium (P54CS/CQS core) and not a speed that desktop Pentiums ever reached. If it does require an odd FSB, such as 75MHz, then it may or may not be supported by a standard Pentium-class mobo. And it's definitely not a Cyrix MII, which ran in competition against the Pentium II in the 266-366MHz range.

I say put it in a museum and get a real Pentium instead. An old non-Intel CPU like that is kind of risky for reliability.

[Kdwom]

I just opened up another. You may have thought this was a computer for me but it's a donation, I fix donated computers and give them to the handicapped and poor. I felt this might not be one to put out there although many of my people have never used a computer and need about anything to start with.
You solved that question.
Now I have another...about a K6 supposedly but the bios gives an option to id it as a Cyrix....will have to hook it up again and get the specifics on it.

[mjc]

A deep picture frame, some foamboard and a couple more of them and you can have a pretty nice wall plaque.

[saphalline]

Look here (http://www.sheaiden.com/AMDArch.php#k6) for info on the AMD K6 series. This is the website that Orion and I put together. Lots of good info although it does need to be updated again.

As you can see, the K6 was actually a darn good little Pentium clone. It's equipped with MMX and has a huge amount of cache as compared to a normal Pentium. If you can get it to work, I say go for it. The only barrier you may run into on a standard Socket 7 mobo is the fact that the core voltage is so low. The 233MHz version is on par with most Pentium's with its 3.3V core voltage, but the others vary from 2.9V down to 2.2V depending on the core revision. Either way, the K6 processor itself will have the settings it needs printed right on it. If you can configure the mobo to match those settings, you should be good to go!

[Kdwom]

Thanks for the comic relief mjc, I needed that. You guys are reminding me how much I miss the biz...well, not the biz so much as the techs. Saph, you antiicipated a K6 450 that was confusing me when it ran so low on the bench, this chomper was irritating me no end. I'm getting past the easy fixes :rolleyes: into the problem children now, that link is wonderful, thanks. So is the forum.