TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[Radical Vision]

Ever since i got the NF7 v2, i did not bother to try my K7N2-Delta ILSR, as i dont see a point to replace the ABIT.. These days too many s462 mobos so it will be annoying, and windows XP will prob shit itself as usual and not work on the other NF2 boards, no matter it is the same god damn chip, so prefer to avoid that annoyance...

Tho i did buy another Delta ILSR for friend of mine, as he wanted also like my retro NF7 AthlonXp machine, so i got the mobo for him, and build great old system with AXP 2500+, 2GB ram and Radeon x800 All in Wonder purple-golden card real beauty...
The MSI did work great, no BS, posting signal every time... The guy was happy with the system, then some time later did dissasemble it as he needed the case for a project...



I have EliteGroup purple crap mobo with soldered Athlon 1600+ but it has universal AGP slot, so i use it for AGP and IDE test bench... One time it happen real $hit that could ve costly, at least i have luck and even the few times i did some B$ nothing happened... The ECS test bench was chilling days before the event, but i did wash chicony garbage keyboard but with original Cherry MX Blue switches (only the panels ofc and cable), and seems droplets of water did fall on the ECS test bench without me even knowing infront of the AGP slot they formed small about invisible puddle of water... And at the day of incident, i did just got GEforce 6800 Ultra AGP, and did go for the testing... The card was working great in 3D as well... Then i restarted the ECS bench, and NO signal..... Jesus did i getpissed, as i know how fragile nGreedis cards are i tought the 6800U was ded.... Then i stopped the system, and started looking... Then did install Radeon 9200for testing the bench, nothing... Then i did lool at the bench closely, i discovered the water puddle with shock.... I was like wtF is this shit puddle is doingnext to the AGP slot... And thedamn ECS did run whole NFS MW test and 3D Mark 03 too before losing signal insane... The ECS still works fine.... If that was asus would lose signal forever from the air alone...

 

[MaxiPro800]

XP works across same chipset mobo. Had one install run on K7N2, NF7-S v2.0, Soltek 75FRN2 and Epox EP-8RDA6+ without reinstall.

 

[Ruru]

Saw some laptops on the previous page so here's mine

HP Compaq nx7000
Pentium M 725 (Dothan, 1.6GHz, 400FSB)
2GB DDR-266
Mobility Radeon 9200 32MB @ 280/230
80GB 7200rpm
15.4" 1280x800
Windows 2000 SP4 because why the hell not

Dead battery though so it has to be on life support on all times. Also its CMOS battery is dead, should replace it (not a typical CR2032 but a smaller one)

 

[Radical Vision]

XP works across same chipset mobo. Had one install run on K7N2, NF7-S v2.0, Soltek 75FRN2 and Epox EP-8RDA6+ without reinstall.

Well u got lucky... I had XP shit on me on 440BX mobo swap Fic 440BX then relaced it with ABIT BE6-II 440BX and the XP did not want to work.... Another time was on after the asus X model died i did find 2 weeks laterthe NF7 v2, and same crap the XP installation would not work on the ABIT...

8RDA6+ is 8RDA3+, but with 6 sata instead of 2..

 

[Ruru]

There is a lot trash talking going on in this thread and it's really bringing things down.

Can we stop with the brand bashing and trash talking? That's not what this thread is about.

Agree. It's hella easy to bash Asus for example just because their products are so popular = more faulty products. I have dead boards from many manufacturers yet not bashing them.

 

[AUTOEXEC.BAT]

Well you do you, and be happy.... I will do me and be happy, i like to use quality stuff that dont came DOA, dont self destruct, dont die for no reason at all...

I will do, with HW that works just fine

Every brand have its issues with hardware, and every piece of hardware can go bad.
Like Logitech this week in the news...where a mouse burned down to ashes.

Im not an Asus fan btw....

 

[MaxiPro800]

Wasn't it Gigabyte that burned?

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1i7br8w

 

[AUTOEXEC.BAT]

Wasn't it Gigabyte that burned?

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1i7br8w

Ah yes it was Gigabyte. I was wrong.

