Hello, World! :D - Robert B's PC builds - oogle away freely :) - OLD Hardware Emporium

[Robert B]

I'm GLAD you like it. As I said before, my work is for everybody to enjoy. I could relax and keep everything to myself but what would be the point?

I know people who have a VAST collection and dont share what they have.

The good thing is that I still have the time to do this and for me it comes naturally. So the entire process of returning these "relics" to their former glory is almost painless

If anybody wants to keep a memento of their computing days, NOW is the time to act before it is too late

More to come.....

 

[Luke51087]

Amazing work, so nice to see some of those older builds remind me of my past builds, not in this amount but just a few of the chips

 

[techtard]

Great thread. Brings back so many memories. Over the years my friends and I went through many of the platforms in this thread, and I believe that there is a lot of vintage hardware still boxed up in storage at our parents houses.
I might be inspired to go looking for some vintage stuff for a legacy win 95/98 and Dos machine.

 

[natr0n]

I do this to old hardware I find as well. last week restored a grimmy looking evga 9500 gt to like new. wash/respaste put to use it's fun.

 

[X828]

Wow.. haven't seen a slot CPU or board in years.... The good old days

 

[Robert B]

I got a little sidetracked by these gifts

FRESH!

1. Iomega Zip 100 - Parallel interface - manufactured in 1998.
2. CD-RW unit Teac CD-W524E - this was my first CD-RW unit model and after dumping the original one back in 2007 or so, getting back in 2017 in the shape of a gift from a very good friend, was really nice.

The Iomega unit was missing the power adapter so I bought a universal one. Power requirements are 5V - 1A / 5V - 1000 mA. Power adapter model NTS 1000 EuP. Be carefull for the polarity of the heads as they can provide + on the inside shaft and - on the outside shell and with a simple rotation they will provide + on the outside shell and - on the inside shaft. See the PICTOGRAMS on the adapter heads and on the electronic unit you want to power.

The Iomega Zip 100 was dusty on the outside but very clean inside.

The Teac CD-W524E will be cleaned at a later date.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/2k5c7r0ea/



I still have to clean the SLOT motherboards and I also have to receive a 750MHz Slot A CPU to add to my collection I hope I'll find a 1000MHz one just for kicks

More later.

Soon the story of the three little pigs....with me the BIG not so bad w o l f

 

[Robert B]

The story of the three little pigs

This title fits the bill like nothing else because each of these "little" jobs was a PIG in itself. Damn, it was a ride full of twists and turns

The pieces I'm going to talk about over the next paragraphs, are from different batches of hardware I received, but given the fact that they shared the same moment in time beeing cleaned and restored, it was only befitting that they shared a common story

Without any further ado, I present to you THE THREE LITTLE PIGS!!! (soft applauses).

The CAST:

A) Teac CD-W524E - CD-RW unit 24x10x40 - the pig with the house made of straws
B) Pentium II SL2S5 CPU - Slot 1/333MHz Clock/66MHz Bus/512KB Cache - the pig with the house made of sticks
C) AMD K7 SLOT A 750MHz CPU - K7100CNRBEA - the pig with the house made of bricks
D) The BIG not so bad wolf

So here I was roaming the forest of old computer HARDWARE. I knew the path well and my senses were tingling. I caught the scent and didnt let go!

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Me smelling piggies - (mild evil laughter) and a grinning face.

Here you are little PIGGIE - uuuuhhh - T E A C CD-W524E - NICE! I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow...and surely the house built of STRAWS went into pieces. I wasnt even trying, said to himself the BIG not so bad wolf

Storyteller: The Teac CD-W524E was my first CD-RW unit. I still remember the moment my father bought it for me. As usual he was nagging: WHY DO YOU NEED THIS NOW?

I still have the CD's I burned back then and they are still readable. After I read an article in a hardware magazine called CHIP I just needed to have it!

In the middle '00s, I tried to open my original unit and becauseI wasnt paying attention some springs came out and I simply threw the unit into the bin. That moment still "haunts" me to this day.What was so complicated that I had to throw away my once beloved unit? So when I received this Teac CD-W524E, as a gift from a good friend I was like: HELL YEAH!!!! The story has come full circle. Damn!

The Teac was failry clean on the outside and I wasnt planning to deep clean it. I was about to open it, and just remove the dust, clean the belt and maybe grease something inside for easier operation.

