TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[Trekkie4]

Got this in mail today ... another "score" from AliExpress for approx. 11USD


I'm about to give my old Pentium D a complete overhaul, replacing not only the CPU, but video card too (existing X1550 will be replaced with 8800GT), including the two optical drives & new floppy. This build is technically speaking not part of my retro collection, but more like a back-up system, which used to play a bigger role back in a day. It also served as a HiFi center, up until I routed all the HiFi components through the audio switch & directly into the speakers themselves. So now I'm mainly just using it for storage & alternative inet access, if & when necessary.

 

[_JP_]

I've been getting chips from there too, although prices do fluctuate a bit. Mostly 775 to 771 mods and Xeon for early Core i sockets. AMDs are either expensive or not far from MSRP, for some reason
Also, I find it very hard to get the right stepping, especially when looks like a 3:1 ratio for the later ones.
I was tempted for a Pentium D in my 2nd retrorig, but I guess I'll keep the P4. Already have it (house still under remodeling, can't advance projects)

 

[phill]

Actually, those were the very next generation socket CPU's, Socket A(462). That was even more fun stuff to OC! For a time AMD was the OC king with many of those models.

Completely agree and one reason for still having socket A board and CPU's around! Just when I got into overclocking as well... Back in 2000 ish wasn't it??)

 

[agent_x007]

Playing with some Xeon LGA 775...
Nothing to worry about here, everything is under control

https://valid.x86.fr/gyrdmp

 

[lexluthermiester]

Back in 2000 ish wasn't it??)

Yeah, 1999 was the first Slot A release, IIRC and 2000 was when Pluto came out.. Some of the Athlon XP's were OC champs! And when OC'd they really gave Intel's best offerings a ribbing. It was fun to watch! And now the competition on again presently. Good times.

 

[phill]

Yeah, 1999 was the first Slot A release, IIRC and 2000 was when Pluto came out.. Some of the Athlon XP's were OC champs! And when OC'd they really gave Intel's best offerings a ribbing. It was fun to watch! And now the competition on again presently. Good times.

I was trying to remember as I remember buying my first ever Duron 650Mhz setup back then.. PC133 ram and all sorts!! I think I still have the invoice for it.. I remember going back with a Thunderbird that was one of the special ones that was clocked to 1Ghz and overclocked to 1.4Ghz if you where lucky!! I remember those days.... Remembering back to the days where I actually thought somehow Norton might speed up my PC because it was recommended in GTA 3 to try and get it to run.. Instead I just bought faster GPU and somehow that solved the issue!!

 

[Robert B]

 

[phill]

Is this a new form of guess that chip??!!

 

[Robert B]

Ati 9800 Pro on the operating table. V4-L style

 

[phill]

What's happened to it @Robert B ??

 

[Robert B]

I'll post the full story later. But I bought it for less than 2 EUROS and my gut feeling says it is working. I attached a fan to it as it was missing one, I soldered a capacitor back and cleaned it a little.

After this I put it in the PC but I got a VGA not detected code. I used a PCI graphic card and still NO POST. So I removed the BIOS chip and it was empty. ZERO DATA. I hope after I put it back the card might be alive

I already wrote the new BIOS with the TL866A programmer. I took the BIOS from TPU but I still dont know if the card has Hynix or Samsung memory chips. If I mess up I'll have to remove again the BIOS chip. I wrote the SAMSUNG-BIOS as it had the correct CORE/MEMORY clocks.

The card is: Ati Radeon 9800 PRO 256MB - PN 109-A09400-00 - but I couldnt find a BIOS file for this exact PN. The one on TPU is for P/N 113-A09401-100

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios...rsion=&interface=&memType=&memSize=256&since=
https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/23/ati-9800pro-256-samsung22-030404


I tried to use the programmer and a clip to write the BIOS on the graphic card but it couldnt be done:

This guide served as inspiration.

"Step 3. On page 10 of the datasheet linked in this guide, there it indicates the function of each pin using high and low signals.
The most important one we need to know about is VCC (described under /CS). Since we are going to be programming with the SOIC BIOS chip still soldered on the motherboard, VCC has to be either 1 of 3 things: 1) You either use the boards power through AC adapter being plugged in (notebook is not powered on) and battery disconnected (VCC is not used on the programmer) or 2) You use the programmers power (VCC) through the USB port (5v) which the programmer will correct to 3.3v for our specific SOIC BIOS chip or 3) You cut pin #8 (VCC) on the BIOS chip to allow the programmer to supply VCC and have operating read/write signals (high and low) when instructed (acting as if the BIOS chip was desoldered). "

http://voltground.com/haven/threads/73/

So to be safe I removed the BIOS chip. Less hassle

 

[lexluthermiester]

So to be safe I removed the BIOS chip. Less hassle

Watching this with interest!

 

[Robert B]

I still have to clean the leftover flux but only after I solder back the chip

The pads are fine. The procedure went smooth and fast even if it was done using "available" methods.

Inspiration from this:

L.E.

The ATI 9800 PRO 256MB still doesnt work even after I've written another BIOS file and I've soldered back the BIOS chip. The solder job isnt my best but I'm going to take the chip off later for another try. For the time beeing I consider the board dead. I simply have no luck with ATI cards



The K7-800 - Slot A - Thunderbird core CPU has been cleaned and put back together -It works like a dream 800MHz, 900MHz si 950MHz



Clean CPU in a dirty slot the ASUS K7M hasnt been cleaned yet



I changed two capacitors on the I850.