 

[Radical Vision]

nGreedia GEforce 6800 Ultra AGP tested... There is even higher end model, Ultra Extreme, not sure what was the deal with this, as usually there is only the Ultra at the top, and nothing else... Prob ATi had some Radeon that was quite fast at the time, so they released Extreme version of the Ultra... Dont know, will be nice if someone that do know to share...
The upper DVI port has no signal, i bet some component/ components did die for it, so it does not work now...

 

[Ruru]

nGreedia GEforce 6800 Ultra AGP tested... There is even higher end model, Ultra Extreme, not sure what was the deal with this, as usually there is only the Ultra at the top, and nothing else... Prob ATi had some Radeon that was quite fast at the time, so they released Extreme version of the Ultra... Dont know, will be nice if someone that do know to share...
The upper DVI port has no signal, i bet some component/ components did die for it, so it does not work now...

View attachment 382447View attachment 382448View attachment 382446

Nah, they weren't Ngreedia in that era. Remember 6800 GT? It was the same card, just with lower clocks and a much cheaper price. X800 XT PE was an expensive card compared to XT just as well.

My 6800U has also a defect in its outputs, shows discolouration when using DVI-VGA adapter, but when using native DVI, no problems. Probably faulty RAMDAC.

 

[_JP_]

These 2 ABIT NF7 came in DOA.... Really disappointed when the second one was dead too... Would prefer the mobile Barton to be dead instead... Also wonder how tf did this crap happen, as the PSU used was EnermaX... The second one also came dead, CPU working.... Wonder how these primates managed to kill the god damn NF7, that are build like tanks, or maybe both boards were not realiable from the factory in the first place.. My original one from 2014 still works fine...

Just a small note: My NF7-S 2.0 died overnight while the system was off, because the Chieftec I had blew the secondary filter which thew voltages off-whack and to the best of what I remember, it screwed the ground too. (woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of a small "bang" and almost instant smell of burnt caps)
So one of the things that completely burned was the audio circuit and I guess the northbridge, even though that one did not had any signs of damage, but the board was completely dead.
They are built like tanks, but sometimes, it won't be necessarily the user's fault. I had been using that rig just a pair of days prior, and everything had been stable for months on end.
The funny thing I found about those photos you posted is that mine had the very same heatsink on the NB.

Saw some laptops on the previous page so here's mine

HP Compaq nx7000
Pentium M 725 (Dothan, 1.6GHz, 400FSB)
2GB DDR-266
Mobility Radeon 9200 32MB @ 280/230
80GB 7200rpm
15.4" 1280x800
Windows 2000 SP4 because why the hell not

Dead battery though so it has to be on life support on all times. Also its CMOS battery is dead, should replace it (not a typical CR2032 but a smaller one)

I have a nx9010 stored, that looks very similar to that one. I salvaged it almost a decade ago and even made some upgrades, I wonder if it still works.

 

[Radical Vision]

Just a small note: My NF7-S 2.0 died overnight while the system was off, because the Chieftec I had blew the secondary filter which thew voltages off-whack and to the best of what I remember, it screwed the ground too. (woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of a small "bang" and almost instant smell of burnt caps)
So one of the things that completely burned was the audio circuit and I guess the northbridge, even though that one did not had any signs of damage, but the board was completely dead.
They are built like tanks, but sometimes, it won't be necessarily the user's fault. I had been using that rig just a pair of days prior, and everything had been stable for months on end.
The funny thing I found about those photos you posted is that mine had the very same heatsink on the NB.

Welp Chieftec is one of the crappier brands, so that was on you for choosing them... I never liked that brand, guess i have great intuition for brands and stuff... Tho this could happen to quality stuff like EnermaX, Delta, SeaSonic or even Antec or Fortron and others, but i bet this will be one unit in 1000 to do this, since they have protections inside them.... One time one of my testing EnermaX Liberty 500W did blow up a ceramic safety, but nothing else did get blown away... Next time just dont use garbage brands, or ones that are considered good, but not really... Too bad for the NF7 that was the real loss here, the chieftec i could throw it out of the window, and be happy about it...

