TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[biffzinker]

All-in-One PC with a sideways Slot 1 CPU, I admit I didn't know such existed. It does make sense though.

 

[GreiverBlade]

All-in-One PC with a sideways Slot 1 CPU, I admit I didn't know such existed. It does make sense though.

yeah i remember one user mentioning that AIO must have been something during his time ...

yep: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/tpus-nostalgic-hardware-club.108251/post-2835345

and my answer to it

well i like it more in little bits on my torture table ...

lets resume : PIII 600mhz integrated 3D rage Pro LT 128mb ram (2 slot avaiable so could be upgraded) hummm a 1999-2000 iMac? with more power and less space wasted than the 1998 CRT imac 1st model?

damn i love non conventional formfactor 90degree Secc1 1 pci and a Riser with 2 slot on it ... unusual plug layout ... non 24pin ATX Slim cdrom powered by the Pata cable, no I/O onboard except VGA and LAN .... all the rest is on separate wired extension.

the last line was a sarcasme ... i absolutely hate the PSU connection and the slim CD drive ... i lost the cable iirc xD

 

[lexluthermiester]

It fits like a glove in the slot. I also had a Slot A CPU that had that exact "problem". To be exact, the metalic clips are mounted "wrong" (the other way arround). While in certain situations the ends can interfere with some components, in this instance they cleared the motherboard. That CPU didnt look to be touched for over 21 years so I'm sure it came like that from factory.

That is a bit scary!

All-in-One PC with a sideways Slot 1 CPU, I admit I didn't know such existed. It does make sense though.

Oh yeah, they were great for slim form-factor systems. I crossed paths with a bunch of them.

 

[8BitZ80]

The good stuff turned up in the mail and FINALLY I can play around with some Slot 1 gear.
2 x Pentium 3 SL35E processors, MSI MS6199VA motherboard and Geforce FX5200 graphics card.
It'll be nice to get Windows XP and games running on this 500MHz weapon.

Spoiler: Pentium 3 stuff

 

[Trekkie4]

Wow!!

All this talk about Slot-1 systems recently, they are finally getting all the love & attention which they deserved! Keep it up guys

 

[Robert B]

New Hardware Found!

Pioneer DVD-104SZ. It needs a little bit of cleaning but otherwise looks to be in very good shape for the awesome age of almost 20 years! (Manufactured in October 1999)

I already have two more Pioneer Slot Load Units: Pioneer DVD-120S and Pioneer DVD-104SZ.

These units rock!

 

[Trekkie4]

Slot-loading CD/DVD drives have that "cool" factor, there's no doubt about it, but I remember taking one apart & what I found inside was every technician's nightmare.

To put it simply, they've turned something extremely simple & straightforward into the quantum physics. So, for as long as the unit works OK, no worries. But when something goes wrong, it would be almost impossible to fix it up. I've also noticed that Slot-loaders take a lot more space inside the case, units themselves are much longer than most standard 5.25" drives, even by retro standards. Probably to accommodate all these extra parts.

 

[Robert B]

I fixed the 120S and it is quite complex. I posted all the info on the project logs section. In the end it is just mechanical stuff with springs and levers. In my case the rubber belt was past its prime plus dirt and grime. It also needed a little bit of silicone grease here and there.

The 105S is way simpler will less moving parts. It resembles the car stereo type CD-players. No rubber belt just plastic sprockets. The 104SZ looks to be like the 105S but I'll see when I'll clean it up.

As long as the laser is good I can keep them alive for a long long time.

 

[Trekkie4]

Of course, that goes without saying. Rubber belts are usual suspects on a non-working CD/DVD drives, especially if they can't eject.

 

[lexluthermiester]

New Hardware Found!

Pioneer DVD-104SZ. It needs a little bit of cleaning but otherwise looks to be in very good shape for the awesome age of almost 20 years! (Manufactured in October 1999)

I already have two more Pioneer Slot Load Units: Pioneer DVD-120S and Pioneer DVD-104SZ.

