AMD K6-166 CPU Build
An AMD K6-166 Story
by The Maker
It was a dark stormy night that one night when it was neither dark nor storming but the mood of a dark and stormy night hung thick in the air. I could feel it touching me like a warm damp napkin. (hmmm … that needs work)…. <AheM)> Like napkin damp with warm chicken grease dipped in mashed potato… (we will come back to this, I need to eat first… not napkins).
In reality I was skulking around a shop that actually smelled like stale musty old garage, because it was a room off the side of a stale musty old garage. I found the door had been blocked by barrels of something or another and I had been told what I wanted was behind that door… if I dared. Once the barrels had been removed and the creaky old door pried open, it was dark inside. I had fear but still I dared. I had to get a light… <dramatic pause>… <little longer… it’s more dramatic>. Once the creaky old door was pried open and I clicked on a flashlight I saw the beige case sitting on the floor. For a moment I pondered how to get it out with out becoming entangled forever in the 20 years or so of spider webbing.
Ultimately, I just did the thing and just plodded in. This is what I came out with (after wiping it down and grabbing the air compressor for dusting and de-webbing)
It took a lot of cleaning. I was also working on the iBorg Project at the time and needed a CDROM so it was donated to the iBorg (Intel P-150). I figured at the very least this could supply some parts to other projects.
This case is from before the K6 era as it still has the TURBO button. And that handy barrel lock.
Opening it up revealed the magic! This was from the era where I was working full time in a local computer store and it brings back some memories. I started when 486 machines were still a thing and on the way out in favor of early Pentiums. We were still seeing 386’s for repair and upgrades as well as 486’s getting overdrive cpus. The Evergreen overdrive was very popular then.
AMD was coming into their own with the K6 series cpus. Intel was still the preferred processor but many builders were beginning to use the underdog AMD’s processors. During this time Intel was the 800 pound gorilla and way over charged for what they offered because there was really no competition in the market. That is until the AMD K6 processors arrived.
Some might disagree with some of this, however, in my region this is exactly how it was.
On the inside we have a PC Chips M571LMR board, 2 SDRam slots, some PCI and ISA slots, an AT power supply, and a 1.44 floppy drive built in audio and video . The 1.6 gig HD (get that outta here) is going to the to the iBORG build. (yes, clicky that iBorg link. Not now…. after you read this article, but then, yes, do it!). I replaced the 1.6 with a 3.2 Gig HD.
Started plugging things in. BTW – everyone should have a red handled screwdriver, just sayin’
Meanwhile, I found a different faster cdrom drive for this machine. …hang on my delete key has decided to start identifying as a finger rest and leave it’s job as a delete key…. I’m Back… I popped the key off and found a paperclip had fallen from my desk and Mr. Delete Key cap had decided to hide it under itself. He would have gotten away with it too if it wasn’t for those pesky kids…. I’m a computer guy… and I like, know how to troubleshoot and stuff? (cuz they always end sentences like a question). You’ve heard, I know you have. Anyway, <sigh>, I do kind of dig the clear CPU fan… it’s cool.. >HeH!< I’m so lost now, let me regain my composer. BRB after I get a Diet Pepsi! Yelling… “LIZ!!” (inside joke). What fuels your restoration energies???? Of note in this picture – check out the AT & ATX power plugs. This board swings both ways! I know, cheeky, right!? Another thing… back in this time SIS chipsets were considered less desirable. I am not going to get into a debate about this anymore that I am about CYRIX cpu’s being crap until the MII series. I have no idea why some people rave about them being the greatest but that is for another article by someone who actual gives a crap about that. That is not me. 🙂 |
The question I get asked is, why? What will you use this machine for? I do it because I love this stuff. And… I played Colonization on this thing for a day and a half after the build.
True Story! Love that game!
Ended up with AMD K6-166 / 64 Megs ram / 3.2 gig hf / 1.44 floppy / 56k modem / nic / 16x cdrom / Windows 95 modded and patched / IE 5.5 and Mozilla suite
Thanks for stopping by to see what I am up to!!
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