Hello, World! :D - Robert B's PC builds - oogle away freely :)

[Robert B]

Dole & Kom - Phara Oh (Original Mix)

NO SPEED LIMITS!!!



More later.

[Vaudane]

*frantically takes notes about your restore so as to apply to my 386*

Looking good Looks like you could get some authentic unreal tournament on the go here.

*hint hint lanparty* *hint hint other retrogamers* *hint hint lots of photographs*

[Robert B]

Will do!

It seems that the PGA slotkets allow running dual Celerons with 128KB cache. My two different generic slotkets already have a connection between the AN15 in B75 I'll post all the info I have gathered when I get to clean the P6DLS. I really like this board and the fact that the manufacturer still has the BIOS update on his internet page. A respectable company I must say.



In the manual the max CPU supported are PII 333MHz with 66MHz bus and Celerons.

The fact that the motherboard has the VRM chipset CS5155 allows me to run Celeron A CPUs. AWESOME!

You can use Google Translate on this russian site.

http://www.phantom.sannata.ru/konkurs/2017/kt1701.shtml

The MAGIC TICKET.



It is the first time when I like the locked multuplier of a CPU

The jumper settings are stated up to x6 multiplier so anything above this is a WIN.

https://www.supermicro.com/manuals/moth ... NL-607.pdf

I'm sure that I can run dual 533MHz Celerons. That will be the absolute max. The chipset is 440LX. Bios is STOCK lastest version.

https://www.supermicro.com/support/bios/archive.cfm

More later.

[Robert B]

Flea market day today. There was a lot to choose from but I bought only what I really really wanted.

Compaq OEM Geforce 2 GTS 32MB - looks close to my Creative 3D Blaster Annihilator2 Geforce 2 GTS.
WAIMEA 316903700001 R01
179642-001

Intel 80486 overdrive DX4ODPR100 - SZ959 v1.1 - my second one, this time with the heatsink

[Robert B]

Imagination - Just An Illusion

ASUS K7M v 1.04 AMD 750/VIA 686A Slot-A motherboard

Until not long ago, I wasnt interested in SLOT A stuff. I knew about them but I didnt see them in the flesh. This changed after I bought my first slot A motherboard with the AMD 750 Irongate chipset and a few Slot A CPUs. Now, they are a must for me and I buy them without blinking.

The motherboard featured in this episode was found in a tired old case, at the flea market, in my city, right under my nose. The icing on the cake was that it came with an AMD K7 - AMD-A0800MPR24B A 800MHz Thunderbird core CPU. My first and only Thundebird Slot A CPU. What were the odds of me finding these goddies in a place like that? I'm sure I've seen that case a few times on separate visits to the flea market before I decided to see what's inside.

The cleaning and testing of the K7 800MHz TB CPU was done in the episode TwO SLOTS.

viewtopic.php?p=663241#p663241

The testing was done on the motherboard featured in this episode.

This Asus K7M V 1.04 is my second one and I hope that in the future I'll find and buy more SLOT A stuff.

My first K7M V1.04 was presented in the links bellow.

viewtopic.php?p=577187#p577187
viewtopic.php?p=577192#p577192
viewtopic.php?p=577196#p577196
viewtopic.php?p=582185#p582185

My first K7M V1.04 (the one with the integrated sound) wasnt overclocking friendly. The second K7M V1.04 (the one without the integrated sound), worked like a dream. Maybe the K7 800MHz TB was responsbile for this. Meanwhile I bought the MiniPRO TL866A BIOS programmer and I can play safely with BIOS versions. No more stress or damaged BIOS chips.

Because I found this motherboard in a case, its condition is almost perfect. Besides some dust and grime there was nothing to be repaired or replaced.

A perfect candidate for the cleaning operation.



While I prepared the motherboard for cleaning I also removed the northbridge heatsink because it moved freely. To my amazement I saw that it didnt have any thermal paste, thermal adhesive or even a thermal pad. What the ....



I cleaned well the elements that I removed.



I protected the PCB ink stamps against IPA 99%.



I did my magic. I took my sweet time and I didnt rush anything. I took more time to clean this particular board. With each componet I clean, I get better and the steps I take have almost become a reflex. Experience tells me where and how much I have to insist to obtain the desired results.



FANTASTIC RESULTS!



Arctic MX-4. 'nuff said!



Dream build candidate sometime down the line...



gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/1vu9g3zma/

NEXT EPISODE: Abit SA6!



More later.

