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Brostenen

Posted 2017-10-31 8:11 PM (#1023 - in reply to #1022)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

TM Crusoe

Posts: 671
500

#Old Guy 88:

Hmmm....
Looks like 3x more than what a Pentium is really worth. I know it's "new" and things, yet 1000 dollars? Really!! :-O
I would say some 300 dollars. 350 max.... It is new old stock after all.

Old Guy 88

Posted 2017-10-31 9:40 PM (#1025 - in reply to #1023)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

Intel P5

Posts: 68

Location: N.E. Pennsylvania USA

Definitely too much for Me
Anyway Meet Howard, Howard is a Pentium Pro 180Mhz 128Megs of Ram , A Ct4520 ISA Soundblaster, ATI Mach64 and Two Voodoo2 12meg video cards Windows 95 on a 8Meg Compact Flash
Any Suggestions or Comments are always welcome
https://postimg.org/image/8y3gi1nz7v/
https://s1.postimg.org/85ql0b7dhr/IMG_20171020_144734.jpg

https://postimg.org/image/1hspfw6oa3/
https://s1.postimg.org/2oc0ohvkvj/IMG_20171031_171937.jpg

https://postimg.org/image/9a6ltpexh7/
https://s1.postimg.org/8ldc9oregv/IMG_20171031_172005.jpg

DXZeff

Posted 2017-10-31 9:55 PM (#1026 - in reply to #71)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

TM Crusoe

Posts: 618
500

Location: Hull, UK

Some real nice stuff going on in here. I especially like the case CyrixInstead posted.

Meanwhile, I've been playing with laptops, one is in a video I have to finish a few things on, the other I've just gotten to work (Discord people will know already) so that's good, because I bought it as broken;

- If images are breaking the page, remember to "Hard Refresh" to make the CSS fixes load.

Deksor

Posted 2017-11-03 12:28 PM (#1030 - in reply to #1026)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

Chips 386

Posts: 34

Are you sure a Voodoo 2 SLI is necessary for a ppro system ? My understanding is that ppro speed is between pentium 100 and slow pentium II speed depending of the nature of the code. I don't think anything will really benefit from these being in SLI. They'll be happier in a fast P2/P3 system

Brostenen

Posted 2017-11-06 7:01 PM (#1031 - in reply to #1030)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

TM Crusoe

Posts: 671
500

Had some difficulties in getting the Promise Cached ISA IDE-Controller to work. Now it is working, and I need to test this more.
I have absolutely NO clue on what system I need to install this in. Perhaps a 486dx33/ET-4000 system? Or a sx25? Don't know.

(caching-isa-controller.jpg)

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CyrixInstead

Posted 2017-11-07 7:38 AM (#1032 - in reply to #1031)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

Intel P5

Posts: 85

Location: UK

@Brostenen Only making a guess but with the 1991 date 486 DX 33 would have been the top, top end of the market. 386 DX 25/33 would still have been a fast machine for the time. I can't help thinking that the card would have most visible effect with a correct era hard disk, they were pretty slow, so that might be where you notice the difference. I have a Conner 500mb(HUGE for the time) 3/4 height 3.5 IDE from that year, I suspect that is the kind of thing this card was targeting when new.

Brostenen

Posted 2017-11-07 3:43 PM (#1033 - in reply to #1032)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

TM Crusoe

Posts: 671
500

#CyrixInstead:

Hmmmm.... I think you are right. I don't know about you, yet this list might actually be era correct:

- 5volt Socket3 board, ISA only. (don't have one yet)
- Intel 486dx33 (I have one)
- 8mb Ram (don't have it yet)
- Tseng ET-4000ax ISA. (I have one)
- Promise Caching Controller. (I have one)
- One combined Seriel and Parallel ISA Card (don't have one yet)
- Some kind of SB-Pro compatible sound card (don't have one yet)
- Seagate 540mb IDE Harddrive (I have one)
- Floppy drive and a optical drive (I have plenty of those)

I think that this list would make a killer 1991 machine. The optical drive does not really have to be 1991. As long as it is working and is the same colour as the case. Then I think it will do nicely enough. After all... Most machines did not have CD drives at that time. The soundcard would not have to be a Creative SB-Pro 2.0 card, unless they can be sourced cheap. As long as it is SB-Pro compatible, at the top, then a card like the YMF-718/719 would work for me. What else... Hmmm.... Perhaps some kind of Tape drive, like a QIC-80 120/250mb would fit perfectly in this build as well.

