TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[Susquehannock]

Ok, cool, so you know what you're getting into then. If you havn't heard of or seen it yet, I highly recommend no clean flux;
https://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals-836LFNC-Clean-Bottle/dp/B01MYEE84K
The stuff is a joy to work with and has no ill effects on working surfaces.
You'll need dispenser bottles too;
https://www.amazon.com/Needle-Dispenser-Solvent-Applicator-Dropper/dp/B00UG08QDC

Cannot thank you enough for that. And so timely. Was assessing my game plan thinking I need to do better this time around. Here's the hard part ... because I used plumbing flux knowing full well it was a bad idea. Twas all I had. Still no excuse.
Slaps self >

One saving grace is I had good sense to stop short before doing the Soltek SL-75DRV4 too. Had everything lined up on the bench ready to go. Got that board for $12 new in a NewEgg clearance sale and never used it. Caps went bad sitting in the box. Pulled aforementioned Abit KR7A out of mothballs and can see a questionable solder joint on one of the caps I put in. Going to completely re do it. With proper flux, thanks to you.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Cannot thank you enough for that.

YW!

I used plumbing flux knowing full well it was a bad idea. Twas all I had. Still no excuse.

Everyone learns. No worries. Hopefully you cleaned the flux of after...

One saving grace is I had good sense to stop short before doing the Soltek SL-75DRV4 too.

Some people look at that as a chore. I look at it as a bit of fun restoring something to it's former glory. Have fun and show us pictures as you go!

EDIT; Also, for the work you're doing, Tin/Lead solder might work better/easier for you as the melting temp is lower and it's generally easier to work with.
https://www.amazon.com/MAIYUM-63-37-solder-electrical-soldering/dp/B075WB98FJ

 

[DR4G00N]

The good old day's when quad gpu's was a thing and actually ran fairly well.

Stalker COP bench with MSAA disabled. The actual game doesn't work with MSAA enabled, just sits at a black screen when starting the game, though the bench works fine with MSAA for some reason.

When playing the game it sit's around 100-150fps with GPU's 1 & 2 @ ~90%+ usage, GPU's 3 & 4 bounce around 70-95%. This is with every slider set to the maximum of course.

Tried to setup quad-sli in my Ryzen daily but it didn't like it, only let me use one card even using DifferentSLIAuto. One GTX 295 actually managed to run Metro Last light fairly well indoors @ 2560x1080 Very High. Outdoor scenes turn into a slog though because of the low VRAM.

With 4X MSAA

 

[Susquehannock]

How about some retro keyboard love? Don't see them mentioned much.

The IBM model-M needs no explanation. Using it to type this post ("click click") on the Dell T5500 in Win10. AT to PS/2 adapter connected to board's PS/2 port.

Upper is an old HP #5187-0341 early 2000s era multimedia board. Also works in Win10. To my surprise most of the shortcut keys are functional. As are all the CD/DVD/mp3 control buttons which work with Windows Media Player automatically.

Really weird switching between the two. IBM has the classic buckling springs, and HP super soft spongy domes.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Really weird switching between the two. IBM has the classic buckling springs, and HP super soft spongy domes.

I've always preferred the soft-touch of the membrane-type keyboards. The clickity-click of mechanical keyboards just gets irritating after a while.

 

[Mr.Scott]

I've always preferred the soft-touch of the membrane-type keyboards. The clickity-click of mechanical keyboards just gets irritating after a while.

Yes

 

[SniperHF]

To my surprise most of the shortcut keys are functional. As are all the CD/DVD/mp3 control buttons which work with Windows Media Player automatically.

I've had very good luck with these kinds of buttons over the years on old keyboards. I've got an old Compaq kb with media buttons I still use as my primary kb for old systems. It has really loud keystrokes but is not mechanical.

 

[Aaron_Henderson]

My current retro keyboard is a near mint Dell Quietkey SK-1000REW...gave it a full disassembly and cleaning, scrubbed every key, etc., then gave it the "ghetto retrobright" treatment...I can get some photos if anyone is interested.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I can get some photos if anyone is interested.

Yeah, seems interesting.

