TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[DR4G00N]

Those P4 boards are getting harder to find these days.
P4C800 boards were the best overclocking P4 boards ever. Highly desirable.
Your 2600+ will be locked. 0339 is the cutoff date.

It's worth a try to see if it's unlocked at least, it might actually be, who knows?

 

[Mr.Scott]

It's worth a try to see if it's unlocked at least, it might actually be, who knows?

Highly unlikely. Although there were a few stray AXP's that made it out unlocked after 0339. I have a couple, but again, that's a rare situation.
Still, don't cost anything to try.

BTW, multi is always unlocked in the down selections. Locked multi is only locked in the up selections.

 

[Trekkie4]

Look what the cat dragged in...

It's a Pentium MMX running at 166MHz. My first PPGA Pentium MMX at 166MHz, as all my other ones are 233MHz. I've been told that the motherboard doesn't work, but from what I could tell so far, everything's working perfectly fine... This thing will need all the components & expansion cards, but eventually it'll make one decent (and hopefully happy) little system

 

[Robert B]

Look what the cat dragged in...

Literally!!!

 

[Trekkie4]

Making progress...

The system had been fully disassembled & PSU checked (and oddly enough appears to be in mint condition). New hardware is standing by, this is going to be an interesting build!


I've decided to pair this one with Mitsumi drives (both floppy & CD-ROM), but I have no idea what I'm going to do with gaping 3.5" hole in front, as it seems to be too small for one of those 3.5" fillers which I got laying around.


Took the liberty of removing the motherboard, and adding (and replacing) the mounting standoffs. While the motherboard tray was removed, I also used the opportunity to mount (and screw in) all the drives. Oddly enough, this PSU requires external ground, which I connected to floppy... I really don't see the point for additional ground terminal, but whatever... Also, the live voltage cable is now routed around the frame & looped down into the switch. Rather than having a live cable dangling inside the case, and near low voltage areas, which could be sensitive to EM radiation from the mains (220V, 50Hz)


The sound card for this build is going to be ESS AudioDrive MS868P/D. The last time I had it hooked up, it kept causing weird problems & other issues, so I'm going to give it one more (and probably last) chance. If this one doesn't work out, I'm going to swap it out for SoundBlaster 16, which has a non-working MIDI. Which would under the normal circumstances be a serious issue, but since this particular build is going to feature Win95 & 1996 (and newer) software, I don't see any problems.



Oh, and almost forgot... Can't go without the CMOS speaker! Fortunately, I had one, laying around.


And there you have it... Still tons of work to be done, but I'm slowly getting there!

 

[Athlonite]

be careful with that PSU it may look in fine shape but electrolytic caps that don't get used for a while can dry out

 

[biffzinker]

Look what the cat dragged in...

Was that an intended pun?

 

[Trekkie4]

Was that an intended pun?

Of course not!

@Athlonite Trust me, I've seen far worse... Heck, I own some of those 5x86 units with PSU which are beyond any help or repairs. I suppose I could hook up ATX to AT converter & use any modern ATX power supply, but seeing these are still working & not causing any issues, I've decided to keep them

 

[lexluthermiester]

It's a Pentium MMX running at 166MHz. My first PPGA Pentium MMX at 166MHz, as all my other ones are 233MHz.

I had one of those. They OC to 200mhz flawlessly. And if you can manage a small voltage boost(motherboard must support such) it'll get to 233mhz with grace. Wonderful OCer's. Needs a good heatsink though and most Socket A kits with a swivel latch will fit.

So this is a thing;

For anyone who is old enough to remember, maybe fortunate enough to have owned one and lament that it wasn't more popular stateside, this may be very tempting. I think I'm going to order one..

 

[Trekkie4]

I had one of those. They OC to 200mhz flawlessly. And if you can manage a small voltage boost(motherboard much support such) it'll get to 233mhz with grace. Wonderful OCer's. Needs a good heatsink though and most Socket A kits with a swivel latch will fit.

So this is a thing;

For anyone who is old enough to remember, maybe fortunate enough to have owned one and lament that it wasn't more popular stateside, this may be very tempting. I think I'm going to order one..

