Re: 8-bit guy gets ultra-rare NOS IBM (prototype?) from Computer Reset then proceeds to obliterate it

Posted on 2020-09-26, 15:05

by

by alfer

in Milliways

in Milliways

Errius wrote on 2020-09-26, 14:44: I think the C64/Amiga is his scene and he doesn't know/care much about PCs. Exactly.

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Re: 8-bit guy gets ultra-rare NOS IBM (prototype?) from Computer Reset then proceeds to obliterate it

Posted on 2020-09-26, 13:29

by

by alfer

in Milliways

in Milliways

An annoyed man decided it was a good day to short the mains. Then complained that he "wasted too much time on the project" by looking for a fuse. I respect the dude and all, but there are times (when you clearly make one wrong decision after another) you should stop and rethink your strategy. He …

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Re: Anyone went nuclear and replaced all AT PSUs with ATXs?

Posted on 2020-09-25, 22:54

by

by alfer

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

SodaSuccubus wrote on 2020-09-25, 22:49: maxtherabbit wrote on 2020-09-25, 22:44: Hell no. Switched mains in my case bezel till I die You can still use your big red front panel switch with certain AT-ATX adapters 😜 Sure (and that's what I'm going for), but technically it wouldn't be mains 😀.

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Re: Help identifying P54TA Socket 7 motherboard

Posted on 2020-09-25, 21:30

by

by alfer

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I think you are right, it could be a Supergrace SG-MVP3A5 or a PC Partner MVP3BS7-954, they are apparently identical :) Thanks for the help! Np. And on the topic of quality: It looks like a really nice small ss7 board. Am I wrong or are these a bit slower and not regarded as good? I would say it's …

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Re: Anyone went nuclear and replaced all AT PSUs with ATXs?

Posted on 2020-09-25, 21:15

by

by alfer

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

What about those new industrial AT power supplies? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/for-AT-power-industrial-computer-power-supply-SPI-300G-300W-power-supply/113668906050?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item1a7731dc42:g:uWgAAOSwtOVdK-ul&enc=AQAFAAACcBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%2Fn% …

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Re: Help identifying P54TA Socket 7 motherboard

Posted on 2020-09-25, 21:00

by

by alfer

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

SVD wrote on 2020-09-25, 20:53: Here you go 😊 It would not boot at 83×6=500mhz but boots fine at 66×6=400mhz. It's a 500mhz k6-2 so is it pci divider related maybe? Looks like SuperGrace S7 to me. Except the one I had had EliteMT chip in CPU socket.

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Anyone went nuclear and replaced all AT PSUs with ATXs?

Posted on 2020-09-25, 20:19

by

by alfer

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm tired of old fans, century-old dust and cheap crappy power. And it's not exactly a pleasant business to wait for one to die and take the best part of a system with it. In general I'm quite period correct, but this seems to be a reasonable compromise. I have no plans to run LAPC or PAS. I do want …

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Re: What game are you playing now?

Posted on 2020-09-25, 14:13

by

by alfer

in Milliways

in Milliways

More Pillars of Eternity for me. I've started doing some of the Companion quests and this game really has no bad companion picks, and all of them are very relatable. I especially love Eder and Sagani so far, and even an annoying guy like Aloth can become very dear quickly. I love the campaign's …

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Re: VLB SiS AMI CR2032/Dallas mainboards (WIP)

Posted on 2020-09-22, 12:36

by

by alfer

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thanks to Deksor's advice I was able to compile a list of mainboards that satisfy my criteria. I decided to include all the options with Dallas I could find as well. First post updated.

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Re: My set of rules for perfection

Posted on 2020-09-22, 12:28

by

by alfer

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I would also add: play the favorite games from your childhood on your retro rigs. Fire up some Duke3D on that Pentium 133. Use your Voodoo3 to bring out the best visuals in Diablo2 and Unreal Tournament. Just don't let your rig sit idly in the corner. ^%$@$$# How did I missed this one! I would add …

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Re: VLB66 machine vs ISA66 vs ISA33 in DOS games?

