@eindbaas

You seem to like DEC computers! I've only encountered one in the wild before (actually my college may have had some old ones waiting to be recycled but I can't really remember). I found a DEC Celebris GL 5133 in a skip probably around the year 2003. I have no idea why I can remember the model name/number so well! It was a squat tower that reminded me of the shape of Packard Bell PCs of the same era. I really liked the case design on them. Imagine my surprise as a teenager opening it up and seeing built in SCSI on the riser! Up to that point I thought it was only for 90s Macintosh computers and high end workstations/servers. I also remember decent integrated video and networking. Maybe it was a workstation? Certainly the highest end year 95/96 PC I had ever encountered. I was pleasantly surprised at the speed that Windows 95 ran on that thing with 32Mb RAM. Definitely my first experience using something of that era without crummy PIO mode IDE. I probably kept it for a few years using it for networked games of Age of Empires/Doom or something. No memory of when I got rid of it either but I wish I kept it! I do still have the DEC branded COAST module though for some reason.

b_riera wrote on 2024-03-19, 16:39:

@eindbaas

You seem to like DEC computers! I've only encountered one in the wild before (actually my college may have had some old ones waiting to be recycled but I can't really remember). I found a DEC Celebris GL 5133 in a skip probably around the year 2003. I have no idea why I can remember the model name/number so well! It was a squat tower that reminded me of the shape of Packard Bell PCs of the same era. I really liked the case design on them. Imagine my surprise as a teenager opening it up and seeing built in SCSI on the riser! Up to that point I thought it was only for 90s Macintosh computers and high end workstations/servers. I also remember decent integrated video and networking. Maybe it was a workstation? Certainly the highest end year 95/96 PC I had ever encountered. I was pleasantly surprised at the speed that Windows 95 ran on that thing with 32Mb RAM. Definitely my first experience using something of that era without crummy PIO mode IDE. I probably kept it for a few years using it for networked games of Age of Empires/Doom or something. No memory of when I got rid of it either but I wish I kept it! I do still have the DEC branded COAST module though for some reason.

Had a Celebris GL 5133 a few pages back in this thread: Re: Retro Rig Photo Thread

davidrg wrote on 2024-03-20, 00:11:

Had a Celebris GL 5133 a few pages back in this thread: Re: Retro Rig Photo Thread

Wow I had no idea they were that expensive! A really unusual buy in Ireland for 1995 that's for sure (especially because tech cost a lot more there even today) so I'm wondering was it passed down to the house I found it outside? I looked through my photos and it looks like I still had it in October 2006. I kept it longer than I thought!. Funny because the CD ROM was dead in mine so I swapped in something else and it looks like yours isn't on the original either. I vaguely remember it had a dead laser. Just wouldn't read any discs. It was probably the first time I had experienced a dead laser with a PC CD-ROM.
It didn't have a 5 1/4" drive either but I'm assuming that wasn't a default option in a computer from 1995. Mine had an OEM install of Windows 95. I'm remembering now it had both a SCSI and an IDE drive. A larger IDE drive was added at some point as it was definitely much newer.

b_riera wrote on 2024-03-20, 14:05:

davidrg wrote on 2024-03-20, 00:11:

Had a Celebris GL 5133 a few pages back in this thread: Re: Retro Rig Photo Thread

Wow I had no idea they were that expensive! A really unusual buy in Ireland for 1995 that's for sure (especially because tech cost a lot more there even today) so I'm wondering was it passed down to the house I found it outside? I looked through my photos and it looks like I still had it in October 2006. I kept it longer than I thought!. Funny because the CD ROM was dead in mine so I swapped in something else and it looks like yours isn't on the original either. I vaguely remember it had a dead laser. Just wouldn't read any discs. It was probably the first time I had experienced a dead laser with a PC CD-ROM.
It didn't have a 5 1/4" drive either but I'm assuming that wasn't a default option in a computer from 1995. Mine had an OEM install of Windows 95. I'm remembering now it had both a SCSI and an IDE drive. A larger IDE drive was added at some point as it was definitely much newer.