[Robert B]

Trans-X - Living On Video (Official Music Video)

S370 - Revisiting an old friend. Abit SA6 V1.1

Ahhh, S370 takes me back a long time ago, when I bought my second PC. After the AMD 586-133MHz I switched over to Intel.

Taking into consideration that the price of Pentium II CPUs was stratospheric, I had to choose the next best thing, THE MIGHTY CELERON A!. K6-2 was not for me.

Uh yeah! I bought a MSI-6154 / 440ZX motherboard and a Celeron 366MHz. Nearly 20 years have passed since that moment...sheeshhh getting old suxx BIG TIME!

In January, this year I went to the local flea market and to my surprise I bought an Abit SA6 V1.1 motherboard for under 3 EUR. I couldnt believe that I found an Abit motherboard, there, of all places. Usually the motherboards that escape the crusher are low end and the chances to find something nice are very low.

I bought it without blinking. There she is on the trunk of my car



The motherboard came with a CPU and a heatsink. A few days later I removed the heatsink and under it I found.....a Pentium III 733MHz/133/256 - SL4CG CPU.

I expected something better but I said to myself that the "little" one is still good to have.



Some time later I bought three Tualatin CPUs, one at 1.2GHz and two at 1.3GHz, only to find out that the motherboard doesnt support Tualatin CPUs....I should've RTFM BETTER!!!

Lets return to the the Abit SA6.



I tested the motherboard with the 733MHz PIII and BEHOLD: It's ALIVE!

Immortal relic of times gone by even if it is full with crappy capacitors...



Some battle scars, as expected. Nobody at the flea market treats PC components with velvet gloves.



Beside the "small imperfections" from above, the board was also missing a jack and I bought a damaged Creative SB Live! SB0060 sound card just for this.



Obscure asian stuff: Yang An, V0.41 and HIGH QUALITY JACKCON caps...BLISS!....yeah right...what could possibly go wrong? I WONDER!



The flea market was good to me and I also found a Celeron la 1.1GHz/100/128 - SL5XU CPU. I bought it even if I saw that it was missing a few pins. I really dont know what I was thinking...

After I straightened a bunch of pins, three more pins broke off and I said to myself that it was the right time to see if I can solder them back. The third one separated completely so I wasnt able to solder it back and I was left with two pins to attach.

The pictures are self explanatory.



After I inserted the CPU in the socket a few times, one of the two pins broke off again. The thin copper layer onto which I added the solder, was already separated from the textolite/fiber, so all my effort was for nothing.



Even so, now I have the required experience and I can save other CPUs that have better chances of survival. Soldering back pins is not too complicated. The fact that older CPUs have far less pins, allows for a higher rate of success. All in all I do not recommend that you waste your time with CPUs that have missing pins. I didnt try to see if the 1.1GHz Celeron was alive...too many missing pins...

Before and close to the end of the straightening process. If you ask yourselves why I bought the 1.1GHz Celeron, I really dont have an answer sometimes I believe I can save them all...



Later I found a nice Pentium III la 1GHz/133/256 - SL4C8 CPU and I vanquished all my demons. Now the Abit SA6 has a decent CPU under the hood. Case closed.



I can make a Tualatin mod for my three CPUs or I can modify the CPU socket but I dont want to do this right now.

I prepared the Abit SA6 for cleaning. BEHOLD no TIM under the northbridge heastink. This was also the case when I cleaned the Asus K7M V1.04 motherboard, what the F.........KKKKKKKK!!!



Ready for action!



WET!



CLEAN!



Work in progress!



Results? Robert B Trade Mark!



Byte my shiny metal a$$...ahem shiny metal bits.



Arctic MX-4 - serious business!



Glamour shots. I take great pride in my "work"!



V for VICTORY!!!



Who paid attention has seen that the stamped ink marking under the northbridge was removed by IPA 99% because I didnt protect it. So I had to do something about it. A few tries later I managed to get a result close to the original.



Attention to detail is very important!

I dont have to bother you further with my obsessions ...

gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/1uzxs218y/

More later.

[peido]

That poor Celeron really had a troubled live.
Nice to see you tried to recreate the stamped ink marking.

You always get your hardware shining and clean Before using alcohol, do you use tap water? Bi-demineralized water? Any soap?

[Robert B]

The Celeron looked like it was stepped on

Usually I use a soft brush made from animal hairs to remove some of the loose dirt and dust. The kind you buy at the paint department store made from pig hair. It has to be soft and not too wide.

After this I use IPA 99%, sprayed from an empty container of window cleaner and another soft brush made from animal hairs or and old used tooth brush. You can bend the head of the tooth brush using a lighter so that you can use it better. Usually each board gets two or three separate wash cycles. It depends.

