TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[delshay]

Here is my second project: AM2 Platform. ..SSD data is from DDR1 project but can also be shared with Laptop as all have the same northbridge/southbridge chipset.

Just like the DDR1 project, this project suffers from the same problem as not able to run four DIMMS with CMD 1T, so am hardware modding both projects at the same time in-order to fix this. Nothing in the screenshot is impressive. CPU is running max 1.1v & GPU 0.900V (Vega Nano), but they can run faster at these voltages, but for now it was about getting it running & stable. Two bugs were discovered in the Radeon Software & I can't believe it, it looks like one was never fix, so it's running this older version until I find a workaround, but this older version still has one bug.

The most outstanding thing in the screenshot is I don't think there is any screenshot of "four DIMMS" running with 4-4-4-xx at those speed. The DIMMS are reprogrammed & what you see is the new default, so this makes entering the BIOS redundant. ie not required. It will automatically boot-up at those speed/settings by default, barring any overclocking.

 

[AlwaysHope]

Here is my second project: AM2 Platform. ..SSD is data is from DDR1 project but can also be shared with Laptop as all have the same northbridge/southbridge chipset.

Just like the DDR1 project, this project suffers from the same problem as not able to run four DIMMS with CMD 1T, so am hardware modding both projects at the same time in-order to fix this. Nothing in the screenshot is impressive. CPU is running max 1.1v & GPU 0.900V (Vega Nano), but they can run faster at these voltages, but for now it was about getting it running & stable. Two bugs were discovered in the Radeon Software & I can't believe it, it looks like one was never fix, so it's running this older version until I find a workaround, but this older version still has one bug.

The most outstanding thing in the screenshot is I don't think there is any screenshot of "four DIMMS" running with 4-4-4-xx at those speed. The DIMMS are reprogrammed & what you see is the new default, so this makes entering the BIOS redundant. ie not required. It will automatically boot-up at those speed/settings by default, barring any overclocking.

Interestingly, how much vdimm did those sticks get for that?

 

[delshay]

Interestingly, how much vdimm did those sticks get for that?

All my DIMMS are tested with tight timings with "minimum JEDEC standard voltage". It's important that all DDR's regardless of platform pass this test otherwise you will have boot-up problems. For DDR1 that's 2.4v & DDR2 that's 1.7v & DDR3 that's 1.25v or straight 1.2v.

Test is conducted with the RAMCHECK LX, but in the last week or so I discovered the RAMCHECK LX can test DDR2 "@CL2". AFAIK there's not a single CPU out there that used DDR2 memory module that supports CL2. So it's a little strange that the RAMCHECK LX supports this.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Also ran CPU-Z bench @ stock to compare the 2008 X3360 xeon with a 2014 A10-7850K apu, amazing even at lower clocks the old xeon still beats this 2014 processor!

Not that surprising if you think about it. The Xeon was a premium CPU for it's time and the A10-7850K, even though unlocked, was still a budget CPU.

 

[Greenslade]

Grabbed this ancient Antec TruePower Quattro 1000W off ebay a few days ago, "Tested Working" yeah, okay.
Plugged it in and... nothing, of course. Checked the outputs and didn't find any shorts but 5VSB was working so I decided to dig into it.
Spent a few hours poking around and didn't see anything obvious, after plugging it in I noticed the output of the input rectifiers was quite low, only about 166V DC at the main capacitor instead of a typical 350V+.
Figured one of the rectifiers failed but they're in parallel and screwed together so I tried de-soldering them (8 through-hole connections) but after a few failed attempts with a de-soldering pump and later cooking them with hot air I just gave up and re-soldered all the joints.
Low and behold this time when I switched it on at the 24pin it fired into life to my surprise. Checked the rectifier output and it was a good 390V DC.
All the outputs are perfect too.
Not sure what did it but hey if it works, it works.

View attachment 223123

Tested it out with a 775 system. Q6600 @ 3GHz + an 8800 GTX, worked great, the fan didn't even ramp up.

The most surprising part about this PSU I've found is that it's full of Teapo caps but they are all pristine after 14 years.

Glad to hear you sorted it out.

 

[Robert B]

New HW FOUND!!!

Slim pickings this time but wth. Something is better than nothing.

