Socket 3 Nightmare: New Old Stock, But Then I Bricked It!

Channel:

Bits und Bolts

Subscribers:

29,500

Published on July 17, 2025 1:00:45 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEnbnK8JO-0

Duration: 0:00

14,756 views

1,372

PCChips... Do I need to say more? This is the M915i Socket 3 motherboard for 486 microprocessors. The board here for repair, but I don't know what is wrong with it. We will test the board and discover some wild issues along the way. Yes, there is fake cache soldered to the PCB, but would you believe me when I say that this isn't the craziest discovery? Join me and let's find out why this board is so terrible!

BIOS for patching: https://bitsundbolts.com/2025/07/16/pcchips-m915i-socket-3-with-fake-cache/
Older Fake Cache Video:    • They fooled so many: Fake cache chips!  

▬▬▬▬ MIDI FORGE links ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Minuet (8MB):
🔸 https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/MIDI_FORGE_Minuet_8MB_AWE64_memory_expansion_62a9ae2e.html
🔸 https://bitsundbolts.com/2025/07/01/the-smallest-first-diy-8mb-awe64-memory-expansion-board/

Sonata (28MB):
🔸 https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/MIDI_FORGE_Sonata_28MB_AWE64_memory_expansion_fa888c75.html
🔸 https://bitsundbolts.com/2025/07/09/punching-above-its-weight-class/

Rhapsody (28MB):
🔸 https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/MIDI_FORGE_Rhapsody_28MB_AWE64_memory_expansion_6a9b1b76.html
🔸 https://bitsundbolts.com/2025/07/06/another-awe64-28mb-expansion-midi-forge-rhapsody/

▬▬▬▬ Affiliate Links ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Visit my website to find affiliate links to most of the tools and products I use
🔸 https://bitsundbolts.com/affiliate/

Thank you for your support!

▬▬▬▬ Support Bits und Bolts ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Patreon: 🔸 https://www.patreon.com/BitsUndBolts
Bitcoin: bc1q2dvf9flf78lam33qjj9w9xgvfxdgre7g9x3rmw

Twitter/X: 🔸 https://twitter.com/BitsUndBolts
Facebook: 🔸 https://www.facebook.com/bitsundbolts

Website: 🔸 https://bitsundbolts.com/

▬▬▬▬ Timestamps ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
00:00 The PCChips M915i overview
03:28 Testing for shorts and CPU Vcore
06:12 FPM vs EDO memory
07:05 The AMI BIOS
07:58 Testing for fake cache
09:33 Removing soldered chips
13:15 Where things go wrong
13:50 Realization
14:50 MIDI FORGE AWE64 Memory Boards
15:40 Not giving up
18:40 Pin investigation
23:28 Resolution
25:03 The patched fake cache BIOS