Opening the unit was straight forward and what came after was something new to me. Sometime in her life the unit received a coffee bath and wasnt cleaned. Each piece I took away revealed more coffee contamination.

At this point I went into FULL ATTACK mode and took the entire unit appart. THE HOUSE BUILT OF STRAWS crumbled in front of me.

To my amazement the unit wasnt so complicated and the design was more elegant than that of other units I cleaned. I hoped that the unit was rubber belt free but it wasnt so. Anyway the belt is in great shape but a pain to change.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/177f1ju48/



Next was the cleaning of the various parts using 99% isopropyl alcohol, patience and attention to detail.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/kqh24sbo/



Assembly was straight forward. The pictures I took previously were of great help.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/168ka7hvm/



Finished results - flawless victory!

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/221le8d74/




***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

The first piggie was nice and tasty but the wolf's HUNGER only intensified.

Me smelling piggies - (louder evil laughter) and a bigger grinning face.

Here you are little PIGGIE - uuuuhhh - Pentium II SL2S5 - NICE! I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow....and surely the house built of STICKS went into pieces. I must be getting old said to himself the BIG not so bad wolf. My huffing and puffing isn't as strong as it used to be. Maybe it was just one of those days

Storyteller: The Pentium II SL2S5 was bought only for its heatsink, I was planning to use it on the K7 Slot A 750MHz CPU. In the end the PII outlived the K7.....The similarities of the plastic cartridge were obvious. Opening the PII cartridge was business as usual.

The cache chips didnt touch the heatplate for some unknown obscure reason.Usual practice back in the day.The metal heatspreaderover the CPU was a nice touch. No more fear of cracking the CPU die.

The metal retaining clips were made from a softer metal than I used to encounter. Bending them didnt require herculean power.

It was dirty like a PIG.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/17abs45e2/



Dismantling was a little challenging. The sharp edges of the metal shroud covering and fixing the fan were like knives. I already cut my fingers with the metal case of the Teac unit so I didnt need new ones .

The heatsink was secured with brass screws that moaned when I removed them. The thermal paste used wasnt in great shape so it was necessary to be changed.

When I opened the CPU one plastic retaining hole broke away. Pretty common so I wasnt bothered at all.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/1fyucwdzk/



Next I cleaned all the pieces really well.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/1fiskyl8w/



Some repair was in order to restore the piece to its former glory I filed the hole a little for easier assembly.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/2o61p4upu/



Assembly and finished looks.

I added heatpads on the cache chips. The pads arent covering the entire surface of the chips because I wanted to reuse the plastic cover it came with. This is better than nothing. The K7 slot A CPUs only have a tiny blob of paste on them.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/31km7cii6/



***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

The first two piggies were nice and tasty but the WOLF still had some room for deserts, I mean JUST DESERTS!!! HE he

Me smelling piggies - (LOUD evil laughter) and a HUGE grinning face.

Here you are little PIGGIE - uuuuhhh - A M D K7 SLOT A 750MHz - K7100CNRBEA - NICE! I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow...and surely the house built of BRICKS STOOD TALL. ^#!*#^!&*~~~~~~!!!!! shouted the BIG not so bad wolf I must be doing something wrong.

He was out of steam and still nothing happened. On an anticlimactic note, this is the END of the story, plain and simple. No cavalry to the rescue and no big party. Because life is sometimes like this....

The last piggie lived to tell the tale.

Storyteller: The K7 was in really BAD shape. When I first saw the condition it was in, I said it's DEAD, plain and simple. Still, after two moths or so, time in which I watched the add posted on the OLX site, my views softened(BIG MISTAKE) and I ended buying the damn thing. The price was higher than its worth and my feelings got the best of me.

The seller said that the CPU is in good working condition. I bought all my Athlon SLOT A stuff from him so I wasnt worried.

The heatplate and cartridge suffered MASSIVE impacts but I was somewhat confident that the CPU survived - Yeah right......

The PCB was cracked, the metal pins were bent, the cartridge was deformed, the plastic clips were broken.

So even if I knew the general condition and I wasnt forced to buy it. Still, if I was the seller I would've wanted to know the real state in which my piece was.......just my luck.

Arrival state.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/v9hgeuyq/



Cleaning was business as usual.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/25gv0lrws/



I knew that the PCB was badly cracked and many traces were broken but I still planed to repair the damn thing.