A little quick test yesterday of the controller and the my 512mb DOM, showed that it can read at 1.4mb/s and the verify speed are over 8mb/s, and the seek time is right down at 2.17/2.18-something millisecond. I have to test it more with the 540mb harddrive and then report back.

Anyway... 1.4mb/s and 2.17ms are massive for 1991. I bought my first computer in 1993, that had a 120mb Conner, and it had something like 600kb/s and seek time was measured at 14ms or something like that. I only remember it because this was my first ever benchmarking.

Edited by Brostenen 2017-11-07 3:55 PM

DXZeff

Posted 2017-11-08 6:29 AM (#1034 - in reply to #1033)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

TM Crusoe

Posts: 618
500

Location: Hull, UK

If it were me, I'd aim for 386DX-type stuff, or a single clock 486, like the DX33 or SX25. I may have an ISA-only 486 board that I'm not using, but I'm not sure, would have to check that it works if I could even find it by now. It was made circa 1995 though, one of those dinky ones that's barely longer than the ISA slots, might want to find something more authentic as the ISA ones can usually be had for less anyway, given nobody really wants them versus PCI/VLB boards.

I took a gamble on a weird 286 motherboard -
Uploaded Image

It has a battery on it, though it doesn't seem to have leaked, have to wait and find out. Also, 16MHz? Is that chipset really rated for this 20MHz processor, like am I missing something? Weird thing, may not work, unknown. If the RAM works I'll be happy with it anyway, it didn't cost very much. I think WaybackTech had one similar as far as features went but with a far more bulky implementation. If it works I probably won't keep it for too long, one of those things that might be fun to play with for a while and then let someone else have a go, already have machines in this performance band.

Edited by DXZeff 2017-11-08 6:31 AM

CyrixInstead

Posted 2017-11-08 7:05 AM (#1035 - in reply to #1034)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

Intel P5

Posts: 85

Location: UK

@Brotenen Yes that sounds right for a top end machine for 1991. Look forward to seeing it if you can find the parts for a sensible price.

@DXZeff that's a really neat looking little board, great that it has so much built in already, don't think I've seen a 286 board before with VGA, IDE, FDC, serial etc. I bet that won't be far off the performance of my IBM 386 SX 25. Here's hoping it works!

Brostenen

Posted 2017-11-08 8:53 PM (#1036 - in reply to #1035)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

TM Crusoe

Posts: 671
500

#DXZeff
Cool.... Hmmm.... I think I will wait, and see what pops up somewere on the internet. I do have some specific things that I am looking after on such a board. I am looking for something a bit like this one:

Uploaded Image

It has cache, fairly decent chipset, space for 8 modules and I can allways get rid of that battery and install a rechargeable buttoncell battery.

That 286 board you got there... Have to look a bit closer. As CyrixInstead writes, it is a neat and interresting looking board.

waybacktech

Posted 2017-11-08 10:56 PM (#1037 - in reply to #1034)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

IDT WinChip

Posts: 237
100

Location: USA

Interesting combination of stuff there on the 286 board. These are the kinds of boards I enjoy finding, something rare and out of the ordinary. My guess is, based on the 287-10 labeling the motherboard is running the chipset at half of the cpu speed ( 10 mhz ), but on closer look at the clock crystal, which I think says 32, would mean that yes the chipset is running at half, 16Mhz and the cpu as well is running at 16Mhz, and not the rated 20Mhz. I would personally buy a 40Mhz crystal. I'd bet the chipset can handle the extra 4Mhz.

waybacktech

Posted 2017-11-09 5:48 PM (#1038 - in reply to #1037)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

IDT WinChip

Posts: 237
100

Location: USA

This little guy, along with a couple other vintage computers were dropped off at work yesterday. The others consist of an HP PIII laptop and another Noblis PIII desktop. Interesting mention of this having both Aureal A3D and Yamaha XG audio. Interesting combination I haven't come across on a typical soundcard from this era. Funny how the "spec" sticker makes no mention of the clock speed, drive size or ram, like that didn't matter. Excellent condition. Have not powered it on, probably will save that for a video.

(20171109_104022.jpg)

(20171109_104034.jpg)

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DXZeff

Posted 2017-11-10 7:51 PM (#1039 - in reply to #1038)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

TM Crusoe

Posts: 618
500

Location: Hull, UK

@CyrixInstead; Not sure about that, one thing I'll give IBM is that they sure seem to have had a few tricks when it came to the 386SX, often getting quite a lot of speed out of them.

