Here's a link to what I believe is that board/cpu you mention. It appears you will need PC133 SDRAM, and I'll bet your other cyrix/IBM has PC100 at best. You might need a better Power Supply- at least 250watts, but some smaller ones will work, if the output on the 5v and 3volt lines is adequate- you never know, but since it's a low power board, you might get away with it. However, I would bet that any retail cyrix/ibm rig is going to have an el cheapo power supply.
htttp://www.pcchips.com.tw/product/M787cl+v30.html I built a box for a person using a PChips SIS board with that AMR slot, and could never get the onboard modem to work, with the drivers that came with the board, or ones I got on the net. Had to use a PCI modem- cost about $10 more. Also, it will use some of the ram for video (settable), so that's a consideration. Otherwise, it worked good, and since performance is not your real issue, I guess it would suffice for your needs. A good stick of 256MB PC133 shouldn't be more that $30 US, and you could sell your 128MB (if it's PC100). Mandrake will do much better with 256MB or more ram, especially if you like KDE or Gnome. Robert On Monday 31 March 2003 04:24 am, Anne Wilson wrote: > Greg and Robert - hope you don't mind me answering both together. > > It's very difficult to find information on the web about the M787CLM, but > there is a reasonable amount on the M787CLR - and I'm assuming that they > are similar. Little is said about the chipset, but the indications are > that it is a via chipset. > > This proposed upgrade is not to make it my main box. I have an old > IBM/Cyrix 233 setup that I want to use as a second box, with dual boot > win98 and Mdk 9. The main purpose is to learn about adding another linux > computer to my lan, and also to explore video conferencing, over the lan, > both in the mixed os environment and in an all-linux link. > > I accept that the speed of the C3 will not give the best video, but that's > not important, as it is the learning process that's the important bit. I > can't justify spending a huge amount on this project. > > The mobo takes DIMMs, and I have a 126MB DIMM in the old system, so memory > should be no problem. > > As it is low-powered it may not be essential to buy a new case, but I think > it would be wise, though I have an atx power supply that could be mounted > in the current one. I can't see that anything else would be needed. > > The processor, though called a GigaPro, apparently equates to a celeron, > which is ok for this box, I think. 3D work would tax it, but it would > rarely be asked to do that. It seems that this cpu is used a lot in the > small embedded boards. I have seen a report of a successful Debian > install, so it looks likely that it would be OK for my purposes. > > There is not guarantee that I will be able to get one of these, as the guy > was offering them at a local computer fair, and he may have sold out before > I can find him again, but if I have heard nothing really offputting before > then I shall buy one next time he is nearby - 2 weeks time. > > Anne > > On Sunday 30 Mar 2003 5:25 am, Robert Crawford wrote: > > That mobo might not even have SDRAM, much less DDR. You will probably > > need new ram, whatever you do- which isn't too bad, since it's dirt cheap > > these days. You should be able to use everything else, except probably > > you'll need a better power supply. You need to do more research as to the > > ram and power supply you have, and post it so we can advise properly. > > Maybe post the exact model of Cyrix/IBM you have now, and one of us can > > look it up and offer better advice- just don't be hasty, and make a > > mistake. You can put together a really good system, for very little > > money, if you know how. Any better mobo/cpu is going to require a better > > power supply, if your present system is what it sounds like. And, to get > > the best from any modern cpu, you really need DDR memory- SDRAM is on the > > way out. > > > > In any case, Mandrake will install and run on almost any halfway system. > > I would stay away from those via cpus, though. > > > > Robert Crawford > > > > On Sunday 30 March 2003 04:53 pm, Anne Wilson wrote: > > > This is to replace the mobo in a box with a Cyrix/IBM cpu. Everything > > > in it is pretty old, and would have to be replaced if I rebuild from > > > scratch. From experience I would say that I would be pushing �500 to > > > get a full decent system together. If I buy this for �50 I can get > > > away by putting in the current drives and spending nothing else. But > > > will it run Mandrake? > > > > > > Anne > > > > > > On Sunday 30 Mar 2003 10:02 pm, Robert Crawford wrote: > > > > In my opinion, you can do much better for the same or just a little > > > > more money. I build all my own PC's, and for others, too. For > > > > example, in the U.S., you can get an Athlon 1700+ tbred "B" for $48 > > > > US, which is 3 times the cpu. Mobo/cpu combos run $80 and up- for > > > > instance a PC chips board/1700+ combo runs $81 US. It also depends on > > > > if you are planning on using the ram you have now. Do some research > > > > before buying something. Look on Pricewatch, and compare stuff to > > > > what you have now. For the price/performance, you can't beat the > > > > Athlon 1700+ Tbred "B," and it can be matched with many low priced > > > > boards which all work fine. > > > > > > > > Robert Crawford > > > > > > > > On Sunday 30 March 2003 02:38 pm, Anne Wilson wrote: > > > > > I have been offered a PCChips M787CLM mobo, 1GHz VIA C3 cpu, pretty > > > > > well everything on board. I can't find anything on the web about > > > > > this exact model, but have seen a thread describing a Debian > > > > > install on a related model, and VIA C3 chips appear to be used in > > > > > some of the new quiet small boards that I have seen mentioned. > > > > > > > > > > Does anyone know anything, good, bad or indifferent, that would > > > > > influence me? They are asking �50, by the way. > > > > > > > > > > Anne
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