In very few instances I used a container with a lid and I submerged the card in IPA 99%. This also works.

Remember, some labels, stamped ink markings will be removed or damaged by IPA 99%. It depends.

After each wash with IPA 99% while the board is still wet I use cotton sticks and I clean every component and the PCB.

After the final wash with IPA 99% and only after the board is dry (by using a small air compressor or by shaking the part to get the IPA 99% out), I use cotton sticks dipped in IPA 99% or distiled water and I scrub every cm of the board until I see it is like a mirror. This takes time and patience. Even if you use lots of IPA 99% there will always be some leftover residue that looks hazy.

I used regular water with dish soap in a few instances and I got pretty good results but after I washed the parts with water I still had to wash them with IPA 99%. I used tap water because the dirt wasnt removed by IPA 99%.

99.99% of the parts in this thread were washed only with IPA 99%. The later parts are cleaner than my first ones because I have more experience now. This doesnt mean that the first ones are dirty it's just that after each wash I added more steps so that the end result will be the maximum I can achieve. For ex. the brackets of the first parts arent spotless because only later I started to use polishing cream to clean them well. My standards are always high and I hate to cut corners Even in real life my path is the straight and narrow one

Sometimes there is a crust of dirt that won't come off easily and you have to use "gentle persuasion" with the cotton sticks until you see the shine underneath. In very few instances I used a rounded tip bamboo stick to remove the corrosion or other kind of deposits from the PCB of very dirty cards.

In a few cases after I used more force with the cotton sticks dipped in IPA 99% some of the colorant in the PCB came off. This was visible on the cotton sticks and only in the case of some old VLB controllers or ISA cards when in the manufacturing process maybe they used some organic compound/chemical that after many years rose to the surface. The laquer on the PCB wasnt affected. After I saw this, I applied less force and I was able to clean the part properly.

All in all if you want to replicate my results try first on a cheap component and see what you get.

It is not rocket science. You just need patience.

Until today I did not experiment with the use of water. In my book water doesnt mix well with electronic equipment. I know it is used in factories to clean PCBs and other stuff but taking into consideration that I dont have the equipment to properly wash components, I prefer to stick to what I know that works.

Until this day I never had a part die from the washing with IPA 99%.

Another fact that has to be mentioned is that I never used an ESD wrist strap. I know I should use one but I never did

[amadeus777999]

Great job!

Do you have any system(s) running on a regular base or is all of the stuff archived after cleaning/service?

[Robert B]

Thanks amadeus777999

All my stuff is archived after it is tested and cleaned. I will make a couple more builds down the road but not at the moment.

The only completed builds are my first PC the AMD 586-133MHz, a K6-2 400MHz and a PIII-800 (my test bed for all the stuff I buy). They have been presented at the beginning of this thread.

I dont play games or use them but that might change in the future.

[peido]

Thanks for all your explanation

I don't have access to IPA, so I use 99% Ethylic Alcohol. From my experience 99% Ethylic Alcohol sometimes leaves a thin white film, almost imperceptible. I don't like it, but it does a good job cleaning and I don't have anything better.
Usually I use cotton swabs and I only stop cleaning when the cotton swabs stop becoming dirty, but I'm also going to start to use brushs like you use. Maybe I'll buy some ESD brushs.
I don't use tap water, because it has minerals and when the water dries they stay behind. Also, water gets inside very small holes and cracks and it's really hard to dry after, taking many days to dry. If I have to use vinegar (to remove battery leakage), I then remove the vinegar with bidemineralized water, and then I use 99% ethylic alcohol to make sure there is no vinegar/water leftovers.

It is a process that takes to much time, but it seems that there is no way around.

[Robert B]

Eminem - Bitch Please II (Feat. Dr. Dre & Xzibit & Snoop Dogg)

Central Processing Unit

In this episode we will get to meet a few CPUs.

One part was bought from the flea market. The other part came from one of my retro HW suppliers

CPU cleaning doesnt allow me to demonstrate all I know in regard to HW restoration, but even so, I got some pretty good results. I was accustomed to more difficult tasks but sometimes I enjoy the occasional "easy" stuff too

From rags to riches.

Batch 1 - flea market

1. Pentium 166MHz SL27H
2. Pentium 200MHz SL23W
3. Pentium 200MHz SL27J
4. Celeron 400MHz SL3A2
5. AMD Athlon 64 3000 - ADA3000DAA4BW - 2 buc.
6. Athlon XP 2800+ / AXDA2800DKV4D

Batch 2 - my contact

1. Slotket 370SP Rev 1.0
2. Celeron 300MHz - SL36A
3. Celeron 400MHz - SL3A2
4. Celeron 433MHz - SL3BS
5. Celeron 433MHz - SL3BA
6. Celeron 500MHz - SL3FY - 2buc

The CPUs from the first batch were a little rough.