EXTREME MEASURES Part-1 - VICE POWER!!! - I straightened the PCB using gentle force and thick cardboard strips.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/fv7vcbm8/



EXTREME MEASURES - Part 2- FINE TUNING!!!

By this time I knew that the K7 was beyond rescue. I didnt have the means to recover it so at least I wanted to somewhat restore the looks of the CPU.

Even after some bending the plastic deformation suffered by the PCB meant that it will NEVER be the same as it once was....

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/kyixwswu/



Heatplate repair.

Flat metal bar and a hammer. SOFT HAMMERING the aluminium.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/vh1wluo6/



Assembly and finished looks.

galllery: https://postimg.org/gallery/26zuae3ac/



The K7 didnt live to tell the tale. The BIG not so bad wolf received his JUST DESERTS!!!

This wraps up this episode.

More later.

 

[Robert B]

Lights, Camera, Action!

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/eglm1dic/

 

[Robert B]

Morsels for YOU!!! I still have much more work to do. The cleanup of the motherboards Gigabyte 6BXC and Asus K7M. Also I expect a socket A platform: EPOX 8RDA3I+ Athlon XP - Barton 2500+ which will require some cleaning too. I'll keep you update with my progress.

Ati Rage Fury MAXX and 3dfx VoooDoo 2 SLI Creative CT6670 D18726.00 BE/019894 & D18761.00 BE/019894 are ready for deep cleaning

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/2s9pm3q0w/



Cirrus Logic GD54M30 & Creative Sound Blaster 16 Prelude CT2960 VIBRA 16C have been cleaned very well

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/2ys02xojk/



More later.

 

[Robert B]

The 5,6,7 AGP trio REVISITED

Last year I presented to you a story about three graphic cards which I received free of charge. https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...ly-old-hardware-emporium.228932/#post-3574700

The protagonists of the story were:

MSI 8948 ver 100 - GeForce FX5700-VTD128 - AGP 128MB
Aopen Aeolus 6800GT-DV256 - AGP 256MB
BFG GeForce 7800GS OC AGP 256MB

These graphic cards were tested at that time on this system:

1. CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1900+ 1.60GHz - Palomino core
2. MOBO: ECS K7VTA3 V3.0b - VIA KT333
3. RAM: DDR1 3X512MB DDR333/DDR400
4. HDD: WD Caviar 800JB 80GB
5. FDD: 1.44MB Alps
6. ODD: LG DVD-RAM 4163B
7. GPU'S:
7.1 MSI 8948 ver 100 - GeForce FX5700-VTD128 - AGP 128MB
7.2 Aopen Aeolus 6800GT-DV256 - AGP 256MB
7.3 BFG GeForce 7800GS OC AGP 256MB
8. PSU: ENERMAX EG365AX-VE(G) 353W
9. Software: Windows XP Home Ed. SP2/Windows XP PRO SP3
10. Misc.

Back then I didnt have a better AGP platform so I was limited to what I had. The testing of the three graphic cards was a mixed bag. Artifacts in 3D, inability to install drivers sometimes, unable to run games properly. From the bunch only the 6800GT was showing good signs.

So I made a decision to revisit this episode and give it a conclusive ending as soon as I had the opportinuty,

So here comes the new and improved AGP platform:

Mobo: EPOX EP-8RDA3I V2.0 - nforce 2 Ultra 400
CPU: Athlon XP 2500+ 1.83GHz Barton core
Cooler: Spire FalconRock II
RAM: 2x256 PQI DDR 400
PSU, HDD, and some other misc parts are the same as the original system used for testing.

This kit reminded me of my old Athlon XP system : Barton 2800+, Abit NF7-S, RAID 0 WDC 800JB, Leadtek 6600GT....Good Old Days...

Before any testing took place I had to clean the motherboard, cooler and memory.

You know the drill.

First I dusted off and then washed with cold water the aluminium heatsink. Next came an old hair dryer and the heatsink was dry, clean and very hot

Cooler cleaning.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/2gh8ggv42/



CPU cleaning.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/3ifk7o6hc/



Motherboard cleaning.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/oqioqrys/



TESTING GALORE!!!

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Not all was smooth sailing.

