TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[lexluthermiester]

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XFX 750i motherboard, as you can see... I just got this today so I haven't had time to play around with it except to make sure it works, but I already know it's gonna be an odd duck...

So judging by 1.) the sticker on the front that says "Designed by nVidia Authorized Board Partner," 2.) the fact that this breaks significantly in design from the EVGA 750i [itself being strictly reference, as far as I know], and 3.) what I remember reading, this is a board designed by XFX's team. That itself makes it interesting to me, but also it's weird that they went through the trouble of designing a dual heatpipe cooler with black fins, logos all over the place, nickel plating for said heatpipes, but then decided not to cool the fourth power stage? I seriously don't understand this decision, it isn't like newer boards where that would be IGP phase(s) and therefore more understandable. But I'm very confused by this design choice. I think they must have had their GPU team make this in their free time Lot of things make sense and/or are fine, but some stuff is just confusing.

I gave the southbridge and VRM some Arctic APT2560 0.5mm pads, the northbridge and NF200 chip both got MX-2, and the shunned power stage got 2 small aluminum heatsinks. Also, the thermal... substances on this cooler were absolutely rock solid. There is no getting these off via any mortal means. I need like industrial grade solvent, or maybe just some gumption, but I have neither and I like to live on the edge. So I did the best that I could, which wasn't much, and if the board complains then oh well, it still works and I can always try again...

XFX... why is the POST code on the rear I/O? I mean, I'd rather have this than no post code at all. And if it were in the traditional position, you may not even be able to see the POST code at all if you have multiple GPUs, so I suppose that's a plus... But how could anyone reasonably read this if it's installed in a case? If it were on a test bench it'd actually be the best position imo, but clearly that wasn't their intention, since unlike the EVGA 750i this doesn't have onboard power / reset buttons.

While researching this board, I found this laughable press release from XFX back in the day. Everyone at TPU hated it... I think that marketing guy either wasn't involved in the box design (thank god), or they axed him before he got his hands on it. I'm more than fine with that, this box looks pretty sweet in my opinion.

XFX, very conveniently and taking after the style of Foxconn, decided that publicly hosting like 1GB of downloads for their older consumer mainboards is just way too damn expensive. So it's impossible to download any BIOS updates directly from their site, they took down those pages. Well, at some point, some person in 2014 wanted to update their XFX 750i BIOS on Tomshardware but posted about how they couldn't find it. A XFX representative actually responded helpfully with what seems like an internal(?) link to all of their motherboard BIOSes. Seriously, what a great resource... I know their boards weren't popular or really all that great, but to have these organized and technically still on the internet is great. The link to that is here, BIOSes in the Motherboard folder. Hopefully anyone else who would need one of those files can come back to this. Flashing can be done either through DOS or AWDFLASH, DOS of course being recommended. I didn't upload those BIOSes but considering the context, they appear legitimate. Mine was already fully updated luckily, so I didn't have to meddle with this hidden science.

I know I'm bashing on this board a lot, but I wanna make it clear I'm still happy with it no matter what because it's funky. If the hardware is funky, it gets a pass from me. I'm gonna do some overclocking on this after I do a few other projects and see if it's as unstable as I've read online

That is such beautiful board!

I had several of these at one time , loved all of the Swiftech copper chunk (my words) heat sinks...I sold a couple and am sorry I did. Here are some examples , I had some of their other models like MCX370 and MCX462-V. The wife had the MCX4000 , not sure if that one is still around the bone yard but it may be.

Swiftech MCX159 "fan not included" at the time Sunon Maglev fans were where it was at

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Swiftech MCX775-V for 775 processors

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Swiftech MCX4000-T Thermo-electric (putting this on the Abit IC7 Max 3)

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​

Good grief! Haven't seen those in a long time. They failed to catch on for good reason; dust magnets!

NEW HW FOUND!!!