Maybe so, but naaah. I already got three complete (and fully working) Pentium MMX 233 units in my collection, so there really wouldn't be much point. It's running at stock 166MHz speed, has a small Socket 7 heatsink (with extremely loud, brand new fan) and seems to be doing just fine. In fact, I finished the build earlier today & I'm in the progress of booting it up. So far so good, the motherboard is working perfectly fine


You may remember my question about graphics from last week, and which card I should use alone (Rage IIc or Matrox Millennium), and which one of these should be paired up with 3dfx? That's because I don't have any decent PCI cards in my collection, capable of doing "3D". Except this isn't entirely correct... About a year ago, I bought couple of brand new ATI Rage XL cards from AliExpress, thinking these would save me from ever having problem(s) with PCI graphics, ever again. For those of you who don't know, or do not remember, these are NOT "New Old Stock". They are in fact brand new cards, produced with old Rage XL GPU chips. Apparently Chinese folks bought thousands (millions, even?) of these and are now mounting them on brand new cards, which are NOT manufactured by ATI/AMD.


Unfortunately, it turned out that Rage XL from the picture above doesn't work on older, PCI 2.0 slots. They specifically require the newer 2.1 standard to work, so they've been pretty much useless to me. In fact, I traded one of them for that Matrox Millennium II, and kept the other one for myself, just in case. Well, it just happens that the motherboard which came inside this Pentium 166 recognizes & supports PCI 2.1 standard! So I gave it a try (seeing I got nothing to lose, even if it doesn't work out) and really, it booted just fine! So now I actually DO have a 3D capable video card in my system!

 

[Susquehannock]

Free PCIe X600XT 256mb. Seller sent this instead of the gf4 AGP that I payed for and promptly returned my funds. Never asked for the card back. Not sure what to to do with it now.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Free PCIe X600XT 256mb. Seller sent this instead of the gf4 AGP that I payed for and promptly returned my funds. Never asked for the card back. Not sure what to to do with it now.

View attachment 129133

It'll make a solid spare card for diagnostic work.

 

[Trekkie4]

Speaking of PCIe cards, I was recently donated a non-working Radeon X1600 Pro, which is in desperate need of recapping (assuming it can even be repaired, at all). Also got fully-working Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 with Athlon X2, but it is missing the rear I/O shield plate.

Wasn't going to mention it here (or even upload pics), because (to my standards & thinking) this is current & modern-day hardware. In fact, I picked them up to (re)build a daily runner for a member of the family. Something to watch YouTube in HD, check for emails & do paperwork.

 

[MaxiPro800]

Well, I was given these from a friend who upgraded to a i3 3250.

Allied LC-8400BTX 400W ATXv2.2/P4*
ASUS P5QL Pro*
Core 2 Quad Q9400 w/ cooler
6GB of DDR2 RAM
SoundBlaster Audigy SE PCI*


*these three were originally donated by me, as his PC (an SFF eMachines that literally had the MB glued to the chassis) died. The CPU he bought later on and so did the RAM. The PSU is safe to use (I had recapped it long before I gave it to him) although some of the components might be undersized for the job (although I'm not sure if it's just my eyes or they're actually that small)

What I'm going to reuse from these is just the CPU and its cooler. The rest will go into storage, as I'm going to use a DDR3 motherboard, and given that I want to install a GTX550Ti (or even a GTX580 I got my eyes on), the PSU won't cut it, and I already have a FSP Bluestorm II 500W I want to put to good use.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Well, I was given these from a friend who upgraded to a i3 3250.

Allied LC-8400BTX 400W ATXv2.2/P4*
ASUS P5QL Pro*
Core 2 Quad Q9400 w/ cooler
6GB of DDR2 RAM
SoundBlaster Audigy SE PCI*


*these three were originally donated by me, as his PC (an SFF eMachines that literally had the MB glued to the chassis) died. The CPU he bought later on and so did the RAM. The PSU is safe to use (I had recapped it long before I gave it to him) although some of the components might be undersized for the job (although I'm not sure if it's just my eyes or they're actually that small)

What I'm going to reuse from these is just the CPU and its cooler. The rest will go into storage, as I'm going to use a DDR3 motherboard, and given that I want to install a GTX550Ti (or even a GTX580 I got my eyes on), the PSU won't cut it, and I already have a FSP Bluestorm II 500W I want to put to good use.

To be fair, the difference in ram performance for the C2Q DDR2 vs DDR3 is minimal. If it's DDR2 800mhz you'll be good as long as it divided 2x2GB and 2x1GB. Save yourself the money on a DDR3 board and ram, unless you already have them. IIRC that Asus board is a solid overclocker and the Q9400 should give you 3.2-3.6ghz without much effort. Additionally, a GTX670 would be a better fit for that CPU as well and should only be an extra $10, if that. That setup will make a great Windows XP/Windows 7 retro system. You'll only need 4GB if you plan on XP though. XP just won't see the other 2GB.