1. LuckyStar LS486E rev.C2 + AMD 486 DX4 100MHz + HS and clip - slightly bent corner on the motherboard but otherwise ok.
2. SOYO 025K2 + Cyrix CX486DX2-80MHz - battery leak damage but totally fixable. The CPU is quite and oddball on that 40Mhz bus.
3. Two Trident ISA TVGA 9000 class video adapters - nothing spectacular but they were practically free
4. A BNC Lan Card + ISA FDD/HDD/Serial/Parallel controller
5. AKASA Sk.370 CPU cooler. The bearings are still running great. Go figure. Full of dust and you name it.
6. A big pile of cables - FDD/HDD/Serial/Parallel/Audio etc.

 

[seth1911]

My 620, but its useless in a few things cause only SSE4a

Here is my second project: AM2 Platform. ..SSD data is from DDR1 project but can also be shared with Laptop as all have the same northbridge/southbridge chipset.

Just like the DDR1 project, this project suffers from the same problem as not able to run four DIMMS with CMD 1T, so am hardware modding both projects at the same time in-order to fix this. Nothing in the screenshot is impressive. CPU is running max 1.1v & GPU 0.900V (Vega Nano), but they can run faster at these voltages, but for now it was about getting it running & stable. Two bugs were discovered in the Radeon Software & I can't believe it, it looks like one was never fix, so it's running this older version until I find a workaround, but this older version still has one bug.

The most outstanding thing in the screenshot is I don't think there is any screenshot of "four DIMMS" running with 4-4-4-xx at those speed. The DIMMS are reprogrammed & what you see is the new default, so this makes entering the BIOS redundant. ie not required. It will automatically boot-up at those speed/settings by default, barring any overclocking.

X6 is a totaly useless CPU cause it have only SSE4a, a I7 860 would be a better Retro System that meets a Vega

If it should be a AMD then is the only way up to a FX 6100

 

[Greenslade]

My 620, but its useless in a few things cause only SSE4a

View attachment 223286


X6 is a totaly useless CPU cause it have only SSE4a, a I7 860 would be a better Retro System that meets a Vega

If it should be a AMD then is the only way up to a FX 6100

I am thinking of getting an i7 860 for £18 pounds the i7 870 would be five pounds more the difference is only 3% on the game debate.so I will go for the i7 860, Up from i5 550.

 

[delshay]

My 620, but its useless in a few things cause only SSE4a

View attachment 223286


X6 is a totaly useless CPU cause it have only SSE4a, a I7 860 would be a better Retro System that meets a Vega

If it should be a AMD then is the only way up to a FX 6100

It's on the "AM2" Platform for a reason. That processor is AM3. ..If I move to AM3 i'm not sure if i could swap/share the SSD as northbridge/southbridge would be different. The processor i'm using is a 3.3GHz processor but it's underclocked because it's @1.1v max. Currently I can play most of my games max video settings with vsync enabled 60fps locked to my TV refresh rate 60Hz.

I have seen what the AM2 platform can do on another motherboard. One of the most important is the communication link between CPU & GPU. Get this to 2.6GHz+. The motherboard i'm currently using can't do that speed.

 

[AlwaysHope]

Not that surprising if you think about it. The Xeon was a premium CPU for it's time and the A10-7850K, even though unlocked, was still a budget CPU.

I would not class the A10 line of apus as budget for its time (2014) on the FM2/FM2+ platforms. The Sempron, Athlon & A4,A6 & A8 lines were imo.
I use to own an A10-7850K & still got the OC results saved for it. An advantage the A series has is the extra sets of instructions that the pre 2010/11 processors lack.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I am thinking of getting an i7 860 for £18 pounds the i7 870 would be five pounds more the difference is only 3% on the game debate.so I will go for the i7 860, Up from i5 550.

For modern games, the 133mhz difference will be minimal if you're not going to OC. Either one will be a very serious upgrade from that i5-550. But you must look seriously at OCing that i7 when you get it as long as your mobo can OC. You'll need to apply a bclk OC and bump from 133mhz bclk to 167mhz bclk. I've never seen a 1156 CPU that can't hit a bclk of 167mhz.

2. SOYO 025K2 + Cyrix CX486DX2-80MHz - battery leak damage but totally fixable.

I don't know Rob, that damage looks really bad..

I would not class the A10 line of apus as budget for its time (2014) on the FM2/FM2+ platforms. The Sempron, Athlon & A4,A6 & A8 lines were imo.

I did. I was selling the entire FM2 line as a budget platform. There was no other place for it. AM3 was AMD's performance line at that time.

An advantage the A series has is the extra sets of instructions that the pre 2010/11 processors lack.