 

[MaxiPro800]

Chieftec = Delta = Newton Power

Example is Chieftec GPS-550AB-A, Delta OEM

 

[Radical Vision]

Nah, they weren't Ngreedia in that era. Remember 6800 GT? It was the same card, just with lower clocks and a much cheaper price. X800 XT PE was an expensive card compared to XT just as well.

My 6800U has also a defect in its outputs, shows discolouration when using DVI-VGA adapter, but when using native DVI, no problems. Probably faulty RAMDAC.

No they were not, but they wanted to ever since they were formed, cuz look what nVidia means, it has envy in its name... They did try later on with the GEforce 8 8800 Ultra with that insane price, but back then ppl were reasonable and with critical thinking, so they all said FK u to nGreedia, so they did need to step down + ATi was strong competition at the time, not like today... I hate nGreedia with passion, as their cards fail way more then ATi/ AMD, and the company is greedy AF... Look what happened after GTX 980TI and specially after GTX 1080 TAI... The tech press is also dumb and insane these days, as they all said the RTX 4090 was good value... Yeah right if it was priced at 1000$ then sure, but 1600-1700$ FK that... And here we are today, the blackwell lineup is complete joke, fake frames, Inflated AFF price, NO innovation.... Last good card for me is Radeon 7900XTX it did have ok price, much memory, very good performance even for 4K, RT may be crap, but no one normal care about this crap... Tho getting Red Devil 6800XT for like 50-100$, nothing can beat that lol...

Chieftec = Delta = Newton Power

Is not the same... Is apples and oranges... Why is simple Delta is the real deal, BUT the morons from chieftec will tell Delta what to do, where to cut costs, and after all this crap that chieftec = Delta will be kinda false, or better to put it 50% Delta... Since they will cut corners in order to lower the cost production as always... Saw this in some Compaq units and HP ones made by Delta, with lower quality, some of them not all... So... The fact that crap chieftec did blow up the ABIT is enough, to see that these PSUs are bs, and prob have bad QC....

 

[MaxiPro800]

By that same reason I'd avoid Antec/Delta-made Corsair too.
They would do the same with Delta, which is one of their OEMs.
And knowing Antec has had its fair share of crap units, doesn't make it much better.
Corsair has much better QC than Antec.

Also avoid any APFC units. These are rigged to blow - cheap Fhy/Capxon in FSP GLY/GLN units are a proof to that.

 

[jak_2456]

Please stop the company bashing; it's killing the fun and it's not what this thread's about.

 

[Radical Vision]

Well brands that fail many times piss me off, so i just share and see what others may say about it... But guess is annoying to others for some reason...



Anyway tested the GIGAbyte GEforce II GTS/ Pro, is working as intended, full pass of 3D mark and NFS MW for 10m... Also it has capacitor knocked off, but it still works, also the caps are solid, and the image is fine, not floating... Some ppl may trash talk GIGAbyte but the brand works for me, that card "it just works"... Now i would prefer Leadtek or MSI red card or Chaintech as their cards are even better build, but this is fine too as everyone can see... Not sure is this GTS or Pro, guess these 2 models were the same card lul... Will keep da card for the collection, as the best i had was GF2 MX200/400 so this is far better... I usually dont have any luck with GEforce II high end cards, only MX crap...







GEforce 256 tested, every time i find GF256 is this crap super/ shuttle model, but if it works i will just sell it, and reinvest the money, as i have 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro so i dont need another low quality GF256... But for sale to someone else it will be great...






These 2 premium S3 cards are both dead, really disappointed, as the quality of these 2 brands is superior, but for some reason both are dead... Tho i did just remember as typing this, that i have also the option of checking the cards in OS with another card, so i can be sure they are for the scrap/ garbage... Still really disappointed, the cards should be alive, i had to have soo many S3 low quality cards such as shuttle, Super and other dog brand, and they just work...






Tested this PS/2 IBM Model M, if all keys register, and they did, IBM is hands down just great, everything from them of that time scream quality...






