First post, by kanecvr
- Rank
- Oldbie
Hi guys. I wanted to make a record of my current retro PC collection and share it with everyone here on vogons, so here it goes!
This post will be updated periodically as I upload pics of my other rigs witch I don't have at hand, so stay tuned! Also, if you have any questions about these machines or any particular component used, be it performance or configuration related, feel free to ask here or by PM. I'm always happy to help.
The "old man" - 386 machine
Components used:
- Am386-DX40 (soldered)
- SER 386-AD3 - ALi chipset, 128KB cache, supports 33 and 40MHz CPUs.
- 8x1MB 30 pin Siemens SIMM modules
- Cirrus Logic CL-GD5424 1MB /w EDO video ram
- Creative SB32 CT3910 (AWE32 w/o memory expansion modules)
- 3Com 3C5098-TPO ETHERLINK III ISA network card
- Goldstar serial controller card
- Adaptec AHA-1524C SCSI card
- early 90's AT case /w 200W PSU
- 1GB Toshiba MK537FB SCSI HDD
- Teac 3.5" FDD
- Sony 24x CD-ROM Drive
OS: MS-DOS 6.22
Picture Gallery: - click for bigger picture
Future plans for the build:
- replace CT3910 with Primax Music Sound M16C (Gravis Ultrasound CD3)
- bleach the case's face, bay panels, CD-Drive's face and tray cover
- remove rust, prime and respray metal case cover
- fix mouse not working in win 3.11 issue
UPDATED: Main DOS rig -> The high end 486 build
Components used:
- Cyrix 5x86-100GP @ 120MHz (3x40MHz FSB) /w enhancements enabled
- Lucky Tech LS486E SIS 496/497 chipset, 256kb cache
- 2x16MB 60ns 72-pin FMP ram
- ELSA S3 Virge
- Yamaha SW20-PC
- 3Com 3C5098-TPO ETHERLINK III ISA network card
- Shuttle AT case /w 200W PSU
- 4.3GB Seagate Medalist 4321 HDD
- Sony 3.5" FDD
- Samsung DVD-RW drive
OS: Windows 95 OSR2
Benchmark scores:
Speedsys CPU: 66.04 pts
3DBench: 90.9 fps
PC Player 3D Bench VGA mode: 22.1 fps
GL_Quake 640x480: 20.1 FPS
Big thanks to the members of the VOGONS comunity for helping me build and set up thins machine! Most notably HighTreason and Callahan for the CPU and FPM ram and Feipoa who helped me set up and configure the machine to run at it's full potential!
Picture Gallery: - click for bigger picture
Future plans for the build:
- acquire a 133MHz cyrix/ibm CPU or a 100/120MHz cyrix that can run at 133MHz (33x4 or 66x2)
- replace modern samsung DVD-RW with a reliable period looking CD-ROM drive.
Fast DOS / early windows games rig: The super socket 7 build.
Components used:
- AMD K6-II 450ACZ @ 550MHz (5.5x100MHz FSB)
- Lucky Tech P5MVP3-XX VIA MVP3 based board with VIA 686B ATA66 Southbridge
- 2x128MB Compaq PC100 SDR
- Creative CT6750 3DFX Voodoo Banshee AGP
- Creative AWE64 CT4830
- SMC 8432 PCI Network Card
- Miditower AT case with 230W Linkworld PSU
- 4.3GB Samsung SpinPoint VG34323A + 20GB Western Digital WD200
- Sony 3.5" FDD
- Sony DVD-CD-ROM combo Drive
OS: Windows 98 Second Edition
Picture Gallery: - click for bigger picture
This machine's case is a mess but I've had it for a long time and can't bare to part with it. It originally housed this motherboard and the K6-2 processor. It came with a 300w PSU but that died quite a while ago.
I use this machine for overkill dos gaming like playing Duke3D in VESA modes up to 800x600 and playing old Glide games like Carmageddon, Descent and others. Of course the latter work fine on my 586 build so this k6 doesn't see as much use anymore. Last game I finished on it is Dungeon Keeper.
"Ultra" Socket 7 rig:
- AMD K6-III+ 400ATZ @ 550MHz (5.5x100MHz FSB)
- AOpen AX59PRO VIA MVP3 based board
- 2x128MB Samsung PC100 SDR
- MSI Riva TNT2 PRO AGP
- Diamond Monster II Voodoo 2 8MB
- Yamaha DS-1 XG YMF-724
- SMC 8432 PCI Network Card
- Deluxe brand ATX case with 300W HP (delta electronics) PSU
- 20GB Western Digital hdd
- Sony 3.5" FDD
- Sony DVD-CD-ROM combo Drive
OS: Windows 98 Second Edition
Picture Gallery: - click for bigger picture
UPDATE: Dual socket 370 rig
Components used:
-2x Pentium III 1100MHz Coppermine (SL5QW), 11x100MHz running at 1463MHz (11x133MHz / 1.85v)
- MSI 694D PRO2 Via Appollo PRO 133T - this thing is equal measures of love and hate. Yes, it does dual-CPU. Yes it has unoficial Tualatin support (only the 2.0 version), but MSI has not bothered to release a Tualatin compatible bios for it, and getting AGP 4x cards to work is a real pain in the ass (unlike the 133A that does AGP 4x and fast-writes swimmingly)
- 1GB of PC133 SDRAM (2x512)
- Leadtek A280LE TD Geforce 4 Ti 4200 128MB AGP8x
- Creative Sound Blaster 128PCI CT4810
- Intel PRO100 Network Card
- Unknown modular server/workstation EATX case with 350W Modecom Feel PSU
- 80GB Maxtor Diamondmax 20 HDD
- 3xSeagate Cheetah 73GB SCSI HDD
- Adaptec PCI U320 SCSI controller
- Samsung 3.5" FDD
- Sony DVD-ROM / CD-CRW combo Drive
OS: Windows 98 Second Edition + Windows XP SP3
Picture Gallery: - click for bigger picture
Building this machine was not planned, rather I just happend to come across the parts by pure luck. The board came from a friend who owns a recycling center - payed 10 euro for it. I allready had the CPUs, and I stumbled upon the case at a PC repair shop yesterday by pure coincidence. They gave it to me for free since they were going to scrap it anyway. It's complete, with all mounting rails and board tabs. It also came with the combo drive and FDD used in the system.