Besides the fact that I had to deal with dust, dirt, grime, hardenned TIM, I also had to deal with a lot of bent pins. A "FUN" job let me tell you...

The first on the operating table was the Pentium 200MHz - SL23W. Unfortunately it came without the original fan.



At first, no matter what I tried, I didnt get the results that I desired. In particular, the black fiber/ textolite Pentium and Celeron CPUs, still looked like hell after a few cleanup procedures.

I took out the BIG GUNS, the rust remover solution, Szuper Evipass, and all the "garbage" bought from the flea market took a nice long bath This way, I also removed some corrosion that was present on some of the pins. Some marks were left in the places were the corrosion was present but otherwise the pins were untouched and were shiny after this operation. This rust remover is not so aggresive like other products.



A few hours later I washed the CPUs with water and dish soap.



Afterwards they took a long bath in IPA 99%.



I cleaned them well, I used a little metal polish paste, then came even more IPA 99%...

Results? HHHHhhhmmmm...acceptable by my standards



While I cleaned the CPUs I also received some bad news.

One Athlon 64 3000+ CPU was missing a pin and the Celeron 400MHz was also missing a pin...this is what happens when you dont have your eyes peeled when you buy stuff from the flea market!



I searched the pinout for Athlon 64 and Celeron PGA CPUs.

In the case of the Athlon 64 3000+ CPU the identification of the missing pin, took a while, because I could pinpoint it exactly. In the PDF document, the pinout was presented in following way. Initially I thought that the pinout is like when the heatspreader is in the back and the pins are facing you, when in fact, the pinout is like when the CPU is inserted in the socket. The missing pin is AJ-1.

Page 22-23 in the document: AMD Functional Data Sheet, 940 Pin Package - https://support.amd.com/TechDocs/31412.pdf

The missing pin is THERMDA - A Anode (+) of the thermal diode. The CPU will run without it I dont have a 939 motherboard ATM, but I'm sure that the CPU is alive. It seems that the Venice core has a good OC potential. I'll see if it is so when I'll find a nice 939 motherboard and I'll take them for a spin.

The Celeron 400MHz was missing the pin 4-D which is a VSS pin. I tested the CPU on the Super P6DLS V2.1 motherboard and it runs well.

Page 81 in the document: https://www.intel.com/design/celeron/datashts/24365820.pdf

Huh. That was a close one.

Cleaning the CPUs from the second batch was straight forward. I also had to straighten some pins but not so many like in the case of the CPUs from the first batch.

Before.



After IPA 99% and elbow grease.



Group shot.



THE TEXTOLITE TOWER!



Exploded view.



gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/2q5f3aet8/

More later.

[Robert B]

Flea market day today - I got some real nice parts

nVIDIA Quadro FX 1000 Zalman cooler - (600-50128-003-008A/900-50128-0101-100 Rev.B)

Butterfly Intel i740 8MB AGP

CD-ROM Creative CR-563-B - 3DO Blaster
http://www.ausretrogamer.com/retrospective-the-3do-blaster/
Creative 3DO Blaster running

They are waiting to be cleaned and restored. I hope that the graphic cards are alive.

[PcBytes]

One of my advice is test them before cleaning in any case.

I do the same even if motherboard is clean but has bulging caps. Saves me some useless work if the board is actually dead as a rock or if a GPU has artefacts.

[Robert B]

Flea market surprise!

Yes! It is the time for another FMS episode!

Remember, in these episodes I will keep the details at a minimum and you will have to fill in the blanks. The pictures will tell the story.

I'm sure that you will not encouter any difficulties, so without any further ado, let's get on with THE SHOW!!!

Esther Duijn - Eavalon Rises

1. AMD K6-2/450AFX CPU
2. EPOX EP-61LXA-M/440LX + Pentium II SL2HD 233MHz
3. Pentium III SL35E - 500MHz
4. WANG 3050 ISA
5. AMD Sempron 2200+ SDA2200DUT3D 1.5GHz/256KB/333 MHz - Thoroughbred - damaged / AMD Sempron 2500+ SDA2500DUT3D 1.75GHz/256KB/333MHz - Thoroughbred / AMD Athlon XP 2000+ AXDA2000DKV3C 1.65GHz/256KB/266MHz - Thoroughbred / AMD Athlon XP 2400+ AXDC2400DKV3C 2.00GHz/256KB/266MHz - Thorton / Western Digital Caviar 140 / WDAC140 / 42.7MB

AMD K6-2/450AFX CPU

Ben Buitendijk - Promised Land

NO LABELS PLEASE!!!



gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/37oen0bw8/

EPOX EP-61LXA-M/440LX + Pentium II SL2HD 233MHz

Vid Vai - The Daytripper

Love at first sight! Instant purchase from the good ol' flea market.



