TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[GreiverBlade]

That's a pretty good idea, actually! I've been hunting down for one of those 3200+ chips myself, they seem to be quite popular lately! But unfortunately, also too damn expensive for my taste, so I might get one of the cheap 2800+ (or faster?) ones & raise the FSB to the point where I'll get the same performance as 3200+

i thought i did hit a golden goose deal ... my 2800+ got @ 3200+ since i assembled the rig back in the day .... that KT6V 400 mobo is actually mine since 2004 when i assembled my 1st custom setup before that 2800+ i had a Duron 700 Morgan on that mobo (well ... second technically ... my 1st was a K6-2 433 AFR i still have one 450 AFX on the shelf)

i also have one XP 2600+, a 750 APT (Ceramic PGA) 1333 AMS (Ceramic PGA) and my beloved slot 1 K7 700 MTR Pluto

 

[Trekkie4]

Indeed, that must have been the powerhouse back then! Personally, I was never really into OCing myself, until I finally OCed my Q6600 couple of years ago in order to speed it up a bit. Especially not the "retro" hardware, I wouldn't want to put additional pressure to (already old & worn out) hardware that's been around for decades, it seems more logical to just replace the CPU with faster model.

Except, obviously that isn't possible in this particular situation, so I may end up improvising with either FSB or multiplier settings, that Gigabyte 7N400 Pro2 board seems more than capable of handling both.

 

[stinger608]

so I might get one of the cheaper 2800+

Many many of the 2800's would clock at a 200 FSB equaling the 3200.

I currently have one 2800 that has no issue clocking at a 200 FSB. Heck, I have a mobile 1800 that clocks at a 200 FSB as well. Both of them chips for crazy fast in their day.

 

[Trekkie4]

Thanks, you pretty much answered my dilemma I found one 2800+ on sale for 3USD locally, so I might even pick it up. Still far more cheaper & affordable than the real thing, for over 15$!

 

[Komshija]

well i guess the XP 3200+ was not the ... oh wait ... once? oh well that one was also once...

XP 3200+ arrived a few months after the XP 3000+ whose main competitor was P4@3000 MHz. There were extensive tests of these two conducted by one of out PC magazines, which turned out in Athlon's favor.

 

[Komshija]

Creative Sound Blaster Live! CT 4670. I don't know exactly how old is it, bit I assume around 15 years.

 

[Komshija]

One more piece of "hardware" that needs no special introduction. Still working after 15 years with replaced battery.

 

[Trekkie4]

This here is as good as it gets... The ONLY soundcard that's better than Live, from this period (at least in my, personal opinion) would be the famous Aureal Vortex2, aka Diamond Monster MX300 with its "A3D" 3D audio acceleration

 

[GreiverBlade]

Creative Sound Blaster Live! CT 4670. I don't know exactly how old is it, bit I assume around 15 years.]

august 1998 ...

(i can't find mine ... but i know it's still somewhere in a box alongside a Hercule Gamesurround Fortissimo II that replaced my Live! in 2001)

ps, please do not double post unless you have 10 image per post (or as long as the [edit] button is still present at the bottom of your latest post )

This here is as good as it gets... The ONLY soundcard that's better than Live, from this period (at least in my, personal opinion) would be the famous Aureal Vortex2, aka Diamond Monster MX300 with its "A3D" 3D audio acceleration

the Hercule Gamesurround Fortissimo II was also good ... (albeit being 3yrs younger, tho the MX300 is also younger than the Live! )

FUNNY! the Audigy 2 ... dubbed ZS because of the gold connector has NOT the same SB number (SB0350) and ALSO is writen AUDIGY 2 ZS on the PCB!... so ... the AUDIGY 2 (normal connector) and AUDIGY 2 (gold connector) with the same SB number ( SB0240) can't really be different ... in fact my SB0240 gold is recognized as a Audigy 2 Platinum ... GAH Creative is so confusing sometime ... (last but not least, the Audigy 2 still feature a AC97 codec while the Audigy 2 ZS completely remove it )

 

[debs3759]

I just struck a deal on a Tseng Labs ET1000 today, buying it next week. Been looking for one for a few years!

 

[debs3759]

Creative Sound Blaster Live! CT 4670. I don't know exactly how old is it, bit I assume around 15 years.

View attachment 78187

You can get an approximate age from the copyright year and dates on the chips. I would say approx 18 years old, but can't read the dates on your pic.

 

[debs3759]

Once the most powerful consumer-grade CPU, AMD Athlon XP 3000+ Barton. I bought it brand new in 2004 during major PC upgrade. Still in working condition, but his ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe motherboard died.

I bought a 3200+ earlier this month. I need to build a Socket A system for it. Also need a few AT cases for some older builds I have most parts for

 

[Trekkie4]

Figured everyone's uploading pics, so I might join the fun...

Just got this hunk of metal, earlier today! I was told it's in working condition, but IDK... To be completely honest, I have a bad experience with IBM hard drives Oh well, it was free, and seem to be in good condition otherwise, so I'll definitely hook it up at some point. Even though 10GB is not much of capacity, except maybe for an older AT-styled Pentium build.

 

[Komshija]

You can get an approximate age from the copyright year and dates on the chips. I would say approx 18 years old, but can't read the dates on your pic.

I see it now, it's stamped 1998 on it. I didn't look at it properly.

@Trekkie4 Mađarska? I didn't know that IBM had HDD production facility in Hungary.