As usual I had my share of small troubles:

1. The white plastic AGP retainer didnt let me insert some graphic cards all the way in the slot. So out it went for this testing session.
2. Sometimies the EPOX EP-8RDA3I motherboard gave errors:
CH - BIOS chip inserted incorrectly - I first pressed well the chip in the socket and eventually I took it out and straightened some pins
C1 - Memory module inserted incorrectly - I took out and put the RAM back in
The LCD display is very usefull for diagnostics especially when you dont gave a diagnose PC card.
Inserting and taking out RAM was painfull and required a lot of force. Maybe the PQI RAM PCB is thicker or something .
3. The motherboard as many of her sisters of that time had problems with long graphic cards. If I used the 6800GT then I couldnt remove RAM until I took out the video card. The 7800GS couldnt be used until I removed a long screw holding the backplate.
4. I thought that the ENERMAX EG365AX-VE(G) 353W doesnt have a 4 PIN power connector and I made one from an old Thermaltake PSU which died. You should've seen my face when I took out of the box the PSU and saw that it already had one
5. I took out the MAXX for a spin, but because the Win XP was already making fits after all the installs of NVIDIA drivers it didnt work well Anyway the MAXX will only be used on WIN 98 as for WIN XP it doesnt have proper support.
6. The Palit Daytona GF3 TI 200 has a thick PCB - inserting and taking out from the AGP slot was painfull!!!

The Athlon XP 2500+ AXDA2500K4D / AQYFA 0342SPMW is locked but runs well at 200 MHz bus x 11 multiplier making it 3200+. I ran 3Dmark 2001 and some games. It is very stable even without voltage increase. I call this A BIG WIN!!! I didnt have a lot of time for testing but this chip seems nice.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/228n39sy8/



EPOX EP-8RDA3I + PQI DDR does not equal LOVE at least in this case.

Even if I tested the PQI DDR with memtest and games, and it ran well I still had weird errors popping on the LCD display. Errors at boot.Erros with and without overclock. Errors when changing graphic cards. The error codes were not consistent. I used AGP and PCI video cards and I still didnt find the cause.

THE SOLUTION: I used a Kingston KVR 512MB PC3200 DDR1 RAM from my box-o'-parts and the problems vanished. This exact scenario happened to me a few years back. This might be due to a strange incompatibility as I remember having something similar happen to me on my previous nforce 2 build with Abit NF7-S.

I also tested all my video cards and I have only some casualities: Tseng ET6000, Ti4200, Ti4600, Ati 9600 Pro, S3 Trio. The others are functional and CLEAN



The 5700FX, 6800GT and 7800GS are in good working condition. Testing of hardware should be made on era period correct hardware for less headaches.

So this is the HAPPY END for the 5,6,7 AGP trio story. Them may live long and prosper

More to follow!

 

[biffzinker]

Thanks for recurring posts @Robert B. Hopefully it's as much fun to do as the work involved getting all of the hardware components back in tip-top shape.

 

[Robert B]

It is a lot of fun and time consuming. Sometimes I lose track of time and hours go by in a flash. It's something like time travelling

Next week I will receive a SPECIAL DELIVERY which came out of nowhere .

I'll keep you posted!.

 

[Robert B]

After a successfull socket A story, albeit with some minor headaches my attention shifted to my precious Ati Rage Fury MAXX and 3dfx VooDoo 2 SLI - Creative CT6670.

These beauties will be tested on the Solt A platform Asus K7M+700MHz CPU. It will be some time until then, but we are getting there.

First was the turn of the Ati Rage Fury MAXX. Upon closer inspection I saw some oxidation on the aluminium heatsinks. Some crusty white deposits were present on the fans and the heatsinks. Not much, but it was kind of strange. Also small patches of rust were present on some chromed surfaces. I think that this component was stored in a humid environment or kept in a basement. The situation is not bad as I already know that the graphic card is in good working condition.

I cleaned the little fans using GREAT CARE AND ATTENTION. They are delicate and spinned nice even if they made a little noise. As I suspected the oil was long gone as the rotors were bone dry. Only one had the back cover in place.

I didnt want to remove the rotors as the washer that held them in place was tiny and I didnt want to lose it or warp it. Another problem was presented by the fact that the motor wires/winding, were/was very close to the actual propeller and if I damaged a wire then it would've been bye bye little fan! Cleaning was a tedious and nerve racking business as fear of damaging the motor wires/winding was always present. I used a soft brush made from animal hairs to remove much of the dirt. Also I used a sharp pointed bamboo stick to remove the bigger dust deposits from the hard to reach places. Afterwards I used lots if cotton sticks dipped into isopropyl alcohol 99% to clean the blades. I also cleaned the motor wires/winding using a few strands from the brush made from animal hairs and GENTLY touching them I removed the dust. Then I blowed over them strongly and they came out clean as good as they're going to be, about 90% of what I wanted.