1. AMD Athlon XP 2100+ - AX2100DMT3C
2. AMD Athlon XP 3200+ - AXDA3200DKV4E
3. ExpertMedia MED1600 Ver 1.1 - OPTi 82C928A ISA Sound card
4. MATROX MGA-MIL/MOD2/HP - Matrox IS-STORM / MGA-2064W (MGA Millennium) 4MB PCI - MGA/MIL2/HP5
5. Abit Siluro FX5700 ULTRA
6. Gigabyte GA586AM REV. 1A Socket 5 + Pentium 75MHz SX961
7. Arctic Cooling Copper Silent 2L
8. Chaintech ELT-286B + AMD 80286/16MHz - AMD N80L286-16/S - incomplete, slight corrosion damage, bent
9. PNY Technologies Geforce 4 4200 Ti 64MB AGP
10. Leadtek Winfast A400 TDH - Geforce 6800 AGP
11. 3dfx Skywell Magic 3D II - VooDoo 2
12. Miro Pico 100 FXX ID:LAHV22MV-PCI-1 *** IV22MV-PCX1.04617200.055780199 - Tv tuner + S3 Trio *** Pinnacle Systems GmbH V22MV-PCI-1
13. AMD Athlon 950MHz *** A0950AMT3B
14. ASUS P3B-F Slot 1 REV 1.03 440BX
15. Matched pair of Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740ADFD
16. Shuttle AK32E V1.1 - VIA KT266A + AXP 2000+
17. ATI AIW 3D RAGE PRO TURBO 109-52300-00 PCI Cable Tuner TV Card
18. Sapphire ATI Radeon X800 Pro 256MB(256 bit) GDDR3 AGP
19. Adaptec AHA-2940W/2940UW
20. Mitsumi CD-ROM DRIVE 16BIT I/F CARD *** 74-1881A *** KU-03294V-ON - a perfect match for my untested Mitsumi CRMC-FX001D CD ROM 2x that I got in 2020
21. 3dfx VooDoo 3 2000 16Mb AGP
22. Intel Pentium II 400MHz - SL3EE
23. Pair of 2x1GB Corsair CM2X1024-6400C5DHX ver 2.1 *** XMS 2 / DHX
24. Medion 9800 XL Ver.100
25. Pine nVIDIA Geforce 3 Ti 200 128MB

More to come!!!

Holy Moses did you get a haul on that lot!! Nice!

from 8600GTS to GTX 550Ti.

That's a nice upgrade!

 

[MachineLearning]

Brand new-in-box Tyan S5191 Toledo i3000R! This is a funky little server motherboard I picked up for around $25 shipped. I gotta say, I didn't expect to see a quote from Anandtech on the back.

Holy accessories Batman, as well as the most useful motherboard sticker I've ever seen (seriously going to keep and use that diagram!!)

Now, on to the board itself:

Capacitors, both electrolytic and solid, are all by Nippon Chemi-Con. None of them are bulging, they all look fantastic. Board fires right up!

Where to begin:
- 5 phase Volterra VRM for CPU (!!!!!!)
- PCI-X slot, and reversed PCIe x4 for expansion, as well as a proprietary(?) PCI-X SODIMM expansion slot
- Onboard XGI Volari Z7 graphics w/ 16MB hynix DDR(1?)
- 2x Intel gigabit LAN ports
- POST code (not that I expect this to OC...)
- Naturally, supports standard and ECC DDR2 ( so easy to get 16GB, although formally supports up to 8GB)

Forgot to take pictures of the naked board, but here's the block diagram from the manual for anyone interested:

VRM got 1mm APT2560 pad, all other chips got MX-2 Somehow the Panasonic battery still had 2.6v, despite being ca. 2008 (wk15 / 2008 on main PCB). I still replaced it with a fresh ~3.3v Toshiba lithium cell as with most of my boards.

 

[Trekkie4]

(...)

That's a nice upgrade!

Indeed it was! The actual GTX 550Ti card was given to me for free, but it came with funky DIY GPU cooler, as someone removed the original one. Difficult to say why, but long story short I didn't want to run (nor had enough clearance inside the case) for standard 80x80 fan that's been ziptied onto the heatsink, so I removed the whole thing & eventually swapped it for AMD counterpart which (oddly enough) was a perfect fit

The thing about G41 is with only 2 RAM slots it would have been a 4GB system back then. With an onboard GPU using some of that it would have been for 32 bit OS office computers. Mine they even left off an expansion slot so they could use the same MB# for Desktop and Mini Tower. G41 was all about cutting corners. Many of them had a 95W CPU limit, even though the chipset can go higher.
You started overvolting an already overclocked system and it crashed. Did they cut corners on the capacitors too? You may be already pushing 120W through a 95W VRM. The truth is any computer that can run the Q6600 at 3Ghz can probably also run the 95W Q9650 or in the case of G41 the E5450 80W Xeon as a starting point. That doesn't mean it won't crash when you move the fsb about 4 clicks.They're known for this. Try a 65W 2 core and see if it crashes when you bump the fsb. If it does, think about the E7600 at 3.83GHz with SSE4. If it doesn't think about a more modern CPU to match the more modern MB.
I got away with an X5470 which is equal to 2x E8600 CPUs. OC never happened.
Averaged 60fps at Superposition 1080P Medium setting. It took a couple tries to break the 8000 point barrier. I didn't see any other LGA775 systems around me there. i3 and i5 mostly. Some AMD stuff too.

