TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[TOMCAT]

9550 though? I can't really find any info...I know the higher end 9700/9800 used them.

That returned about zero amount of info except that it's a Powercolor branded card...nothing about why there is a molex connector when it seems 99% of 9550 don't have them. Even the photos are wrong (when I do as you said) and don't have the molex connector. I really just wanted to know why it's there in the first place.

Excuse me,
thought you would get a link to gpureview.com, but the review of your "special" 9550 DDR2 seems to be offline.

Info to your Powercolor 9550 version:

Let me call it "top of line" Radeon 9550 with Hynix DDR2 memory chips. RV350 Gpu (maybe RV360). At least 398 MHz Core / 300 MHz memory.
Exact specs may differ, there are at least two versions with the same UPC EAN number. I know a dark brown PCB version with molex too.
Has a level near a 9600 pro or 9550XT.
Few info of DDR2 Radeon 9550s at vgamuseum.info. But no Powercolor version. Missing at TPU gpu DB.

The power connectors for Radeons 9550 to 9800:

With the 9000er Ati series the AGP port comes to power limits, especially when OCing. See also post 10085 from lexluthermiester.
The 9700 have FDD (floppy) power connectors in general, the 9800 changed in general to molex (HDD) power connectors. Usuall top right corner.
The 9500 may have a FDD power connector top middle of the card.
The 9600 (and 9550 as "downclocked" 9600) usually have no extra power connector, but many of the 9600 pcb custom layouts have the option. There was a "9600 pro FDD power mod" for hardcore overclockers to solder in a power connector for better OCing results.
Molex power connectors did work well, the FDD power connectors tend to get hot or burn when overclocking. Made bad experience with FDD power connectors on 9800 SE AiW when (soft)modded to full 9800s.

Back to the Powercolor 9550 DDR2 means, your card has two special points. DDR2 and Molex instead of FDD power connector. And even the option for power connectors is very rare at 9550s.

My personal thought is, that Powercolor made a very fast "so called" 9550 with a new PCB layout for DDR2 memory and factory OC. Called 9550 instead of 9600 to sell it on budget prices. And changed to molex like 9700 to 9800 series.

 

[lexluthermiester]

My personal thought is, that Powercolor made a very fast "so called" 9550 with a new PCB layout for DDR2 memory and factory OC. Called 9550 instead of 9600 to sell it on budget prices. And changed to molex like 9700 to 9800 series.

Pretty sure that's what happened. Those DDR2 9550's were amazing cards for the money.

 

[Trekkie4]

Now that I think about it, I got one of 9550 cards myself. But pretty sure that it's just a standard, DDR1 model, nothing exciting about it. It is Asus branded, with "GE/TD" extension. It does the job, and it scored a somewhat decent score at 3DMark bench test, but it cannot compete with 9600 & other, similar models.

Therefore, his (@TOMCAT's) card is obviously something special or unusual & definitely worth further investigation

Edit
Here's the pic, it goes all the way back to 2016 & page 188

 

[Susquehannock]

If memory serves the 9550 were among last of series to be released so makes sense they would have used a HDD connector by then. My 9500 still used the FDD connector. Never did try the 9700 hack but do remember the little home-made heatsinks affixed to both sides of the memory chips upped my overclock significantly. Card ran great when last tested about three years ago.

 

[lexluthermiester]

If memory serves the 9550 were among last of series to be released so makes sense they would have used a HDD connector by then. My 9500 still used the FDD connector. Never did try the 9700 hack but do remember the little home-made heatsinks affixed to both sides of the memory chips upped my overclock significantly. Card ran great when last tested about three years ago.

Wow, those pictures! Please clean that card!

 

[Susquehannock]

Wow, those pictures! Please clean that card!

Could be worse. Damn I hate smokers. Least the box is shiny.

 

[basco]

scroll down plz for info on ddr2 9550 cards

https://www.gpuzoo.com/GPU-ATI/Radeon_9550.html

 

[lexluthermiester]

scroll down plz for info on ddr2 9550 cards

https://www.gpuzoo.com/GPU-ATI/Radeon_9550.html

Nice! You found it! I knew I'd seen that data somewhere before just couldn't remember where. Well done indeed!

Thanks to that list, I was able to find the one I was selling BITD;

GV-R955256DP2 Specification | Graphics Card - GIGABYTE Global

Discover AORUS premium graphics cards, ft. WINDFORCE cooling, RGB lighting, PCB protection, and VR friendly features for the best gaming and VR experience!

www.gigabyte.com

 

[QuietBob]

So this is my more relaxed and air cooled rig in festive winter spirit.
DFI DK P45-T3RSB PLUS
Core 2 Duo E8400
4x 1GB Ballistix Tracer DDR2
GTX 260 (The original first card I ever bought way back in my childhood, still alive and well)
Case: Silverstone TJ10B-WNV
Cooling: BeQuiet Shadow Rock TF 2

Nice setup! Any OC on that C2D?