Intel 440BX Pentium II build:
- Pentium II 400MHz
- Abit BE6-II i440 mainboard
- 256MB PC100 sd-ram
- STB Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
- Crative AWE64 Value CT4500
- 3Com Etherlink XL PCI LAN
- 40GB Maxtor DiamondMax 80 slim hdd
- Asus CD-RW
- Sony 3.5" FDD
- Intel? ATX case, unknown model
- 300W HP (Delta Electronics) PSU
Picture Gallery: - click for bigger picture
Pentium III Tualatin build:
- Pentium III Tualatin 1400MHz 512KB L2 cache
- Abit ST6 i815T mainboard
- 2x256MB PQI PC133 SDRAM
- Gigabyte FX5700 128MB
- 2xCreative CT6670 3D Blaster Voodoo 2 12MB in SLi
- 3Com Etherlink XL PCI LAN
- Yamaha DS-1 XG YMF-724
- 40GB Maxtor DiamondMax 80 slim hdd
- Benq CD-ROM
- Mitsumi 3.5" FDD
- Intel? ATX case, unknown model
- "450W" Deluxe brand PSU
Picture Gallery: - click for bigger picture
Ultra Socket A build (and also main retro-XP gaming machine):
- Athlon XP 3200+ 2333MHz FSB166 model + Arctic Cooling Copper Lite
- Abit AN7 nForce 2 Ultra400
- 2x1GB Crucial (micron) DDR400 CL3
- Sparkle Geforce FX5900XT 128MB
- 3Com Etherlink XL PCI LAN (on board lan is wonky - it sometimes refuses to detect the lan cable)
- Ralink 300mbps 802.11n dual band wifi card
- 80GB Samsung IDE HDD
- LG CD-RW drive
- Sony 3.5" FDD
- 400W FSP Group PSU with fat 5A rail
- Unknown (possibly JNC) ATX case, beige / blue
Picture Gallery: - click for bigger picture
This is one of my favorite machines. It's fast, quiet and period correct. I went all-out and used only top-of-the-line parts for this baby - the reason being I owned an nforce 2 based socket A Barton rig back in the day. It was a lot slower than this machine (Barton 2500+ / Epox 8RDA3 / 512MB DDR / Inno3D FX 5200 Ultra ) but it played everything. I even played Homeworld 2 and Black & White 2 on it when they came out. The 5200 ultra was kind of cool - like an FX5500 on steroids - it had BGA DDR and a dedicated power connector. The machine I built now has all the components I lusted over but could not afford, so it's one of the machines I dreamed about as a teenager.
The case I used to house the machine is not the best by far - I could have gone with one of my antec NSK cases, but back then in Romania these blue/beige JNC cases were really popular - cheap and sturdy, not too bad looking either. Large IT re-sellers used to sell their computers in such cases - UltraPRO in particular. The case reminds me of that time.
Future plans for the build:
- find a thermaltake bolt trough socket A full copper cooler
- add SB Live! or Audigy 2 ZS sound card - maybe even something a little more modern
- replace IDE HDD with a larger modern SATA hdd - 320 or 500GB and make a backup copy of my GOG collection on it
- cut side panel and add glass window + LED or CCFL lighting (PC tuning was taking off back in 2003-2004 - things like this were popular - they even featured mods in popular PC mags like XtremePC and Chip).
P4HT LGA775 overclocking build:
- 3.2GHz Pentium 4 641 2MB Cedar Mill - she does 4GHz on stock cooling 😁
- Abit AS8-V i865 mainboard
- 2x1GB Kingston HyperX DDR400 CL 2.5-3-2-7
- Gecube Radeon X800XT AGP 256MB
- Creative Audigy 2 ZS
- 40GB Maxtor DiamondMax 8 slim
- Toshiba-Samsung DVD-RW
- 450W IBOX PSU with strong 5v and 12v rails (weighs a ton too)
- Antec Two Hundred ATX case
Picture Gallery: - click for bigger picture
Future plans for the build:
- replace stock intel copper core cooler with an LGA775 tower cooler - something like a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO or similar
- replace P4 641 with the 3.8GHz P4 670 I ordered (when it arrives)
- replace Kingston HyperX ram with a set of OCZ Gold DDR500 overclocking ram
- replace stock X800XT cooling solution with an Arctic Cooling ATi silencer 5
- replace 40GB IDE HDD with 80GB SATA HDD
