Optiplex GX110 Drive Tray

Posted on 2018-09-08, 01:04

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I purchased some Optiplex GX110s (low profile chassis) from a local government auction. Neat computers, in good condition, built like tanks. I'm surprised they were still in use, actually. Most government auction stuff nowadays is Core2 or newer. The resellers wouldn't touch them, as they're too old …

---

Re: ATI Rage Fury Maxx

Posted on 2018-08-29, 04:30

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Updated the BIOS on the Compaq, no luck. So I transferred the card to a Gateway P3-450, and it appears to be working -- display normal, warm reboots and doesn't lock up. Haven't actually installed the drivers yet. It will be Win98 -- I think this card is limited to that anyway. Still a mystery why …

---

Re: ATI Rage Fury Maxx

Posted on 2018-08-29, 03:11

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Well, surprisingly it wasn't the power supply! I tried another, much higher rated one and have the same problem. Time to look for a BIOS update, and if that doesn't work, try the card in another machine...

---

Re: ATI Rage Fury Maxx

Posted on 2018-08-28, 13:17

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Good ideas, thanks! I will attempt to find the latest BIOS, though it might be hard to locate. And I have also suspected the power supply, wondering if the 145W monster that Compaq put into this thing is up to the task of running this card. Right now the machine pulls 57W at idle...

---

ATI Rage Fury Maxx

Posted on 2018-08-28, 04:22

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I got this Rage Fury Maxx with a truckload of computer stuff I bought awhile ago and am just getting around to testing it. I have heard stories that this card can be....difficult. I decided to try it out in a Compaq Prosignia running a Celeron 400 with the 440ZX chipset. Neat machine, with probably …

---

Re: What happened to all those beautiful systems

Posted on 2018-07-29, 00:40

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I bought a Compaq Proliant 1600 at a community college auction probably 4 years ago. It was missing the front access panel and one of the side panels. The other folks there that were buying Core2 Dells to resell thought it was hilarious. Paid $5 for it. Of course, I had to track down the missing …

---

Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2017-11-06, 02:02

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Bought this kludgetastic computer off of EBay, primarily for the case. Probably paid too much, but I have an Intel PR440fx board with dual P2 overdrives that needs an ATX case that is period accurate, and this large tower looks like it will fit the bill! At least, it looks period accurate -- I hope …

---

Re: Turbo Switch Options

Posted on 2017-10-06, 16:46

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Well, before I mess with any switches, I tried shorting pins 1 & 2, 2 & 3, and 1 &3, and running Maxspeed. CPU speed didn't change, kept displaying 23-24 (it's an AMD 386-SX25). It could be though that the turbo switch doesn't do anything for the clock speed but might disable cache instead. I guess …

---

Turbo Switch Options

Posted on 2017-10-06, 03:24

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Well, I had this old, empty case sitting around, and a 386 board that needed a home. Pics attached. It was kind of a kludge getting it to fit -- the case didn't even have a power button installed, and even the PC speaker was gone. It's all working well now, but I kinda wanted to install a turbo …

---

Re: Generic Compact Flash Cards

Posted on 2017-09-16, 23:45

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Yeah, figured that something that costs 1/3 the price of a name brand product can't be all that great. I might buy a couple small ones though and use them in non-critical DOS machines that need some sort of fixed disk. I'll keep them in one of those slot-style CF-IDE adapters that I can switch out …

---

Generic Compact Flash Cards

Posted on 2017-09-16, 03:13

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm curious if anyone has had any experience using those no-name compact flash cards you find on EBay in the CF-IDE adapters on your retro rigs. I've always used Sandisk brand to be safe, but the no-names are so very cheap, and I need to purchase a couple more. Anyone have any input?

---

Re: Question about 90s laptops

Posted on 2017-01-28, 00:43

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm surprised there aren't any more floppy defenders on here. :) Floppies were the most practical method of file transfer until Windows XP era. CDRs were one time use, and expensive back then, and CDRWs were slow, expensive, and didn't work on all CD drives. USB drives didn't become really …

---

Re: Those "New" AT Cases on EBay

Posted on 2017-01-09, 15:38

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Just because such prices for RARE!!!!11/NOS/Boxed old products are common and we're getting used to them, it doesn't also mean that they're logical/fair. Right now I so wish I hadn't thrown away all my old 1990s computer magazines a few years back, because if I showed you how crazily expensive old …

---

Re: Those "New" AT Cases on EBay

Posted on 2017-01-09, 03:34

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Yep, those are the ones. Full tower with LED display? Yes please. But not for $150.00.

---

Those "New" AT Cases on EBay

Posted on 2017-01-09, 00:49

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Forgive me, this may have already been asked before, but are those "new" full tower AT cases being sold on EBay modern reproductions or new old stock? Man they look nice, but way too expensive.... Just curious...

---

Re: What machines did you use in High School?

Posted on 2015-08-20, 03:52

by

by Gramcon

in Milliways

in Milliways

Great thread! My mom was a teacher when I was in elementary school and was allowed to bring home a computer during the summer, an Apple IIc. I still remember playing Lode Runner , Marble Madness and G.I. Joe on that thing -- good times. When I was a freshman in high school, our computer lab sported …

---

Re: Crazy system requirements for its time

Posted on 2014-09-15, 03:09

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Surprised no one has mentioned original Unreal. From the jewel case: System Requirements: P166 (200MMX recommended) 16MB RAM (32MB recommended) Video: PCI local bus video card I bought it thinking it would be fine on my P233MMX with 64 MB of RAM if I recall correctly. No 3d accelerator. Chugged …

---

Re: What were your first computer(s)?

Posted on 2014-09-13, 04:26

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

My first computer was a Gateway 2000 486DX2-66 my parents bought me while I was in high school. With a 14" CrystalScan monitor It cost $1,700.00. Had a Vibra16 sound card and ran WFW 3.11 on top of DOS 6.22. They saved $200.00 by getting it with 4MB instead of 8MB of RAM (that's right, RAM used to …

---

Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2014-09-09, 01:29

by

by Gramcon

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Normally I don't find anything retro at the local Goodwill (most of the time it's a P4 boneyard), but today was different. Scored these two boards for $5 each. http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p515/jmanthony1/P1010035_zps8c7c4e6e.jpg Unknown late-model 486 board with PS/2 mouse and keyboard jacks …

---

Re: Has anyone ran Privateer 2 on a real system?

Posted on 2014-08-15, 07:53

by

by Gramcon

in DOS

in DOS

Maybe it is a subjective thing. I wish there was a display FPS option, it is hard for me to tell. My definition of smooth is basically no stuttered speech or flight, you know, basically fluid and how I remember it was from playing back in the day. But then again, I never had 3d acceleration growing …

---