Wes1262 wrote on 2024-09-17, 18:39:

I do like "meme" hardware. The 423 willamette with rambus is on my list. I'll make a pc with a fx 5200 ultra, which I consider the worst GPUs ever made (expensive AND slow) or at least the worst GPU I am familiar with 😁

I have a 3.06 P4 with RD-RAM and Quadro FX card (close to FX5950) and I definitely smile when I boot up that meme machine.

PcBytes wrote on 2024-09-17, 19:02:

MSI trolled me hard. Remember the 6168 I fixed a few pages back? https://www.vogons.org/download/file.php?mode=view&id=201556 […]
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MSI trolled me hard. Remember the 6168 I fixed a few pages back?

Apparently my board was resistor crippled from factory to 8MB. A quick read of the RAM chips brought Samsung KM4132G112Q-7, which turned out to be the same chips used in the very same Matrox G400 cards used to mod these 6168 boards into 16MB.

All it took was a missing 472 right next to the chip and voila, fully workin' 16MB worth of Voodoo 3 2000.

Now this is a board I'm defo keeping.

btw don't mind the 167MHz frequency - that's my OC done from them 3dfx Tools to bring it to 3000 speeds. If only I could drop a 3000 BIOS in there... (or heck, even 3500, if the RAM survives it.)

You mentioned following a guide in your reddit post. Can you link this guide?

Today I picked up a goofy little guy.

I'll probably never use it, but I can't help but think it's neat.

smtkr wrote on 2024-09-17, 23:06:

PcBytes wrote on 2024-09-17, 19:02:

MSI trolled me hard. Remember the 6168 I fixed a few pages back? https://www.vogons.org/download/file.php?mode=view&id=201556 […]
Show full quote

MSI trolled me hard. Remember the 6168 I fixed a few pages back?

Apparently my board was resistor crippled from factory to 8MB. A quick read of the RAM chips brought Samsung KM4132G112Q-7, which turned out to be the same chips used in the very same Matrox G400 cards used to mod these 6168 boards into 16MB.

All it took was a missing 472 right next to the chip and voila, fully workin' 16MB worth of Voodoo 3 2000.

Now this is a board I'm defo keeping.

btw don't mind the 167MHz frequency - that's my OC done from them 3dfx Tools to bring it to 3000 speeds. If only I could drop a 3000 BIOS in there... (or heck, even 3500, if the RAM survives it.)

You mentioned following a guide in your reddit post. Can you link this guide?

These two photos:
https://imgur.com/gallery/ms-6168-voodoo-3-mo … upgrade-LAt1McR

And this clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC40KY_e6K8

On my board the only thing needed was to install the factory missing 472 resistor at R658. The 2nd part of the modification (the two zero ohm links) were already done from the factory.

Heh, the good ole "SIMM Tree" or SIMM Stacker. I reckon those would have been a lot more popular in the UK at the time if they were available at ALI Express type prices. As it was, it seemed they were barely cheaper than getting a 4MB/72 SIMM or a 4MB/30, so not worth it to scrape all your 1MBs together really. Maybe they came out just at the end of that epoxy factory RAM crisis though so had all of a month or two of relevance. I guess it was only really worth it if you had some 4MB 30 pin modules you wanted to turn into 16MBs..... meanwhile some of us had gathered a small hoard of 256kB 30 pin and could only look at these for sale and think "Maaaan, when are these gonna be $2" 🤣

At one point, me and a buddy or two had thought you could ALMOST do a 30pin to 30pin stacker on stripboard, but it took us so long to hunt down pinout docs, WAIS and Gopher, no web search, that the RAM price for 1MBs dropped so low that it didn't make sense to do it to 256s, but at the same time, we were on 486, so would need 16 1MB modules and they weren't THAT cheap.

Wes1262 wrote on 2024-09-17, 18:39:

I do like "meme" hardware. The 423 willamette with rambus is on my list. I'll make a pc with a fx 5200 ultra, which I consider the worst GPUs ever made (expensive AND slow) or at least the worst GPU I am familiar with 😁

You want a 64bit PCI FX5200 .. I'm almost 100% sure some cheap SEA fab may have made one back in the day, yep this is the bottom of the barrel non ultra version.

