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[tad214]

i have a tmc mobo. branded by kamtronics as megastar.
it has a pentium 75-200mhz processor on it. it has a
intel 82430hx chipset in it. it has 4 72 pin edo slots.
4 pci 2.1, 4 isa slots. my questions are, how can i get my
processor to run at 200mhz. also, how big of a cd-rom will this board support. basically what i am needing to know is, how much upgrading
can i do with this board and in what areas. here are some more specs:
onboard i/o smc 37665, two 16550 uarts, epp/ecp,usb
baby at form factor.
ide intel 82371sb(piix3)master mode ide
also i would like to know what my bus speed is.
thanks for all replies.
p.s. the model # is ai5th
i have a print out of all the specs and jumper settings for it.

[Paleo Pete]

i have a tmc mobo. branded by kamtronics as megastar.
it has a pentium 75-200mhz processor on it.

That's the CPU range the board supports, the CPU will only have one rating. (75, 90, 100, 133, 166 or 200MHz)

how can i get my processor to run at 200mhz

To get it to run a 200MHz CPU you have to put a 200MHz CPU in, and set the appropriate motherboard jumpers. Since those are printed on the board, or you have them in a manual, it's not that difficult. Look up the info on the CPU at Intel's or AMD's website, they should have voltages, multipliers etc posted somewhere in the tech specifications area.

To find out what CPU you have now, watch the screen as it boots, when the memory counts up you should also see a line that reads Processor: Intel 200MHz or similar. The next screen will also have this information inside the rectangular box at top. Use the [Pause] key to hold the screen so you can read it.

The Intel 430 series chipset can typically only cache 64MB memory, so watch that, if you put in more than 64MB it actually slows the machine down.

how big of a cd-rom will this board support

The CD ROM speed shouldn't be a problem, it should handle about any speed you want to use. I prefer the slower ones, about 20X and under, for the quicker spin up time.

also i would like to know what my bus speed is

All I can do is guess, but if the motherboard supports no faster than 200MHz I'd bet the system bus is 66MHz, although some motherboards of that era were designed to also accomodate the Cyrix CPU that ran on a 75MHz bus.

You can upgrade to 200MHz CPU, 64MB RAM, almost any CD ROM, might have a 8GB hard drive limitation, and you'll have to check the motherboard documentation, it might or might not support MMX technology, I think all the Intel 430 series chipsets did support MMX, but not positive. Most boards will handle 4 IDE devices, that would mean you can use 3 hard drives and a CD ROM.

Unless I misread you rpost, it looks like it also supports USB devices. Whether you can use it depends on the Operating System used, and whether you have the USB port installed.




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If you had everything...Where would you put it?

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[tad214]

Originally posted by tad214:
i have a tmc mobo. branded by kamtronics as megastar.
it has a pentium 75-200mhz processor on it. it has a
intel 82430hx chipset in it. it has 4 72 pin edo slots.
4 pci 2.1, 4 isa slots. my questions are, how can i get my
processor to run at 200mhz. also, how big of a cd-rom will this board support. basically what i am needing to know is, how much upgrading
can i do with this board and in what areas. here are some more specs:
onboard i/o smc 37665, two 16550 uarts, epp/ecp,usb
baby at form factor.
ide intel 82371sb(piix3)master mode ide


hey pete,
i am sorry to bother you again, but you have been such a great
help to me. the reason i am calling on you now is the mobo in
question, could you tell me what socket this is. i am wanting
to upgrade my processor to 200 but i do not know what socket i
need. also, could i go to a bigger processor under another name
such as amd or cyrix.thanks pete for everything.

also i would like to know what my bus speed is.
thanks for all replies.
p.s. the model # is ai5th
i have a print out of all the specs and jumper settings for it.

[Paleo Pete]

75-200MHz Pentiums are socket 7, at least all of 'em I ever saw...The Intel 430 series chipset usually supports other CPU's, so AMD or Cyrix 6x86 should work, but you'll have to check a motherboard manual to be sure.

Bus speeds supported should be 33, 50 and 66MHz, but it may also support the 75MHz required for some Cyrix 6x86 CPU's.

The printout of the specs and jumper settings should state which CPU's it will support, if not, write down the BIOS ID string, the long number at top left as you boot up. Sometimes it's at the bottom left. The [Pause] key will hold that screen long as you need, any other key will resume booting. Then go to my site below, and look through either Trish's Motherboard/BIOS section or the BIOS links, and you should be able to find info to identify the motherboard and maybe get a full manual, which will tell you exactly what CPU's and bus speeds it supports.

One other note, the 430HX series chipset will only cache 64MB RAM, so if you try to use more than 64MB in that machine it will actually slow it down.

MegaStar (http://megastar.kamtronic.com) and Kamtronic (http://www.kamtronic.com) are the websites, but they're down right now, I can't get into either.

------------------
If you had everything...Where would you put it?

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[ixl]

The 430HX chipset is only rated for 66 MHz speed; some boards overclocked it to 75 MHz against Intel's wishes, to run certain Cyrix processors.
The HX will cache over 64 MB if extra tag RAM has been added to the board. One needs to check the manual or the board to be sure.

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Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.