TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[8BitZ80]

Hey if anyone else knows a thing or two about Slot 2 workstation motherboards, I'd like to pick your brain for a sec.
I'm considering a Xeon workstation motherboard, but I'm skeptical for a couple of reasons, most notably the issue that it's missing the voltage regulator modules.
Were these modules universal in terms of pin configuration and electrical function?

 

[lexluthermiester]

Were these modules universal in terms of pin configuration and electrical function?

That's a good question.

 

[Grog6]

No, I don't think they function the same.

https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/design-guides/voltage-regulator-module-enterprise-voltage-regulator-down-10-0-guidelines.pdf

This says the modules differ by processor:

CompTIA A+ Exam Cram (Exams 220-602, 220-603, 220-604)

&> In This Book You’ll Learn How To: Recognize the different types and forms of computer memory Identify different computer cables and connectors Troubleshoot IRQ conflicts and other computer resource problems Identify and troubleshoot common computer motherboard components Install core PC...

books.google.com

This guy's pretty cool:

http://john.ccac.rwth-aachen.de:8000/misc/lacuna_vrm/

Voltage regulator module - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[zanca.racing]

Hi to all.

First at all I want to say sorry for my bad English and apologise me if I write uncorrectly.

I follow this thread from the first page but I just want to write only now because I wanted to increase my hardware collection to show to you.

Where can I upload my photos? Have you a site?

Thank you!

 

[dorsetknob]

Upload to here and then copy >paste links into your post

Free Image Hosting | TechPowerUp

 

[zanca.racing]

Ok.

Here it’s the last arrival...

Two weeks and I will be on vacation so I will have more time to make all the pictures!

 

[8BitZ80]

The MSI MS6199VA I've got is officially the world's most temperamental motherboard.
It hates memory, it hates keyboards, it hates storage drives and it hates any changed values in the BIOS.
Fuck this thing...

Edit: I FUCKING FIGURED IT OUT!! FINALLY!!
Apparently you need to go into the BIOS and Load Default Values before changing anything. I thought clearing the CMOS was enough but was running into all sorts of issues.
Now it's finally installing Windows XP and life is good.
You don't even know how close I came to unplugging everything and chucking this board in the bin.

 

[micropage7]

Ok.

Here it’s the last arrival...

Two weeks and I will be on vacation so I will have more time to make all the pictures!

I ever had it but i forgot where i keep that
All i can recall is on the chip written made in indonesia

 

[8BitZ80]

Not really hardware related, but this is an older software program that's interesting to play around with on old machines.
It's a programming software called Just Basic and it's runs on practically any operating system.
My favorite aspect is it includes a whole heap of example programs, the best one is "coolFractals" which draws different patterns in real time (see screenshot).
It maxes out older CPUs easily and so it could potentially be used as a stress-testing program.

Spoiler: Screenshot

 

[Ruru]

Gonna leave this spicy photo here:View attachment 131984

Tahiti core.

HD 7870 XT?

 

[MaxiPro800]

HD 7870 XT?

HD 7950 3GB.

 

[Frick]

HD 7950 3GB.

Is that ... nostalgic?

Anyway, been tinkering with the old IBM I found and it's definitely the graphics card. Cleaned it up as good as I could but still no go. Some resoldering might work but I'm not sure I'm up to it. We'll see what happens. I'd really love to get it going.

 

[Ruru]

Is that ... nostalgic?

Anyway, been tinkering with the old IBM I found and it's definitely the graphics card. Cleaned it up as good as I could but still no go. Some resoldering might work but I'm not sure I'm up to it. We'll see what happens. I'd really love to get it going.

View attachment 132382

View attachment 132383

Has an infamous Varta barrel battery been close..?

Playing some NFSU with my AGP AM2 rig, using a X800 Pro for fun. Runs perfectly even with everything stock, never played with a X800 Pro to be exact. At least the CPU (A64 X2 6000+) isn't a bottleneck here

 

[Deleted member 185158]

100% Bus clock OC.