I think the Celebris GL was one step below top-of-the-line. The next machine up, the Celebris XL, had its CPU(s) on a daughter card - single or dual processor Pentium at first with Pentium Pro and Alpha options added later. If it was found outside a house then yeah, it was probably passed down. DEC never targeted consumers outside of Starion PCs (and those were more targeted at small businesses rather than consumers). And I expect it was mostly just businesses that had already invested in higher-end DEC hardware (Alphas and VAXen) that bought their PCs.

My machine is at least 3rd hand - a previous owner put that CD-ROM drive in and it was missing the other two 5.25" blanks. The correct ones are very similar to (the same as?) the grey ones in the Prioris LX (mine, eindbaas) but I don't have any spare so I put the 5.25" FDD in and found a blank that kind of fits, though not very well.

my two most recent builds. i think i'm done for a while after this.

i couldn't fit my orchid kelvin mpeg in my leading edge winpro 486e so i built a new one.
generic case (has inwin feel), dfi g486-vpp, intel dx4-100 overdrive (write back enabled), 16mb ram, orchid kelvin mpeg vlb, soundblaster 16 ct2830.

this one fills a few holes in my collection. pentium pro, banshee, windows nt 4.
antec ks-282, intel vs440fx, pentium pro 200 1mb @ 233, 128mb ram, maxi gamer phoenix banshee pci, soundblaster live.

wirerogue wrote on 2024-03-25, 16:35:

my two most recent builds. i think i'm done for a while after this. […]
Show full quote

my two most recent builds. i think i'm done for a while after this.

i couldn't fit my orchid kelvin mpeg in my lead edge winpro 486e so i built a new one.
generic case (has inwin feel), dfi g486-vpp, intel dx4-100 overdrive (write back enabled), 16mb ram, orchid kelvin mpeg vlb, soundblaster 16 ct2830.
dx4.100.overdrive.orchid.kelvin.mpeg.interior.jpg
dx4.100.overdrive.orchid.kelvin.mpeg.front.jpg

this one fills a few holes in my collection. pentium pro, banshee, windows nt 4.
antec ks-282, intel vs440fx, pentium pro 200 1mb @ 233, 128mb ram, maxi gamer phoenix banshee pci, soundblaster live.
pentium.pro.3dfx.banshee.interior.jpg
pentium.pro.3dfx.banshee.front.jpg

nice, that pentium pro machine is a tidy looking high performer!

The 1998 gaming rig
Majority of its has an 1998 manufacturing date and older. OS, BIOS, PSU, HDD, FDD are the only parts newer than 1998. Monitor and keyboard are just what I have on hand.
I though it would be a bit of pain of trying to install Win98se using scsi cd rom and scsi drive. Win98se found the drivers it needed to install with no issues.

Intel Pentium ii 450mhz SL358
Asus P2B-S rev 1.03
128MB x2 Micron PC100 CL2
Asus V3400TNT rev 1.03
Techworks 3Dfx Voodoo 2 (SLI would be cool, but not at current prices)
Sound blaster live! CT4620
Sound blaster live! drive CT4860
Sound blaster AWE 64 Gold
Seagate Cheetah 36GB SCSI 68pin HDD
Plextor PX-R820TS SCSI
Plextor Ultra PX-32CSi SCSI
Antec SL400 400watt
Sony MPF920z floppy
InWin Q500N tower
Windows 98se
Altec lansing ACS 500 sound system

wirerogue wrote on 2024-03-25, 16:35:

my two most recent builds. i think i'm done for a while after this. […]
Show full quote

my two most recent builds. i think i'm done for a while after this.

i couldn't fit my orchid kelvin mpeg in my leading edge winpro 486e so i built a new one.
generic case (has inwin feel), dfi g486-vpp, intel dx4-100 overdrive (write back enabled), 16mb ram, orchid kelvin mpeg vlb, soundblaster 16 ct2830.
dx4.100.overdrive.orchid.kelvin.mpeg.interior.jpg
dx4.100.overdrive.orchid.kelvin.mpeg.front.jpg

this one fills a few holes in my collection. pentium pro, banshee, windows nt 4.
antec ks-282, intel vs440fx, pentium pro 200 1mb @ 233, 128mb ram, maxi gamer phoenix banshee pci, soundblaster live.
pentium.pro.3dfx.banshee.interior.jpg
pentium.pro.3dfx.banshee.front.jpg

Nice machine!