(edit) Very strange both S3 cards are detected in OS... But they wont output signal.... Guess some elements are fked up between then VGA port and the main chip... Is there a chance that the S3 chips on both to be dead AF. but the bios to be alive and readable, as i had heard this before, but not sure myself... Any ideas what to try now... Did clean multiple times the PCI slot of both cards but no signal still... Will be good if someone can confirm if my suspicion of dead S3 video chip, but alive BIOS chip is true, so the cards are actually dead, but the OS reads the vBIOS...

 

[MaxiPro800]

I also tested Creative 3D Anihilator II 32MB (Geforce 2 GTS), works great, with MSI MS-6153 BX10. Didn't think of taking more pics tho, but tested with 3dMark 01 and 03, as well as Ford Racing 2 and 3



Also have MSI's 64MB version but I know that one still works since 2018-19

 

[Radical Vision]

Well very strange, both S3 Diamond and ELSA work on my JETway PCIex test bench, but they dont on the ECS AGP test bench... Did try now my S3 Trio test card on the ECS, the system beep for positive post, but no signal lmao wtF... What is wrong with the PCI slots, they did work before... Maybe they are dirty, or the chipset is fked up and the PCI slots kinda dont work... Will need to investigate, as this is weird behavior, and annoying too, as it is after all test bench, it should work as intended, not to give me this $hit, and waste time.. At least the ELSA card works, as premium S3 cards are rare..

 

[Ruru]

I also tested Creative 3D Anihilator II 32MB (Geforce 2 GTS), works great, with MSI MS-6153 BX10. Didn't think of taking more pics tho, but tested with 3dMark 01 and 03, as well as Ford Racing 2 and 3

View attachment 382490View attachment 382489

Also have MSI's 64MB version but I know that one still works since 2018-19
View attachment 382492

Hate that those have solder points for DVI but the connector itself just isn't there. Just like my GF3 Ti 200.

 

[MaxiPro800]

Last I've heard, it's populated on the Quadros and Ultra variants. Not sure if any Pro/GTS ever got that port.

 

[Ruru]

Last I've heard, it's populated on the Quadros and Ultra variants. Not sure if any Pro/GTS ever got that port.

Quick google search and immediately found a Hercules GTS with DVI

Looks nobody posted this yet. BuB got a nice set of stuff

 

[MaxiPro800]

Watching the same video right now. Also got the BE6-II as well however mine is the HPT366 variant.

 

[Ruru]

Watching the same video right now. Also got the BE6-II as well however mine is the HPT366 variant.

Can't tell is that 5700U a GDDR2 or GDDR3 variant. It was the first card to use GDDR3, slightly before X800 and 6800 series came out.

 

[Radical Vision]

I dont like parts that have visible dents, dmg, scratches ect... Prefer stuff in pristine/ factory condition.. Is also why i sold the BE6-II HPT 370 variant, cuz it was more miserable and not as preserved as my BE6-II HTP 366... Tho i dont care much about revisions... Sure latest rev is better most of the times, as they did fix or add something... But still better to have older rev pristine condition, then last rev miserable with battle dmg and scars... Also the BE6-II i kept is from first owner too + manual (sadly no box), the other 2 i had before was from many owners prob cuz of their state... Really like the manual art real creative $hit for sure...
Now when i think about BE6-II, i have never ever seen the BE6-II V2 with the orange IDE connectors... Guess the damn thing is rare as hell...





Like someone will care much if his Voodoo V 5.5K is latest rev, yeah right... Most ppl will be happy to have even Voodoo V at all, even if it looks like from the sewers, but working 110%, just being nasty and with rust, corrosion and $hit....



So now with the GEforce II GTS/ Pro, i have about all high end GEforce cards... Have them all from NV1 up to GEforce 7800GS AGP, did miss x2 times GEforce 7900GS AGP and 7950GT AGP still pissed about it... Also dont have GEforce II Ultra and GEforce III Ti500, tho the pure GEforce III can reach the Ti500 level, but still....