AGP4LIfe? wrote on 2024-09-20, 02:01:

Two more hot AGP pickups! MSI GeForce Ti 4800 SE, and Matrix G400 Max. 😀

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Nice to see a GeForce 4 with a better than average factory cooler.

Crossed a couple items off the bucket list lately.

The first is an Amiga 500. I'm kinda excited about this one since I've never owned or even used an Amiga before. 😁

I wanted one that was un-modded so I could have the authentic Amiga experience. Took some waiting, but one popped up locally in good condition and included the original box.

The other item was a much more rare find, a 286 accelerator card. I wanted one that was compatible with Tandy 1000's, since I have a 1000 SX I want to use it with. Mostly I've seen Tiny Turbos pop up now and then, but they are apparently not compatible with Tandys.

Fortunately this one showed up and included both the 8088 processor and a 80287 math co-pro.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-09-22, 01:50:

Crossed a couple items off the bucket list lately. […]
Show full quote

Crossed a couple items off the bucket list lately.

The first is an Amiga 500. I'm kinda excited about this one since I've never owned or even used an Amiga before. 😁

I wanted one that was un-modded so I could have the authentic Amiga experience. Took some waiting, but one popped up locally in good condition and included the original box.

The attachment Amiga 500 with box.jpg is no longer available

The other item was a much more rare find, a 286 accelerator card. I wanted one that was compatible with Tandy 1000's, since I have a 1000 SX I want to use it with. Mostly I've seen Tiny Turbos pop up now and then, but they are apparently not compatible with Tandys.

Fortunately this one showed up and included both the 8088 processor and a 80287 math co-pro.

The attachment 286 Accelerator Card.jpg is no longer available

I don't know your background in vintage PCs but have fun with that Amiga, it's got its own weirdnesses, like primarily being a floppy disk based system. And some eccentricities with being an early GUI but give it some time to sink in and I think you'll find a lot of enjoyment in that stock 500. You will probably want a 512k expansion soon enough.

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-09-22, 01:15:

That's enough Oaks to build Nelson a new pinnace 🤣

Take a closer look at floppy in 5600, it's giving me some slight LS-120 vibes.

It's a Teac FD-235HF and BOY was it gross...

Man, having a LS disk drive would've been pretty cool!

Shagittarius wrote on 2024-09-22, 02:10:

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-09-22, 01:50:

Crossed a couple items off the bucket list lately. […]
Show full quote

Crossed a couple items off the bucket list lately.

The first is an Amiga 500. I'm kinda excited about this one since I've never owned or even used an Amiga before. 😁

I wanted one that was un-modded so I could have the authentic Amiga experience. Took some waiting, but one popped up locally in good condition and included the original box.

The attachment Amiga 500 with box.jpg is no longer available

The other item was a much more rare find, a 286 accelerator card. I wanted one that was compatible with Tandy 1000's, since I have a 1000 SX I want to use it with. Mostly I've seen Tiny Turbos pop up now and then, but they are apparently not compatible with Tandys.

Fortunately this one showed up and included both the 8088 processor and a 80287 math co-pro.

The attachment 286 Accelerator Card.jpg is no longer available

I don't know your background in vintage PCs but have fun with that Amiga, it's got its own weirdnesses, like primarily being a floppy disk based system. And some eccentricities with being an early GUI but give it some time to sink in and I think you'll find a lot of enjoyment in that stock 500. You will probably want a 512k expansion soon enough.

IMO the familiarisation with Amiga's OS and GUI goes a lot quicker if you have met any minix/unix/linux systems and have used GEM or another desktop... I have known ppl who have been windows/DOS for years to fly into a rage about Amiga "Not doing it the right way" as if MS knew what they were doing or something. Ppl with MCSEs out the wazoo, thinking they were the ultimate authority on computers, sitting in front of an Amiga catatonic because they can't imagine any other way, it's hilarious. Anyway, it's ain't MSDOS and Windows, bear that in mind.

Shagittarius wrote on 2024-09-22, 02:10:

I don't know your background in vintage PCs but have fun with that Amiga, it's got its own weirdnesses, like primarily being a floppy disk based system. And some eccentricities with being an early GUI but give it some time to sink in and I think you'll find a lot of enjoyment in that stock 500. You will probably want a 512k expansion soon enough.

Thank you, I'm expecting it will prove an interesting experience. 😁 And I do have experience with disk-only setups. I have an Apple IIe, for example. So I'm hoping I'll be fine.