These units rock!

Oh dear goodness do I miss that drive(type). I had that drive for years, til I needed a burner.

Slot-loading CD/DVD drives have that "cool" factor, there's no doubt about it, but I remember taking one apart & what I found inside was every technician's nightmare.

So true!

 

[8BitZ80]

Wow!!

All this talk about Slot-1 systems recently, they are finally getting all the love & attention which they deserved! Keep it up guys

Cartridge processors are quite likeable. Easy to identify processors, don't need to bother with thermal paste, compatibility is usually good.
Plus the processors just look cool. There's a sense of packaging style that chip manufacturers don't have anymore.

 

[Trekkie4]

Cartridge processors are quite likeable. Easy to identify processors, don't need to bother with thermal paste, compatibility is usually good.
Plus the processors just look cool. There's a sense of packaging style that chip manufacturers don't have anymore.

I remember years ago, when I first started with old computers & stockpiling old parts... I was telling everyone how Slot-1 systems are going to be obsolete & difficult to find one day, and also how their value will exponentially increase over time, to the point where they'll probably cost a fortune, again. But people didn't seem to share my opinion & they've been telling me how something like that isn't going to happen due to the huge amount of remaining systems (and parts), which is considerably dropping down their marketing value. Even among collectors.

10-ish years later, I would have to disagree with their statement! It would seem I was right all along, and that Slot-1 really is next in line to become highly desirable, but difficult to come across sort of hardware ... just like 3dfx! It'll certainly be interesting to see the the situation development throughout the next, let's say 3-5 years from now!

And let me tell you this - the very same thing will happen to ALL the "vintage" platforms out there. Socket 370 is the next one after that, so if you (or anyone else, reading this) ever considered to stack up on S370 hardware, now it's the time to do so. As for the AMD, they already have the advantage as Slot A boards & gear is now seriously rare stuff & highly desirable piece of equipment. Socket 462,A will probably take a while longer due to the same reason as Slot-1, but they'll eventually get there.

 

[Bungz]

Will just leave this here:

3dfx Voodoo 6000 tested working | eBay

Voodoo 6000 tested working. Condition is Used. Serial number: 0848001A000000000000009M1V8M.

www.ebay.co.uk

Not mine. Sadly.

 

[Trekkie4]

Wow... As much as I love Voodoo cards, there's no way I'd buy something THAT expensive!! Especially not a prototype (or rather, extremely limited edition)

 

[Robert B]

31 bids! People really want them and I'm sure that the price of any V5 6000 will grow and keep on growing.

 

[Trekkie4]

Something very strange is going on with that 3dfx card... It now says all the bids are cancelled, and also that the item is "no longer available"...?

 

[biffzinker]

Something very strange is going on with that 3dfx card... It now says all the bids are cancelled, and also that the item is "no longer available"...?

Possible scam, have a look at this thread.

Rare GPUs / Unreleased GPUs

Last bit I forgot to get a photo of because it's so incredibly faint, but here's the production date and "ES" etching into the package support and info band around the GPU: I don't believe AMD ever did a reference cooler for that card. The fury X had the AIO and the fury Nano had a reference...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[Trekkie4]

Nothing possible about it, it /is/ a scam. Dodgy serial numbers, wrong picture & (eventually) removing the item once its true origin was discovered.

See, that's exactly (or at least one of the two reasons) why I would never buy Voodoo card that expensive! There's no way of telling what the heck are you paying for.

 

[MaxiPro800]

My Q9400 build is finished.