I oiled the fans with a thicker oil and I put only a small drop using a fine needle. Afterwards I let it sink in and I blew over the blades to spin them. The excess oil was removed using a paper towell and I made covers from electrical tape.

They are ready to ROLL!!!

I guess these fans ARE MY BIGGEST FANS!!!

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/1q006kz4u/



I removed the brackets from all the graphic cards and I will polish them with a felt wheel or just using abrasive paste and a rag. I will see which is going to be better.

From the past experiences I knew that isopropyl alcohol 99% damages or removes ink marking from the cards - serial numbers and QC stamps.

I made a test with a cotton stick dipped in isopropyl alcohol 99% on one of the VooDoo cards and surely "number 7" was removed &$!&)!!)!$)!!!!###~~

Looking for a solution to my predicament I remembered I had an ORAFOL STONE GUARD FILM I used to protect a few painted surfaces on my car which were damaged by stones thrown by the tyres. I cut small pieces of it and applied them over the stamped markings. The trick worked and the markings survived the isopropyl alcohol 99% wash

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/ewm4s5no/




The cards went through a first general cleanup and they came out pretty clean. They need at least one more isopropyl alcohol 99% bath and they will be golden. The VooDoo cards are cleaner than the Ati Rage Fury MAXX. After the wash, the MAXX had some sticky deposits on the back of one of the graphic chips. It took some elbow grease to clean. You wouldn''t believe how much dirt came out from the small tiny holes from the back of the PCB. Endless cotton sticks felt on the battlefield .I know it is dirt because of the colour. I will use a syringe with isopropyl alcohol 99% and I will clean the chip really well.I'll try to reach only the contact area between the chip/solder balls/pcb. It could be some residues left from the manufacturing process or the liquid which oxidized the heatsinks and rusted out some chromed parts. I cleaned a lot of components and didnt encounter this stuff. In a few cases I saw some white streaks but they werent sticky.

Also the other graphic chip from the MAXX has some brownish small deposits on one the corners. They are under the heatsink and I dont think I want to remove them. They also could be from the manufacturing process.

All the rust depositis will be removed.

I want to minimize the ammount of isopropyl alcohol 99% I use to wash the MAXX as the heatsinks are glued on and I dont want to remove them.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/j8mvhkeq/



gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/z5hudqzg/



I hope the MAXX will survive this aggressive cleanup procedure. I keep my fingers crossed.

I couldn't clean the oxidation from the aluminium heatsinks but I removed almost all of the white deposits and now they look really well. After 18 years they cant be as the day they were born

Also I prepared the Gigabyte 6BXC and Asus K7M for the BIG CLEANUP they so desperately need.

The Gigabyte 6BXC bad a small broken piece from one of the PCI slots and was repaired with transparent POXIPOL. Somone wasnt paying attention when removed a card from the slot and besides the plastic is old.

The Asus K7M had two missing screws from a serial port and received new ones.

The two motherboards will receive special treatment as I want to retain all the stamped ink markings. Also I will protect the paper labels from the last ISA slots by wrapping them in small plastic bags.

RESTORING 101!

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/v7rpc7h6/



More later.

 

[Robert B]

Today was one of those GLORIOUS DAYS!!!

Around 9.30 in the morning, I left home and went to the place were I keep my old hardware.

I'm feeling great and the weather is just right for what I need to do. Mostly sunny, a litte windy and sometimes a little cloudy. I'm all alone in the building and nobody is there to make me miss my TARGET: the cleaning of all the remainig hardware I aquired lately.

I already know what I want to do and everything goes according to plan.

I set up the workplace and I start with the MAXX and the V2 SLI.

The MAXX received an injection with isopropyl alcohol 99% to remove the dirt from under one of the graphic chips.A lot of dirt still comes out. The V2 SLI cleans up really well and doesnt pose any additiona troubles. The ORAFOL STONE GUARD FILM again protects the stamped ink markings.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/3f0ndiuh8/



While the graphic cards dry in the sun I turn my attention to the brackets. They have lost their shine and are covered in a hazy deposit which is very hard to clean. I take the decision to not buff them with a felt wheel and instead use an abrazive paste and a soft rag. The choice is the right one and the results are past my expectations. The bracket of the MAXX is like a mirror in minutes. The brackets from the V2 SLI are hazy from factory but they also clean up well. I also clean with abrazive paste the fixing screws until they shine. Aferwards I washed all the bracket and screws with isopropyl alcohol 99% to remove all the leftover paste.