Only friendly suggestions, you might have specific plans for it.

 

[MaxiPro800]

I've already mentioned I'm going for DDR3. There's no reason to stay on DDR2 with that CPU, at least for me. I have talked to someone and I'm waiting on him to ship a Gigabyte EP45T-DS3R, which has a few advantages over the P5QL Pro - for one, I can SLi, it has DDR3 slots only and the last one is it comes fully equipped from the seller - driver CD, I/O shield, board and even the box!

The only things that might set me a bit back would be the GPU (prices are a bit higher than you'd think here in Romania, even for second hand stuff) and a big good cooler for the Q9400, as otherwise DDR3 RAM is pretty cheap, and I already have a lot of parts - FSP Bluestorm II 500W PSU, 3 HDDs (1TB, 500GB, 320GB), and a Delux MG760 case which currently houses a old Socket 462/VIA KT600 based Sempron machine.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I've already mentioned I'm going for DDR3. There's no reason to stay on DDR2 with that CPU, at least for me. I have talked to someone and I'm waiting on him to ship a Gigabyte EP45T-DS3R, which has a few advantages over the P5QL Pro - for one, I can SLi, it has DDR3 slots only and the last one is it comes fully equipped from the seller - driver CD, I/O shield, board and even the box!

The only things that might set me a bit back would be the GPU (prices are a bit higher than you'd think here in Romania, even for second hand stuff) and a big good cooler for the Q9400, as otherwise DDR3 RAM is pretty cheap, and I already have a lot of parts - FSP Bluestorm II 500W PSU, 3 HDDs (1TB, 500GB, 320GB), and a Delux MG760 case which currently houses a old Socket 462/VIA KT600 based Sempron machine.

View attachment 129365

Fair enough. At least get yourself a GTX560 or GTX570. A 550 is such a slouch, even on XP.

 

[biffzinker]

The section in the video about working as a tech support agent I found amusing. What do you know, somethings never change. Someone calling into tech support complaining their $3000 dollar high-end desktop with a 166 MHz Pentium has been replaced by the new 200 MHz Pentium.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Some of David's stories I could have told verbatim. I used to do tech support for Dell in the Small Business / Enterprise division.

 

[biffzinker]

I used to do tech support for Dell in the Small Business / Enterprise division.

Of all job opportunities you picked tech support?

 

[lexluthermiester]

Of all job opportunities you picked tech support?

It was 2003 and paid $23 per hour.

 

[MaxiPro800]

Fair enough. At least get yourself a GTX560 or GTX570. A 550 is such a slouch, even on XP.

Gonna see which one would be cheaper. The 550Ti is $26 (115RON), while a GTX580 is $46.

Will probably go with the 580 if it doesn't pull a whole lot of power, although the PSU definitely looks up to the job.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Will probably go with the 580 if it doesn't pull a whole lot of power

It does. Tops out at 304W under load.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 1536 MB Review

Today NVIDIA releases their new GeForce GTX 580 which is based on their Fermi architecture. The card is 20% faster than the GTX 480, yet requires less power. NVIDIA has also optimized fan noise making this the quietest highest-end card on the market today.

www.techpowerup.com

However, a GTX 670 does much better topping out at 162W;

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 2 GB Review

Today NVIDIA launches their new GeForce GTX 670 which aims to bring incredible performance levels at more affordable pricing. We see the new $399 card cruise past HD 7970 in many of our tests which will put additional pressure on AMD. Even against NVIDIA's own GTX 680 the performance difference...

www.techpowerup.com

It also performs much better which is why I mentioned it. It's a much better sweetspot, if you can find a good deal where you live.

 

[biffzinker]

 

[Trekkie4]

Ha, it would seem I was "ahead" of Phil's Computer Lab by years... 97% of my Windows 98 (especially 3dfx ones) are based on Slot-1 motherboard, whenever it's Pentium II or Pentium III. I've been experimenting with various chipsets though (VIA, Intel, etc), but I would have to agree that Intel's 440BX is probably the most accurate & reliable solution, especially for 3dfx. In fact, I've been using Slot-1 for more than just 3dfx - I also got Savage4 system based on a Celeron 333 and nVidia M64 based on a Pentium II, 266. Not to mention those HP workstations, Visualize & Kayak with the support for two Slot-1 CPUs... All in all, a great & fun platform to work with IMO!

I always get nostalgic watching, working, or even talking about these things!