Wow, that Pro D5 200M just looks sooooo cool!

I would love to have the "low-profile" version.
It is interesting to see how they made the case pretty modular, easy to access with "screw-less" solutions.
The motherboard is also heavily modular.

pjturpeau wrote on 2024-04-22, 10:57:

Hi all, […]
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Hi all,

after loosing my Toshiba 210CS I've decided to move on desktop rigs rather than laptops as I did have more spare parts for them.

I took the time to take shots and write some pages about two P54CS/P55C systems (to have all infos I need in one handy place), so I think it's a good time to share.
I mainly plan to use them as retro-coding rigs (based on few demoscene stuffs first), but retro-DOS gaming is also in the pipe 😉
I'll try to avoid dual booting MSDOS6.22 and WIN9x/MSDOS7.x and focus on MS-DOS 7.x compatibility as most as possible (I must admit a bit of lazyness...)

Dell OptiPlex GS-5133L

In short, it's a P54CS Pentium 133 / Intel 430FX system with an integrated S3 86C765 (Trio64V+) video card.

More details here http://turpeau.net/pierrejean/retro/dell-optiplex-gs5133l

Upgrade plan is:
- CPU: use my brave Pentium 200 (the exact one I used in 1997-1998)
- RAM: from 32MB (4x8MB) to 96 MB (2x 32MB + 2x 16MB) with few previously owned modules
- CD-RW: Philips CDRW800 Series (PCRW804) 8x/4x/32x CD-RW from a previous rig
- AUDIO: Install my old Gravis UltaSound MAX
- OS: upgrade WIN95 OSR1 to OSR 2.1
- VIDEO: TBD/TBC
- NOISE: make the PSU less noisy?
- NIC: for easier file sharing, needs a PCI 2.0 compatible card. A refurbished 3Com 3C905B-TX ETHERLINK 10/100Mbps is a good candidate..

Siemens-Nixdorf Scenic Pro D5 200M

In short, it's a P55C Pentium 200 MMX / Intel 430TX system with a Cirrus Logic CL-GD5446 2MB (CLVGA54PCI) video card.

More details here http://turpeau.net/pierrejean/retro/siemens-s … nic-pro-d5-200m

Upgrade plan is:
- RAM: 256 MB
- OS: upgrade WIN95 to WIN98SE
- DVD/CD-RW: NEC ND-1100A F/W:1.80 H/W:01 (from a previous rig)
- HDD: Disk On Module IDE Flash Drive to replace the weary Fujitsu
- AUDIO: 10€ refurbished Aztech AZT3002 PNP as a cheap SoundBlaster replacement (I know, this is not a great pick...)
- NOISE: make it quiet because it is really noisy (PSU and Heatsink)
- NIC: for easier file sharing my old Netgear FA311 seems to be a good fit.

Thanks to all Vogons contributors, it's a rich source of data.

I'll probably update the web pages with CPU benchmark and MS-DOS conventional memory setup (I'll not do a big effort on this).
When? That's another tough question, as I would like to focus back on retro-coding right now. The upgrade / benchmark plan will go slow... 😉

Feel free to comment or advise.

I bought this same Siemens PC for a mere €50 off a local market place & it looks a very solid build. By the time Pentiums arrived, desktop PCs mostly moved to towers so to see a proper desktop config that is still very expandable is great. Have you done any of the upgrades yet? Mine is slightly different mind you - it has a Matrox chip that I can see so it must be a slightly different model.

pjturpeau wrote on 2024-04-22, 10:57:

I'll try to avoid dual booting MSDOS6.22 and WIN9x/MSDOS7.x and focus on MS-DOS 7.x compatibility as most as possible (I must admit a bit of lazyness...)

It's not lazy it's streamlining 😉
But in all seriousness I've had no compatibility issues running Dos 7 over 6.22 but get the benefit of fat32.
Only reason I still run 6.22/Win3x on a single PC is nostalgia.

Why are you wanting to swap the onboard S3 Trio on the Dell? Good compatible card, not sure many alternatives will give you real world gains.

red_avatar wrote on 2024-07-13, 09:29:

pjturpeau wrote on 2024-04-22, 10:57:

Hi all, […]
Show full quote

Hi all,

after loosing my Toshiba 210CS I've decided to move on desktop rigs rather than laptops as I did have more spare parts for them.

I took the time to take shots and write some pages about two P54CS/P55C systems (to have all infos I need in one handy place), so I think it's a good time to share.
I mainly plan to use them as retro-coding rigs (based on few demoscene stuffs first), but retro-DOS gaming is also in the pipe 😉
I'll try to avoid dual booting MSDOS6.22 and WIN9x/MSDOS7.x and focus on MS-DOS 7.x compatibility as most as possible (I must admit a bit of lazyness...)