Trashbytes wrote on 2024-09-18, 01:11:

Wes1262 wrote on 2024-09-17, 18:39:

I do like "meme" hardware. The 423 willamette with rambus is on my list. I'll make a pc with a fx 5200 ultra, which I consider the worst GPUs ever made (expensive AND slow) or at least the worst GPU I am familiar with 😁

You want a 64bit PCI FX5200 .. I'm almost 100% sure some cheap SEA fab may have made one back in the day, yep this is the bottom of the barrel non ultra version.

I put a 256mb FX 5200 PCI card in a 2.4ghz P4 EMachine for a buddy in HS. The card was $15 on eBay and you couldn't actually disable the IGP, so to use the bios you had to plug into the IGP, and swap to the GPU.

I just got my hands on a 286 system.
Schneider AT286 System 201

I traded it with a local collector. Apparently the PSU have some problems .

There is one 3.5 inch floppy drive. The other bay is empty. There is also a 40MB hard drive. The MB format seem proprietary but have some free ISA slots. The system have apparently been upgraded with a Paradise PVGA1A.

I found some docs online (in German) and the system can be connected to an external 5.25 floppy drive that stacks up onto the case and matches the design.

286 systems are not exactly in my period of interest... because this system have about the same age as myself. (It's "Made in West Germany" (!!)) But i will happily experiment with it.

On the other hand, i still have to repare my Dual Athlon MP system... but still don't have the required capacitors...

pete8475 wrote on 2024-09-17, 22:59:

Wes1262 wrote on 2024-09-17, 18:39:

I do like "meme" hardware. The 423 willamette with rambus is on my list. I'll make a pc with a fx 5200 ultra, which I consider the worst GPUs ever made (expensive AND slow) or at least the worst GPU I am familiar with 😁

I have a 3.06 P4 with RD-RAM and Quadro FX card (close to FX5950) and I definitely smile when I boot up that meme machine.

damn that's awesome! p4 3000 with rambus? is it like a normal northwood?

Wes1262 wrote on 2024-09-18, 10:14:

damn that's awesome! p4 3000 with rambus? is it like a normal northwood?

It's a socket 478 3.06 with hyper threading processor, I made a thread a while back about it here:
P4 3.06 / RD-RAM / FX Graphics

It's a fun little computer with some odd hardware in it.

Achievement unlocked!! Over the past few weeks, I was able to snag a Matrox Mystique 220 and a Diamond 3D Monster II on eBay. I can now recreate one of my favorite PCs that I owned back in 1998.

acl wrote on 2024-09-18, 07:34:

I just got my hands on a 286 system. Schneider AT286 System 201 […]
Show full quote

I just got my hands on a 286 system.
Schneider AT286 System 201

I traded it with a local collector. Apparently the PSU have some problems .

There is one 3.5 inch floppy drive. The other bay is empty. There is also a 40MB hard drive. The MB format seem proprietary but have some free ISA slots. The system have apparently been upgraded with a Paradise PVGA1A.

I found some docs online (in German) and the system can be connected to an external 5.25 floppy drive that stacks up onto the case and matches the design.

286 systems are not exactly in my period of interest... because this system have about the same age as myself. (It's "Made in West Germany" (!!)) But i will happily experiment with it.

On the other hand, i still have to repare my Dual Athlon MP system... but still don't have the required capacitors...

Nice to see something other than ATX systems and parts in this thread! My first x86 computer was a 286 and I thought it was great at the time.

BetaC wrote on 2024-09-17, 23:18:

Today I picked up a goofy little guy.

mmm simmsaver/simmstack, I dreamed about a pair of those in mid nineties 😀

Bought a IDE 2.5 HDD. Sent in a big bubble padded envelope.
Sold as working, now happily clicking death 😀 Sent back.

