TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[vigia]

Why don't you guys put all games together in a zip file with a DOS emulator so people could play all these past games only by pluggin in USB keys?

I have tried dosbox a long time ago, and the speed was the real problem with the action games, others requiered gwbasic,



This is the one i was looking for, this game is awesome, it uses some physics, im uploading it later.

 

[Trekkie4]

While playing (well, considering the amount of lag it's more like trying) GTA V on my Q6600, I've realized just how advanced & brilliant games used to be back in a day. Because to put it simply, GTA V sucks! In more than way IMHO, and turned out to be a huge disappointment on my behalf.

Now, you're probably wondering why would I talk about GTA V in this thread? I'll get to this in a moment, but 1st let me tell you this - one of the biggest disappointments in GTA V would be the physics system, damage & car handling in particular. I mean seriously, with all those absurd system requirements you'd expect to have a real-life simulator that would correspond to realistic feedback. While at the same time, I remember the game Carmageddon 2, which was introduced in 1997 (I think?) and was even playable on an old MMX Pentium with 64MB of RAM! Talk about software engineering, even today I personally consider C2 to be one of the most technologically advanced & realistic games ever made! In fact, some of the physics from C2 are far more better and realistic than the ones in GTA IV and/or GTAV, the only disadvantage was low-res texture & all those low poly models. But let's face it, C2 is a 20yrs old game, so that is to be expected under the circumstances. Nevertheless, it was a great game and I'm only sorry to see that none of the software developers nowdays are as creative & capable of achieving the "impossible", as they used to 20yrs ago

 

[vigia]

ok, at least the card game should run, the others need a really slow cpu, Good luck.

 

[vigia]

I have to emulate this ones because of the CGA graphics, dorsetknob, did you know that the sound theme for this game is the "popcorn" track you posted in mikes club thread

 

[JunkBear]

Dig dug??

 

[vigia]

Dig dug??

The name is Digger, but its digdug

 

[JunkBear]

The name is Digger, but its digdug

View attachment 74541

Having it named DigDug on my NES 42in1 cartridge.

 

[Trekkie4]

Congratulations, the following achievement(s) have been unlocked:

The obsessive retro gamer (120/120)
Out of storage space (1/1)

 

[JunkBear]

Here's a list of the older AGP graphic cards I still have.

Nvidia GeForce 2 MX
GeForce FX5200 D128M
ATI Radeon 9200SE 128M DDR DVI-I+TVO
Nvidia Vanta 16
ATI Radeon 9250 256M 128bits
Nvidia GeForce FX5200 128M
Asus Magic V7100M-LP/32M(T)

 

[dorsetknob]

Hercules (ATI) 7500 AIW
Radon 9200
Radon 9250
Radon 9800 AIW SE
+ couple more but i'm to tired to root around to confirm what they are

 

[Trekkie4]

I got something really interesting today ... it's an old Intel system, running Windows XP. When I 1st saw the picture, I didn't know what to think. It seemed generic, cheap & without any "retro" character! But I was wrong, and (fortunately for me) I DID get to take it away! Take a look at this:


It's a genuine Slot-1 Pentium III system, running @ 600MHz. Has 128MB of SD RAM and 10GB of HDD space. Now, here's where the things get really cool, apparently this rig here is packed up with loads of cool hardware, so I'm just going to point out some of them!

Twin-cooled Pentium3 cartridge
Abit BE6-II Motherboard (440BX)
ATI Rage Fury 32MB AGP
Quantum Fireball HDD
Iomega ZIP100 Drive

In fact, the only 3 things which I DON'T like about this system is the case design (yuck!), Toshiba CD-ROM drive (ejects extremely loud, crunching the plastic gears) and last but not least the sound card, which seems to be fried &/or damaged because it's only producing hissing and crackling noises. I was going to strip it apart & rob for parts (Iomega ZIP, HDD & floppy in particular), but seeing these specs I'm not so sure about that any longer. IMHO, this is a fine piece of retro engineering, can't believe I got the entire thing for FREE!



More pics coming up soon, when I take it apart & hopefully resolve the sound issue. Also have to replace the OS, no way I'm going to have a Windows XP running on a Slot-1 system with 128Mb of RAM

 

[stinger608]

That was an amazing score @Trekkie4 !!!!!!!!!