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ @ 1640.72 MHz - CPU-Z VALIDATOR

[5r8q6k] Validated Dump by (2019-09-21 08:42:37) - MB: DFI LP NF4 Series - RAM: 512 MB

valid.x86.fr

 

[erek]

I'm not really interested in the Permedia because there were better chips, but it's an interesting piece of hardware though. As I'm collecting old hardware, there will be always a place, even for the 2nd winner .
From 3Dlabs/ dynamic pictures I've got some cad-cards. The OXYGEN 402 is really a beauty, and the Wildcat III 6110 would be nice to test in an older dual CPU- system. Unfortunately my dual socket A has no AGP Pro-slot. I think it would fit pretty well. I have got an Asus A7M266-D dual socket A board with AGP Pro- slot, but just because of the slot, I won't change from Tyan Tiger MPX to the boring Asus- board .

View attachment 57858 View attachment 57863 View attachment 57860 View attachment 57861

These are old pics with a little fresh paint. Maybe I'm taking some new pics this evening, but I should be working on the Thai-Chi/ Crossfire system/ case, instead of posting in hw-boards ... .

what's the most iconic 3DLabs card of all time?

 

[Fangio1951]

Is that ... nostalgic?

Anyway, been tinkering with the old IBM I found and it's definitely the graphics card. Cleaned it up as good as I could but still no go. Some resoldering might work but I'm not sure I'm up to it. We'll see what happens. I'd really love to get it going.

View attachment 132382

View attachment 132383

hi m8 = some ugly bits of corrosion there (

 

[biffzinker]

hi m8 = some ugly bits of corrosion there (

Looks to be from the backup battery leaking.

Edit: It could also be copper corrosion.

 

[Ruru]

Never before played NFS Underground with solid 60fps on an AGP system. HD 3850 manages just fine which is no wonder, since the game is 4 years older than the card.

A PSOne gamepad (with an USB adapter) seems to be great for that, playing on TV so more like a console feel.

 

[8BitZ80]

Never before played NFS Underground with solid 60fps on an AGP system. HD 3850 manages just fine which is no wonder, since the game is 4 years older than the card.

A PSOne gamepad (with an USB adapter) seems to be great for that, playing on TV so more like a console feel.

Back when I first got Underground 2, I tried running it with a Riva TNT2 32MB graphics card and couldn't figure out why it didn't work. To be fair I didn't know anything about graphics cards at the time.

 

[Ruru]

Back when I first got Underground 2, I tried running it with a Riva TNT2 32MB graphics card and couldn't figure out why it didn't work. To be fair I didn't know anything about graphics cards at the time.

Heh, that was a tough one even for the high-end cards of that time (Radeon X800 and GeForce 6800 series).

 

[Trekkie4]

Despite being somewhat off-topic, I figured this pic would belong into this thread...

 

[Robert B]

Just a pile o' RAM ... a few extras and a piece from a DD & TT ENTERPRISE USA COMPANY motherboard? bought only for those tiny chips. Scrappers take no prisoners...

I never bought so many 30 pin SIMMs in one haul. I will find their capacity when I get to test them out.

I have only one 386 motherboard with a soldered 40MHz chip that can use such memory sticks but I still bought them. 4 EUROs wasnt much for something that might prove useful down the road...this stuff is quite old. On a SIMM is written West Germany uhehheheh old stuff is old ...

 

[DR4G00N]

Scooped up some various simm's and dimm's from a box of stuff that was to be scrapped. No idea if any of it works and I don't even have anything that uses simm's but I grabbed them anyway, could prove useful at some point.

 

[DR4G00N]

There were some various hard drives with the memory I grabbed earlier, a few Fujitsu's, a WD Caviar 635MB with Win98 and this 27 year old relic Conner 210MB that still works fine somehow.

It even has MS-DOS 6.20 and Windows 3.1 installed on it still.

 

[phill]

Well goes to show that they don't build them like they used to Absolutely love that