VOGONS


First post, by Warlord

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TLDR: I made a 486. About a $300.00 Dollar build. I can probably part it out for twice this amount.

Last edited by Warlord on 2020-12-20, 01:27. Edited 21 times in total.

Reply 1 of 10, by Warlord

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More pics.

Reply 2 of 10, by Warlord

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30 FPS Max Settings in DOOM.
The Turbo panel is 100% custom made, I cut a hole in a blank for the display, and drilled holes for turbo toggle switch, reset button and HDD Led.
The 3.5 cover with fake wood is actually a black cover which is why I covered it. Not to copy LGR but thanks anyways for the idea.
Oh I do not have a key for this thing, but thats a pretty stupid feature anyways. But if anyone has a key to fit this let me know.

Someone might think its ugly with all of the mis matched pannels, wires coming out with velcroed controller, and Dollar Store wood grain. But its Beautiful to me. It has a soul.

You cannot duplicate the stankyness of this retro machine. And the big red clicky power switch is so satisfying to flip.

Like in all my builds I don't agonize over period correct, or any other obsessive compulsive things. I just make a good build.

I don't do TLDRs just know it took a long time.
Lots of Customizations..

Specs:
Some broken case that I fixed, Theres a thread
Pics there of the repair. ABS plastic repair

seventeam PSU, that I inspected and changed the fan.

Alaris Cougar II that I won on ebay for Theres a thread.
Mystery Motherboard

Ark Logic 1000 VLB Upgraded to 2MB Star Gunner runs perfectly. And everything I've thrown at it ran bug free.

Reveal SC500 Sound Card. Little is known about it, but just know that it's crystal clear no noise, OPL3, onboard GS synth, and can even be switched into Mt32 mode like a soundscape. Bug free MPU-401 and doesn't require a TSR.

DTC1181 XTIDE Thead here DTC1181 BiOS Adapter 1998 Pre XTIDE Adapter Info and Rom

Thrustmaster ACM with speed control This thing is a beast. You can make even the most sensitive games work perftly with a game pad.

ISA to PS2 adapter /w USB Laser Mouse. A guy on this forum made it, you can use a PS2 mouse.

Intel Pro 10+ Ethernet

486DX2 This is WB version but the board doesn't support it. There is also a IBM Blue lighting BL3 onboard, but I found the DX2 gives me more flexibility.

32mb ram runs a 2-1-1-1 Zero wait states on 256 Cache too. (Over Kill I know, but It costs nothing.)

Startec IDE to CF + CF The board has a Adaptec onboard EIDE controller. It's fast.

Custom Turbo + Buttons home made.

52X CD-ROM(it's what I had), Iomega 100 IDE ZIP, 5 1/4 and 3 1/2 Floppys

Dollar Store Wood grain $1 Dollar.

Some Velcro to attach the thrust master, and some Aluminum tape to cover rear IO Holes.

Last edited by Warlord on 2020-12-20, 01:28. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 3 of 10, by foil_fresh

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Buddy that home made turbo/speed display panel is so nice

Reply 4 of 10, by chrismeyer6

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Very nice build. What's the box with the knob hanging out of the front?

Reply 5 of 10, by Warlord

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thanks

external speed calibration for thrustmaster acm. a quad game port isa card. dial guarantees precise control in any game and Thrustmaster's Thrustware will ensure optimum performance. also comes with a program that works with red baron game of my childhood

its probably more useful on an early Pentium build, but its so far fixed several games on here.

Reply 6 of 10, by chrismeyer6

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That is seriously cool and quite useful too.

Reply 7 of 10, by Horun

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Good job ! That is a good old tall AT case, do not see many like that anymore.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 8 of 10, by RobertJ

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Warlord wrote on 2020-12-22, 00:38:

thanks

external speed calibration for thrustmaster acm. a quad game port isa card. dial guarantees precise control in any game and Thrustmaster's Thrustware will ensure optimum performance. also comes with a program that works with red baron game of my childhood

its probably more useful on an early Pentium build, but its so far fixed several games on here.

As soon as I saw it "speed calibration" knob, it brought back very fond memories. I was all in when it came to Thrustmaster devices back in the day. Nice build! Thanks for sharing it with us.

8-bit Collection: 4 64Cs, 6 1541-IIs, 1 C128, 2 1571s, 1 C128DCR
Vintage DOS: Dell Optiplex G1, ATI Rage IIC, Sound Blaster CT4520, Thrustmaster FCS Mark II, Gravis PC GamePad
Monitor: Dell 20" 2007FPb

Reply 9 of 10, by amadeus777999

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Well done!
30fps is a lot for a DX2-66.
Aeons ago I tested an old board(VLB) with a dx2 and it got ~27fps.
Highest seems to be 34.6fps according to "Doom Benchmark Results".

Reply 10 of 10, by chinny22

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Warlord wrote on 2020-12-19, 06:23:

Someone might think its ugly with all of the mis matched pannels, wires coming out with velcroed controller, and Dollar Store wood grain. But its Beautiful to me. It has a soul.

Agreed! I usually say it adds character but basically the same thing. I've aged in the last 20+ years, and gained a few marks and scratches along the way. I'll keep myself presentable but I'm not going to try and hide my history. Think the same of my car, computers, etc

The woodgrain and RadioShack switches give off a bit of a early days when cases were homebuilt. and DOES look much better then black
Any VLB card is cool but the Ark1000 really deserves more attention then it gets, nice to see it here and upgraded as well 😀
Know nothing about the soundcard but at least it's more interesting then the standard Creative/Ess/Yamaha cards everyone has. The fact it works well is a bonus as well 😉

Overall I like this build alot