That's really not saying much in favor of that line of CPUs. I'm not saying they were crap because they had great value as a budget line of CPU's, but to try to say they were not a budget line is just silly.

 

[AlwaysHope]

I did. I was selling the entire FM2 line as a budget platform. There was no other place for it. AM3 was AMD's performance line at that time.


That's really not saying much in favor of that line of CPUs. I'm not saying they were crap because they had great value as a budget line of CPU's, but to try to say they were not a budget line is just silly.

Your talking about an entire socket line of cpus, AMD had their tier model in place for this socket, also the chipset was the deciding factor in unleashing performance as can be proven here. AM3 cpus had limited instructions sets despite having more cores & higher clock speeds. Your decision to have the entire line as "budget" is a call on your part. The igpu in them at the time was superior in performance (Radeon R7) than Intel's offerings, there are links to prove this if you look.
How is having extra instructions sets NOT in favour of a line of cpus? there is no logic in that. They are what they are.

 

[seth1911]

I did. I was selling the entire FM2 line as a budget platform. There was no other place for it. AM3 was AMD's performance line at that time.

Not true , it was a different line.
The focus by the APU Line was Compute and Games.

My A10 7870K its still faster than any Intel CPU (without Iris IGP) in Solidworks.
The Apu Line was a great thing for Programms they can use the IGP for compute like Solidworks; CPU even 40 % under Heavy Load and the IGP on 100%,
we have in the School SFF Systems with a I5 10400 and its slower to work with it than at home with the poor APU from 2015

 

[lexluthermiester]

I'm going to answer you both by saying that I'm a not just an enthusiast but also a business owner/retailer. As such, I don't care about opinions or sentimentality, I care about actual product performance. NOTHING in the FM2 line of CPU models can be compared favorably to Intel's budget & mid-tier product line(let alone the performance offerings) or even AMD's own performance offerings in the AM3 line. Not one FM2 CPU compares. The FM2 platform was always a budget platform. Always. It was never not a budget platform.

My A10 7870K its still faster than any Intel CPU (without Iris IGP) in Solidworks.

Here's a comparison between the one you mentioned and a mid-tier i5 that is 5 years older:

AMD A10-7870K vs Intel i5-2400 [cpubenchmark.net] by PassMark Software

Here's the i5-2500k compared to the A10-7890K:

AMD A10-7890K vs Intel i5-2500K [cpubenchmark.net] by PassMark Software

Now let's compare to an i3-4370 just one year older than the A10-7870k:

AMD A10-7870K vs Intel i3-4370 [cpubenchmark.net] by PassMark Software

Hmm...

You both were saying?

 

[seth1911]

I'm going to answer you both by saying that I'm a not just an enthusiast but also a business owner/retailer. As such, I don't care about opinions or sentimentality, I care about actual product performance. NOTHING in the FM2 line of CPU models can be compared favorably to Intel's budget & mid-tier product line(let alone the performance offerings) or even AMD's own performance offerings in the AM3 line. Not one FM2 CPU compares. The FM2 platform was always a budget platform. Always. It was never not a budget platform.


Here's a comparison between the one you mentioned and a mid-tier i5 that is 5 years older:

AMD A10-7870K vs Intel i5-2400 [cpubenchmark.net] by PassMark Software

Here's the i5-2500k compared to the A10-7890K:

AMD A10-7890K vs Intel i5-2500K [cpubenchmark.net] by PassMark Software

Now let's compare to an i3-4370 just one year older than the A10-7870k:

AMD A10-7870K vs Intel i3-4370 [cpubenchmark.net] by PassMark Software

Hmm...

You both were saying?

Open u Eyes and look what i wrote, if u can´t read and understand then dont quote my post.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Open u Eyes and look what i wrote, if u can´t read and understand then dont quote my post.

I read what you said and understood it perfectly. Context is important...

 

[Greenslade]

For modern games, the 133mhz difference will be minimal if you're not going to OC. Either one will be a very serious upgrade from that i5-550. But you must look seriously at OCing that i7 when you get it as long as you mobo can OC. You'll need to apply a bclk OC and bump from 133mhz bclk to 167mhz bclk. I've never seen a 1156 CPU that can't hit a bclk of 167mhz.


I don't know Rob, that damage looks really bad..


I did. I was selling the entire FM2 line as a budget platform. There was no other place for it. AM3 was AMD's performance line at that time.