See the results bellow!

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/1d9cqrb9o/



Once I dealed with the above problems I addressed the problem of rust. MY No 1 ENEMY!!!

I used a cotton stick dipped in an auto rust remover solution. I took great care not to use too much as it is corrosive. The VGA port of the MAXX cleaned up really well. In the case of the Gigabyte 6BXC I had to remove the fixing screws from all the ports and then use the solution. Even so the rust is very hard to remove. I had to use fine grit sandpaper to remove all of it. Then I used a cotton stick with abrazive paste to give the metal some of its initial shine. Then I used isopropyl alcohol 99% to wash all the parts to remove the rust remover solution and the abrazive paste. Everything goes without a hitch.

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/1ro9rxo5w/



Next came the assembly of the graphic cards and I put back the screws I took out from the Gigabyte 6BXC motherboard.

Ati Rage Fury MAXX

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/vwaubj6i/



2x 3dfx VooDoo 2 Creative CT 6670

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/mivytcry/



The Asus K7M and Gigabyte 6BXC motherboards were prepared for the wash. I applied ORAFOL STONE GUARD FILM over the stamped ink markings. I also used a plastic bag to cover the ISA slots to protect the paper labels. The improvisation with the plastic bags and rubber bands doesnt work as I intended becasue the alcohol gets into the slot from beneath. Even so the paper labels survive despite beeing soaked. The bag protected the labels beeing contaminated by all the dirt removed by the alcohol.

Both of the motherboards came out GOLDEN!!!

Asus K7M v1.04

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/iatdnk2m/



Gigabyte GA-6BXC v1.7

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/3gawa7edw/



Now for your viewing pleasure some GLAMOUR PICTURES!!!

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/102jz0axw/



It's 13.20 and in less than 4 hours I gave back the shine to these "sacred monsters" of times passed by.

Next will be a software testing session but this will have to wait a while.

More later.

 

[Robert B]

The search for my first computer is over. Now I have all the pieces of the puzzle and I can pursue other objectives

I hope, you didnt think, even for a fleeting moment, that I am going to stop . At the very least I'll take it a little bit slower...

Today I received the single most important piece of hardware, which I needed to complete the recreation of my 1st PC.

BEHOLD THE HOLY MOTHERBOARD, the socketed mother in which ALL THE OTHER PARTS dig in their PINS and come to life.

The package was delivered by courier in the morning around 09.55 The box was smaller than usual. After receiveing ATX boards, V2 SLI's and other bigger components, the board which I was about to receive was only 220mm x 170mm, smaller than a A4 sheet of paper - https://postimg.org/image/l57zt3w3v/

Surprisingly, I was very calm the day before, because I knew what I was about to receive. I went to bed thinking about the Tomato Board/Zida 4DPS. I knew its layout, I knew all her curves and I knew that tomorrow I'll have it in my hands

So today after 21 years I have in my possession the motherboard of my first PC. This was my ticket into this realm and it was AWESOME! This was the single most important piece I needed it and NOW IT'S MINE!

Also I purchased two Cirrus Logic 5446 PCI 1MB video cards. I remember I used to install the CL 54xx drivers in Win 95 but I'm not sure if it the video adapter was 5430 or better. This mistery will be solved only if I find the original invoice from 1996. I know I have it but it's burried deep in a big closet at my workplace.

An AMD 5x86 P75 - 133MHz - ADZ and a socket 3 cooler completed this purchase.

Now I have all the pieces needed to recreate my first PC: motherboard, cpu, odd, hdd, case, soundcard, etc. Initially I wanted to rebuild the 5x86 build with this motherboard but I guess for now I'll keep it close so I can see it for several days/weeks

From my first PC there are only two surviving pieces: the soundcard and the motherboard manuals.

The only thing that stood out like a sore thumb was the almost identical 2x1GB DDR 400 Kingmax kit I bought for the socket A platform, after I had troubles with the PQI memory.