Posted on 2020-09-22, 10:22

by

by alfer

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Btw I do not know what VLB 66 and I never heard of it. I think he means how smooth is a VLB system with a DX/66 vs ISA system with the same CPU or a 33 Correct! Thanks for clearing the confusion, mate. No 3D chess here :-). I thought that DX2-66 is more suitable for an ISA build, that's all. But …

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VLB66 machine vs ISA66 vs ISA33 in DOS games?

Posted on 2020-09-21, 20:40

by

by alfer

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

It's as simple as that: 1. I have a socket 5-7 PC with p100-p133 for the ultimate DOS experience 2. I am building a 486 VLB machine with DX2 66 (mainly for sentimental reasons and to have a slow one for a few particular games), but have doubts if I'll fancy a classy non-VLB DX33 (66) more. 3. I will …

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Re: My set of rules for perfection

Posted on 2020-09-21, 16:44

by

by alfer

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

And as it often does, simple OCD-sharing deteriorates into a battle of the Ultimate Soundcards 😀.

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Re: Any Socket 3 VLB SiS AMI CR2032 mainboards other than AOpen VI15G?

Posted on 2020-09-21, 16:32

by

by alfer

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

TheMobRules wrote on 2020-09-21, 15:26: Is there a specific reason you are looking for one with the AMI WinBIOS? Yep. 486 without WinBios is not a 486 to me. Childhood impressions and all that sentimental nonsense 😀. I'm considering expanding the search by including anything with Dallas as well.

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Re: My set of rules for perfection

Posted on 2020-09-21, 12:31

by

by alfer

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

this thread makes me appreciate those of you who want authenticity above functionality, true reproductions of the past. It takes some more effort to achieve that. I believe that some of us (me included) achieve the lost functionality with "a few extra machines", thus negating all the cons. Glad too …

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Re: My set of rules for perfection

Posted on 2020-09-20, 22:09

by

by alfer

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

In retrocomputing: - I don't buy hardware from unfriendly sellers - Got rid off everything with SMD electrolytic capacitors and would never purchase or allow it to be gifted an item with such quality regardless of it's price and rarity - New old stock all the way, but since it's rarely possible - no …

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Re: Games that justify building a Windows XP PC

Posted on 2020-09-20, 21:41

by

by alfer

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

XP with 512 MB of RAM is really not a pleasant experience - at least, not SP3. (I'm still not convinced that SP2 would be much better.) I know! SP3 killed XP in my book. At least for machines with less than 1Gb of Ram. Would probably go for RTM or SP1 with P3. And to think it used to be smooth as …

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VLB SiS AMI CR2032/Dallas mainboards (WIP)

Posted on 2020-09-20, 21:29

by

by alfer

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

So I finally had it with procrastination and having all the hardware on hand decided to build my 3-year overdue DX66 machine. My current pick is Shuttle Hot-419. It is Opti-based and has a welded coin cell rechargeable battery (not from factory, though some revisions do have an actual battery holder …

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Re: Games that justify building a Windows XP PC

Posted on 2020-09-19, 22:40

by

by alfer

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I happen to have one such PC built, mostly because I had the parts and it felt like a fun project - but I am not sure I actually need it What if you are somone like me that never stopped using XP First of all, it should be mentioned that I love XP dearly and jealous of Warlord , who found a way to …

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Re: Does your collection / regular builds lean more towards AMD or Intel

Posted on 2020-09-19, 20:27

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by alfer

in Milliways

in Milliways

Never owned a single AMD machine, with a possible but highly unlikely exception of a laptop during university years. So it's quite natural that I pass along everything MicroDevicey that comes my way. Mostly it's just boring integrated 386/40 motherboards with leaky barrels. But ever since Intel …

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