Shponglefan wrote on 2024-10-26, 13:47:

That looks like hot glue. I have occasionally seen it in some systems. It's to keep the cables from becoming accidentally dislodged.

Try some isopropyl alcohol on them. It should break the glue's adhesion.

Bugger. On closer inspection, I believe you're right. But good to know that isopropyl should help break it; I have some. Thanks.

Cleaning alcohol is bloody good stuff! 😁 All the glue has been removed. But now I've run into a couple more problems. It looks like the HDD is screwed in from both sides, which means I need to remove the other back panel that the motherboard is fixed to. However, that looks to be in place by rivets. I don't think my screwdriver set has anything for this particular type. Rivets always seem to cause me problems, heh. My phone camera isn't brilliant for getting things into focus up close, but it's this type:

https://imgur.com/E5H10Fy

The other issue is finding out how to remove and install the Pentium III. When I checked on my phone, the only videos I could find were all for removing a Pentium II, or ones with totally different cartridges that have two clips.

And finally, I will need to get another ribbon, or a ribbon extension, as there are no more to make use of for another HDD. If the HDD installed is 7200RPM, I may just make do with it. It's only 10GB, but WIndows 98 only takes 500MB and I can't imagine the games I'll be installing will use all of that up.

Eh? I'd bet the hdd is in a removable cage.
Look again.

myne wrote on 2024-10-26, 15:39:

Eh? I'd bet the hdd is in a removable cage.
Look again.

Nope. It's just a bay. With the floppy disk drive above it. Both screwed into place at the sides.

Pics?

myne wrote on 2024-10-26, 15:39:

Eh? I'd bet the hdd is in a removable cage.
Look again.

Thanks for the suggestion to go look again - I didn't even process that the bay was fixed into place by screws. ^^; Managed to get it out and check the label. 😁 There's no indication what the capacity is or speed, but it does list the model number.

😉

Yeah, so, like I suspected, it's only 5400RPM. Next thing is to try and learn how to remove and re-sit the CPU.

From memory, you just pull the posts apart a bit and pull.

myne wrote on 2024-10-26, 16:40:

From memory, you just pull the posts apart a bit and pull.

Are there no clips at the top of either posts? I'm not sure if there were any on mine; I'd need another look.

It could be slider screws if you remove the ones you can see will the hdd slide forwards and up or down

Greywolf1 wrote on 2024-10-26, 17:15:

It could be slider screws if you remove the ones you can see will the hdd slide forwards and up or down

Oh no, I was talking about the Pentium III. The HDD is sorted now. 😀

Oh my bad.
tho looking at pictures online there’s two black tabs at either side of the cpu you press towards each other and gently tease the card out

Unless that’s hot glued as well
I think you mentioned this as your motherboard model here is the manual it has disassembly instructions in it
https://theretroweb.com/motherboard/manual/ms … 1f316619559.pdf

Greywolf1 wrote on 2024-10-26, 17:43:

Oh my bad. tho looking at pictures online there’s two black tabs at either side of the cpu you press towards each other and gen […]
Show full quote

Oh my bad.
tho looking at pictures online there’s two black tabs at either side of the cpu you press towards each other and gently tease the card out

Unless that’s hot glued as well
I think you mentioned this as your motherboard model here is the manual it has disassembly instructions in it
https://theretroweb.com/motherboard/manual/ms … 1f316619559.pdf

Yes, I believe I found that motherboard manual earlier. 😀 I'll need to go over it again as I'm a bit unsure due to it going over each stage of assembly with the headsink and retention brackets etc. Not that I should have to worry about those aspects. It should just be a case of taking the card out. I didn't see any glue around it anyway.

The manual seemed quite detailed have a few reads through and if you have a head torch or flash light illuminate the various assembly points to see what parts twist, slide, clip and unscrew

Okay, managed to sort it now. It was actually much easier than I thought; I just needed to use a bit of force and it came out like a regular graphics card. ^^; Always a bit weary of using force as I tend to overdo it and break something 🤣.

At any rate, I've dusted it and cleaned some of the crap off the fan blades and re-seated it. It hasn't helped with the noise though. I am convinced it's the CPU that's making the noise rather than the PSU. I checked the BIOS but couldn't see any settings to adjust it at all. No overclocking, voltage, or fan settings. I feel the fan speed needs lowering.

If it's not the fan, it could be coil whine.
I had one 478 p4 board with a small part of the iron coil cover chipped off but still in place, and it vibrated to hell under load. removed the broken bit and it went silent.

I'm not sure. Not sure it's coil whine. I think it's just the fan. I uploaded a video recording a page back of the noise.

Would some CPU software, to control the fan speed, be recommended for an old CPU like the PIII?

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-10-27, 20:15:

Would some CPU software, to control the fan speed, be recommended for an old CPU like the PIII?

Not sure software would control the fan speed. At least not if the motherboard doesn't do variable fan speedness.

Do you see any fan speed-related info in the BIOS setup?

VivienM wrote on 2024-10-27, 20:52:

Not sure software would control the fan speed. At least not if the motherboard doesn't do variable fan speedness.

Do you see any fan speed-related info in the BIOS setup?

Not from what I could see, no. I can try taking another look, or see if I can find anything online for that motherboard/BIOS.