TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[MaxiPro800]

ABIT had some mediocre boards even before the USI merger - several of their mainboards were rebranded ECS boards.

Known models:
- VA-20 = ECS KM400-M2
- SA7 = ECS L4S5A/DX

 

[Greenslade]

Oh hell no, floppy isn't for that. A 2.5" laptop drive uses 44-pin IDE (in reality it uses the same 40 pins as a 3.5" drive, the 4 extra pins are for power).

I get you thanks for that.

That is exactly correct.

Thanks to you Lex

 

[pavle]

GA-5AX w/ K6-2+, 512MB SDRAM, 3d Prophet 4500, Aureal Vortex AU8820, RTL8029 oldschool NIC. HDD used is a 15GB Fujitsu MPF3153AT.
Will install 98SE soon as the XP install on the HDD is junk....

I believe 3com 3c905B or similar network card is more old-school than RTL, besides - not having a driver for stupid_Windows (NT v6.0 and up) is proof enough of that. Also it offloads more CPU than RTL.

 

[MaxiPro800]

I stay away from anything based on 3c905 and Intel 82558.
Very poor download speeds compared to 82541 (PRO100/GT) and RTL of any type. And this is from experience under 98SE, 2000 SP4 and XP SP3. 3C905 and 82558 performed the worst accross all three.

3C905 would download at subpar speeds (barely passing 300-500kbps) while 82558 was even worse as it would slow down into "Limited or no connectivity" mode during downloads, whereas 82541 and RTL completed downloads without cutouts/slowdowns.

 

[Radical Vision]

Thing is back in the day, when these cards 3Com/ Intel were still new, they were bomb proof, and so well made, could tell just by looking at them, compared to the crappy Realtek build quality.. So back in the day the network wiring was bad, and when there was thunder storms chances were your whole pc may fry up, if one strikes nearby.. And that is what happened to many that used garbage Realtek lan cards.. Meanwhile this never happened to me, or anyone else using Intel or 3Com cards.. So downloading speeds are not everything, durability, protection, and build quality are main priority for me since forever... Also whatever i did ever download, it did download fast enough, and most importantly, my systems are well protected with 3Com and Intel lans, not like with Realtek...

I use these Realtek cards for scrap, or for tool to remove cemented thermal paste and other stuff from parts, it works great, and does not leave marks... But using them, not really, as when i take one look at them, i see how cheap they are, compared to the supreme 3Com/ Intel build quality, that is clearly there...

 

[MaxiPro800]

I prioritise download speeds. Intel PRO/100 that are BGA based and newer Realtek (8169SC specifically, though 8139 is used if the mainboard does not work with the newer 8169) beat the hell out of 3C905 and pin based Intel cards (e.g 82558) in that regard.

All 3com cards I've had went into trash. Same goes for older pin packaged Intel network cards (82558 specifically, all Compaq branded cards). They serve me no purpose, due to being awful at download speeds. I only keep the newer BGA based Intel PRO/100 (or 1000, if I ever land one!) and RTL8169SC cards (I also trashed like half of the 8139D crap I've been getting, keeping only like one or two C revision cards at best for being glue-level PnP). Maybe Broadcom too although I've never had one to say the least, at least not outside onboard offerings that is.

 

[JackOO7]

Found these 2 when cleaning up the attic. Seems almost brand new/unused.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Found these 2 when cleaning up the attic. Seems almost brand new/unused.

View attachment 387642View attachment 387643

No leaky caps either! Very nice!

 

[MaxiPro800]

Thought of testing out another classic combo - BH6 w/ a Celeron 300A.

Cards are mostly the same, with very few changes - Kyro II AGP, Intel 82559 NIC, Yamaha YMF-724 w/SB-Link, and an ALI based USB2 card.

Ran 3dMark99 on it and it seems to clock in right around the same performance of the K6-II+ I had earlier. I'll attempt a 112FSB overclock, about the highest it'll probably do without advanced cooling mods.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Thought of testing out another classic combo - BH6 w/ a Celeron 300A.

Default or 100mhz FSB?

I'll attempt a 112FSB overclock, about the highest it'll probably do without advanced cooling mods.

I think that's close to the best they'll do unless the Silicon lottery god smiled on you.

 

[MaxiPro800]

Default or 100mhz FSB?


I think that's close to the best they'll do unless the Silicon lottery god smiled on you.

100FSB currently.

EDIT: No go. 112 POSTs but as soon as WinME's bootscreen shows up (and 98SE does this too btw, I had a spare drive just in that case) it hard freezes. No amount of voltage bump seems to have allowed for more than 100.

 

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

Just for info sakes, myself and I know of atleast one other on this site (there maybe more) have the majarity of the Abit website in a zip file. Was gotten when Abit was in trouble and about to go bye bye.

 

[QuietBob]

I spent the whole day on my WinXP machine trying to figure out a resident anti-malware solution.

Until now it's been running Norton Security with current definitions, but my subscription expired recently. I tried with a new licence, but no dice. The app acknowledged the key and paired it with the system, but it was unable to activate it despite my multiple attempts. Re-installing changed nothing. And then I remembered my old post here.

I tried my luck with Avast Free Antivirus next. The latest version supported by XP installed without a problem and downloaded the most recent definitions straight away! I tried to upgrade to the paid version for the firewall but alas, it would not accept the provided key.