Asmodeusbell wrote on 2024-04-03, 05:01:

The 1998 gaming rig Majority of its has an 1998 manufacturing date and older. OS, BIOS, PSU, HDD, FDD are the only parts newer t […]
Show full quote

The 1998 gaming rig
Majority of its has an 1998 manufacturing date and older. OS, BIOS, PSU, HDD, FDD are the only parts newer than 1998. Monitor and keyboard are just what I have on hand.
I though it would be a bit of pain of trying to install Win98se using scsi cd rom and scsi drive. Win98se found the drivers it needed to install with no issues.

Intel Pentium ii 450mhz SL358
Asus P2B-S rev 1.03
128MB x2 Micron PC100 CL2
Asus V3400TNT rev 1.03
Techworks 3Dfx Voodoo 2 (SLI would be cool, but not at current prices)
Sound blaster live! CT4620
Sound blaster live! drive CT4860
Sound blaster AWE 64 Gold
Seagate Cheetah 36GB SCSI 68pin HDD
Plextor PX-R820TS SCSI
Plextor Ultra PX-32CSi SCSI
Antec SL400 400watt
Sony MPF920z floppy
InWin Q500N tower
Windows 98se
Altec lansing ACS 500 sound system

Serious config, and BX is the most stable retro chipset.

Asmodeusbell wrote on 2024-04-03, 05:01:

The 1998 gaming rig Majority of its has an 1998 manufacturing date and older. OS, BIOS, PSU, HDD, FDD are the only parts newer t […]
Show full quote

The 1998 gaming rig
Majority of its has an 1998 manufacturing date and older. OS, BIOS, PSU, HDD, FDD are the only parts newer than 1998. Monitor and keyboard are just what I have on hand.
I though it would be a bit of pain of trying to install Win98se using scsi cd rom and scsi drive. Win98se found the drivers it needed to install with no issues.

Intel Pentium ii 450mhz SL358
Asus P2B-S rev 1.03
128MB x2 Micron PC100 CL2
Asus V3400TNT rev 1.03
Techworks 3Dfx Voodoo 2 (SLI would be cool, but not at current prices)
Sound blaster live! CT4620
Sound blaster live! drive CT4860
Sound blaster AWE 64 Gold
Seagate Cheetah 36GB SCSI 68pin HDD
Plextor PX-R820TS SCSI
Plextor Ultra PX-32CSi SCSI
Antec SL400 400watt
Sony MPF920z floppy
InWin Q500N tower
Windows 98se
Altec lansing ACS 500 sound system

Beautiful machine 😃

Asmodeusbell wrote on 2024-04-03, 05:01:

The 1998 gaming rig Majority of its has an 1998 manufacturing date and older. OS, BIOS, PSU, HDD, FDD are the only parts newer t […]
Show full quote

The 1998 gaming rig
Majority of its has an 1998 manufacturing date and older. OS, BIOS, PSU, HDD, FDD are the only parts newer than 1998. Monitor and keyboard are just what I have on hand.
I though it would be a bit of pain of trying to install Win98se using scsi cd rom and scsi drive. Win98se found the drivers it needed to install with no issues.
.........
Sound blaster live! CT4620
Sound blaster live! drive CT4860
........

Did you connect the Live! with the Live! drive after taking this photo ?

I'd like to share my latest build. Actually, I should really call it a rebuild as most of the components I've owned since new.
My goal was to recreate a Windows gamer system (no DOS) based on hardware and software from '98 to mid 2001. DX9 arrived around mid 2001 and by October, XP. I wanted to make it easy for someone else to use in the future.

The case chassis suffered corrosion and internal fluid stains so, having a media blast cabinet, I disassembled, cleaned and painted it. It was a good time to modify the motherboard tray (removable on this case) to enable hiding some of the wiring. Looks weird, but I wanted the CF card out back so had to fabricate an extension on the secondary IDE. I do like that Rainbow and now find myself looking at that SLI cable...