UNIGINE Superposition benchmark score

UNIGINE Superpsition detailed score page

benchmark.unigine.com

Nah, too much work for (most likely) marginal improvement ... if any. You're under the wrong impression here, I'm not bench testing this thing or experimenting with various OC methods ... just the opposite really.

It was designed to serve as a "Steam" gaming platform, primarily for the Half Life 2 & similar, Source Engine powered games. Nothing more & nothing else Of course, preserving that 1997-1998 look from the outside was my highest priority, and I wasn't willing to mod (hack, cut or modify in any way) the case, especially if I ever decide to revert the whole thing back to its original purpose. Unfortunately, because of that, the whole rig is overheating & having a hard time with keeping the internals within safe temperature limits but I'm OK with that & willing to pay the price if necessary.

 

[Greenslade]

Can anyone give me some advice i have this Thin client

i want to upgrade the flash dom.Do i go for the 8GB one NMB one i have never heard of that make before, that would be £16.84.Or do i go with the more common Apacer 4GB which is £13.30 .The extra storerage would be nice for just £3.54 for the extra 4gb.?I will be using Windows 98 .Do any of you use a thin Client for Retro gaming?Both are from the same seller. The unit is cheap but the storage isn'tI have just looked up NMB they made memory chips for Intel until they terminated there agreement with them in 1994.




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I went for the 8gb one ,it seems like that is a good deal for the extra 4gb for £3.54 . I take it no one on here has one of these thin clients.

 

[Ruru]

I went for the 8gb one ,it seems like that is a good deal for the extra 4gb for £3.54 . I take it no one on here has one of these thin clients.

Personally I don't miss Win98SE at all so I have absolutely no need for a machine like that.

 

[Retrorockit]

Nah, too much work for (most likely) marginal improvement ... if any. You're under the wrong impression here, I'm not bench testing this thing or experimenting with various OC methods ... just the opposite really.

I was under the impression you were trying to get more than 3GHZ out of it. The E7600 to 3.83GHz is exactly the same OC method you already used to get 3GHz out of the Q6600. Just a newer more efficient, and probably cheaper CPU. On any single thread game it would leave my 3.33GHz Xeon in the dust.I It might solve your cooling problem too.

 

[Trekkie4]

I was under the impression you were trying to get more than 3GHZ out of it. The E7600 to 3.83GHz is exactly the same OC method you already used to get 3GHz out of the Q6600. Just a newer more efficient, and probably cheaper CPU. On any single thread game it would leave my 3.33GHz Xeon in the dust.I It might solve your cooling problem too.

Well yes, you're absolutely right. But only if the system (BIOS) would allow me to do so, without having to swap the memory modules and/or CPU itself

Unfortunately, since the chipset appears to be limited in terms of OC, there's not much point in pushing this forward. Funny though, even at 3.00GHz my Q6600 does not exceed 55C, 131F at full load. Alas, the same thing cannot be said for GTX 550Ti which goes well above 80, up to 86C (187F) after intensive gaming, especially GTA IV... Unfortunately this also affects the CPU temp because Hyper TX3 then intakes that warm air & essentially warms up the CPU. Heck, it warms up the entire case, you can literally feel the case cover heating up over time.

I may consider swapping out Core2 Quad for Core2 Duo, even though I'm not 100% convinced that it would give me an advantage over Quad series. I'm running 64-bit system and most of the apps running are 64bit, therefore multiple cores are essential to keep everything running as it should.

 

[Ruru]

Well yes, you're absolutely right. But only if the system (BIOS) would allow me to do so, without having to swap the memory modules and/or CPU itself

Unfortunately, since the chipset appears to be limited in terms of OC, there's not much point in pushing this forward. Funny though, even at 3.00GHz my Q6600 does not exceed 55C, 131F at full load. Alas, the same thing cannot be said for GTX 550Ti which goes well above 80, up to 86C (187F) after intensive gaming, especially GTA IV... Unfortunately this also affects the CPU temp because Hyper TX3 then intakes that warm air & essentially warms up the CPU. Heck, it warms up the entire case, you can literally feel the case cover heating up over time.

I may consider swapping out Core2 Quad for Core2 Duo, even though I'm not 100% convinced that it would give me an advantage over Quad series. I'm running 64-bit system and most of the apps running are 64bit, therefore multiple cores are essential to keep everything running as it should.