 

[buzzi]

Thanks, you pretty much answered my dilemma I found one 2800+ on sale for 3USD locally, so I might even pick it up. Still far more cheaper & affordable than the real thing, for over 15$!

Grab it with both hands!

 

[R00kie]

Found this badboy in my drawer ^^
15 years old and still kicking I remember playing Battlefield 3 with it, immersing myself in the sound

 

[buzzi]

So are this sound cards still better than nowadays onboard ones?

 

[GreiverBlade]

So are this sound cards still better than nowadays onboard ones?

nope ... the Realtek ALC1150 is still better than the oldies, sadly ... otherwise i would use my Audigy 2 Platinum ... or the more recent Audigy FX PCIeX X1 i had (since my mobo has no PCI)

i even tested some more modern soundcards to find the ALC1150 was still enough for most cases (music playback or gaming ) ... as i don't need a "music profesional" grade sound

but i would use my Audigy 2 for any mobo that has a PCI and a sub ALC1150 chip/codec (except on a LanParty NF4 UT ... the soundcard on that one was sick... on a little add on board )

 

[R00kie]

nope ... the Realtek ALC1150 is still better than the oldies, sadly ... otherwise i would use my Audigy 2 Platinum ... or the more recent Audigy FX PCIeX X1 i had (since my mobo has no PCI)

i even tested some more modern soundcards to find the ALC1150 was still enough for most cases (music playback or gaming ) ... as i don't need a "music profesional" grade sound

That, and the driver support is atrocious nowadays. You can still find some modded drivers, but good luck making them work long term...

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

So are this sound cards still better than nowadays onboard ones?

That warrants a thread all of its' own.


I use this one

If my mobo had o/b sound i would use o/b.......but im into volume not quality so speakers are more important to me.

 

[GreiverBlade]

That warrants a thread all of its' own.


I use this one
View attachment 78215



If my mobo had o/b sound i would use o/b.......but im into volume not quality so speakers are more important to me.

which use a ALC codec or a VIA VT2020 (same as onboard one )

it's technically the same type of o/b soundcard as my NF4 UT mobo .... lemme see if i still have a pic

here
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...-up-pic-clubhouse.71955/page-336#post-3284570
and there
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/tpus-nostalgic-hardware-club.108251/page-138#post-3284566

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

There is no sound chip on my board hence i am forced to use a soundcard.


asus rog ii extreme

 

[Komshija]

So are this sound cards still better than nowadays onboard ones?

They were in their time, but now I doubt it. Some new upper-middle-class and high-end motherboards have very good onboard sound cards that are isolated from the rest of the circuitry. They usually have very good audio processors with quality Japanese capacitors and some are even bundled with the additional audio programs.

Edit: GreiverBlade was faster.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

it's technically the same type of o/b soundcard as my NF4 UT mobo .... lemme see if i still have a pic

and thats my point.....I wouldnt bother with an addon card if i didnt have to.

 

[Trekkie4]

I see it now, it's stamped 1998 on it. I didn't look at it properly.

I never paid much attention to the origin of the PC hardware, but what I /can/ tell you is that I've had loads of issues with these Hungarian IBM hard drives. I remember one, from couple of years ago ... one of the IDE interface pins broke loose & fell off the PCB. Just when I was about to scrap the drive, I realized that the pin was just the IDE activity LED feedback, so I pulled off the rest of it (to prevent short across rest of the contacts) & kept using the HDD as it was, except it wasn't lighting up the HDD activity LED on the case. Anyhow, to fast forward the story, couple of months later, I've noticed random errors & problems with some of the files... Which turned out to be bad sectors, so I did the entire disk surface check & repair, hoping it would solve the problem. Soon after, the entire thing started clunking & squealing, and it was completely shot! So yeah, that was one - the other drive was also Hungarian IBM I believe and it was completely dead, I couldn't get it to spin up and/or identify itself! But you know what they say, 3rd time's a charm! This one is supposed to be in working condition, but considering their reputation I wouldn't want to jump ahead of myself

Grab it with both hands!

Oh, I would!! The only problem is that the guy (who's selling these) is not in the same city as me, meaning I would have to pay for postage & risk damaging the CPUs. I'm talking abut CPUs rather than single CPU because he's also selling Sempron 3000+ which I also might grab for the same price as Athlon 2800+ Therefore it would cost me approx. 8 USD for both of these + postage.

Found this badboy in my drawer ^^
15 years old and still kicking I remember playing Battlefield 3 with it, immersing myself in the sound

Never had Audigy card myself, but I'm hoping to find one eventually I have a lot of "Live" ones though & SB Awe32 (not to mention generic SB 128, but those are too standard & not worth the time) The only Live! model which I can't stand are those 0220 (Dell?) OEM boards, which seem to be using special drivers & caused me a lot of headache.

and thats my point.....I wouldnt bother with an addon card if i didnt have to.

Depending on what you do, and what you expect out of your system, the external sound card might provide you with better support over the onboard solution. Take my RetroMaster 2000 system as an example - even though I had on-board audio, which seems to be working perfectly fine, I've decided to "upgrade" it to previously mentioned SB Live! due to EAX effects & DOS support. I've tried to get the DOS games working with onboard hardware, but things didn't go that well. Obviously, I'm referring to older hardware in this particular example, but I'm sure you can find & relate to modern day counterparts & apps, which take the full advantage of external sound cards, rather than on-board one