TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[Ruru]

well ... one of my recent purchase ended in Ukraine ... luckily it was a small plastic box for my IEM ... still showing in transit which mean it's probably going back to China and then ... maybe ... toward my address ...

LMAO

At least my things are in the same city...

 

[Trekkie4]

Ordered couple of those Rage XL PCI cards, and will report back with additional feedback/results once I have them up & running

Assuming they end up being decent enough (or at least half decent), I might cash out for one or two more over the next couple of months, seeing how rare PCI cards actually are these days.

 

[Athlonite]

was lookin through some stuff I had stashed away and found this little cracker

 

[lexluthermiester]

seeing how rare PCI cards actually are these days.

That can depend on where you are. Here in the states, they're still common as muck and dead cheap.

 

[Trekkie4]

That's a shame... The cheapest one I could find (used, obviously) was around 11USD. And prices only go higher from this point on, I saw them going for $26 & more! This is generic hardware I'm talking about, nothing fancy or exotic. Cards like TNT2 M64, ATI Rage Pro, etc.

Problem is, no one has PCI video cards at this point, except for retro enthusiasts and those who sell & re-sell old stuff for living. It's all down to AGP & PCIe, but I've noticed that even AGP is on its way out & getting harder & harder to find for a decent price. Not that I need any more AGP cards, I have a full stack of those in all shapes & forms

The only "common" PCI video cards you can find for decent price are those S3 Trio64 series, Trident & similar with 1 or 2MB of VRAM. You know, so called "video decelerators". So whenever I did a PCI-based system (as in without AGP), I had no choice but to slap one of those inside & pair them up with 3dfx, as that was the ONLY way to get a decent performance.

 

[lexluthermiester]

That's a shame... The cheapest one I could find (used, obviously) was around 11USD. And prices only go higher from this point on, I saw them going for $26 & more! This is generic hardware I'm talking about, nothing fancy or exotic. Cards like TNT2 M64, ATI Rage Pro, etc.

Out of curiosity, I just looked up prices on ebay, Rage cards are about $15 - $20. I consider that to be inexpensive, but that's just my perspective. There's plenty more in the $20 - $30 range.

 

[Trekkie4]

Out of curiosity, I just looked up prices on ebay, Rage cards are about $15 - $20. I consider that to be inexpensive, but that's just my perspective. There's plenty more in the $20 - $30 range.

It's all a matter of perspective. Under some slightly different circumstances, I would have to agree... But keep in mind that for each ebay card, you also have to pay for postage/shipping fees, which (in my case, shipping to Europe) can get pretty nasty.

Where on the other hand, AliExpress sells Rage XL for $16,48 a piece, with free shipping - therefore no additional costs

As for higher-grade models, I can get a new FX5500, the fastest PCI card available for $34.35 ... also with free shipping. TBH, I considered buying one of these, I still do. But since I need several PCI cards and not only just one, I've decided to go with Rage instead.

 

[Apocalypsee]

Talking about PCI cards, pixel pipes released 15 PCI graphics card comparison just 5 days ago. Quite interesting IMO

 

[stinger608]

was lookin through some stuff I had stashed away and found this little cracker View attachment 107023

Always awesome to find hidden treasures that you forgot you had.

 

[lexluthermiester]

But keep in mind that for each ebay card, you also have to pay for postage/shipping fees, which (in my case, shipping to Europe) can get pretty nasty.

True, and that's kinda what I was trying to illustrate.

Where on the other hand, AliExpress sells Rage XL for $16,48 a piece, with free shipping - therefore no additional costs

They've been kicking it up a notch lately.

 

[Trekkie4]

From what I heard, AliExpress is in the middle of changing the management, but as of this moment they are the cheapest (and safest) way to buy online IMO.

Prices are way, way below average rates, even the ones on ebay! Especially those "hidden gems" such as Rage XL card, Audio Technica AT3600 phono cartridge (for approx. $10), RGB LED spotlights, etc

 

[DR4G00N]

Snapped up a few AGP cards off ebay recently for relativity cheap. Namely A Geforce2 GTS, Quadro2 Pro & FX 5200 128-bit.
Hopefully they work alright, especially that Quadro since it would pair very nicely with a PIII-S 1.4GHz when modded into a GF2 Ultra.

 

[GreiverBlade]

was lookin through some stuff I had stashed away and found this little cracker View attachment 107023

damn where is the LOVE button ... i only find the like button ... (my only X800 is a AGP one and a X800GT 256 )

little edit since someone wrote about AliExpress ... one of my colleague at the job asked me for a cheap portable console on that site (since i put almost 10-20 order on it once every 2-3 month )

well .. with a 168 in 1 cheapo gameboy lookalike console .... at 18$ what can go wrong ...

funny part ... the Li-ion battery is a BL-5C

yep the one for the Nokia 1200, 1208, 1209, 1650, 1680 classic, 2310, 2323 classic, 2330 classic, 2610, 2700 classic, 2730, 3109, 3110 classic, 3110 Evolve, 5130 XpressMusic, 6085, 6230i, 6267, 6270, 6555, 6681, E50, E60, N70, N91, N810, N97

so ... well i did try it to ensure it was working perfectly


and then .... i got myself stuck playing that one for hours ...


all copyright note are at the right place, it also has some homebrew and a few "china only" version of Mario i never saw until today

 

[Trekkie4]

Hmm... Something tells me your friend will have to wait for another one to arrive!