Pretty nice temps for a Quad, I remember having the older model (Hyper TX2) and I couldn't get over 3.4GHz prime95 stable with E6400 without throttling. IIRC it was also lapped. Though that was in 2009 so I can't remember clearly here's one pic I have from that, 3.5 ran benchmarks without hiccups.

 

[NoiseBox]

ASUS sometimes has jumpers next to the internal USB ports to select between them using 5VSB or 5V for power. If yours has those, give that a shot

So I gave it a shot and no go, the system wouldn't power up. According to the manual, the power supply has to be able to provide the proper power to the 5VSB, and apparently it doesn't/cant.
I did notice the case has FireWire connectors that are pin-identical to the USB, and I"m willing to wager the last owner connected that to the USB pins and fried stuff. It's not a show-stopper, the rear USB ports still function, but it vexes me to own partially-broken hardware.

 

[Ruru]

So I gave it a shot and no go, the system wouldn't power up. According to the manual, the power supply has to be able to provide the proper power to the 5VSB, and apparently it doesn't/cant.
I did notice the case has FireWire connectors that are pin-identical to the USB, and I"m willing to wager the last owner connected that to the USB pins and fried stuff. It's not a show-stopper, the rear USB ports still function, but it vexes me to own partially-broken hardware.

That sucks if that shit has happened. Pretty stupid to have a similar pinout as the headers are physically compatible.

 

[NoiseBox]

Pretty stupid to have a similar pinout as the headers are physically compatible

I fully agree. Reminds me of the 1st PC I ever built, using AT power supply, if you've ever seen one, the power is supplied by two power leads, which can be inserted incorrectly to the mobo. The result of which blew a dime-sized hole in the mobo and tripped every circuit breaker in my house....

....whooops.
I have used firewire before, and the pinouts have always been different than USB. I suspect because of issues like this. No matter, the system was free (and fully functional/stable otherwise) so I'll pass it on, making the new owner aware of the issues.

 

[Trekkie4]

Pretty nice temps for a Quad, I remember having the older model (Hyper TX2) and I couldn't get over 3.4GHz prime95 stable with E6400 without throttling. IIRC it was also lapped. Though that was in 2009 so I can't remember clearly here's one pic I have from that, 3.5 ran benchmarks without hiccups.

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Actually, I had a similar issue with that same Hyper TX3 and my other Q6600 system, P43 Neo board. For some reason (still unknown even after all these years), P43 Neo board would default VCore voltage to 1.45V which is above the recommended value. And sure enough, this voltage increase equaled (much) more heat to the point where TX3 couldn't handle overclocked Q6600 so eventually I replaced it with Hyper 212EVO. Just to make it clear, we are talking 75, 77C/170F at full load, which was unacceptable.

On the other hand, G41 board runs much lower and therefore generates less heat. Which works beautifully for this particular build, otherwise the whole thing would probably burst in flames

 

[Dinnercore]

Some 775 boards have OC-Overvoltage jumper settings. If that jumper is in the wrong spot or maybe not set at all, they apply high voltage. On my P5Q-E these jumpers are only meant for X-OC and unlock voltage settings beyond 1.65V (these are locked otherwise) and if you boot with these there is an overvoltage error message that halts the post process until you acknowledge it. So you don't end up frying your CPU by accident.

 

[Ruru]

Some 775 boards have OC-Overvoltage jumper settings. If that jumper is in the wrong spot or maybe not set at all, they apply high voltage. On my P5Q-E these jumpers are only meant for X-OC and unlock voltage settings beyond 1.65V (these are locked otherwise) and if you boot with these there is an overvoltage error message that halts the post process until you acknowledge it. So you don't end up frying your CPU by accident.

My P5Q Pro has also those jumpers. Tho even for custom loop, those are way overkill, probably for dice/LN2..

 

[NoiseBox]

I'll look into those jumpers, if they exist.
BTW, look what we just retired at our agency....I'll give you a hint, that's not five and a quarter...

 

[lexluthermiester]

I'll look into those jumpers, if they exist.
BTW, look what we just retired at our agency....I'll give you a hint, that's not five and a quarter...
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8" floppy discs. Those were the original floppy drives.

Make sure you grab and save those drives and discs.

 

[Ruru]

8" floppy discs. Those were the original floppy drives.

I feel so young as I haven't seen even 5.25" floppies ever live. And I'm soon 32.

 

[NoiseBox]

Make sure you grab and save those drives and discs.

Discs I can save, the drives are built-in to the lab instruments and cannot be removed sadly...

 

[lexluthermiester]

I feel so young as I haven't seen even 5.25" floppies ever live. And I'm soon 32.

