[ale] Motherboard Upgrade

[Chris Hartley]

 Hello, 
   I'm about to upgrade the motherboard on my Debian Linux box from a 486sx/25 
and I can't decide what to get! I've narrowed(?) the choices down to a 5x86, 
6x86, or Pentium, here they are. I'm looking to spend $200-$250 if you have 
any other ideas.


5x86/120                                                        $139
Cyrix 5x86/120MHz motherboard/CPU. Faster than a Pentium 90! 3
   PCI, 4 ISA, 1 VLB slots, 256K Cache, and 4-30pins & (2) 72-pin memory
   slots. Pentium overdrive ready. Comes with PCI/E-IDE/IO. Kit-5x86-120.
6x86/120+                                                       $248
SPECS: Ocean Rhino 6 with Cyrix 6x86 P120+ CPU. Intel Triton chipset,
   up to 512k pipelined cache, max. of 128MB RAM, 4 PCI, 3 ISA, 4 EIDE, 2
   FDD, 2S (16550), 1P EPP, Award PnP BIOS.
SPECS: Ocean Rhino 6VX with Cyrix 6x86 P120+ (100MHz) CPU, Intel NEW
   82430VX chipset! Up to 512k pipelined cache, max of 128MB RAM, 3 PCI,
   4 ISA, 2S 16550, 1P EPP, on-board 2x PCI EIDE bus mastering (4 EIDE),
   Award PnP.
P/100                                                           $232
SPECS: Triton Intel chipset Pentium PCI w/100MHz Intel CPU. ZIF socket
   w/support to 200MHz, Intel Triton chipset, Award BIOS, EDO supports to
   128MB, to 512K, 3 PCI & 4 ISA, 2 EIDE cont., 2 16550,1 ECP/ EPP,(4)
   72-pin.
P/100                                                           $236
SPECS: Intel P100 on highly rated MB, Triton II chipset, 256k pipeline
   cache (upgrade to 512K for $70), on-board EIDE, 2S/1P ports (ECC/EPP),
   flash BIOS, 4-72pin SIMM sockets, ZIF, 3 PCI-4 ISA slots, perfect for
   upgrades.
SPECS: Intel Triron Chipset Pentium motherboard. 100MHz, 4 ISA, 3 PCI
   slots, (4) 72-pin memory sockets, AMI BIOS, 256k cache upgradeable to
   512k, built-in E-IDE, (2)16550 UARTS serial ports, 1 parallel port.

(These are from PC TODAY, web2.pc-today.com are nifty little index that lists
billions of computer stuff from a whole bunch of retailers)

  Right now my 486sx/25 motherboard has 8 30 pin 1MB simms, so I have 8mb of 
memory..  I'm planing on buying $120 worth of memory (16 megs now) to add to the
new motherboard, in 2 8 meg 72 pin simms (72 pin banks still need to be all full
or all empty like 30 pin right?) but what do I do with the 8 megs from the old 
mthrbd? 
The 5x86 mthrbd has 4 30 pin simm slots along with the 2 72 pin, so if I got
that I would have 20 megs of memory total (2 8 meg + 4 1 meg), but with the 
6x86 and Pentium boards I would only have 16 megs of memory and 8 simms laying
around..

   
   Basicly what I'm saying is:
Will a 5x86 with 20 megs run Linux faster then a 6x86 or Pentium with 16?
 Is the 6x86 really faster & better then the Pentium?  
  Are there any dark secrets about any of these chips?
   Is there anything else I should know?
    Is there some ware local (near Atlanta or west ga) that has this things?

By running Linux I mean light X use, kernel compiling, game playing, etc.


	Thanks a bunch!
Chris
(For those of you who like to tack a face onto an email address I was the kid
in the RSA Encryption shirt at the last expo)

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| Chris Hartley    | NT: Release the power of the PC in your workstation!    |
  cph at paradise.net | Linux: Release the power of the workstation in your PC!
|   http://none/    |    Powered by Debian/GNU LINUX, The One Real OS.       |
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