 

[phill]

The 1GHz model is important to me, that powered my PC when I moved away from being only a console gamer.. looked tips for overclocking it, broke the multiplier lock also back then, and it was 24/7 stable at 1404MHz. Abit KT7A, 512MB PC133 and GF4 Ti 4200, oh the memories..

Bit late to the party but I had that same system!! I remember the TBirds you had that where the 1Ghz versions and you could just set the FSB to 133 and boom... 1.33Ghz Oh the fun we had!! I remember the tornado fans as well... Man I can't believe we had the 5000 RPM fans running just to cool the CPU lol Good old aluminium heatsinks!!

 

[Trekkie4]

I propose a new test... Whenever you come across an old CPU cooler, you should power it up (at full speed) & stick your finger into the blades. If it bleeds, it means the cooler is genuinely nostalgic & worth keeping

 

[phill]

I'll have to speak with a friend, I believe he still has the 92mm Tornado fan we used for our AMD XP machines

 

[GreiverBlade]

Hmm... Something tells me your friend will have to wait for another one to arrive!

nah i will order one for me ... either the same or something similar
something like that one, that double as a 5000mAh powerbank


DAAAAAAAAAAAAMN now i did seek some .... ARGH! my credit card will not survive the next month ... (well their price are low, ~12$ but i have a lot on my mind ... among some HiFi BT cable, silver plated USB-C with a 24bit/192khz DAC cable for my IEM and probably a Fiio M7 from my fav etailer .... )

well i would either need a US SNES or an adapter for the EU one ... and find back a NES ...

Chinese will always amaze me ... (i still wonder how some of my multiples order did pass the custom clearance ... )

I'll have to speak with a friend, I believe he still has the 92mm Tornado fan we used for our AMD XP machines

Vantec Tornado?

 

[phill]

Vantec Tornado?
View attachment 107284

Exactly that one

 

[Trekkie4]

Kinda off-topic, but my Asus Zenfone also doubles as 5,000mAh powerbank. Probably the only smartphone on the market nowdays which doesn't have to be charged every couple of hrs

The more I browse AliExpress, the more I find it fascinating... I just don't understand how they do it. I mean, selling a brand new PCI video card for $16 & then shipping it to the other side of the world for free?! Or even that Audio Technica phono cartridge, for $10... There was a video on YT just the other day, a guy VWestlife made a comparison video between Rega Carbon & AT3600L, the same cartridge but sold under different names. Except Rega sells for $60 & AT sells (through Ali) for barely $10. And yup, you've guessed it - turned out they're both the same. In fact, 3600 seems to be slightly better!

 

[hat]

I actually have an 80mm vantec tornado... but I won't be putting my fingers anywhere near those blades...

 

[lexluthermiester]

I just don't understand how they do it.

Exchange rates. $1 here might get you a discount drink. $1 in China will get you a full meal and pay for part of the next. Been to China, the money I took on the trip was way more than was needed.

 

[GreiverBlade]

Probably the only smartphone on the market nowdays which doesn't have to be charged every couple of hrs

wrong wrong wrong ... most my phone did go thru the week without a charge ... my actual Nokia 8 either goes for 7-8days in "music, light reading, mail, farcebook" usage (HSPA+ and Bluetooth active )
and easily goes thru the day in overly intensive usage ... at the end of the day ... 57% left in that case (which i wrongly put in charge since i use my phone as a wake up alarm ... but since it has QC3.0 i shouldnt ... 20% to 100% in ~ 1hrs would be fast enough to have it back up before going to the job)

but I won't be putting my fingers anywhere near those blades...

why do you think it has a fan protector (rather finger than fan) directly put on it stock...

 

[Ruru]

Bit late to the party but I had that same system!! I remember the TBirds you had that where the 1Ghz versions and you could just set the FSB to 133 and boom... 1.33Ghz Oh the fun we had!! I remember the tornado fans as well... Man I can't believe we had the 5000 RPM fans running just to cool the CPU lol Good old aluminium heatsinks!!

I cranked the multiplier up (since I did the legendary pencil trick), can't remember the settings, and I was kinda noob back then so I'm sure that it wasn't even the maximum what that chip coul've done

 

[Trekkie4]

wrong wrong wrong ... most my phone did go thru the week without a charge ... my actual Nokia 8 either goes for 7-8days in "music, light reading, mail, farcebook" usage (HSPA+ and Bluetooth active )
and easily goes thru the day in overly intensive usage ... at the end of the day ... 57% left in that case (which i wrongly put in charge since i use my phone as a wake up alarm ... but since it has QC3.0 i shouldnt ... 20% to 100% in ~ 1hrs would be fast enough to have it back up before going to the job)



why do you think it has a fan protector (rather finger than fan) directly put on it stock...

I actually charge mine every 4-5 days. But only because I watch a lot of YouTube. Not to mention tweeting, exchanging DMs, etc. So really, it lives up to its reputation & expectations

Speaking of fans... IDK about consumer models, but I happen to have several models (80, 92 & 120) inside that HP Visualize workstation. Both of them actually, and those are really, REALLY powerful. Kinda resemble server fans, for industrial application. Certainly wouldn't want to stick my finger inside one of them!!