VOGONS


First post, by Bancho

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Hi all! This is my first Systems Specs post and i want to show you my humble machine I am currently building and improving.

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It currently stands like this

Asus CUSL2-M motherboard
Intel Pentium III 733mhz Coppermine With Socket 462 Cooler and 80mm Fan (5V)
512 (2x256mb) Crucial PC133 CAS2 SD Ram
HIS Excalibur Radeon 9700 Pro
Aopen AW724 YMF724 PCI Sound Card
Adaptec USB 2.0 PCI Card
Hitachi Deskstar 160gb Hard Disk
Lite-On 52x CD-RW (Too Loud!!!)
Floppy Drive
M-ATX Case with 200 Watt PSU

It is Running windows 98SE which is a whole new learning experience for me again, having not used it for sooo many years. Not liking those numerous restarts 🤣!

To-Do List

Install a Tualatin 1400 from "The Korean Guy" When that arrives. It was shipped today (23/05/2016)
Replace the PSU with a higher quality unit.
"Retro-Bright" the front as its slightly yellowed.
Replaced that damn awful lite-on drive with a nice DVD drive. Its louder than my washing machine at full spin!
Try and configure the AW724 to work in DOS.
Enjoy playing lots of great games on it!

I hope you like my machine. I Plan on building a couple more machines once this is completed.

Reply 1 of 16, by Tetrium

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I think yours looks like a very nice first attempt at a build 😀

Your cable management is already on par (or in some cases even superior) with some of the other builds I've seen around here (including my own hehe 😁)

And I'd definitely replace the PSU with something better.
And don't forget to add a case fan 😜.

How's it running so far?

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 2 of 16, by archsan

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Tetrium wrote:

cable management

Ssshhh, don't bring up that subject! I've got a feeling there's some cable mgmt snobs 'round here turning up their nose at vogons builds. 😁

HIS Excalibur Radeon 9700 Pro

So you're the lucky one who got the R9700 Pro for cheap? 😀 Once I found a BNIB 9700 Pro (the original red box, Built By ATi) on some obscure online pc shop, but they never answered to my email... 🙁 Since then I haven't been looking for it though.

Anyway, I think the R9700 Pro paired with a P3 (even a Tualatin one) is a little out of place, but maybe it's just me. Athlon64 would've been my choice. Though if it works fine then it's alright.

More importantly, I would suggest you source a better PSU ASAP though, as that one you put in there doesn't look so assuring. 🤐

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."—Arthur C. Clarke
"No way. Installing the drivers on these things always gives me a headache."—Guybrush Threepwood (on cutting-edge voodoo technology)

Reply 4 of 16, by chinny22

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Good honest 98 build. Should be more then enough to play anything that doesn't like XP

Reply 5 of 16, by Bancho

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Thanks for the comments guys.

@Tetrium
Only issue i'm having with it at the moment is the 60hz Refresh bug with the catalyst drivers on Win98. Cannot get that refresh to change. I've read there are some registry fixes which i need to try out. Installed PowerYFM for the sound card and loaded the extended bank. Midi sounds really good. Just to get it working in DOS now.

The rear fan is a 92mm one. I have one somewhere. Just need to find it.

@archsan

I think there was a years difference from Tualatin Release (2001) and the 9700 Pro (2002)? I do have a GF4 4200ti too but which i'm sure i will try out along the line. 😀

Reply 6 of 16, by archsan

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Bancho wrote:

I think there was a years difference from Tualatin Release (2001) and the 9700 Pro (2002)?

Well, if you put it that way, yeah, it's not that out of place. 😁 I guess the GHz-pushing P4s messed up my memory there.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."—Arthur C. Clarke
"No way. Installing the drivers on these things always gives me a headache."—Guybrush Threepwood (on cutting-edge voodoo technology)

Reply 7 of 16, by sgt76

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Very nice build! That 9700 would go really nicely with the tualatin you got ordered. Both parts are c. 2002 so this wouldnt have been out of place early in the last decade as a nice tricked out P3 system.

Reply 8 of 16, by Bancho

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Today i replaced the PSU for a better quality unit. I was lucky enough to win 2 300watt Inwin Power Man PSU's off ebay for £5 delivered. Also tried to tidy the wiring up a bit more.

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Reply 9 of 16, by chinny22

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Bancho wrote:

Also tried to tidy the wiring up a bit more.

Damn, I think you succeeded!

Reply 10 of 16, by Bancho

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chinny22 wrote:
Bancho wrote:

Also tried to tidy the wiring up a bit more.

Damn, I think you succeeded!

Thanks dude! Some cable ties and a bit of time does wonders.

Reply 11 of 16, by Bancho

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Well my Tualatin 1400-S arrived today from The Korean guy so it was time to swap out the 733 Coppermine and get it installed.

Front Side
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Back Side showing adapter
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So i started to get the heatsink removed. Being a Socket A cooler it had the easier retention clip.
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Out with the old Coppermine 733mhz
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In with the New Tualatin 1400mhz. Just have to be mindful that the adapter adds a slight bit of height.
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Bent the retaining clip slightly to alleviate some of the force. Being a 3 prong clip should spread the force across the 2 tabs.
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Put fan back on, Power it on and Sucess.. Tualatin installed.
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The Machine is pretty much setup now how i want it hardware wise. I just need to install a Rear fan and replace the optical drive. Will run some benchmarks over the coming days and put it through its paces. Really pleased with how my first build has turned out.

Reply 12 of 16, by Jade Falcon

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Make sure you still have agp x4 support. That guys cpu's can disable that.

Reply 13 of 16, by FaSMaN

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Why not just use the pin-mod, I havent found any problems with mine yet...

Edit ,Looking at the photo a lot of the traces going from the CPU dont actually connect to anything, mostly just pads, without components connected to them....

Reply 14 of 16, by Bancho

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FaSMaN wrote:

Why not just use the pin-mod, I havent found any problems with mine yet...

Edit ,Looking at the photo a lot of the traces going from the CPU dont actually connect to anything, mostly just pads, without components connected to them....

For the cost of the Chip/Adapter delivered (£20) I thought it was much less hassle than having to get a chip and then try and mod it myself, with the potential to damage it in the process. Factor in that there appear to be no 1400 S chips on ebay in the UK meant i would have to have sourced from outside the UK anyways and the shipping costs would of made the chip more expensive, so i think i made the right decision.

Reply 15 of 16, by matze79

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Who is the Koran Guy ? i want to buy one too 😀

https://www.retrokits.de - blog, retro projects, hdd clicker, diy soundcards etc
https://www.retroianer.de - german retro computer board