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bought a used amd k6-2 chip from a little computer store down the street for like five dollars. i am an intel guy and am unfirmilliar with amd processors. what mobo and socket does this chip use and will i need to adjust jumpers or is it self-identifying? thanx for advice.
The K6-2 is socket A.
The K6-2 had to be configured with jumpers on the motherboard. It wasn't until the Athlon/Duron arrived that self configuration was possible with AMD CPUs.
Stuart
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Super Socket 7, when Intel went PII, AMD decided to stick with Socket7 architecture:
http://www.geek.com/procspec/amd/k63dmmx.htm
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Also, the later Socket 7 motherboards (most of the Super Socket 7 ones) had plug and play CPU configurations (no jumpers/switches for the CPU).
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Socket7 or Super Socket7...
You'll need a motherboard that supports the voltage (usually 2.2v) and that supports multiplier changes and front side bus changes. Makes no real difference whether it's set by jumpers, dip switches, bios, or auto detected.
Some of these old boards also allow some pretty good overclocking...did a K6-2/400 last week that left the house at 550Mhz. That has little to do with your question though as I spent much more time providing additional cooling to the case and cpu than anything else.
When socket7 stuff was popular, Intel and AMD and Cyrix all provided cpu's for that platform and they all used different voltages, fsb settings, and multipliers in their default configurations. Most motherboard manufacturers for the retail trade jumped on it and provided a means for the proper settings to use all three of the major chips at the time.
Prorietary manufacturers like Dell, Compaq, et al, however, might have only allowed the use of one of the three; not all of them.
Skip
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Yep, Skip knows his socket 7 stuff.
Dragon306,
It would have helped if said which K6-2 you got. Most of them ran at 100MHz FSB but there were a few that ran at 66, 95, or 97MHz FSB. The majority ran at 2.2v, but a couple ran at 2.4v.
Here's the list from AMD's site:
http://139.95.253.213/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE/,/?St=36,E=0000000000213467854,K=9697,Sxi=18,Case=obj(79)
Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz
768MB PC3200
Asus A9550 128MB/128-bit
Gamer Edition
WinME/WinXP Pro
0
"Yep, Skip knows his socket 7 stuff."
jam,
Now just where do you think I learned about socket7 stuff? You're the dude that turned me on to Socket7 and opened up a whole new world to friends and family that couldn't afford new gear. What I've learned from you and this forum gave that K6-2/400 a 37.5% overclock and a new lease on life.
You da man! I just followed instructions.
Skip
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Hey Skip,
Thanks for the kind words. I did most of my learning (& made most of my mistakes) with socket 7 systems. I still build an occasional K6-2/500 system...as far as I'm concerned, it's still a good/cheap option for those that don't need a 2.0GHz screamer.
Hey, did ya get my birthday wish & question about beer in the CPU forum?
Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz
768MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro
0
Yes I did but I haven't checked on the beer brand yet. The name rings a bell and I gotta assume it's likely available at BevMo.
The K6-2/400 clocked right up to 550Mhz with a jump to 2.4v after lapping the heatsink and adding a couple of case fans for insurance against overheating...don't really think any of that was necessary though. Never a hiccup once I went past 2.3v. Ran stress tests for 30 hours with no problems and sent it home with the owner; been running fine since. Some taiwanese generic motherboard but was chock full of jumper settings to play with.
I'll check on the beer later tonight...you might have to come out and have one with me.
Skip
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Hey Skip,
I don't think that beer's available on the left coast, that's why I was asking. I'm not a drinker but a lot of guys I work with who are say it's great stuff. I saw your address on your webpage & was thinking of sending ya a 6-pk for your b-day ;)
http://www.yuengling.com/
Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz
768MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro
0
I never thought the K6-2's performed that well regardless of what you did with them. the short lived K6-III 400/450 however was another story. Those were much better chips and if you can find one makes a very solid econo system especially if you can find an old ASUS P5-AB board. Easy jumper settings and allow you to setup your voltage correctly. give one a try if you can find one, I suspect if you havent used one in comparison to a K6-2 series (even though they were closed up to what 550 or so?) the 400/450 K63 will smoke it!
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You're right, the K6-III will kick a K6-2 up and down the street. Problem is that when you don't have a K6-III in your pocket, it's time to get as much as possible out of the one you have. To make it even worse, it was a multi only overclock...no provision to run faster than 100Mhz fsb.
I underclocked a K6III/400 to 300 Mhz (75 x 4) to get it to post with cache enabled this spring and it just flew. Don't know what the problem was but it would only boot at 400 with cache disabled in bios; that setting caused it to run about as well as a 386.
But, you're right...K6-2 performance is less than jaw dropping.
Skip
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jam,
Nope, no yeungling on the west coast. I remember when coors wasn't available on the east coast and, in 1972, drove to Rhode Island with a trunk and backseat full.
Skip
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any idea why they didnt push the k6-3 line more? They were around quite a while before the thurnderbirds so it wasnt an end of life thing, just wondering as they really ran well? odd thing is they are STILL making the k6-2 cpu's are are easily found up into the high 500's mhz wise but the 6 only went to what,450? wonder why no k6-3 500+ chips? a little hard to find now and if you do, make sure it is for a desktop and not a LT as alot are sold as such. really under rated chip that not alot of people knew about. damn sure ate up the cyrix cpu's (if you can call them cpu's)
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AMD focused on the Thunderbird, rather than the K6-X series. The last overhaul they gave the K6 series was for laptop use (where its poor FPU performance wasn't such a liability), and they never made them officially available for the public (OEM only). They needed to get more Slot A/ Socket A units moving, not provide one last upgrade for people with Super 7 machines.
Many Socket 7, and most Super 7 motherboards can run the K6-2/3+ series, and with their .18 micron architecture enhanced instruction set and full speed L2 cache they are the highpoint of the K6 line. But that is still pretty slow by current standards.
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