Socket 370 Card Roundup
by Ramil Tranquilino
Intro
With most Intel CPU's going the FC-PGA way, the need for socket 370 converter cards is at its peak. For PC enthusiasts still using their 2 yr old BX boards and for those who don't want to uprgrade their current Slot 1 boards, what better solution than to just buy and use a slocket. I know you can just buy a slocket, put your CPU in and its all go. But the choice is not that easy. Specially if you intend to overclock your system. You need a stable slocket that will work at high FSB's. An adjustable voltage setting and FSB adjustment is necessary to achieve good overclocks. This is also a plus factor to those who don't have soft menu settings in their board's BIOS or jumpers to change them.
I have chosen 3 of the most famous socket 370 converter cards and 1 generic brand to meet head to head in this fight. Which is the best and most stable among them? I say let the battle begin....
The Competitors
Test Arena
ABIT BE6-2
Alpha PEP66 Heatsink Fan Combo with 52w
Peltier
Intel Pentium III 500mhz CuMine FCPGA-
one that started it all
Infineon 128mb PC133 SDRAM CL2
Creative 32mb GeForce GTS2 DDR
IBM 30gb 75GXP ATA100 7200 rpm