 

[Mr.Scott]

I'll say. BE6-II is an awesome board. I have two. Best overclocking slot 1 board ever made. Getting tough and expensive to come by now.

 

[Trekkie4]

That was an amazing score @Trekkie4 !!!!!!!!!

It sure was, thanks! I still can't believe this, myself!

I'll say. BE6-II is an awesome board. I have two. Best overclocking slot 1 board ever made. Getting tough and expensive to come by now.

Indeed, I got both BE6 AND BE6-II, except the older one (BE6) is currently dead & needs to be completely recapped. That's the only problem with these things from what I can tell, I've never, EVER had older Abit board which didn't have capacitor problems of some kind! Well, that is until now - this other BE6-II, 2nd one which I got today seems to be in perfect condition. I still have to remove it from the case for more detailed inspection, but at the moment seems to be good as new

Here's one of my (really) old pics, back when I got to fix & recap that other BE6-II... I really went to great extent with this thing, hoping to have it up & running again!

As it turned out, both mobo & actual CPU were having problems (CPU got "cooked" due to overheating & mobo had loads of bad caps) so after I took care of these issues everything worked out OK.

There's actually a funny (and kinda scary) story behind these things... I was working on a system with one of these when my dad passed away. Not on the same day of course, but I've been trying to keep myself busy so that I wouldn't think about real life. So anyway, I've plugged the system into the AC grid and was about to power it up (for testing purposes), when I got email from someone. So I walked over to the other side of my room & sat in front of my daily "PC" to read & answer the mail. It was around that same moment, when I suddenly heard the racket behind me, as the Abit system turned on - by itself! I'm not going to lie, I've crapped my pants & immediately stood (more like jumped, actually) up, because I didn't know what to think... There was no one else in the room but me, and the system wasn't programmed and/or scheduled to turn on, it happened completely randomly & without any obvious reasons.

So anyhow... To fast-forward the events up a bit. About a year later, I was working on another Abit (BE6) system with the same problem (caps), plugged the system into the AC when once again, it turned on completely randomly. You know what they say, fool me once - shame on you, but fool me twice - shame on me This time I knew that it had to be something with the Abit board & voltages running crazy, because both BE6 and BE6-II are pretty much the same. Pretty strange though, because I've never, ever had a situation like this before, with any other system. Abit or otherwise!

 

[Trekkie4]

Speaking of 440BX chipset & Abit Slot-1 motherboards, I totally forgot to mention this one here:

Although BH6 is not even remotely fun enough to work with, as BE6 & BE6-II (and obviously doesn't have HighPoint HPT366 integrated controller), this model was (and still is) pretty decent for what it's worth. And unlike BE6 series, it doesn't have bad capacitors ... at the moment

 

[vigia]

It sure was, thanks! I still can't believe this, myself!



Indeed, I got both BE6 AND BE6-II, except the older one (BE6) is currently dead & needs to be completely recapped. That's the only problem with these things from what I can tell, I've never, EVER had older Abit board which didn't have capacitor problems of some kind! Well, that is until now - this other BE6-II, 2nd one which I got today seems to be in perfect condition. I still have to remove it from the case for more detailed inspection, but at the moment seems to be good as new

Here's one of my (really) old pics, back when I got to fix & recap that other BE6-II... I really went to great extent with this thing, hoping to have it up & running again!

As it turned out, both mobo & actual CPU were having problems (CPU got "cooked" due to overheating & mobo had loads of bad caps) so after I took care of these issues everything worked out OK.

There's actually a funny (and kinda scary) story behind these things... I was working on a system with one of these when my dad passed away. Not on the same day of course, but I've been trying to keep myself busy so that I wouldn't think about real life. So anyway, I've plugged the system into the AC grid and was about to power it up (for testing purposes), when I got email from someone. So I walked over to the other side of my room & sat in front of my daily "PC" to read & answer the mail. It was around that same moment, when I suddenly heard the racket behind me, as the Abit system turned on - by itself! I'm not going to lie, I've crapped my pants & immediately stood (more like jumped, actually) up, because I didn't know what to think... There was no one else in the room but me, and the system wasn't programmed and/or scheduled to turn on, it happened completely randomly & without any obvious reasons.