Using DirectX 8.1, I found my first choice nVidia GeForce2 Ti (Oct.'01) struggled with later titles so cheated a bit there. Also, added some Asus squirrel cage fans for extra cooling and lowered the front case fan to 5v making it relatively quiet.

- MSI MS-6119 ATX BX2 v1.1 w/PII 450 - 12/98
- 384mb PC100 SDRAM
- MSI GForce4 Ti4200-VTD8X 128MB - 02/02
- Creative 3D Blaster VooDoo2 12mb SLI - 02/98, 8/98
- Creative Sound Blaster AWE64 CT4500 - 04/09
- DFE 530tx Rev.B - 02/98
- CF-IDE Adapter
- Maxtor DiamondMax 80GB x2 (Backup Image) - 06/01
- HP CD_Writer+ 7200 - 06/98
- Panasonic JU475 5.25" DSHD & 3.5" HD Floppy drives
- LITEON PS-5251-08 250w p/s

Titles requiring physical media are virtually inserted without any user input. It's a pretty solid install now but getting there was difficult. Brought back memories of poorly written installers overwriting system files. I lost count of how many times I had to reinstall Windows, Service Packs and drivers and many times I found myself just walking away from it. This is supposed to be fun, right?

But now that it's finished, I'm really happy with it. 😊

Additional:

Superb work restoring that case, very nice job. Great build!

AndrettiGTO wrote on 2024-04-05, 22:16:

Additional:

Beautiful work. That system looks great!

AndrettiGTO wrote on 2024-04-05, 22:15:

The case chassis suffered corrosion and internal fluid stains so, having a media blast cabinet, I disassembled, cleaned and painted it. It was a good time to modify the motherboard tray (removable on this case) to enable hiding some of the wiring. Looks weird, but I wanted the CF card out back so had to fabricate an extension on the secondary IDE. I do like that Rainbow and now find myself looking at that SLI cable...

Great looking system. I have this case or a clone of it. Never imagined disassembling it so thoroughly and completely as you did. A beige LCD? Never thought they existed. Or is that a custom paint too?

Thanks everyone, appreciate the compliments! Good eye, the Samsung 15” was originally black/silver. I added internal speakers and painted it. Stupidly tossed VGA monitors that I now wish I’d kept.

I’ve seen a few beige LCD monitors but prices kept me away.

AndrettiGTO wrote on 2024-04-05, 22:16:

Additional:

Yes! That kind of over-the-top cable management in retro systems is my jam, love it. 😈

AndrettiGTO wrote on 2024-04-06, 19:18:

Thanks everyone, appreciate the compliments! Good eye, the Samsung 15” was originally black/silver. I added internal speakers and painted it. Stupidly tossed VGA monitors that I now wish I’d kept.

I’ve seen a few beige LCD monitors but prices kept me away.

I have this 'white' model:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/235096727128
Dell U2412M 1920x1200 IPS (VGA, DVI-D, DP)

Not quite as easy to find now, but bought it brand new a few years ago.
But at £23.99 it might be worth a shot (if CA postage does not get too high).
(not sure if available anywhere in Canada?)
Locally I see someone selling gently used black ones (office surplus) for a mere $30 USD a piece (100eds in stock).

PS: but if 15inch is what is required, then that one might not be suitable 😊
(still has a 4:3 aspect setting, + it is a 1920x1200 though)

bestemor wrote on 2024-04-06, 23:33:

I have this 'white' model:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/235096727128
Dell U2412M 1920x1200 IPS (VGA, DVI-D, DP)[/quote]

I don't think that's a 4:3 aspect, maybe 16:9?

bestemor wrote on 2024-04-06, 23:33:

PS: but if 15inch is what is required, then that one might not be suitable 😊
(still has a 4:3 aspect setting, + it is a 1920x1200 though)

Not necessarily a 15" but native 1024x768 would be ideal for this sort of build.
Darn you for sending that link, ended up browsing for far too long... 😁