@Brostenen; Yeah, that's the kind of thing I pictured you going for, either that or one of the really early huge ones. I have one ISA-only board operating;
Uploaded Image

The one I was offering is this;
Uploaded Image

But I do think you'll probably have more fun if you find a proper old one, so this cheap one is likely best saved as a last resort because it's not really anything spectacular at all. Asus made some really nice ones, like the ISA-486S.

@WaybackTech; I rather like the ambiguity over the video card, it's AGP and 3D apparently... Wouldn't be at all surprised to discover it used one of those S3 cards or something. Looks like a decent machine though, for an OEM.
Ha, yeah, that crystal does look like a 32MHz one. Well, it's a 286, so whatever, it's not like there's much advantage to be had going past that anyway. I found with the SlimsPort that applications which need more power generally want a 386 anyway. Strange how they mark the 287 socket for 10MHz though, it's just a weird board all round that one.

Brostenen

Posted 2017-11-10 10:35 PM (#1040 - in reply to #1039)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

TM Crusoe

Posts: 671
500

#DXZeff
Well.... For a 486dx33 system, the board actually looks like it fits the bill. Technologi wise.
Not need for more, if it can have cache memory installed on it.

My first ever machine, that I bought, had a board like that. It was a Cyrix486slc2-50 system.
Same size mainboard, and I ran it with an ET4000, 4mb Ram, 120mb Conner and a SoundGalaxy-NX-Something. (basically a SB-Pro card)
The only downside of that board, was that the CPU was soldered on, and it came with 64kb external cache.
Man... That machine was really slow. As soon as I had the money, I upgraded for an Intel Dx2-66 VLB-Only system.

Brostenen

Posted 2017-11-10 10:49 PM (#1041 - in reply to #71)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

TM Crusoe

Posts: 671
500

On that 286 board....

It has onboard controller/IO-Card, and is that bottom left header has 16 pins. Hmmm.... 16 pins!? Can one might be un-used and the header being a VGA header? That chip right next to it, kind of confuses me a bit. Eighter it is a gfx-chip or something else. Looks like memory chips, on the other side of them two IC's, marked with the name "Chips". You know... The four identical ones, were they are placed in pairs and each pair is shifted a bit to the side. So.... Eighter that is video memory, or the board has some onboard main memory.

Edited by Brostenen 2017-11-10 10:51 PM

DXZeff

Posted 2017-11-11 2:54 AM (#1042 - in reply to #1041)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

TM Crusoe

Posts: 618
500

Location: Hull, UK

It looks like VGA because of that one BIOS chip on the right, says something like "450 VGA BIOS" on it. No feature connector though - I know Deksor has a Pentium board with such a thing on it - so there's that to keep in mind, not that anyone really used them very much. I have no idea if the Chips VGA solutions were very good, but it's a 286, so that isn't really as important here.

Oh, also, yeah, I might have broken a PM somewhere with a large image, so I've updated the CSS to fix images there too. Might need a hard refresh if you run into problems, Shift+F5 in Chrome.

Edited by DXZeff 2017-11-11 2:57 AM

Brostenen

Posted 2017-11-11 11:01 AM (#1043 - in reply to #1042)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

TM Crusoe

Posts: 671
500

I allways log off, when not using a forum. Then I usually close the browser. So I have not experienced any issues at all. My browser is set to automatically delete any cookies and stuff, just to keep the speed up and not clutter the system with all sort of files, from tech sites or just sites in general, that I never visit again.

Edited by Brostenen 2017-11-11 11:03 AM

Robman

Posted 2017-11-11 10:58 PM (#1044 - in reply to #1043)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

Chips 386

Posts: 38

Location: Canada

New toys, stopped in the local computer shop again today for my bi-annual visit. $40 bucks Canadian probably paid alittle too much? But I don't care, I loves me some old cards.