It also did come with a 512kb memory expansion (and an external disk drive). Though the memory expansion did have leakage on it where the battery used to be. I assume it will need a new battery before it can be used?

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-09-22, 02:24:

IMO the familiarisation with Amiga's OS and GUI goes a lot quicker if you have met any minix/unix/linux systems and have used GEM or another desktop...

Yeah, I've used various flavors of Linux over the years. And we used to have GEM installed on our first family computer (a 286) back in the day.

I fully expect it will be different than a typical DOS / Windows setup. Part of the fun will be figuring out how it works.

But it's a computer from the 80s, how difficult could it be? 😉

Well the clock won't keep time while off, but you might be able to use the RAM still.

Well basics are, startup-sequence is your combo config.sys and autoxec.bat or your init.rc kinda thing. C directory is where commands are, env are config files, devs is guess what, device descriptors, libs is where libraries live.... so very nixish in that regard.

Found a Iomega ZIp 750 USB + 3 100 disks for 25€ incl. shipping.
Sold as working. Let's see.

Just bought a replacement cooler for a GPU that has never actually existed.

Today's retro scores:

- Toshiba S1800-614 laptop
- Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 mobo
- MSI MS-6340 w/ Duron 1200
- Biostar M7VKD w/ Athlon T-Bird 1GHz
- Geforce 7600GS AGP

This is my third Rockfire gamepad 😁

Wes1262 wrote on 2024-09-22, 09:14:

Just bought a replacement cooler for a GPU that has never actually existed.

Very cool! 😎

a dumb purchase 😜 but i am an ati fanboy......

acl wrote on 2024-09-20, 19:07:

I really like the G400 Max. A really underrated card. Performances are close to that of TNT2 ultra and Voodoo3 3000. I found it […]
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AGP4LIfe? wrote on 2024-09-20, 02:01:

Two more hot AGP pickups! MSI GeForce Ti 4800 SE, and Matrix G400 Max. 😀

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I really like the G400 Max. A really underrated card. Performances are close to that of TNT2 ultra and Voodoo3 3000. I found it very difficult to get in France. I don't know why. Found multiple V3 / GF256 before getting a G400 Max.

Do you plan to use it in a system ?

I think i also have the same GF4 but rusty to the point that the cooler motor is turning into dust.

Yes the G400 Max is a pretty decent Card! despite its lack of T&L. The thing I noticed about it the most was the clarity of the 2D desktop, soooo crisp. There are a lot of them on the "bay" but they are quite $$. It will either go in the Dell 4100 P3 Tower, or on the wall display 😀

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-09-20, 19:59:

You mean those "Hot AGP Pickups in your area" ads are legit? 🤣

They are, click all the ads!! A couple more hot AGP singles showed up at my door on the cheap. Who knew 45$ could go so far these days 😁.
The one I was most interested in was the TNT 2 Ultra but the Ati 9600 XT is pretty cool too!

I have been on a purchasing streak, Yea I'm crazy... I have a couple more coming in next week as well. Seems like recently people have been selling off hardware like crazy.

AGP4LIfe? wrote on 2024-09-22, 17:20:

I have been on a purchasing streak, Yea I'm crazy... I have a couple more coming in next week as well. Seems like recently people have been selling off hardware like crazy.

I've noticed this too. I've talked a few folks locally and folks who did a lot of collecting during the pandemic are now starting to downsize their collections.

I've also noticed that prices on some hardware has dropped considerably even since just a couple years ago.

AGP4LIfe? wrote on 2024-09-22, 17:20:

9xxx Atis have so many layouts. This one almost looks like a r350 9800 pro or something. It's even ready for the aux power connector.

Wes1262 wrote on 2024-09-23, 12:03:

AGP4LIfe? wrote on 2024-09-22, 17:20:

9xxx Atis have so many layouts. This one almost looks like a r350 9800 pro or something. It's even ready for the aux power connector.

9600XT and 9800XT both use the same core and same PCB layout so they should look very similar to each other, the XT cards were full PCB and cooler redesigns since the original 9700 Pro and 9800 Pro both had issues with overheating from coolers that were too small and didn't have enough tension holding them on the core. (XT cards also have thermal monitoring for the core to help prevent thermal overload)

This is why there are many dead 9700 Pros and 9800 Pros .. ATI cutting corners and cheaping out on the cooler design which 3rd party fabs carried on with, the bas deign combined with the metal shim around the core caused the shim warp and to lift the cooler off the core over time due to heat/cooling cycles.

This naturally caused the core to die from overheating since the Pro cards had no thermal protection.