So anyhow... To fast-forward the events up a bit. About a year later, I was working on another Abit (BE6) system with the same problem (caps), plugged the system into the AC when once again, it turned on completely randomly. You know what they say, fool me once - shame on you, but fool me twice - shame on me This time I knew that it had to be something with the Abit board & voltages running crazy, because both BE6 and BE6-II are pretty much the same. Pretty strange though, because I've never, ever had a situation like this before, with any other system. Abit or otherwise!

My BE6-II never fail me, I give it to a friend, maybe it lasted 2 months before popping 1 cap, I replaced all the power caps and no problem, but my friend reported that thing that sometimes it turned on by itself, never believed him. The AW9D-MAX I retired in 2014 still works after being 27/7 all those years. Like all brands sometimes you get a lemon.

 

[Trekkie4]

My BE6-II never fail me, I give it to a friend, maybe it lasted 2 months before popping 1 cap, I replaced all the power caps and no problem, but my friend reported that thing that sometimes it turned on by itself, never believed him. The AW9D-MAX I retired in 2014 still works after being 27/7 all those years. Like all brands sometimes you get a lemon.

Yes, exactly! Good to know I'm not the only one with that problem (and/or crazy?) I've had loads of bad luck with Abit boards however.... There was also another board (VH6, S370) with the same problem, bulging caps which I couldn't fix. IDK why, something probably overloaded & blew other components. One way or another, it ended up in trash since it was completely unusable It was then eventually replaced by another S370 board made by Matsonic.


OK, so I've decided to take it apart & put everything back together again from scratch...


First thing to notice was this surprisingly modern PSU! 2x 80x80 fans, with the overall power output of 400W. According to the label, it's been manufactured by the company "MS" in China, around 2002.


Pentium 3 CPU module really looks hefty! You'd think these 2 fans would make a racket when powered up but nope! In fact, I've had (and still have) some of the other builds with only one fan, that's been louder than all of these together!


The cooler assembly comes with one of those back-plate mounting solutions. Looks silly, but considering the weight that's suspended on the other end, I'd say it's necessary!


ATI Rage "R128P", which oddly enough doesn't say "Fury" anywhere... Maybe it wasn't being detected properly by the XP? From what I can tell, this is just a "standard" Rage128 with 32mb of memory (quick Googling confirmed my suspicions, although I'm still not 100% sure)


Avance Logic ALS4000 sound card. Still to be tested & confirmed if it's working or not. Judging by the hissing & crackling noises coming from the audio output, I'd say it's dead.


Just your standard PCI Dial-Up modem... I'm keeping this one just for the nostalgia, otherwise it doesn't really have any purpose.


And there it is - finally! Abit BE6-II in all its glory! Apparently I was wrong however... If you take a closer look at the voltage regulator area, you'll see several caps already bulging & fading away. Honestly, I'm not really that much surprised, as this IS Abit ... and these things always had cap problems of some sort!



Floppy, NEC Iomega ZIP100 & Quantum Fireball HDD - all tested & in perfect condition! ZIP drive makes some weird noises, but judging by the look of it, I'd say it hasn't been used for at least 15 years or so In the worst case scenario, I have a replacement mechanical deck for these things, so I'll just swap it for the other unit. It's been salvaged from another ZIP unit which had electrical problem, as the motherboard (for the unit itself) stopped working & would cause system to either hang and/or get stuck during POST


On a side note, I've never, EVER heard (especially had) a Quantum Fireball HDD, which holds more than 8GB of storage space. This one claims to be 15, which is totally awesome! Most likely one of the latest (and last) Quantum drives, before they got sold to crappy Maxtor!


Although this Toshiba drive does seem to be working, I've decided to remove it & replace it for another, Asus one. Mainly because it's making a terrible racket while ejecting the tray, it's either crunching gears or something's out of alignment. Either way, not worth the effort.


Just a regular SD-RAM memory module, 128MB @ 133MHz


So, now that everything's out of the way, it's time to once again put it together... Starting with the CPU module


Then upgrading the RAM... Running 128MB is not enough IMHO, even for Windows 98 & retro gaming purposes.


Time to place the IDE ribbon cables...