BFG GTX 260 896mb MaxCore OC - Sapphire HD 3850 512 AGP - ASUS AGP V3800 Ultra TNT2 32mb - Radeon X1600 Pro 256Mb AGP - SoundBlaster Audigy 2

Edited by Robman 2017-11-11 11:26 PM

Brostenen

Posted 2017-11-13 1:26 PM (#1045 - in reply to #1044)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

TM Crusoe

Posts: 671
500

The mailman brought me this upscaler for my Amiga. I have tested it out, and it is working well.
It was well packed, and came with a manual and a power supply. Has component input and 23pin Amiga RGB.
Both the 23pin plug and the powersupply, have really long cables. And there is a dedicated on/off switch.
Love it.... :-P

Though not perfect, yet this is an external box, and things could be much much much worse.
It outputs too much green, yet this is nothing that can't be solved by lowering green on the monitor.
Got faint vertical spaghetti lines, just as ISA cards display on some flatscreen monitors.
This however, does not show up in every game. It does in workbench, yet not on Adams Family and so on.
I guess this has to do with what resolution the game or software will output.

It might have been a bit expensive, yet this is probably the best I can do compared to a real scandoubler.
All that said.... Looks great on an 21 inch IBM ThinkVision flatscreen monitor. :-P
And finally, I can make some use out of that monitor. Black, big and no glossy panel. Just a great monitor.

Finally.... I got an 1gb CF card for my Amiga CF-PCMCIA adaptor.... What a great day. :-)

(Upscaler-01.jpg)

(Upscaler-02.jpg)

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Old Guy 88

Posted 2017-11-13 8:37 PM (#1046 - in reply to #1038)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

Intel P5

Posts: 68

Location: N.E. Pennsylvania USA

Nice Collection, haven`t seen a video from you in a while.

DXZeff

Posted 2017-11-17 8:15 AM (#1047 - in reply to #1046)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

TM Crusoe

Posts: 618
500

Location: Hull, UK

You might be familiar with my 386/486DLC machine...

Kinda uses the same CPU as this board...

But there's something funny going on with this one...

(Not the monochrome, I was using a mono monitor, oddly this affects SpeedSys' PCX dump when the VGA card detects a mono monitor, I have no idea why - also, the sync of the AITech and ADDA cards in the first machine is weird and throws those mono screens off, but then, they're weird cards, so figures I guess)

Should add, this second board was obtained as broken, you'd probably have a heart attack if I showed you the NiCad rot it has.

Brostenen

Posted 2017-11-17 9:12 AM (#1048 - in reply to #1047)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

TM Crusoe

Posts: 671
500

Yes. That sounds a bit like the performance that I remember from my first computer. First one that I personally bought. Runs epic pinball a bit sluggish right? No way doom will run at decent speed.

DXZeff

Posted 2017-11-17 10:19 AM (#1049 - in reply to #1048)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

TM Crusoe

Posts: 618
500

Location: Hull, UK

Have not tried Epic Pinball, but Doom might be passable with a slightly shrunk screen, given the first system just about limps through already. I don't doubt Dark Forces would run well if I tried it on here. At the moment it has no permanent home and no drive of its own, given it wasn't meant to work at all. I still have to give it a bath to get rid of the battery rot that's going on, sure I cut the battery off but that stuff is still all over the board, under chips and in the slots, it needs a deep clean to get rid of it all. Hopefully that doesn't kill it, but if I leave it, it will get busted up anyway from continued corrosion.

The only problem it seems to have is that it reports a Keyboard error, despite the keyboard working. I guess a trace or component has gotten rotted out (most of the rot is on the keyboard port, but it seems the board was stored backside up) for detection, because literally nothing about the keyboard has problems once you F1 the message away. I'm not going to lose sleep trying to solve it, I'll just turn off the error messages in the BIOS and hope it doesn't get worse.

Edited by DXZeff 2017-11-17 10:22 AM

Brostenen

Posted 2017-11-17 12:09 PM (#1050 - in reply to #1049)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

TM Crusoe

Posts: 671
500

#DXZeff:
Have you tried fixing it with a solder iron and wires?

CyrixInstead

Posted 2017-11-24 12:32 PM (#1053 - in reply to #1050)
Subject: Re: Recently Played/Bought/Messed with

Intel P5

Posts: 85

Location: UK

Bought this little bundle of 386 goodies from fleabay. Not a terrible price(by todays standards) and tested and working. It pretty much replicates my first PC that I bought in 1993. Same board, but 33MHz mine was a 40MHz, same shitty Trident 9000B VGA and a bog ordinary Winbond I/O card. At least it has 4MB RAM, mine came with 2MB back then and I still remember shelling out £80 for the 2MB upgrade at the time!
I guess thats me finished now with getting 386 era hardware. Now have the 386 DX 25 system, the IBM PS/1 sx25 and this when it makes it here from Ukraine.

(386sx33.jpg)

(386 bundle.jpg)

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