You just barely missed the 5.25" era.

 

[Ruru]

You just barely missed the 5.25" era.

...I feel like I'm blessed

Tho I still remember that the first PC Game I've ever played was Doom II on my cousin's dad's 486DX2/66 in 1994.

 

[lexluthermiester]

...I feel like I'm blessed

Why? At the time they were a godsend as they were MUCH faster than the alternative, cassette tapes. Even 8" drives/discs where super fast storage by comparison. It was SOOO much better than waiting for tapes to load.. And floppy tech only got better from there!

 

[80-watt Hamster]

Rant incoming.

I'm just about ready to drop two hundred twenty freaking dollars on this:

Why? Because gorrammit, they literally don't make them like this anymore. It's only 205mm wide. It's got 5.25 bays (plus four more 3.5s inside). Theres no window. No RGB. No plethora of vents. There's a reset button and a drive activity LED. It comes with proper expansion slot covers and is built like a tank. Front panel buttons and ports are actually on the front.

Issues? Yeah, it's got some. Cooling's a bit anemic with two 92mm intake and one 120mm exhaust. Cable management is nigh-nonexistent (but nobody can see any of it anyway). Retention tabs on the drive sleds are prone to bending before they should. Front panel USB is 2.0, and that 1394 connection isn't going to do many folks any good these days. Some of the clever things Antec tried (like the elastic drive suspension system) don't really work. PSU intake is internal. There aren't any 2.5 mounts, because those weren't really a thing when this came out. Not on desktop, anyway.

How do I know all this? I've had one since new. It's the best case I've ever worked with bar none, and nothing, I repeat: NOTHING I can find checks all of those boxes. 220USD for a ten year old case seems bananas, right? But seeing as my other is still in use and performing admirably, maybe it's worth ~$20/yr...

 

[lexluthermiester]

and cannot be removed sadly...

I'll bet they can... The removal might require taking the system/equipment apart, but it had to be put in, so there has to be a way to remove it..

 

[Ruru]

Why? At the time they were a godsend as they were MUCH faster than the alternative, cassette tapes. Even 8" drives/discs where super fast storage by comparison. It was SOOO much better than waiting for tapes to load.. And floppy tech only got better from there!

Exactly. When thinking about the modern storage media, I'm happy that things have got better


...but on just on the old hardware, gimme that mobo and GPU

 

[QuietBob]

For those of us concerned about the security of older systems (and those bold enough to use them online) I've compiled a list of Internet Security software that can be installed on Windows XP and Vista. The packages below still receive current malware definition updates. I've indicated the last supported version in the corresponding link.

Note that I haven't tested these personally, nor can I testify for their efficacy. They require SP3 and most likely SSE2 support. Commercial licences also need a valid product key.

Avast
Free Antivirus / Pro Antivirus / Internet Security / Premier
Version 18.8

AVG
Free Antivirus / Internet Security
Version 18.8

Comodo
Free Antivirus / Internet Security
Version 12.2

Kaspersky
Free / Anti-Virus / Internet Security / Total Security
Version 19.0

Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool (free threat removal tool)
Version 15.0

Malwarebytes
Free / Premium
Version 3.5.1

Malwarebytes AdwCleaner (free threat removal tool)
Version 7.4.2

Norton
AntiVirus / Internet Security / 360 (old) / Security
Version 22.15

Norton Power Eraser (free threat removal tool)
Version 5.3

Panda
Dome Free / Essential / Advanced / Complete / Premium
Version 20.01

TotalAV
Ultimate Antivirus
Version 4.14

VIPRE
Internet Security
Version 9.3

Gotta say I'm pretty amazed with the number of solutions. I may add to this list if I manage to track something down.

Why? At the time they were a godsend as they were MUCH faster than the alternative, cassette tapes. Even 8" drives/discs where super fast storage by comparison. It was SOOO much better than waiting for tapes to load.. And floppy tech only got better from there!

This floppy was actually introduced by IBM in 1971. The original IBM 23FD 8" drive shipped with the IBM 2835 Storage Control Unit and was used to load microcode (firmware) onto the IBM System/370 mainframe. First floppies were read-only, single-side single-density (SSSD) with 80 KB capacity. The drive was capable of 4.2 KB/s maximum transfer, with the disc rotating at 90 rpm.

8" floppy capacity ultimately grew to 1.2 MB in 1977. The IBM 53FD drive could read these at 62.5 KB/s with 360 rpm. Quite impressive performance there. 5.25" drives that hit the market the previous year read 90 KB floppies at 16 KB/s