More IDE cables & cable management...


And last, but not least - adding the PSU! I'm going to fiddle with these things tomorrow, there's no point in rushing anything since I'm not in a hurry to have it finished


Oh, and by the way - for all of you who may have been wondering what happened to other BE6-II and BH6 boards... They both became 3dfx Voodoo systems! And yes, like all my other builds these are both perfectly operational

 

[vigia]

The cooler assembly comes with one of those back-plate mounting solutions. Looks silly, but considering the weight that's suspended on the other end, I'd say it's necessary

Those are aftermarket coolers, the originals come with some plastic pins.



About the caps, dont blame Abit, we overclock those things to the limits, and 128MB in win98 is enough for gaming retro for those systems without crappware. And for the audio verify the IRQ, and try to change the drivers

 

[toastem2004]

Got my ebay packages today! Unfortunately, my funds for now have evaporated, so this project is a bit on hold; at least till next payday now for pic's!


Asus P5A - Came with 128MB PC133 and a surprise K6-2 300MHz


My CPU "upgrade" - AMD K6-2+ 500MHz, should easily get it to 600MHz


ATi Radeon 8500 AIW DV - want a bit overkill on this, just cause i can


My Floppy : an LS-120 Drive. I'll pull it apart and set it up as an internal drive, got it for a steal at just $12USD w/ free shipping . I remember buying one in '00 setting me back a good $130USD and spending another $25USD for 5 disks.

And for those who were loved their stickers:

Cause i know i was back then...

 

[Trekkie4]

I know, I've seen couple of those around. Most of them look heavy though, so I figured they've been using backplate mounting solution due to the heatsink weight, and not because of the easier access & installation.

I'm not so sure about that. Like I said, I own dozens of Slot-1 systems ... from iWill BD100, FIC VB-601, to Asus P3B-F, DFI PA61 and many more. None of them ever had capacitors going bad, at least from what I can tell *shrug*

 

[dorsetknob]

never used a backplate on my P11 300 ( overclocked to 550Mhz ) just screwed on two extra fans to the heatsink ( so had 3 in total ) Kept it nice and cool

 

[Trekkie4]

and 128MB in win98 is enough for gaming retro for those systems without crappware

Sorry @vigia, I forgot to address this comment before Yes, under the circumstances I would have to agree on that. My "real" Pentium 2 system which my family bought in October 1998 came with only 64MB and that was considered to be huge back then. But these are not the 90's any longer, and these things are available for free... So instead of putting up with 64MB limitations (or even 128MB), I've decided to use 256 as the perfect number for all of my 98 & ME builds. However, 64MB works perfectly for Windows 95 (got 4 of those, all following the same build pattern) For Windows XP (SP1), I'm running 512 & 768MB configurations which have been tested & proved to be stable. We are talking about retro systems of course, so therefore none of these are designed to go online, stream HD YouTube videos and/or play newer game titles.

 

[dorsetknob]

for some of us Building a Retro system means building a system relevent to the right time period and of course the best it could of been for the Period
that means
for a p2 system
The fastest CPU you can find
the max mem you can get for the system
The Best Graphics card availabe to you for the period
in the 90's you may have only had a 233 p2 ( cost and available funds ) but Dreamed of a p2 450Mhz

with the Passing of the years its now possible to build that dream spec retro system

Thats my view

 

[Trekkie4]

for some of us Building a Retro system means building a system relevent to the right time period and of course the best it could of been for the Period
that means
for a p2 system
The fastest CPU you can find
the max mem you can get for the system
The Best Graphics card availabe to you for the period
in the 90's you may have only had a 233 p2 ( cost and available funds ) but Dreamed of a p2 450Mhz

with the Passing of the years its now possible to build that dream spec retro system

Thats my view

EXACTLY, that's what I'm talking about! And my systems are not even maxed out, most of them still have additional slots for future upgrades and/or changes if necessary After all, if they had all been "maxed out" then they would all be the same, which would completely defeat the purpose of having a retro collection IMHO.

 

[vigia]

in the 90's you may have only had a 233 p2 ( cost and available funds ) but Dreamed of a p2 450Mhz

When each MHZ aprox. $1, and just 4 mb extra for my 486 cost me $100 bucks.