Nexxen wrote on 2024-09-18, 23:01:

Bought a IDE 2.5 HDD. Sent in a big bubble padded envelope.
Sold as working, now happily clicking death 😀 Sent back.

I remember ordering a new 214MB Seagate 3.5 drive in the late 90s, and it arrived in a white Seagate branded box that was big enough to hold a mini tower. It had custom foam with the drive right in the center of it all. That thing might have survived a drop from a 2nd story window. My teenage self was impressed.

Anyone have one of these? I'd love to see a photo. I don't recall seeing that box for much longer after I received it.

Nexxen wrote on 2024-09-18, 23:01:

Bought a IDE 2.5 HDD. Sent in a big bubble padded envelope.
Sold as working, now happily clicking death 😀 Sent back.

"But it's the delivery man's fault!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111111oneoneoneone"
90% of the items I get from ebay have insufficient packaging. I kid you not I got things shipped literally thrown in a cardboard box with zero padding. Just the box and the thing inside. That's it

Was looking for a Philips mouse, but the one I saw wouldn't go without its siblings.

So I got a second Philips too and that Genius GM-6000 is also worth noting, I think it's quite legendary.

Wes1262 wrote on 2024-09-19, 05:50:

Nexxen wrote on 2024-09-18, 23:01:

Bought a IDE 2.5 HDD. Sent in a big bubble padded envelope.
Sold as working, now happily clicking death 😀 Sent back.

"But it's the delivery man's fault!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111111oneoneoneone"
90% of the items I get from ebay have insufficient packaging. I kid you not I got things shipped literally thrown in a cardboard box with zero padding. Just the box and the thing inside. That's it

eesz34 wrote on 2024-09-19, 01:10:

I had this too, freely moving inside an oversized box: what could go wrong??? LOL The guy is now surprised it isn't working. […]
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I had this too, freely moving inside an oversized box: what could go wrong??? 🤣
The guy is now surprised it isn't working.

Nexxen wrote on 2024-09-18, 23:01:

Bought a IDE 2.5 HDD. Sent in a big bubble padded envelope.
Sold as working, now happily clicking death 😀 Sent back.

I remember ordering a new 214MB Seagate 3.5 drive in the late 90s, and it arrived in a white Seagate branded box that was big enough to hold a mini tower. It had custom foam with the drive right in the center of it all. That thing might have survived a drop from a 2nd story window. My teenage self was impressed.

Anyone have one of these? I'd love to see a photo. I don't recall seeing that box for much longer after I received it.

Exactly what I would have expected in those days, as it did cost a bomb. Old times seriousness.

PD2JK wrote on 2024-09-19, 08:25:

Was looking for a Philips mouse, but the one I saw wouldn't go without its siblings.

The attachment DSC_1668~2.JPG is no longer available

So I got a second Philips too and that Genius GM-6000 is also worth noting, I think it's quite legendary.

Nice mice display. The Genius!! Too bad it is low on res and is good for low screen resolutions.
Unless I'm wrong and you need to set it with drivers.

Finlay received the IBM ps1 type 2121. Had to resort to a parcel forwarder and that lead to customs.

I love this little computers from IBM. This is my 4th machine from the original ps1, but the first with a 386. The sound card is also a good find, and the final droplet that pushed me to all the hassle.

Found also 2 motherboards on local ad site for 10€ each. It stated that they didn't work, for repairs or parts. Toke the gamble and after couple of hours they working again.

The first one was a Soyo SY-5EMA+ V1.0. It had several scratches on the bottom side of the PCB that severed a total of 8 track in critical places. All of them "signal" type near the bios eeprom. After restoring them the MB came back to life. A strange quirk in this MB is that the voltage settings don't "align" with the manual on "theretroweb.com".

The second was a GCT 8ITB ( DataExpert TX430II). verified the correct jumper settings and voltages, and it camed to life. Probably a wrongly configured jumpers.

It seams that it can go as low as 2.0V in vcore and FSB @ 83Mhz... on a Intel 430TX? I will have to fiddle a bit more to see where can this MB be pushed.