Specs:
Gigabyte EP45T-DS3R
8GB RAM DDR3
MSI Twinfrozr GTX750Ti
Core 2 Quad Q9400
FSP Bluestorm II 500W
Winfast DVR 3200H PCI-E tuner
Soundblaster X-Fi XtremeGamer SB0730
Linksys WMP54GS Wireless-G PCI Wifi card
Samsung SH-224DB DVDRW SATA
Seagate ST31000340NS 1TB SATA2
Samsung HD502IJ 500GB SATA2
Samsung HD322IJ 320GB SATA2
Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA3
Delux MG760 case
unused Mitsumi floppy drive

 

[lexluthermiester]

8GB RAM DDR3

Looking at your pictures you seem to have 1x4GB and 2x2GB installed, which means you're very likely running single channel mode. I, personally, would forego the 4GB stick and use the 2x2GB for dual channel mode. Double the RAM bandwidth, which will improve performance.

The rest of that system is very nice! Based on the model numbers, I hope you're using the Seagate as your boot drive. Easily the fastest drive in that list.

 

[MaxiPro800]

Looking at your pictures you seem to have 1x4GB and 2x2GB installed, which means you're very likely running single channel mode. I, personally, would forego the 4GB stick and use the 2x2GB for dual channel mode. Double the RAM bandwidth, which will improve performance.

The rest of that system is very nice! Based on the model numbers, I hope you're using the Seagate as your boot drive. Easily the fastest drive in that list.

Yeah, that Seagate is the boot drive. I wanted something close to a 7200.11, as these drives were usually very reliable after the BSY fix. I did extensive research on my Barracuda ES2 and mine was just on the sweet spot (certain ES2 models and 7200.11 models were in the same boat - BSY error -- mine was just on the list of models not afected by the firmware bug). HDD Sentinel reported 100% health, as well as the drive came brand new, although wrapped in lots of bubble wrap, nearly resembling a rock lol.

As for the RAM, I'm hoping to score a 8GB kit (4x4) and have a cool dual-channel amount of 12GB RAM. The reason I'm running the memory sticks like this is because of compatibility - I had sticks not work on this board but work on others.

BTW, Seagate drives are usually fast. The only downside is they run pretty hot. Otherwise, Seagate drives of that era (notable drives being the ST31000528AS, the ST31000340AS and the NS variant) are very good. Those, along with 1TB WD Blue and Black drives like the WD10EALS and the WD10FALS are my favourite.

 

[Ruru]

What a nostalgic feeling, installing XP from a cd

Will be testing different parts, but let's start with Duron 1.2GHz, 2GB DDR & Radeon 9700 Pro. I probably end up with XP2700+ & X800 Pro, but let's have some fun first with something 2002ish

I just hate those old VIA chipsets since they just don't like anything else than SATA 1.5Gbit HDDs, luckily those first SATA 3Gbit drives can be ran at 1.5Gbit/s mode. I've had the same problem before so it was pretty easy troubleshooting.

 

[8BitZ80]

This system hasn't seen any action in years (was originally the family PC), but it would actually make a nice retro gaming rig with the current specs. Intel Celeron SL5ZJ 1.3GHz, Gigabyte GA-60XT motherboard, Nvidia Riva TNT2 32MB graphics card and it already has the maximum 512MB of memory.

It does have a few bulging capacitors that will need replacing (lower left of northbridge). I've heard that being shelved for a long time is bad for motherboard capacitors and they'll end up bulging/leaking, but I'm not so sure about that theory.

 

[MaxiPro800]

The bulging theory is 100% true. In the span of about a week after I bought a MSI P965 Platinum, I found it having a boatload of bulging caps. They were the dreaded KZG series from United Chemicon, known to go bad in storage.

My advice is recap it entirely. Tedious, but at least it will live for another decade.

 

[8BitZ80]

The bulging theory is 100% true. In the span of about a week after I bought a MSI P965 Platinum, I found it having a boatload of bulging caps. They were the dreaded KZG series from United Chemicon, known to go bad in storage.

My advice is recap it entirely. Tedious, but at least it will live for another decade.

Ah, I guess it affects some capacitors more than others because I have another motherboard that's been sitting for far longer and it's perfectly fine. Probably will end up replacing them all with better quality caps.