Thanks to that list, I was able to find the one I was selling BITD;

Did you get your asking price? This PowerColor 9550 DDR2 sold for 66 EUR / $77 on my local auction site yesterday (seller's photo):

 

[lexluthermiester]

Did you get your asking price? This PowerColor 9550 DDR2 sold for 66 EUR / $77 on my local auction site yesterday (seller's photo):

I meant that I sold them brand new on a retail level back when they were being produced.

 

[Dinnercore]

Nice setup! Any OC on that C2D?

Yes, just a little tho. I tend to babysit the parts I care about and while I have enough E8400s left over to burn I try to spare the boards VRM from high loads.
Also I just noticed it is not a T3RS but rather a T2RS! No idea how I managed to mix that up, the 3 is green. Shows how much dealing with DFI boards can mess with your head.

For starters I run 4,2GHz. RAM is a bit limited, the price I have to pay for the shiny LEDs. My tracers are a mixed bag of dual sided and single sided, 2.0V rated to 2.2V rated. I don't have a full set of one kind yet. I'm still hunting but some people claim stupid high prices for them so I wait to snipe good offers.

I can not use the next higher ratio with this mixed set and they don't run CL4 at 470MHz. I do however still have headroom on 1:1 for a bit more FSB.

I'm happy these 4 sticks work together. It was a nightmare of testing them in different combinations to finally find a set that behaves. Had others boot one time just fine and just upon a restart the board would get stuck on Code 88.
This one finally works. Another pain with this build was the CPU cooler. I love it for its top-down airflow, this helps with chipset, RAM and VRM temps a bunch without having to stuff additional fans in awkward positions in there. But mounting it was tricky. The manual suggests to use a case with a mainboard cutout to help, because you need to scew it down from the backplate. The case had a cutout so I just mounted everything and decided I'll do cooler last... Which is when I found out that my mainboard cutout blocks off a screw from the backplate, so I could only reach three. Had to take most things out again and hold the board with my knees.

Next up Windows XP refused to install on my SSD. No idea why. With another P45 board it worked flawlessly, same model of SSD. On this one it did not work. BSOD everytime, no matter if AHCI or IDE mode, legacy support or not.
Which is why I went with Win7 for now and will take the SSD to my testbench with the other board later where I will configure a dual boot with XP.

And finally getting cables routed is a pain in this case. It is a really nice case quality wise, but it comes from an age where cable management was lousy or not even planned for at all. Had to get really creative with it.

 

[basco]

maybe i have some cellshock or other ddr2 for ya dinnercore with reasonable price because i know they will be put to good use at your home.
which makes me more happy then collecting dust

 

[Dinnercore]

maybe i have some cellshock or other ddr2 for ya dinnercore with reasonable price because i know they will be put to good use at your home.
which makes me more happy then collecting dust

Thats a nice offer, I'm always looking for fast DDR2. BUT you should know that I intend to use the fast stuff for X-OC benching. So they might die on me at some point and I probably wont be super nice to some of them.
If you want to get them to a good home where someone will actually use them in a retro build for e.g. nostalgic LANs, I'm probably not the right address

I have a lot of fast modules ready, and I could throw them into this build. But for this current build I want the LEDs from the Ballistix Tracer for looks. If you got some of those, preferrably dual sided, I would be very interested.

Otherwise, I'm always interested in even more fast DDR2 for benching. Be it Cellshocks, Crucial Ballistix, Axeram, Teamgroup etc.. Everything with a good chance of Micron chips on them.

 

[Dinnercore]

Sorry for double-posting, can't edit my previous post anymore.

Got some new stuff that I had to pick up.



Another small form factor board for a potentially even more portable LAN-PC. And a GTX285 as a potential 'upgrade' for my GTX260 (192 SP).



I'm surprised tho how capable my good old GTX 260 is for its current purpose. Did some final tweaking and started testing my games.



It runs my stuff in 1440p at perfect 60 fps. On older and less demanding titles like Flatout 2 I can even add in AA and texture filtering. Only occasional dips in UT3, but that is to be expected from this resolution.



As a final touch I added two fan-controllers for the front. Since the whole insides are glowing and blinking its only fair that it has something on the outside too
I use the dials of the top one as temperature indicators and placed the probes around the case. One is stuck to a hard-drive in the front, one is behind the socket, one is behind the VRM and one is down between two sticks of RAM. You can see the last one coming through the 24 pin cable.

 

[QuietBob]

Been a little quiet here lately... Let me share my latest pickup then:

Modecom AZA miditower case from around 2006, targeted at enthusiasts on a budget. In perfect condition, only needed a clean. Snagged it for 6 EUR / 7 USD. Has an LCD display with a real-time clock and calendar, a 2-fan controller with dedicated potentiometers and 3 thermocouples.
Also comes with a wired light sensor for monitoring ODD activity and another probe for network activity

 

[lexluthermiester]

Been a little quiet here lately... Let me share my latest pickup then:
View attachment 173869View attachment 173870View attachment 173871View attachment 173872
Modecom AZA miditower case from around 2006, targeted at enthusiasts on a budget. In perfect condition, only needed a clean. Snagged it for 6 EUR / 7 USD. Has an LCD display with a real-time clock and calendar, a 2-fan controller with dedicated potentiometers and 3 thermocouples.
Also comes with a wired light sensor for monitoring ODD activity and another probe for network activity

That is a very cool retro case!