It's ME the first PENTIUM II !!!



I didnt dismantle the CPU with my regular method, using a flat nose pair of pliers, because both of the sides between I wedge the pliers, was made from plastic and I didnt want to damage something. In general, in the case of Pentium II CPUs, the metal heatplate covers the connector but in this case it didnt. Better safe than sorry. So I decided to keep it simple, as a smart fellow Besides, the heatsink was glued to the heatplate so well that I really would've done some damage if I tried to seaparate them. PII=1 - Robert=0. At least I walked away to tell the story. My first SECC cartride that I didnt open



Clean!



Main course...ahem board.

After I cleaned the moterboard I had to use gloves while I took pictures, otherwise all the PCB would've been covered in oily finger prints. I guess I went toooo far with the cleaning



***GOOD NEWS PC HEALTHY***



gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/2wuu9pc8o/

Pentium III SL35E - 500MHz

Anton Zap - Do It

Business as usual...



gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/fp3pu914/

WANG 3050 ISA

Plastic - Untitled

I bought this thing after I saw it week after week dumped in a pile of old electronic waste so I decided to save it from the crusher.

It's missing: the bracket and two quartz/crystall oscillators 40.00 MHz and 28.322MHz.

It might be alive...I tried to find quartz oscillators but it prooved to be more difficult than I expected. The 28.322MHz is especially hard to find...



gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/2a2vabtx4/

AMD Sempron 2200+ SDA2200DUT3D 1.5GHz/256KB/333 MHz - Thoroughbred - damaged / AMD Sempron 2500+ SDA2500DUT3D 1.75GHz/256KB/333MHz - Thoroughbred / AMD Athlon XP 2000+ AXDA2000DKV3C 1.65GHz/256KB/266MHz - Thoroughbred / AMD Athlon XP 2400+ AXDC2400DKV3C 2.00GHz/256KB/266MHz - Thorton / Western Digital Caviar 140 / WDAC140 / 42.7MB

Altitude - Framework



The 42MB WD works, sort off... it has a few bad sectors andt the motor is past its prime...

I did all I could and about 20 MB are usable...sort off...

The sponge underneath the PCB disintegrated after I touched it...I improvised something but it is not my best work...

Someone took care of this HDD because patches of laquer are visible on scratched traces.

I like the wire bridges between components aka FIX IT IN POST. I'm talking about the blue wires.



gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/2e5vi2e60/

More later

So Inagawa - Logo Queen

[Robert B]

Atmosphere: Aleksandir - Yamaha

Next episode: THE ORIGINAL PENTIUM



More l a t e r zzzzzZZzzzZZZz

[amadeus777999]

Looking forward to it, Robert!

Also post some of the scores because, albeit this is an Intel chipset, it is pretty speedy.

[Robert B]

Will do amadeus777999! All the stuff I sent you will be posted and I'll present all the details.

I might break this episode in three parts: debugging, cleaning and testing.

All the pics are almost ready but I still have to combine all the stuff I already posted like the info regarding the controller, RTC battery mod, BIOS update and the new stories that need to be told.

This will take a week or two, depending of time constraints. Lately my free time has gone up in smoke.

After this story I might take a longer break. I still have parts coming in but I didnt get to clean them all.

More later.

[Robert B]

Flirts - Passion (1982)

A few days ago I started to clean all the graphic cards I bought recenlty and all I have left are three motherboards - ECS P4ITA, Gigabyte GA-8TM and the Super P6DLS.

To able to post the monster episode called: THE ORIGINAL PENTIUM (which was promised a while back) I had to to a little backtracking and refresh all the stages (many) through which I went to awaken THE FIRST PENTIUM.

Somewhere in the not so distant future I will resume the regular program.

Clean or really clean *** RAMBUS fun *** HW for days.



More later.

[amadeus777999]

Great cleanup!

I have to admit, the old socket 423 Pentium looks pretty cool. Pitty that it wasn't able to live up to expectations. I recently used a P4 based laptop and I have to admit it's an awesome Dos/Win98/WinXP platform.

Looking forward to the original Pentium's debut here!