• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Should we add section for Pentium IV machines?

I prefer that categories cover reasonably related systems. Pentium II and earlier Pentium III systems share a lot in common with the later Pentium systems so the same problems and solutions and add-on cards were applicable to the whole range. Make the category too broad and it becomes twenty questions to find out exactly what system is being discussed before trying to solve an issue.
 
krebizfan said:
I prefer that categories cover reasonably related systems. Pentium II and earlier Pentium III systems share a lot in common with the later Pentium systems so the same problems and solutions and add-on cards were applicable to the whole range. Make the category too broad and it becomes twenty questions to find out exactly what system is being discussed before trying to solve an issue.
Click to expand...

Not quite. I have two Pentium II BX retail systems that also run PIII cpus... (Dell Optiplex GX1)

Chuck(G) said:
For years, GM played the "shell game". If you needed a Chevy quarter-panel, you sometimes could substitute one from a Pontiac. Buicks and Caddies, similarly.
Click to expand...

Sure even into the very early 2000's you could use parts from a Camaro on a transam Firebird....
 
VERAULT said:
Not quite. I have two Pentium II BX retail systems that also run PIII cpus... (Dell Optiplex GX1)
Click to expand...

Strictly speaking everything from Pentium Pro through the end of Pentium III was the same microarchitecture. PII added MMX, PIII added SSE. You start getting into hairsplitting territory after that about whether the Pentium M and early Core Duo count. (I would vote no because they essentially replaced the bus interface with one lifted off the Pentium IV which was *completely* different otherwise.)

Since "era" is probably more important than micro-architecture when it comes to platform discussions then I'd say one possible hard line for vintage belongs at PCI Express capable chipsets. (And the CPUs that go with them.)
 
Last edited:
Keeping it vintage. How "vintage" is it when you put a an XT-IDE controller in a 5156/60-70? I don't think the Pentium IV or M would have an overwhelming following here. I have a pristine Intel motherboard in its original packaging with the M, and it's been setting on the shelf for close to 20 years. That being said, I don't think an occasional query here and there would be out of order.
 
Al Kossow said:
There is an active community at Vogons. https://www.vogons.org/ Just go there.
Click to expand...

You could point that statement at about 50% or so of what goes on here.
rockdover.gif
 
A hard line-in-the-sand I find between older Pentiums and newer is support for SSE2. A lot of newer out-of-the-box software won't run on a CPU without SSE2 instructions (although most can be recompiled without SSE2 support, but that takes effort). I think it really defines a clear boundary between old and new, for now. The would exclude Pentium 4s and Ms, however: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSE2#CPU_support
 
The line in the sand should be slot 1 and older (I guess Slot A and older should be the case as well for AMD although no one seems to be making that argument even though its lateral). 100Mhz FSB so Pentium III 1.1Ghz slot one machines and older.. Exactly what I have in my Dell Optiplex GX1.. Woo hoo!.. .who cares....
 
I did a lot of work on updating Socket 7 laptops to keep them competitive against the then new P2's by using the OEM only AMD K6-2+/3+ cpu's. I'd like to see a place to talk about those efforts here without running foul of the thought police. Also, some P2 and P3 stuff that would be nice to be able to have a place to discuss them too. Perhaps non-hyperthreading P4 as a cut off?
 
Sounds good to me--it was around that time that Intel migrated from the 400 chipset to the 800 series. That is, you could find a P3 with, say, an 820 chipset, but never a P4 with a 440 chipset.
 
As far as I’m concerned, it’s the decision of the community. If y’all want, we can post a poll, and see what everyone thinks.

- Alex
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top