 

[Trekkie4]

I'm planning a restoration process of my Radeon 9600Pro some time soon, so stay tuned for upcoming updates. Just received the thermal pad(s) for the GPU core the other day & will have to slice them to correct dimensions, for the 9600's heatsink to sit properly (without touching all the contacts & capacitors around the core)

Edit
Just as I was writing the post above, I received a phone call from a friend, asking me if I'd be interested in computer parts. Shortly after, he dropped off two units, one (what it appears to be S370, either P3 or a Celeron) and the other one Slot-1, most likely a Pentium II. More pics & details coming up soon!

Edit2
It's a Pentium II, 350 (my favorite!) with generic (modern?) PCI sound card, ethernet & Rage IIc (PCI) graphics. It has a good potential, but with that being said, I have no idea what I'm going to do with it

 

[emissary42]

DDR2 Rejects

 

[Trekkie4]

The other machine seems to be Abit ST6, featuring a high-speed Coppermine, or maybe even Tualatin... This one is in total mess, full of nastiness & cobwebs, but otherwise in working condition. Again, will post more info & pics later on

 

[Mr.Scott]

ST6 is a highly desired board. Nice catch. Pretty rare here.

 

[Trekkie4]

As promised, Abit ST6...

 

[lexluthermiester]

As promised, Abit ST6...

That thing OC's well. And with that P3, you should be able to get 1.4ghz easy with 1.5ghz being doable.

 

[Trekkie4]

Nah... I mean seriously, what's the point?

I know some of you here do OCing because of the enthusiasm & curiosity, but personally I like to keep my retro hardware running at stock speed(s). Especially since ST6 is considered rare, it would be a shame to toast the board (or CPU) for nothing.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Nah... I mean seriously, what's the point?

I know some of you here do OCing because of the enthusiasm & curiosity, but personally I like to keep my retro hardware running at stock speed(s). Especially since ST6 is considered rare, it would be a shame to toast the board (or CPU) for nothing.

If you're going to do classic gaming, there is a point. That board and CPU are very robust and OC effortlessly. You will not hurt them and for what you'd be doing, the OC would provide a measurable performance increase. The key is not to increase voltage unless you need it, and then only one or two ticks. Intel's voltage spec for the P3's was a bit generous and OC's were very easy as a result.

 

[deflipe]

My 3rd V5 5500

 

[GreiverBlade]

DDR2 Rejects

View attachment 121899

i see... i see... Swissbit???

oh oh ohhhh nice !
formerly Siemens AG ... interesting.
Swissbit Group: Gais, Switzerland
Swissbit AG: Bronschhofen (St. Gallen, Lake Constance area)

 

[emissary42]

i see... i see... Swissbit???

Back in the days, they were not that uncommon here in germany. You would frequently find them even in prebuilt systems. Those Cell Shocks are a very different story in comparison.

 

[Trekkie4]

That rusty & messy ST6 had been entirely disassembled, and some of the parts had been re-purposed, integrated into other machines. Everything else got scrapped

What remained is obviously the motherboard itself, CPU (indeed a Tualatin, model SL5LT), two sticks of RAM and cheap Intel heatsink with plastic hooks - which immediately broke when I tried to unclip them from the CPU socket.


ST6 also had a shower, to wash away all the gunk off the PCI slots & memory banks, so now I'm waiting for the board to dry

 

[lexluthermiester]

which immediately broke when I tried to unclip them from the CPU socket.

Generally, any heatsink that will fit a Socket A will fit Socket 370, so a replacement should be easy to find.

 

[Trekkie4]

Generally, any heatsink that will fit a Socket A will fit Socket 370, so a replacement should be easy to find.

Right, I know. It's all good, I got plenty of S370/462-A CPU coolers around... In fact, I might even have the original, Intel's heatsink with METAL clip, which might fit this old one. In which case I'll simply swap the clip/bracket & keep everything else fully stock.

 

[Trekkie4]

This is one washed out ST-6


I also fixed my Radeon 9600Pro... This one was kinda tricky, and I actually went through several different attempts, before I settled for this one, here. On a side note, I've only just noticed that the GPU reads Radeon "9550", and not "9600", even though this is most definitely a 9600Pro model.

 

[Apocalypsee]

Odd, it supposed to write RV350 for 9600Pro. But I'm not surprised, my 9550 clocked to 9600Pro core clock successfully from lowly 250MHz to 400MHz no problem. The TSOP memory on the other hand don't clock as fast as BGA counterparts and hamper these card performance as compared to XT counterparts.

I bought a X800XT PE but its full of artifacts even in BIOS, I don't know whether to fix it or not. It could be a simple reballing or it could be much worse. Your thoughts?