 

[QuietBob]

As a final touch I added two fan-controllers for the front. Since the whole insides are glowing and blinking its only fair that it has something on the outside too

I see you put those Lamptrons to good use Seemly rig overall, not to mention the respectable overclock!

 

[Trekkie4]

Right guys, so once again I'm going to need your help with something. I'm on the hunt for BTC-branded CD-ROM drive. Model number BTC-BCD36X or BTC BCD 40XH whichever appears first.


As you can probably tell from the promotional brochure, the original CD ROM drive was BCD-36X (same as 32X model, down below), which eventually got replaced with BCD 40XH (same as 36X, down below) when the old drive broke down & couldn't read anything.

Now, here's the thing - it doesn't necessarily have to be 36X or 40X, it can be slightly faster or slower, but I would like to preserve the original "look" by using one of the two identical models, that is more important to me than the actual access speed. Such as these two for example:


So, if anyone has a spare drive to sell or give away I would appreciate the help! I live in EU, therefore I would give advantage to members from EU due to customs & shipping fees, but if necessary I'm willing to have one shipped from the States or Asia. But this is something I might do eventually, since my biggest & highest priority is getting the actual case & electronics, actual system restored (as the CD drive can always be changed, replaced down the road if necessary)

 

[stinger608]

I'll check a couple of my ole systems I have in storage @Trekkie4 . If I happen to have one of them it would certainly go to you for free brother!!!!

 

[Susquehannock]

Checked all my hardware but no dice. Only optical drive I have close to that design is a Memorex cdw-1622 re-writable. Hopefully someone else can hook you up.

 

[QuietBob]

Right guys, so once again I'm going to need your help with something. I'm on the hunt for BTC-branded CD-ROM drive. Model number BTC-BCD36X or BTC BCD 40XH whichever appears first.

I've searched through my local websites, browsed the photos even. No luck so far, will check back some time.

 

[Trekkie4]

Thanks guys!

The thing about BTC drives is that they were incredibly loud, and apparently didn't last for long. Probably one of the reasons why people were so eager to yank them out of their cases & replace with something better

22 years later & this is now becoming a somewhat serious issue. Because I can't seem to find anything similar, and yet I'm trying to keep it original (or at least similar to the original specs)

Edit
Found the pic of my "original" BCD 40XH (3rd drive, on the far right), along what it appears to be Benq & Compaq in the middle.


I also took the liberty of scanning (rather than taking a photo with my phone) that promotional brochure, in order to enlarge the pic. This is what I'm aiming for ... minus the Iomega ZIP drive, mine didn't have one at first. But now that I think about it, I MIGHT put one inside, don't really know yet...

 

[biffzinker]

I also took the liberty of scanning (rather than taking a photo with my phone) that promotional brochure, in order to enlarge the pic. This is what I'm aiming for ... minus the Iomega ZIP drive, mine didn't have one at first. But now that I think about it, I MIGHT put one inside, don't really know yet...

Not a bad looking PC for the time period.

 

[lexluthermiester]

This is what I'm aiming for ... minus the Iomega ZIP drive

Why? BITD, I wouldn't even look at a prebuilt system unless it had one. ZipDrives were(and still are for retro systems) incredibly handy.

 

[Trekkie4]

Not a bad looking PC for the time period.

Beautiful case IMHO and highly unique! Apart from the vertical door design, this particular case also features one unusual "quirk". HDD & Power LEDs are swapped other way around. As in, instead of having "Green" for power LED & "Red" for HDD activity, this one uses "Red" for power & "Green" for HDD. At first I thought that maybe someone mixed up the LEDs at the factory or something, but nope - even the replacement case which I have now has the same layout. From what I've seen, the ONLY case to feature this particular design

Sure enough, swapping the LEDs is easy enough, and I could do it. This case is entirely modular, and everything (and I really DO mean everything) is removable - from the LEDs to motherboard tray, but I'm not going to do it. It gives it "character" & reminds me that it's different from all other systems

Why? BITD, I wouldn't even look at a prebuilt system unless it had one. ZipDrives were incredibly handy.

Sentimental thing, nothing more or less Simply the fact that mine did not have a Zip drive at first, it came with 3.5" floppy (Sony) drive & previously mentioned BTC 36X CD-ROM drive, rest of the expansion bays were all empty.

Yes, this particular model originally had the Iomega ZIP drive (as you can tell from the brochure), but mom & dad specifically asked not to have one included, to keep the cost down since the entire system was already expensive enough. Thing is, the original specs for this particular model did not include Diamond Monster 3DII (12mb) card, but mine had a Voodoo2 card right from the beginning which cost a lot of money back in a day (the entire Adison system, tower, CRT monitor & keyboard cost around $2,310) And that is why I'm still debating on whenever I should place the ZIP drive or not. Yes, it technically belongs in there but mine did not have one ... not until 3 years later.