Now I know the state of each and every piece I bought recently. Next I'll have to clean the remaining pieces and tell you their story

 

[delshay]

Asrock 939 / FX-60 3.2GHz (new personal best)

Small increase in performance with lower voltage. Note this is also the world first modified FX-60 to have a full deck of capacitors.

 

[Trekkie4]

Secondary Q6600 rig all done! I'm saying secondary, because I already have Q6600 for modern gaming & every-day use So like I explained in one of my previous posts, this is just going to be a secondary, backup system.

Originally built in 2007, it had a different mobo (ASRock 775Dual 880Pro) & Pentium 4 @ 3.00GHz but was decommissioned soon after (about a year later) & taken apart for parts. Fast forward to 2009, I bought a brand new Gigabyte motherboard, along with ATI X1550 PCIe graphics, Cooler Master Gladiator case, 2GB DDR2 RAM, Cooler Master PSU & bunch of other things. CPU remained the same, P4 chip with single core @3.00GHz along with CPU cooler, ThermalTake BlueOrb FX. And the system remained like that for years, with only minor tweaks up until 2013 or 2014 when I swapped ThermalTake heatsink for Cooler Master Hyper TX3, along with "new" CPU, Dual core Pentium.


So now, in 2018 I finally did a complete overhaul. It got a new CPU (Q6600) & new video card (8800GT, 512MB), along with several minor tweaks & improvements to the overall system. I've added dust filter for the PSU, also restored the exhaust fan to working condition on the PSU that was entirely seized up, replaced the optical drive(s), swapped white floppy drive for black one, and of course done a whole new cable management since the old one was a complete mess! See for yourself!

 

[lexluthermiester]

The K7-800 - Slot A - Thunderbird core CPU has been cleaned and put back together -It works like a dream 800MHz, 900MHz si 950MHz

Was that the stock heatsink? And did you try 1ghz? (dying to see you do it)

 

[Robert B]

For the K7-800 Thunderbird I used the stock Cooler Master brick with plain Arctic MX-4. Those frequencies are just a "dry run" to see how far I can get the CPU to POST with stock voltage. 110MHz FSB yielded 900MHz (instead of 880) and anything between 115-117MHz yielded 950MHz (a little strange ) OC-ing the Slot A Thunderbird was a breeze, much easier than Pluto. I tried 120MHz FSB but I got NO POST. I still have to RTFM better and read some more about the K7M. I looked in BIOS for a AGP/PCI lock/ratio but I only found an ISA BUS CLOCK with various settings. I used a V3 3000 for this test. Later after I clean the motherboard I'll see if I can boot at bus speeds higher than 120MHz and I'll use a cheap PCI card so that I wont damage a better card. Take note that POST frequencies arent representative for a stable OC.



The K7M I have has SUPER BYPASS mode enabled by default



What I can say is that last year I found a K7-750 Pluto core that had a 1GHz core on it. Unfortunately it came dead as the PCB was cracked and the cartridge was hit pretty hard. I knew this before I bought it but I hoped that the PCB was still intact. I'm still pissed that the CPU was dead.

Again I WISH I HAD A Gold Finger DEVICE!!! GFD! GFD! GFD!

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-21958.html

 

[Trekkie4]

Speaking of Q6600, I found these pics on my phone, from the last year when I upgraded graphics on my primary Q6600 rig. What you see here is a Hyper 212EVO CPU heatsink & GeForce GTX760


Aside from Q6600 restoration, I also got something else... Never seen one of these before, didn't even realize Casio was in the market of VHS machines! Obviously, this is going to be a re-branded unit from Funai/Shintom, but it's still very much nostalgic nevertheless. And yes, it does work. I had to swap out the entire mechanical deck inside (old one had damaged tape loading mechanism & severe belt meltdown), but I'm happy to report that the replacement deck works exactly the same, without any problems whatsoever! It even came with original (working) remote, which is quite rare for these units!

 

[Robert B]

I still have more parts to clean: three motherboards, two 3dfx V3 2000/3000 cards and the dead ATI 9800 PRO.

Preview:

* Celeron A 333MHz
* Gainward Dragon 4000 - 3dfx VooDoo Banshee
* 3dfx V3 2000

More later.

 

[Trekkie4]

Back to working with old(er) hardware... RetroMaster 4000 in particular, I swapped the old Radeon X1550 for a new one. See if you can spot the difference & understand why

Spoiler: Need a HINT?

VRAM difference - old model is 256MB & new one 512MB

 

[dorsetknob]

See if you can spot the difference & understand why

And there was me thinking it was something to do with the Broken Board (AGP LATCHING)

 

[lexluthermiester]

I swapped the old Radeon X1550 for a new one.

The new one will give much better performance with double the ram.

 

[Trekkie4]

@dorsetknob You mean PCIe latch, right? And nope, both cards are intact. True, this other one ("old" card) was recapped due to previous owner using assorted caps & card throwing artifacts all over the screen, but that was also fixed. In fact, both cards are doing just fine!

@lexluthermiester My thoughts exactly! I couldn't use this card back when I put this thing together since I've had it inside that Pentium Dual Core (now Q6600). But now that I have it out, figured why not. In fact, I remember playing "F.E.A.R" on this card, while it was still paired with P4 Prescott @3GHz, and it ran perfectly fine. Maxed out even!

 

[dorsetknob]

You mean PCIe latch, right?

yes thanks for the Correction ( that Board is broken tho just means its a little insecure if used )

 

[Trekkie4]

Uhh... But it's not! Perhaps it's just optical illusion, perspective thing. Both cards have the latch, even though (now that I looked at the pic) other latch seems darker & therefore harder to see.

Edit
Take a look at this pic here, you can clearly see both of them