TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[AlwaysHope]

digital DECpc 425sxLP.
My oldest intact system to date except the HDD. Produced in the days when nothing like this was made in China. Picked this one up browsing 2nd hand stores back in the day. They seem to be pretty scarce on ebay too.
Haven't successfully booted this yet, but last time I tried was about a decade ago. Been in storage ever since.
Fascinating history behind the digital business entity... a story of some firsts in the digital computer era since in the post WW2 era.
Anyway I digress, some quick pics of the system but pretty sure just by looking inside the case, the CMOS battery has most certainly died, many many moons ago in an era when CR2032 button batteries were unheard off. I'll have to hunt one down somewhere though, my curiosity is getting the better of me!

 

[lexluthermiester]

Michael MJD just did a video about an unopened copy of XP Pro installed on his 1999 Gateway PC;

He had a lot of fun. Took me back...
He also did the phone activation thing.

 

[r0x]

@AlwaysHope
Try pulling out the overdrive, i doubt it's compatible upgrade for sx-25 without heavy modding. Also, it would be smart to remove old battery and test PSU.
I bet it will start normally, those boards were built to last.

 

[Greenslade]

True!

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

Lex can you help me with this.
I upgraded the PSU to an EVGA that seems to be working fine the Cpu fan is spining.
I put a new CPU in all it is doing is beeping 6 beeps:
Could it be that the cpu is not seated properly?
I wish i tried it with the old cpu i.Someone is taking about the cmos battery.on a utube videoI
I will try taking out the ram first off.
How can i tell if the CPU is not seated properly?
No Signal to the monitor so cant change the bios.
I have put the old cpu back in it was stoping and starting .
Since then i have taking the cpu heatsink out now it is giving 4 beeps?
I just can,t believe all this i don,t think i am up for building a PC.
The button is orange not blue.
I have taking out the ram and reseated it.It now turns on but after a short time it turns off.All the cabals are properly in.I still have the CPU heatsink off.I see that problems can be bad PSU but as this is a new one i don,t see it could be that.Then it says check if there is anything loose in the case to see if something is shortening it.Any ides Lex i am at a loss.Two of the ran slots can,t be working when i added them i got the orange bleeping.

. All ram is working in one slot not tried them in the other slots.

 

[Ruru]

@AlwaysHope
Try pulling out the overdrive, i doubt it's compatible upgrade for sx-25 without heavy modding. Also, it would be smart to remove old battery and test PSU.
I bet it will start normally, those boards were built to last.

Could putting a 66MHz crystal work as then it would drive the SX-25 at 33MHz and I don't see why it wouldn't overclock to 33MHz. But on the other hand, I don't see why the Overdrive wouldn't work downclocked to 50MHz.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Lex can you help me with this.
I upgraded the PSU to an EVGA that seems to be working fine the Cpu fan is spining.
I put a new CPU in all it is doing is beeping 6 beeps:
Could it be that the cpu is not seated properly?
I wish i tried it with the old cpu i.Someone is taking about the cmos battery.on a utube videoI
I will try taking out the ram first off.
How can i tell if the CPU is not seated properly?
No Signal to the monitor so cant change the bios.
I have put the old cpu back in it was stoping and starting .
Since then i have taking the cpu heatsink out now it is giving 4 beeps?
I just can,t believe all this i don,t think i am up for building a PC.
The button is orange not blue.
I have taking out the ram and reseated it.It now turns on but after a short time it turns off.All the cabals are properly in.I still have the CPU heatsink off.I see that problems can be bad PSU but as this is a new one i don,t see it could be that.Then it says check if there is anything loose in the case to see if something is shortening it.Any ides Lex i am at a loss.Two of the ran sticks can,t be working when i added them i got the orange bleeping.

. All ram is working in one slot not tried them in the other slots.

See PM.

 

[r0x]

Could putting a 66MHz crystal work as then it would drive the SX-25 at 33MHz and I don't see why it wouldn't overclock to 33MHz. But on the other hand, I don't see why the Overdrive wouldn't work downclocked to 50MHz.

Honestly, I have no idea if a crystal change overclock would work, there is huge lack of 486 systems in my surrounding to conduct such experiments on them
I've tried many (IBM,AMD, Intel) DX2 and DX4 CPUs in 425sx/si, while manually grounding inner pin in CPU upgrade socket, and MBO doesn't POST while inserted CPU gets hot. So my guess is that only 50MHz(25MHz x2) Overdrive, with the inner pin, would work.

 

[AlwaysHope]

Could putting a 66MHz crystal work as then it would drive the SX-25 at 33MHz and I don't see why it wouldn't overclock to 33MHz. But on the other hand, I don't see why the Overdrive wouldn't work downclocked to 50MHz.

Wow, that's so new to me it's fascinating!

 

[lexluthermiester]

Honestly, I have no idea if a crystal change overclock would work

Wow, that's so new to me it's fascinating!

Changing clock crystals was a common way to OC back in the day. It was also very safe as if anything went wrong, change the clock crystal back and all is well.

