Help me identify this motherboard
Posted by Old_Consequence_262@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 33 comments
Hey all, I’ve had this motherboard sitting in a drawer for a while sitting in what I believe to be the bag it came in from the factory, doesn’t appear to have ever been used and from a date on the bios chip it’s from 1998. I would really like to build a PC with this board and top it off with all the good stuff but there isn’t any branding or nomenclature I recognize on it. I looked around the internet a bit and there’s a ton of boards that look just like it but there’s little details that are off like an extra connector or DIMM slot. Any help with identifying what this motherboard is would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
Chaos7692@reddit
3 ram slots, single channel only?
RadishAggravating491@reddit
Socket is always a good place to start as it will tell you type of board. Pga370 - Intel Pentium III or Intel Celeron. Those were good workhorse boards. That looks like early Gigabyte board if I had to guess. On the outside of the ISA slot maybe a sticker.
Diligent_Tackle5335@reddit
since the MB is a real ''winner??'', i would find the shoddiest memory and the worst CPU to pair it with.. then install Win.. Vista on it, boot up.. set un fire, then through it into the dumpster..
apachelives@reddit
Easy. PCChips M780MR.
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/pcchips-m780mr
alcuin@reddit
Thanks everyone for playing, the answer is PCChips M780MR.
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/pcchips-m780mr
Deksor@reddit
Oh god, it has a 3.3V agp slot, but the board is equipped with a universal slot 💀
K0mori@reddit
Sorry, AGP stuff is both before my time and also after my normal frame of interest as far as retro stuff goes. What's up with that combo?
Deksor@reddit
Well basically agp existed in two variants, 3.3v version and 1.5v version, which both use a different keying to avoid mixing them up.
There was a transition period where some slots were compatible with both standards, called "universal agp" and had no keying at all (and cards had notches for both keys)
However some shady manufacturers (such as pcchips) didn't respect that and installed universal slots on board who only supported one standard. So if you plug a 1.5v card into a 3.3v board, you can expect the magic smoke to be released ...
K0mori@reddit
Oh that fucking sucks, thank you
someonesmobileacct@reddit
Pc shits signature 'feature' right there.
TheMage18@reddit
My condolences... Expect and plan to replace every single green capacitor near the CPU socket, probably the others as well for safety. It won't be a fast board, but with better capacitors it will be functional and semi-reliable if you don't try to do any kind of overclocking.
K0mori@reddit
On the plus side, those through-hole caps look really easy to replace. I've done a handful of recapping jobs and this one seems like a cakewalk. I just hope OP knows how to solder.
TheMage18@reddit
100% These boards weren’t the 4-6 layer monsters that spa up heat like a sponge.
The_Jizzard_Of_Oz@reddit
A couple of the other caps seem sus too, but could be the camera angle.
thepfy1@reddit
You mean PCSh*ts?
Remarkably-Bad@reddit
e-waste. That board is e-waste.
Old_Consequence_262@reddit (OP)
What makes you say that?
Tricky_Fun_4701@reddit
Socket 370, VIA Apollo Pro133A, probably SOYO SY-7VCA or very close relative.
Good Coppermine board.
darkelfbear@reddit
I loved mine.
boluserectus@reddit
I loved copper.
Old_Consequence_262@reddit (OP)
Thank you for your help. I plan to build a neat little rig out of this motherboard. Trying to figure out what all the best hardware I can put into this thing will be.
SubPrimeCardgage@reddit
That was a great chipset. The first machine I ever built for myself was a Coppermine, and I made the mistake of getting an Intel 820 board with the MTH issue. After I returned that board I got an Abit with the 133A and all was well.
earthman34@reddit
ECS or PCChips, most likely. Generic stuff. These are bargain boards that were widely used in generic PCs assembled in mom-and-pop shops all over the world.
Year3030@reddit
I sense something; a presence I have not felt since . . .
Deksor@reddit
I think it's not even on trw's database 🤔
And it has a phoenix bios which makes it even harder to identify 😢 (Ami and award bioses have manufacturer id in a string of text which is super helpful)
Maybe if you start it up, it may show a brand name on the first screen ? As I said other brand of bioses made it mandatory, but some bioses display some customised information the manufacturer though to be relevant there.
UrWHThurtZ@reddit
Not going to post without CPU and memory
Deksor@reddit
of course not but maybe OP has a celeron in his drawer as well :D
(turns out someone managed to identify it afterall)
calc76@reddit
If I’m looking at the bottom correctly this has onboard vga which combined with the southbridge reduces the options to a board based on Via Apollo PLE133 or PLE133T
BroccoliNearby2803@reddit
I absolutely love how the back of the board looks. Very pleasing for some reason.
NightmareJoker2@reddit
Some Soltek SL-65* something. There’s so many different ones. Some of them have blue instead of red IDE/PATA ports.
Critical_Pangolin79@reddit
I dont know why, gives the PC-Chits vibe. If you can have it up and running, look up the BIOS string of it.
starcube@reddit
The model is printed on the lower left corner near the screw hole.
Zentralschaden@reddit
It is an ASUS or Gigabyte clone board and you maybe find somewhat like a serial number on a sticker on the ISA Slot.