I guess it's as close to online security as it gets on this vintage system:

It's incredible that a 24 year old OS is being supported by some software, and can still (technically) be used for web browsing

 

[starred86]

I spent the whole day on my WinXP machine trying to figure out a resident anti-malware solution.

Until now it's been running Norton Security with current definitions, but my subscription expired recently. I tried with a new licence, but no dice. The app acknowledged the key and paired it with the system, but it was unable to activate it despite my multiple attempts. Re-installing changed nothing. And then I remembered my old post here.

I tried my luck with Avast Free Antivirus next. The latest version supported by XP installed without a problem and downloaded the most recent definitions straight away! I tried to upgrade to the paid version for the firewall but alas, it would not accept the provided key.

I guess it's as close to online security as it gets on this vintage system:

View attachment 387818

It's incredible that a 24 year old OS is being supported by some software, and can still (technically) be used for web browsing

Please show me a few pics to the configoration

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Winfast NF4 s754 3200+ 130nm NewCastle Wraith Prism with wraith Stealth fan swap BH5or6 256x2 GTS 250 DELL WD 2502ABYS Corsair HX series 1050w. OC 2.575ghz. Compo rig.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I spent the whole day on my WinXP machine trying to figure out a resident anti-malware solution.

Until now it's been running Norton Security with current definitions, but my subscription expired recently. I tried with a new licence, but no dice. The app acknowledged the key and paired it with the system, but it was unable to activate it despite my multiple attempts. Re-installing changed nothing. And then I remembered my old post here.

I tried my luck with Avast Free Antivirus next. The latest version supported by XP installed without a problem and downloaded the most recent definitions straight away! I tried to upgrade to the paid version for the firewall but alas, it would not accept the provided key.

I guess it's as close to online security as it gets on this vintage system:

View attachment 387818

It's incredible that a 24 year old OS is being supported by some software, and can still (technically) be used for web browsing

Avast isn't bad, but you really should not be using XP on the internet these days, even IF you only visit trusted sites. Drive-by and side-swipe attacks can & do happen and XP has no defense for them.
Now if you're willing to use a reasonable personal firewall(and no, the one built in to XP does NOT count), then you should be ok.
http://www.oldversion.com/windows/sunbelt-personal-firewall/
It's got a bit of a learning curve, but is still effective to this day.

 

[Ruru]

Winfast NF4 s754 3200+ 130nm NewCastle Wraith Prism with wraith Stealth fan swap BH5or6 256x2 GTS 250 DELL WD 2502ABYS Corsair HX series 1050w. OC 2.575ghz. Compo rig.

I always forget that Leadtek made motherboards as well. I remember them only from graphics cards, had few of them myself as well. Great memories with a Leadtek GF4 Ti 4200 64MB, overclocked like crazy.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

I always forget that Leadtek made motherboards as well. I remember them only from graphics cards, had few of them myself as well. Great memories with a Leadtek GF4 Ti 4200 64MB, overclocked like crazy.

I'm sure I've had some LeadTek and Foxconn branded stuff through the years. This one is Foxconn NF4K8AB-RS.

Might have had a Leadtek gpu here or there. MX 440 8x 64bit was an MSI card? Yeah think so. Gah, I can't remember. Screen shot says MSI. Well, somewhere in time maybe

Some hardware I don't spend a great deal of time with. S754 for this month only. Ordered a Roma core 3000+ and a 2500+, which is the lowest desktop chip with the lowest multi. That'll help determine where the chipset and memory top out hopefully.

 

[QuietBob]

Please show me a few pics to the configoration

Not much of a looker, but she's in perfect shape!
The components were high end for the era, too. The case is Thermaltake Soprano VB1000BWS Black but I stripped it of most of the bling, like the piano black door and the tool-less clamps:

 

[starred86]

Not much of a looker, but she's in perfect shape!
The components were high end for the era, too. The case is Thermaltake Soprano VB1000BWS Black but I stripped it of most of the bling, like the piano black door and the tool-less clamps:

View attachment 387932View attachment 387933View attachment 387934

Man, this is great! An incredible machine overall, but considering it's for the AGP, that makes it brutal! Maybe the best I've ever seen in my life. Congratulations, keep it up.

 

[QuietBob]

Man, this is great! An incredible machine overall, but considering it's for the AGP, that makes it brutal! Maybe the best I've ever seen in my life. Congratulations, keep it up.

Thanks!
If it weren't for the outdated OS and its 32-bit limitations, I could easily be using this machine on the daily, performance wise. It has an SSD, and the GPU can run dx11 titles through Feature Level 10.1.

 

[starred86]

Oh, I didn't even think about it! This is so good that it wasn't even a dream back then when the 3850 AGP was on the market. In fact, you have something that people didn't even dream of having

 

[Courier 6]

Not much of a looker, but she's in perfect shape!
The components were high end for the era, too. The case is Thermaltake Soprano VB1000BWS Black but I stripped it of most of the bling, like the piano black door and the tool-less clamps:

View attachment 387932View attachment 387933View attachment 387934

Nice case

 

[biffzinker]

Not much of a looker, but she's in perfect shape!

Looks nice with a second look of the inside components.

 

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

Thanks!
If it weren't for the outdated OS and its 32-bit limitations, I could easily be using this machine on the daily, performance wise. It has an SSD, and the GPU can run dx11 titles through Feature Level 10.1.

I have a x4 955 running win xp and win 10 so it can do it. Mine is on a Msi 790xt g45 ddr 2 board with a HD6850.