I purchased an IBM Model M keyboard from 1987 that's going to be used on my K6-2/300 machine for $2.99 without the SDL cable (got a new 6' one on eBay) at a thrift store. 2 keys were acting weird, but, a little bit of contact cleaner got the keys to work. The arrow keys weren't right, and I didn't realize that the keycaps can get switched around without taking the whole key out.

Okay, I got my lot of old parts today. This lot cost me around $50 shipped, which I thought was okay.

Can anyone help me identify the CPU with the Socket 3 board? Whoever messed with the thing last inserted the CPU in the wrong orientation and, being the first Socket 3 board I've ever seen, I didn't realize it. I powered it on and it didn't work but the little chip with the heatsink next to the socket gave off a "really really hot but not quite smoking" smell. Briefly before I turned it off. I looked online I noticed that the only way to tell which way the CPU goes in is by the notched corner... unlike newer boards where they physically don't fit. Oy...

Anyway, I get nothing when I try to turn it on... no beeps, no display. The battery is certainly dead, but I think it should at least power on, or beep when the memory is removed... something. So it doesn't look good. I got these to tinker with anyway, so I'm not totally heart broken, but I was happy to see a Socket 3 board. The other two boards need to have the batteries removed and some corrosion cleaned up but they don't look too bad... probably salvageable. The VLB board that I thought had a burn mark from the AT power being plugged in wrong actually just has a burn mark from a blown tantalum... which is less likely to be fatal. It has lots of tantalums, so I need to replace these before I can test this board.

The MediaVision Thunderboard is immaculate... the back plate has a pristine mirror finish! Amazing condition. I really don't trust the tantalums though... I wish I could tell if they were going to pop when powered. The card is from 1991 and looks lightly used, so I'd expect the worst.

Also, look at that crazy CD drive! Its a TEAC CD-55A. Really strange design with a slim tray.

Ozzuneoj wrote:

Also, look at that crazy CD drive! Its a TEAC CD-55A. Really strange design with a slim tray.

I have similar but older drives from TEAC with the same design. The upper part can be detached, fitting in smaller cases. Such a slim drive was used for example in the Sun SPARCstation 5.

bjwil1991 wrote:

Cyrix200+ wrote:

My brother gave me this, with an unknown CPU. A bit too new for my taste, not sure what I'm going to do with it. […]
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My brother gave me this, with an unknown CPU. A bit too new for my taste, not sure what I'm going to do with it.

I know a YouTuber that has that board as well that a hospital used (weird, yet exciting). That board supports the Athlon 64 X2 (dual-code), Athlon 64 FX, or Athlon 64 (single-core) Socket 939 processors and DDR-400 memory. Plus, SLI support (2 of the same GPUs for gaming, even a GTX 1080 or two will be amazing for that system).

It doesn't work with modern GPU's from ATI 48xx and up - black screen / GPU error.
The RDX version has an AMD chipset and supports Crossfire, not SLI. The SLI version is the NF4 SLI DR-Expert.

Was looking at the Switch to get for my sisters kids but it looks fragile and the # of games is pitiful so backup plan:

I bought the SD2SNES and Everdrive N8 carts for my SNES (1991) and NES (1985) purchased by my grandpa.

They've been collecting dust in my closet for the past decade or so. I've tested both carts this week and they work great and also bought 2x 8bitdo SN30 controllers.

Consoles will be hooked up to an HDTV but it's not that bad. When the consoles finally die (SNES missing the plastic piece in the back for the power but still works) then pi it is.

Time to show these kids what a real console is because they don't exist any more.

DosFreak wrote:

Was looking at the Switch to get for my sisters kids but it looks fragile and the # of games is pitiful so backup plan: […]
Show full quote

Was looking at the Switch to get for my sisters kids but it looks fragile and the # of games is pitiful so backup plan:

I bought the SD2SNES and Everdrive N8 carts for my SNES (1991) and NES (1985) purchased by my grandpa.

They've been collecting dust in my closet for the past decade or so. I've tested both carts this week and they work great and also bought 2x 8bitdo SN30 controllers.

Consoles will be hooked up to an HDTV but it's not that bad. When the consoles finally die (SNES missing the plastic piece in the back for the power but still works) then pi it is.

Time to show these kids what a real console is because they don't exist any more.

I have a Nintendo 64 that my parents got for us on Valentine's Day (2-14-2000), it's missing pieces, but it still works.

vladstamate wrote:

Ohh!! Give us the inventory! There must be some gems in there.

Sorted out the sound cards today. The lot included:

Creative CT5803, ES1373, PCI
OPTi 82C924 / AD1845JP with OPL3 (no-name), ISA
OAK Mozart OPL3, ISA
Creative SB Live! CT4830, PCI
CMI8738 (no-name), PCI
Advanced Logic ALS4000, PCI
Creative AudioPCI 3000, ES1370, PCI
Terratec Aureon 5.1, CMI8738, PCI
Ultron, CMI8768, PCI
Creative Audigy2 ZS SB0350, PCI

Managed to find 😲

Hope it works as it was sold as untested.

What's that?

a 486/66 kludged to work in a 386 board.

Goes into 386 socket 😉 It's a 2nd best "386" cpu after the IBM Blue Lightning cpu.

Saved these AT's from the scrapper. I find the tower enclosure rather unique.

Formulator wrote:

Saved these AT's from the scrapper. I find the tower enclosure rather unique. […]
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Saved these AT's from the scrapper. I find the tower enclosure rather unique.

Holy crap... 😳 😳 Major score there. 😜 Congrats.
Never seen that many, since my days as a student at the technical college in spring of 1993.
We used them to learn Lotus-123 and Wordperfect-5.x in MS-Dos 5.0.

@formulator

Don't quote me, but I believe those stands are rather uncommon. Don't let it go!

kixs wrote:

Managed to find :exclamation: […]
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Managed to find 😲

Hope it works as it was sold as untested.

Where the hell did you find that?

Formulator wrote:

Saved these AT's from the scrapper. I find the tower enclosure rather unique. […]
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Saved these AT's from the scrapper. I find the tower enclosure rather unique.

Nice tower. Always wanted that, but it's pretty big and heavy.

luckybob wrote:

@formulator […]
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@formulator

Don't quote me, but I believe those stands are rather uncommon. Don't let it go!

You owe me a rusty spoon to gouge my eyes out with.... and my brain as well. Thanks a lot. 😵

Anonymous Coward wrote:

Nice tower. Always wanted that, but it's pretty big and heavy

It is extremely heavy indeed, perhaps one of the heaviest systems I have ever lifted.

I have not yet cracked it open, but upon exterior inspection I would believe it has been upgraded beyond the original AT board, due to the presence of a CD-ROM drive and the back panel looks like what a 486 or 586 system might have inside.

Anonymous Coward wrote:

kixs wrote:

Managed to find :exclamation: […]
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Managed to find 😲

Hope it works as it was sold as untested.

Where the hell did you find that?

I guess I just got lucky on eBay 😀 In any case I really hope it works...

kixs wrote:

Managed to find :exclamation: […]
Show full quote

Managed to find 😲

Hope it works as it was sold as untested.

Ooh an SLC2. Nice find!
I really like these for some reason, I love the idea of pushing a "16 bit" PC as far as it can go. They (TI/Cyrix) also made an 80MHz version, right?