Arrival state

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/21311om3a/



Cleanup

The motherboard was clean by some standards and some may say VERY CLEAN, but after seeing some light dust on the ISA slots and a cotton stick dipped into isopropyl alcohol 99% yielded black marks I prepared the motherboard for a bath.

I took off a small round sticker form the back to avoid damage.

The wash went well. The only "problem" was that after the wash with isopropyl alcohol 99% the purple tint from the BIOS hologram sticker kind of vanished, now it's a nice cool SILVER tint.If I knew this I would've protected the hologram with ORAFOL STONEGUARD FILM like I did to the V2's, K7M and 6BXC. Live and learn. The Pentium II cartridge holograms werent affected by isopropyl alcohol.

Piece of advice: if you want to preserve the paper labels, stamped ink markings and some hologram, first make a test with a cotton stick dipped into isopropyl alcohol 99% and then wash the entire component. Use a film to protect the stamped ink markings.

While the motherboard was drying I took it in my hand and accidentaly bent a little, the MOSFET near the CPU socket. I straightened it and I took off the heatsink to see if it was damaged. The GOOD NEWS WAS: NO DAMAGE! HuH!!! That was a close one!

I also saw a scratch on the opposite side of the adjacent capacitor. The scratch isnt very big and it wasnt made by me. No biggie here

The video cards were more dirty than the motherboard. One in particular (the one with the black connector) had a crust with a white-greenish colour. It was very hard to remove.

First I took off the brackets and polished them by hand with abrasive paste. They came out nice.

One screw that holds the bracket had a sheared screw from the VGA cable plug. For the sake of authenticity I took the decission to remove the sheared piece. A vice, a screwdriver and a small hammer = problem solved. The fixing screws were scratched when I received the video card. Also the black VGA connector was slighlty bent, sign that the sheared screw took some force until it broke.

I removed a little rust from the VGA connector.

The white-greenish deposit from the video card wasnt removed by an isopropyl spray so I had to improvise. I took a metal cap from a box and put some isopropyl alcohol just enough that the backside of the card was always dipped/wet. I checked the card regularly and it stayed there 30 min - 1 hour. Every so often I used cotton sticks dipped in alcohol to remove the deposit and the hard stuff was scraped off with a small bamboo stick. In the end I managed to restore the appearance of the card.

Based on these findings I can say that if you have a very dirty component you can submerge it in an alcohol bath. I dont know the submerging time or if this porcedure will damage the laquer or other components. Trial and error. Also in this way you lose much more alcohol due to evaporation. The remaining alcohol should be discarded as it is already contaminated. YMMV.

The cooler looked CLEAN but LOOKS can be DECEVING!!!!

The Kingmax RAM received a wash too. For good measure

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/o1z22npk/



For this cleaning operation I used about 350 ml of isopropyl alcohol. I sure wasnt stingy believe me!!!



Finished results!!!

Allocated time ~ 2 ore

Nothing more to report....just enjoy!

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/1kk3gw6l8/





More later.

L.E. It seems one of the Kingmax DDR 400 modules is missing a contact pad....RIP!!!

 

[Aenra]

This is too much!!!!! (But i want more, lol)

And honestly, really but really thank you for posting all these images.. i'm very thankful. I haven't managed to do something similar and it makes me happy another has. Don't stop dude

Tiiiiny tiny request.. some Cyrix pics; ideally, for the ultimate porn value, a 6x86, any iteration (M1, M1L, MX). Make me jealous please ^^

 

[Robert B]

I'll post some Cyrix pics this week or the next one. Weather permiting I really need a sunny day for the hardware to really POP!!!

I only have three Cyrix CPU's:

1. Cyrix 6x86MX PR233 188MHz
2. Cyrix GXm-200GP
3. Cyrix MII-300GP

The 6x86 P233 came with the ZIDA-TOMATO BOARD - 5STXJ-98 REV. 1.02 motherboard and since we are on the same page regarding the manufacturer, that will be featured in the next batch of photos. I'll try to make them wallpaper material

Also I made a full backup to the stuff I posted here and other sites. All pages have been transformed in pdf with web2pdf and all the pictures have been stored in an organzied fashion

.To my surprise they dont occupy so much space

2085 images - 1.34 GB. Total pictures taken before editing ~ 14GB

With these measures I can revive the thread anytime !

