AOpen had cases that looked very similar to this one.

Any specific reason you chose a TNT2-M64 as the graphics card?
It's not a bad graphics card. For a Mendocino or a K6-2. But it seems very unbalanced for an Athlon XP.

RandomStranger wrote on 2023-07-23, 18:55:

Any specific reason you chose a TNT2-M64 as the graphics card?
It's not a bad graphics card. For a Mendocino or a K6-2. But it seems very unbalanced for an Athlon XP.

Because I wanted a setup that was similar to what my dad had in 2002. And that video card was very common in my country. But if I want, I will upgrade when I need the graphics card.

Mahigan wrote on 2023-07-23, 18:43:

AOpen had cases that looked very similar to this one.

Didn't know, but I guess that my case is made by Linkworld maybe, I don't know.

Today update: I installed Windows 98SE and Mandrake Linux 9.0 on my Matsonic MS8137C+ rig. It works flawlessly. I had some problems at installing Windows 98SE, but was due to the IDE cables I used, so changed them and works, initially believing that were PC Chips quirks, but both operating systems work perfectly.

Here is a screenshot from Windows 98SE.

Also update after nearly 3 months: Yesterday I got a new NIC (TrendNET TE-100PCIWN), and after I cleaned it, I installed it in place of the Gembird NIC-R1 network card it had, and now it have a TrendNET TE-100PCIWN network card (also based on the same Realtek RTL8139D chip). That network card works flawlessly!

April 2024 update: Replaced a bulged capacitor on the MATSONIC MS8137C+ motherboard, and also put a power supply from that period, a 350W LPF2N PSU (I think is made by Linkworld maybe), that I installed in the place of the DAVIO LPK19-460W PSU it had. Motherboard and the whole system is now rock solid! Also upgraded the Windows 98SE and Mandrake Linux 9.0 OS to Windows 2000 Professional SP2 and Mandrake Linux 10.0 Official and it works!

RetroPC_King wrote on 2024-04-05, 14:45:

April 2024 update: Replaced a bulged capacitor on the MATSONIC MS8137C+ motherboard, and also put a power supply from that period, a 350W LPF2N PSU (I think is made by Linkworld maybe), that I installed in the place of the DAVIO LPK19-460W PSU it had. Motherboard and the whole system is now rock solid! Also upgraded the Windows 98SE and Mandrake Linux 9.0 OS to Windows 2000 Professional SP2 and Mandrake Linux 10.0 Official and it works!

Was there mandrake linux on your dad's original system back then ?

acl wrote on 2024-04-14, 08:20:

RetroPC_King wrote on 2024-04-05, 14:45:

April 2024 update: Replaced a bulged capacitor on the MATSONIC MS8137C+ motherboard, and also put a power supply from that period, a 350W LPF2N PSU (I think is made by Linkworld maybe), that I installed in the place of the DAVIO LPK19-460W PSU it had. Motherboard and the whole system is now rock solid! Also upgraded the Windows 98SE and Mandrake Linux 9.0 OS to Windows 2000 Professional SP2 and Mandrake Linux 10.0 Official and it works!

Was there mandrake linux on your dad's original system back then ?

Yes, it was, in the 2003-2004 period from what I remember. Only on his ECS K7VZA 3.0

RetroPC_King wrote on 2024-04-16, 10:57:

acl wrote on 2024-04-14, 08:20:

RetroPC_King wrote on 2024-04-05, 14:45:

April 2024 update: Replaced a bulged capacitor on the MATSONIC MS8137C+ motherboard, and also put a power supply from that period, a 350W LPF2N PSU (I think is made by Linkworld maybe), that I installed in the place of the DAVIO LPK19-460W PSU it had. Motherboard and the whole system is now rock solid! Also upgraded the Windows 98SE and Mandrake Linux 9.0 OS to Windows 2000 Professional SP2 and Mandrake Linux 10.0 Official and it works!

Was there mandrake linux on your dad's original system back then ?

Yes, it was, in the 2003-2004 period from what I remember. Only on his ECS K7VZA 3.0

That was not common at the time ! Early 2000 was the peak of windows usage with W98 and XP.

Mandrake was a quite popular Linux distribution at the time (before Ubuntu). Its also the first one I tried as a live CD around the same time. I remember that the Mandrake distribution CDs were often given in magazines.

As a funny coincidence, my first job after university was to work in the Mandrake Linux founder's new startup.

Updates as of June 4, 2024:
Recapped my ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe motherboard (it is stable, replaced all the 6.3V 3300uF Nichicon HM capacitors, only 2 bulged, but replaced them preventively with 10V 3300uF low ESR Panasonic FR, that's why the capacitors are larger than the original ones, and the motherboard works alright as shown in the Memtest86 picture). That rig with ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe was the same otherwise. Only on the outside of the case testing I put a PowerColor ATI Radeon 9250 128MB 64bit video card (that I recapped it as well), otherwise the rig remained the same when I installed the motherboard back in the case.

Update of November 21, 2024:
In September I replaced the last bulged G-Luxon capacitor on the Matsonic MS8137C+ motherboard and it is stable now. I know it is a PC Chips but somehow it is reliable like a ASUS board. Also I plan to install the PCI 56K hardware modem into it for retro reasons.