That's really not saying much in favor of that line of CPUs. I'm not saying they were crap because they had great value as a budget line of CPU's, but to try to say they were not a budget line is just silly.

I put the wrong number in there I should have said it is an i3 550 so even more of an upgrade. I have just seen that CEX has reduced the price of the i7 860 by two pounds to 16 pounds with a 24-month guarantee . I will pick it up tomorrow

 

[P4-630]

HD 4870 1GB from 2010, it was originally a HIS IceQ 4+. (used for 11 years, it's dead now)

 

[Robert B]

I don't know Rob, that damage looks really bad..

It looks awful that is why nobody bought it. The SIMMs on this puppy look to be 4MB 30 pins SIMMs but I won't be sure until I'll power up the motherboard. Back in the day these were very expensive. Even if they turn out to be 1MB sticks it will still be a WIN in my book.

I'm not too worried. After the vinegar treatment I got good initial results. The traces can be saved with solder. One is tougher to fix as it goes under some IC's but that can be restored with a jumper wire no problem. The motherboard was cheap and I really didn't want to leave it to the recyclers. Early Sk.3 motherboard with 30 and 72 pin SIMMs plus VLB? NO BRAINER!

The only drawback is the fact that I don't have green/brown solder mask to really make it like new.

 

[Valantar]

HD 4870 1GB from 2010, it was originally a HIS IceQ 4+. (used for 11 years, it's dead now)

View attachment 223384

View attachment 223385

View attachment 223386

Too bad it died! Are you planning to save that cooler? Looks like it would be worth keeping around, for sure.

 

[Robert B]

Is that a Thermalright HR-03 GT VGA Cooler?

I love Thermalright stuff!

 

[P4-630]

Is that a Thermalright HR-03 GT VGA Cooler?

I love Thermalright stuff!

Yes it is, quality coolers.

Too bad it died! Are you planning to save that cooler? Looks like it would be worth keeping around, for sure.

Have it for sale locally, maybe someone can still use it.

 

[phill]

I don't know Rob, that damage looks really bad..

I think for @Robert B that just means, Challenge Accepted Show us your magic skills mate!!

 

[Robert B]

@phill - I'll do my best or fail like the rest. - This will be my first foray into the unknown. I have a couple of battery leak damaged boards and the whole endeavor will be quite a learning experience for me. In any case I am quite optimistic about the odds of success.

Today I tested the Cyrix CX486DX2 80MHz from earlier. Man, at 5V, this puppy puts out a decent amount of heat!

Also, recently I tested a few cards from the last hauls and surprise, surprise, I found only one dead graphic card, an ATI 9600XT. The rest are still alive and kicking. FTW! I'm still not done with the 9600XT but I won't waste too much time with it. ATI 9600, 9700, 9800 cards that are still working well are pretty rare where I live. At the very least I'll have two AC VGA Silencer coolers for my two working 9800 PROs. This way I'll resurrect my dead His EXCALIBUR ATI 9800PRO IceQ and I'll have a backup too.

The Super is actually an ASUS K7M with a temporary Super HS. Unfortunately the K7M has been mutilated. It can still be saved with a new NB chip or a professional reflow but this will come some time into the distant future. I have plenty of K7M boards with and without the Super Bypass feature.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I think for @Robert B that just means, Challenge Accepted Show us your magic skills mate!!

True!

@phill - I'll do my best or fail like the rest. - This will be my first foray into the unknown. I have a couple of battery leak damaged boards and the whole endeavor will be quite a learning experience for me. In any case I am quite optimistic about the odds of success.

Today I tested the Cyrix CX486DX2 80MHz from earlier. Man, at 5V, this puppy puts out a decent amount of heat!

Also, recently I tested a few cards from the last hauls and surprise, surprise, I found only one dead graphic card, an ATI 9600XT. The rest are still alive and kicking. FTW! I'm still not done with the 9600XT but I won't waste too much time with it. ATI 9600, 9700, 9800 cards that are still working well are pretty rare where I live. At the very least I'll have two AC VGA Silencer coolers for my two working 9800 PROs. This way I'll resurrect my dead His EXCALIBUR ATI 9800PRO IceQ and I'll have a backup too.

The Super is actually an ASUS K7M with a temporary Super HS. Unfortunately the K7M has been mutilated. It can still be saved with a new NB chip or a professional reflow but this will come some time into the distant future. I have plenty of K7M boards with and without the Super Bypass feature.

Good grief what a haul! Tons of good stuff there!