 

[Aenra]

that will be featured in the next batch of photos. I'll try to make them wallpaper material

Ooooh... can't wait ^^

 

[Robert B]

Did someone said T-O-M-A-T-O? like in 'tuh-MAH-toh'

By special request, from Aenra I upload some pictures with three Cyrix CPU's I own. Because the 6x86MX came with the ZIDA-TOMATO BOARD - 5STXJ-98 REV. 1.02, the motherboard was also featured in these pictures.

Unfortunately I only have three Cyrix CPU's. The GXm cant even be used with a regular motherboard.

I think I'll get some more Cyrix CPU's with the next "shipment" of old HW but I'm not sure. We'll see

Some pictures weren't edited so you can use them as you like.

It was a run and dash photo shoot. 15 max including the taking out of the pieces from various boxes

Enjoy!

gallery: https://postimg.org/gallery/393limb8c/

 

[Aenra]

oooh.. Shiny!

O.K., officially jealous now ^^
Thank you thank you thank you!
And so many angles, haha! Someday, i hope i'll have some pics of my own to share. Wonderful chips they were and i don't care what anyone says, lol
Do you know the Doom story? How the first 6x86 iteration's sales tanked because it couldn't run Doom (i mean ffs) as well as P5 did? Humans... won't even mention the whole "drivers" fiasco. A real shame. In retrospect of course, it only adds to the magic, you know? Bitter-sweet, like most things relating to the nostalgic. Thank you once again for all these, must have taken some time; much obliged Robert!
(you ever build a rig out of these sweethearts, don't forget to post)

By the way, i love how you make everything shine, that mobo looks literally brand new.. and those slots, the plastic is stark white.. 11/10

edit: Got a question.. in this pic here:

That sticker, "replace with Compaq spare", what's that?

 

[Robert B]

Taking these pictures wasnt hard at all. It only took me about 15 minutes.

Cyrix CPU's have their followers too I know about the FPU performance thing and the support Intel received from game developers and/or industry. Those times were quite hectic if I say so myself. I remember the IDT WinCHip, Cyrix, AMD and the ever so EXPENSIVE Intel chips, I was drooling all over the IT magazines pages Inteeellll but couldnt afford one.

In those times (~97) I was still using my 5x86 and I was really happy. From 5x86 I jumped straight to a Celeron 366A, but my deskmate from highschool bought a 6x86 166MHz in '97 and he was happy.

I think you speak about Quake instead of Doom? My 6x86 knowledge isn't that great nothing that the good ol' internet cant fix

The "replace the Compaq spare" I think means it was to be used with Compaq built systems. I saw similar stickers from HP, IBM, etc and other big companies. It's easier for techs to keep track of compatible components for particular configurations. The sticker is glued like hell and I didnt remove it. Also it is glossy and thick.

All the components I cleaned had their shine they just need a little "dusting" and the right angles for taking photos. Some were dirtier than others but after cleaning so many of them, I can safely say that even you could make them look as new. Some exception may be those of: components kept outside exposed to elements, components kept in dusty / industrial environments, smokers apartments, etc

I have a thing when I clean motherboards: all the SLOTS must be like a mirror so that you can see other components reflection in them. It is kind of a "dramatic" effect.

Sometimes plastics get slightly warped or yellowed but they still work as intended.

The ZIDA-TOMATO BOARD - 5STXJ-98 REV. 1.02 was bought with the case similar to the one of my first PC, two years ago from the flea market. I think it was used as an accountant's system. It was clean even then, just some heavy powdery dirt around the CPU socket. It had a SiS video adapter and a SEAGATE MEDALIST ST33232A 3.2GB HDD

Everything I post is as soon as it happened Usually I post the same day or a few days later so that the information is at first hand, fresh and full of details.

 

[Aenra]

You're right Rob, it was Quake, lol, not Doom

(i googled it..)

 

[buzzi]

@Robert B a...aw...awesome!!!!
I love how meticolous you are!
Thank you very much for what you've shared (so far)!

 

[Robert B]

Dont worry there's more to come. All my COLLECTION is here. Nuts and bolts, Everything.

I still have to test the Slot 1, Slot A platforms and the Zida 4DPS - for this I will need an extra AT PSU or I'll take apart the original 5x86 build form two years ago and completely recreate my first PC (most probably).

I still have to receive a MISTERY package from somebody. - this will take some time, IF it will materialize.

I'll keep you posted!

 

[ERazer]

O WOW! much

Geforce 4 4600 Ti made me smile, bought it with my first paycheck.