A few pages ago, someone showed an ASUS V7700 32MB. Clint over at LGR got one of the 64MB versions donated to him recently.

While I will encourage watching the whole video because it's filled with some very interesting stuff(and you get to hear him use the term "Rad" in proper context), the part where he unpacks the V7700 is at 32minutes.

 

[Robert B]

NEW HW FOUND!!!

1. Gainward 6800GT Gainward PowerPack! Ultra/2400 “Golden Sample” GLH P542020MQ0M4 - it needs a few ceramic caps and a couple of resistors - nothing too serious. Not 100% sure if it is an Ultra but the info on the internet points that it is. I'll find out when I get to test it.
2. Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800 PRO 128MB AIW PN 102-95719-10-AT - it needs a few ceramic caps and a few resistors - easy fix. I have three dead ATI 9800 PRO cards that are donor cards.
3. Creative Audigy 2 ZS SB0350 - it needs a few caps - easy fix
4. ASUS Geforce 2 GTS 32MB AGP V7700/32M(TVR) REV 1.01 - 4th or 5th card? It is raining GF 2 GTS cards lately!
5. Creative CT 6950 32MB PCI - Vanta 32MB PCI
6. Gigabyte GA-7IX AMD 750 REV 1.1 + AMD Athlon 800MHz - AMD-K7800MPR52B A - A OK!
7. MSI 815EPT PRO VER:5 - MS-6337 PRO + Celeron Tualatin 1000A SL5VP - mint - my only P3 Tualatin motherboard. Go figure!
8. Intel Pentium 100MHz SX963 with glued HS
9. A bunch of salvaged MOSFETs for my Intel VS440FX motherboard. Not the ideal solution but wth! For 1EURO I got a bunch of them. I'll test them before I'll use them. The seller even said that for those money I can take a bunch more! Well I left the others for someone else. You never know who might need them!

 

[Mr.Scott]

Nice Gainward card. Fairly rare. I have the exact same one here. Hope you can get that going.

 

[Robert B]

I'll post results as fast as possible. I too hope that the mighty Gainward is still alive.

 

[Audioave10]

You find SO many parts & projects...I'm filled with envy.
Meanwhile...I just can't take the best pics, but I'm working on it!

 

[Ruru]

Honestly, I have no idea if a crystal change overclock would work, there is huge lack of 486 systems in my surrounding to conduct such experiments on them
I've tried many (IBM,AMD, Intel) DX2 and DX4 CPUs in 425sx/si, while manually grounding inner pin in CPU upgrade socket, and MBO doesn't POST while inserted CPU gets hot. So my guess is that only 50MHz(25MHz x2) Overdrive, with the inner pin, would work.

Wow, that's so new to me it's fascinating!

On older hardware (like 286, 386 and 486), there was a crystal which created the CPU bus speed. The crystal's frequency was divided by 2, so with let's say a 66MHz crystal, you'll get 33MHz. After 486-DX50 they started to use multipliers as that 50MHz one was unstable in many cases as it used 50MHz FSB with a multiplier of 1.

Changing clock crystals was a common way to OC back in the day. It was also very safe as if anything went wrong, change the clock crystal back and all is well.

A few pages ago, someone showed an ASUS V7700 32MB. Clint over at LGR got one of the 64MB versions donated to him recently.

While I will encourage watching the whole video because it's filled with some very interesting stuff(and you get to hear him use the term "Rad" in proper context), the part where he unpacks the V7700 is at 32minutes.

That's already on my tabs, I'll watch it soon.

 

[Trekkie4]

Fastest Pentium II in existence ... period!


Strange looking thing ... I've never seen a Pentium II like this before

 

[Robert B]

That one is a mean mother ... !

 

[Ruru]

Fastest Pentium II in existence ... period!


Strange looking thing ... I've never seen a Pentium II like this before

Had to check HWbot, seems that 725MHz is the record for Pentium II

kotori`s CPU Frequency score: 725.43 MHz with a Pentium II 450MHz

The Pentium II 450MHz @ 725.4MHzscores getScoreFormatted in the CPU Frequency benchmark. kotoriranks #null worldwide and #1 in the hardware class. Find out more at HWBOT.

hwbot.org

I remember that many software misrecognizes many P6 based processors, Core 2 Duos were usually recognized as PIII Xeon

 

[Mr.Scott]

Had to check HWbot, seems that 725MHz is the record for Pentium II

kotori`s CPU Frequency score: 725.43 MHz with a Pentium II 450MHz

The Pentium II 450MHz @ 725.4MHzscores getScoreFormatted in the CPU Frequency benchmark. kotoriranks #null worldwide and #1 in the hardware class. Find out more at HWBOT.

hwbot.org

Not surprised. He's on the W9 benching team.

 

[Trekkie4]

Had to check HWbot, seems that 725MHz is the record for Pentium II

kotori`s CPU Frequency score: 725.43 MHz with a Pentium II 450MHz

The Pentium II 450MHz @ 725.4MHzscores getScoreFormatted in the CPU Frequency benchmark. kotoriranks #null worldwide and #1 in the hardware class. Find out more at HWBOT.

hwbot.org

I remember that many software misrecognizes many P6 based processors, Core 2 Duos were usually recognized as PIII Xeon

Nope, mine's faster! Like I said, the fastest PII out there ... period!

