Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Posted on 2020-10-22, 13:25
That CD-ROM drive is pretty gorgeous! MPC2 for the win 😀
Re: Worst Nightmare ? Athlon X2 PC from Trash to Treasure
Posted on 2020-10-18, 00:21
Yes but i don`t have Cheap Replacement PSUs :-) and avoiding E-Waste is good for your Environment. Last time I tried properly washing a PSU, it exploded after I powered it up, probably didn't dry it enough. Since then, been just content with brushing them clean (and maybe more aggressive PSU fan/ …
Re: Worst Nightmare ? Athlon X2 PC from Trash to Treasure
Posted on 2020-10-16, 19:25
Kudos for having the persistence to clean it up. I normally would have thrown that PSU away .... but would have washed the motherboard/case/other parts in a strong dishwashing liquid solution, then dry in oven. When use parts for years and years in computers, they often almost that dirty anyway …
Re: Retro Hardware Collecting rants
Posted on 2020-10-09, 11:43
How about when someone on a site posts: AT Computer Motherboard 8 ISA Slots for sale. Condition:“Tested & Working” And this is the picture.... Hmmm sure that should work just fine w/o the BIOS chip and KBC but what do I know ;p Lol, no chance in hell he had that going, with SIPP memory modules …
Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Posted on 2020-09-24, 10:55
kolderman wrote on 2020-09-24, 01:12: Back in the day when they made capacitors right. When they exploded, they did so properly, and filled the room with acrid smoke letting you know that its ok that you just crapped your pants when it went bang! I'm referring to both RIFA safety paper capacitors, …
Re: Retro Hardware Collecting rants
Posted on 2020-09-23, 10:57
That is nothing: I received an ISA ethernet card snapped in half through the post. The seller refunded it and sent me another one free of charge as way of apology for that one.
Re: SB16 Nirvana
Posted on 2020-08-31, 11:51
When you say these cards have poor output quality, is this in the context of other SB16? Or compared to SoundBlaster cards in general? I'm trying to find the ideal SB16. While I agree that the CT1790 is an older card, I view the CT2940 as a late model SB16. I plan to use either card in a DOS-based …
Re: Micro ATX 486 - what's the degree of interest?
Posted on 2020-08-31, 11:36
If we're still talking about integrating the video onto the board, instead of requiring users to supply their own PCI or ISA video card, then sure, it would be terrific to find a video chip that does all of those things. I would argue that the video chip's VGA / VESA performance in DOS is way more …
Re: Sound Blaster 16 Clones
Posted on 2020-08-30, 03:55
I tested my ALS100 today. Have not tested sound floor today, but doesn't seem unusually bad so far. Will need to plug headphones in and test. One thing i noticed is that it automatically outputs PC speaker sound without a PC speaker cable. It must be listening on the timer ports and generating PC …
Re: Micro ATX 486 - what's the degree of interest?
Posted on 2020-08-30, 03:46
Yeah, damn dopey idea to put a 3dfx on a 486. The 486 isn't fast enough to run the sort of games that want a 3dfx card, so you would be basically doing it for the lulz. Fine, I get it, you want to play around with a 486 with a Voodoo card in it .... well then fine. Get yourself a voodoo 1 or 2, a …
Re: SB16 Nirvana
Posted on 2020-08-30, 03:36
The CT2940 is a PnP card, the CT1790 isn't PnP. They will both probably have poor quality output so mixer tuning will be a must, as is common from older sound blasters. The CT2940 is not going to work well with a wavetable due to bugs. But the CT1790 should be OK. If the system is PnP, i'd choose a …
Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Posted on 2020-08-29, 01:00
luckybob wrote on 2020-08-28, 21:43: The dark pins are "normal". Mine is identical. Yep, mine is like that too (IBM Blue Lightening CPU) ... no need to clean it as it works fine.
Re: Types of capacitors to recap computer stuff (motherboard and PSU)
Posted on 2020-08-28, 15:52
Another question on this actually since you look like you have the know. I have a motherboard that uses some small value lytics near the CPU, two 25v10u and a 25v22u. Their footprint means they cannot be replaced by polymer, but ceramics exist with that footprint. Is there any reason a ceramic …
Re: Types of capacitors to recap computer stuff (motherboard and PSU)
Posted on 2020-08-28, 15:50
so for PSU built in the athlon xp /pentium4 era i should replace with LOW ESR caps? or can i use Normal ones? Computer PSUs normally use low ESR capacitors, but usually not ultra low esr capacitors. Like computer motherboards, try to match what the existing caps are in terms of ESR, voltage, …
Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Posted on 2020-08-25, 16:25
Woot Filename s-l1600 (2).jpg File size 255.82 KiB Views 279 views Finally a 2 meg 64-bit VLB accelerator card for my 486 😀 Now just have to wait 2 months for postage!
Re: Quality of Life Programs and Additions
Posted on 2020-08-24, 12:51
I have updated the bios on several of my boards in the past to get more CPU support and some of those also provided for more storage as well. Unfortunately my socket 5 Dell Optiplex GL5100 last bios update did not do the trick. I was curious to see if there was a Mr.Bios upgrade for it using …
Re: Quality of Life Programs and Additions
Posted on 2020-08-24, 11:12
My first quality of life addition to motherboards is to get an ethernet card with XT-IDE bios on it. The XT-IDE bios means you can use a modern, oversized hard drives in the computer, even if the original BIOS doesn't work with them. Means you have enough hard drive space and it is quiet. Then you …
Re: Fastest ISA video card for Doom
Posted on 2020-08-24, 11:01
DOOM works pretty ok on my 486-DX2/66 with S3 805 VLB video card. (full screen) I presume it would struggle though with an ISA card, no matter how much fernagled the settings on it. The 486DLC is going to be pretty rough experience with DOOM, although a card like Tseng Labs ET4000 would make it it …
Re: ESS AudioDrive (ES1868) - a surprisingly good ISA sound card
Posted on 2020-08-14, 13:59
Just ordered another ESS card off ebay (an ES1868, since all mine are ES1869 cards)
Re: ESS AudioDrive (ES1868) - a surprisingly good ISA sound card
Posted on 2020-08-14, 12:27
Erm Bubble Bobble works in my ESS1869 so, maybe something wrong with machine setup. Yamaha-OplSAx cards are not more compatible, ok they have genuine OPL3 core, but ESFM is totally fine, but the resampling and ADPCM, there ESS wins. Strange, I couldn't get Sound working in Bubble Bobble on my ESS …
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