Dell OptiPlex GS-5133L

In short, it's a P54CS Pentium 133 / Intel 430FX system with an integrated S3 86C765 (Trio64V+) video card.

More details here http://turpeau.net/pierrejean/retro/dell-optiplex-gs5133l

Upgrade plan is:
- CPU: use my brave Pentium 200 (the exact one I used in 1997-1998)
- RAM: from 32MB (4x8MB) to 96 MB (2x 32MB + 2x 16MB) with few previously owned modules
- CD-RW: Philips CDRW800 Series (PCRW804) 8x/4x/32x CD-RW from a previous rig
- AUDIO: Install my old Gravis UltaSound MAX
- OS: upgrade WIN95 OSR1 to OSR 2.1
- VIDEO: TBD/TBC
- NOISE: make the PSU less noisy?
- NIC: for easier file sharing, needs a PCI 2.0 compatible card. A refurbished 3Com 3C905B-TX ETHERLINK 10/100Mbps is a good candidate..

Siemens-Nixdorf Scenic Pro D5 200M

In short, it's a P55C Pentium 200 MMX / Intel 430TX system with a Cirrus Logic CL-GD5446 2MB (CLVGA54PCI) video card.

More details here http://turpeau.net/pierrejean/retro/siemens-s … nic-pro-d5-200m

Upgrade plan is:
- RAM: 256 MB
- OS: upgrade WIN95 to WIN98SE
- DVD/CD-RW: NEC ND-1100A F/W:1.80 H/W:01 (from a previous rig)
- HDD: Disk On Module IDE Flash Drive to replace the weary Fujitsu
- AUDIO: 10€ refurbished Aztech AZT3002 PNP as a cheap SoundBlaster replacement (I know, this is not a great pick...)
- NOISE: make it quiet because it is really noisy (PSU and Heatsink)
- NIC: for easier file sharing my old Netgear FA311 seems to be a good fit.

Thanks to all Vogons contributors, it's a rich source of data.

I'll probably update the web pages with CPU benchmark and MS-DOS conventional memory setup (I'll not do a big effort on this).
When? That's another tough question, as I would like to focus back on retro-coding right now. The upgrade / benchmark plan will go slow... 😉

Feel free to comment or advise.

I bought this same Siemens PC for a mere €50 off a local market place & it looks a very solid build. By the time Pentiums arrived, desktop PCs mostly moved to towers so to see a proper desktop config that is still very expandable is great. Have you done any of the upgrades yet? Mine is slightly different mind you - it has a Matrox chip that I can see so it must be a slightly different model.

Yes, it looks solid. Unfortunately, the hooks on the side of the case are a bit broken.
I upgraded the RAM to 256MB, I put an Aztech sound card and a 3COM ethernet card.
The next step is to replace the very noisy hdd by a compact flash (I already have the device and the card, just need to take time to do it now...)

chinny22 wrote on 2024-07-15, 02:59:

It's not lazy it's streamlining ;) But in all seriousness I've had no compatibility issues running Dos 7 over 6.22 but get the b […]
Show full quote

pjturpeau wrote on 2024-04-22, 10:57:

I'll try to avoid dual booting MSDOS6.22 and WIN9x/MSDOS7.x and focus on MS-DOS 7.x compatibility as most as possible (I must admit a bit of lazyness...)

It's not lazy it's streamlining 😉
But in all seriousness I've had no compatibility issues running Dos 7 over 6.22 but get the benefit of fat32.
Only reason I still run 6.22/Win3x on a single PC is nostalgia.

Why are you wanting to swap the onboard S3 Trio on the Dell? Good compatible card, not sure many alternatives will give you real world gains.

That's right,the only meaningful alternative would be a Tseng Labs ET4000 or ET6000 as it was supposed to have a better memory throughput, but I may be wrong.

pjturpeau wrote on 2024-04-22, 10:57:

Siemens-Nixdorf Scenic Pro D5 200M
In short, it's a P55C Pentium 200 MMX / Intel 430TX system with a Cirrus Logic CL-GD5446 2MB (CLVGA54PCI) video card.

Very nice Scenic Pro!
It's a pity Siemens saved on the clear green sliding front on it though.

Does it support HDDs bigger than 8 GB?

I would say yes.
It has a Intel 82371AB PIIX4 southbridge which I believe is a UltraDMA-33 ATA-4, so I think it supports LBA28 addressing mode up to 128GB.
I'm not very expert on this, so I may be wrong... I think the 8.4GB limit is defined by ATA-2 up to ATA-3.

I asked because my Scenic Pro D6 declines to use HDs larger than 8GB, even with the latest BIOS I could find.