On a more serious note, it amazes me just how fast 440BX board can run! This thing is ridiculously fast, it even outperforms Socket 478 Pentium 4, that's inside one of the other Adison builds! Not sure why or how come, I'm just comparing the two builds which are somewhat similar. P3B-F with 1.4 Tualatin vs P4B with 2.6 (Northwood?)

 

[Ruru]

Nope, mine's faster! Like I said, the fastest PII out there ... period!

On a more serious note, it amazes me just how fast 440BX board can run! This thing is ridiculously fast, it even outperforms Socket 478 Pentium 4, that's inside one of the other Adison builds! Not sure why or how come, I'm just comparing the two builds which are somewhat similar. P3B-F with 1.4 Tualatin vs P4B with 2.6 (Northwood?)

440BX was indeed great. I had an Asus P2B back in the day, first with P2-400 @ 450, later a P3-500 @ 575.

 

[Trekkie4]

440BX was indeed great. I had an Asus P2B back in the day, first with P2-400 @ 450, later a P3-500 @ 575.

Oh yeah, my original "Adison" was ... and still is to this day Chaintech 6BTM which is again - based on 440BX chipset.

As for P3B-F, swapping out 1,100 Tualatin for 1,400 one gave additional 1,000 3D marks (for TNT2 that's been OCed ... I talked about this before, even documented it for everyone to see), and now equals approx. 5,000-something points in total.

 

[Susquehannock]

Been playing with this EPoX 8rda3l board off and on for last couple months. Legendary nForce2 overclockers. Won top spot on several review sites at the time. Really like it so far. Wanted to try one since back in the day. Price was right. Seller accepted low ball offer. Came with 2x512mb RAM and 2500 barton. Complete with finger print on core. Neither of which I can really use. 1gb modules are so inexpensive now. And the barton seems to be one of the later 'super locked' units. No changes to multi or FSB allowed.

Popped one of my old trusty low volt t-bred 1800s in there and with some voltage adjustments was running at 2.3ghz (200x11.5) in no time. About far as I want to go with the dreaded Teapo capacitors. One at left in image below is not looking good. Same CPU easily hits 2.5ghz on air in my Soltek FRN2 boards which have lower top voltage BIOS settings vs the EPoX. Could really cook this chip at 2.20 Vcore. Probably why I never did with the FRN2. Tops at 1.8 vcore.

Interesting that MBM-5 and CPU-Z both show higher 1.79 Vcore than 1.70v setting shown in BIOS. Did same when Vcore was set to 1.6v at lower overclocks. Not the case with any of my other nForce2 boards. Bad cap perhaps? Runs flawlessly ... so far. Scheduled for a re-fit along with a few other boards. Might put the Shuttle AN35 board back in for time being. Easy swap with no changes needed.

Mobo = EPoX 8RDA3I
CPU = T-bred B 1700+ @ 2.3ghz
GPU = BFG 7800GS
PSU = Fortron fsp300
RAM = 2x1gb dual channel
HDD = 80gb Seagate Barracuda
Audio = soundblaster live
Cooler = Thermalright SK-7 with 80mm case fan
Vcore = 1.7v, Vdimm = 2.63v, VDD = 1.8v​

 

[Bungz]

That entire board needs recapping really, those teapos are prob spent and that bottom one is definitely blown.

Epox always cheaped out on caps, never really used top brands.

I love Epox boards, not easy to find now, though oddly I just picked up a 8RGA and a 8RGA+ together.

Just ordered a load of caps for them both.

My first board was a KT333 8K3A and not that long ago I got one again and recapped it completely, need to have a play with it again!

I have a few more nforce2 epox boards, the nicest one is a 8RDA6+Pro with 6 satas

 

[Trekkie4]

That entire board needs recapping really, those teapos are prob spent and that bottom one is definitely blown.

Epox always cheaped out on caps, never really used top brands.

I love Epox boards, not easy to find now, though oddly I just picked up a 8RGA and a 8RGA+ together.

Just ordered a load of caps for them both.

My first board was a KT333 8K3A and not that long ago I got one again and recapped it completely, need to have a play with it again!

I have a few more nforce2 epox boards, the nicest one is a 8RDA6+Pro with 6 satas

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If it were mine (and my decision to make), I'd use Panasonic-branded caps. That way, you should be safe for around 10 years or so... if not longer.

In fact, I just recapped that Chaintech 6ASV0 the other day, replaced around 20 caps all over the board because USB was acting dodgy.

 

[Ruru]

If it were mine (and my decision to make), I'd use Panasonic-branded caps. That way, you should be safe for around 10 years or so... if not longer.

In fact, I just recapped that Chaintech 6ASV0 the other day, replaced around 20 caps all over the board because USB was acting dodgy.

Nice to know that bad caps can cause USB problems. that's a problem I see from time to time with older hardware.