VOGONS


Weebob's PIII + Voodoo 5 retro build

Topic actions

Reply 20 of 25, by Tetrium

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++
Weebob wrote:
Agreed, The psu is in the bin, my knowledge of such things is very limited beyond "it looks fine", so I just can not risk using […]
Show full quote
Tetrium wrote:
It's a shame I didn't see this earlier. Your board was (or perhaps is) a very nice one as it supports Tualatin natively. […]
Show full quote

It's a shame I didn't see this earlier.
Your board was (or perhaps is) a very nice one as it supports Tualatin natively.

Your PSU is a modern one and it has relatively weak 5v rails. I don't know the build quality of your Antec PSU, but some PSUs have some trouble with heavy crossloads.

You may want to find out what went wrong with your build. Even if you can't fix this, it may help prevent any future losses.

Agreed, The psu is in the bin, my knowledge of such things is very limited beyond "it looks fine", so I just can not risk using it.

I am going to pick up a cheap s370 processor to see if the board has any life in it, but I really doubt it as there is nothing when you turn it on, fans connected to the board dont spin up. its like the on button isnt being pressed (I have checked this by bridging the pins). This is with a different Coolermaster 550w PSU.

A little gutted about it really, had it in a good state. But it didnt cost me anything and I enjoyed it, so its not the end of the world.

It may be a thing to not bin seemingly broken part right away, but to label them. The PSU may be fine for all we know.

My advice on a test CPU for such a board would be something like a Coppermine <700MHz, or a Celeron of the 66MHz FSB type as these CPUs consume the least amount of power (not the mendocino for this board though). Same for using onboard if it has it, or some relatively slow graphics card.

Try to concentrate on getting a PSU with something like at least 25A on the 5v line (anything over 30A on the 5v line is likely enough for all your retro needs unless you want to overclock AthlonXP or run 2 of them).

And another option (the easier way out without needing such a PSU) would be to get an Athlon64 (s754 or s939), preferably with AGP slot for the extra vintage options. Your Voodoo 5's are PCI (lucky you! 😁) so that won't really matter, but those Athlon 64s can be underclocked to PIII levels as iirc multipliers lower then the stock ones are unlocked anyway.

But another option (if you really want something of that era, which is something that I would want even after a setback like this) could be to simply use a CPU+VGA+Motherboard combo that requires very little 5v anyway, like a 400MHz Deschutes or a Coppermine 700 or anything Pentium MMX or slower. Theres a chart I find very useful, it lists all the thermal specifications of virtually all CPUs of that era. With it you can calculate the power usage of the listed CPUs
http://pclinks.xtreemhost.com/elec_pentium.htm

So depending on what you want, you have several options to go to and I likely didn't list all of them 😜

This video actually features a very similar symptoms from around the 6m mark and is about using a more modern PSU for a system that uses a CPU that requires good 5v rails https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efK7mw8eYiE
You may want to view the entire vid though. That channel has a lot of good info btw, I can recommend it 😀

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

Reply 21 of 25, by Weebob

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
Tetrium wrote:
It may be a thing to not bin seemingly broken part right away, but to label them. The PSU may be fine for all we know. […]
Show full quote
Weebob wrote:
Agreed, The psu is in the bin, my knowledge of such things is very limited beyond "it looks fine", so I just can not risk using […]
Show full quote
Tetrium wrote:
It's a shame I didn't see this earlier. Your board was (or perhaps is) a very nice one as it supports Tualatin natively. […]
Show full quote

It's a shame I didn't see this earlier.
Your board was (or perhaps is) a very nice one as it supports Tualatin natively.

Your PSU is a modern one and it has relatively weak 5v rails. I don't know the build quality of your Antec PSU, but some PSUs have some trouble with heavy crossloads.

You may want to find out what went wrong with your build. Even if you can't fix this, it may help prevent any future losses.

Agreed, The psu is in the bin, my knowledge of such things is very limited beyond "it looks fine", so I just can not risk using it.

I am going to pick up a cheap s370 processor to see if the board has any life in it, but I really doubt it as there is nothing when you turn it on, fans connected to the board dont spin up. its like the on button isnt being pressed (I have checked this by bridging the pins). This is with a different Coolermaster 550w PSU.

A little gutted about it really, had it in a good state. But it didnt cost me anything and I enjoyed it, so its not the end of the world.

It may be a thing to not bin seemingly broken part right away, but to label them. The PSU may be fine for all we know.

My advice on a test CPU for such a board would be something like a Coppermine <700MHz, or a Celeron of the 66MHz FSB type as these CPUs consume the least amount of power (not the mendocino for this board though). Same for using onboard if it has it, or some relatively slow graphics card.

Try to concentrate on getting a PSU with something like at least 25A on the 5v line (anything over 30A on the 5v line is likely enough for all your retro needs unless you want to overclock AthlonXP or run 2 of them).

And another option (the easier way out without needing such a PSU) would be to get an Athlon64 (s754 or s939), preferably with AGP slot for the extra vintage options. Your Voodoo 5's are PCI (lucky you! 😁) so that won't really matter, but those Athlon 64s can be underclocked to PIII levels as iirc multipliers lower then the stock ones are unlocked anyway.

But another option (if you really want something of that era, which is something that I would want even after a setback like this) could be to simply use a CPU+VGA+Motherboard combo that requires very little 5v anyway, like a 400MHz Deschutes or a Coppermine 700 or anything Pentium MMX or slower. Theres a chart I find very useful, it lists all the thermal specifications of virtually all CPUs of that era. With it you can calculate the power usage of the listed CPUs
http://pclinks.xtreemhost.com/elec_pentium.htm

So depending on what you want, you have several options to go to and I likely didn't list all of them 😜

This video actually features a very similar symptoms from around the 6m mark and is about using a more modern PSU for a system that uses a CPU that requires good 5v rails https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efK7mw8eYiE
You may want to view the entire vid though. That channel has a lot of good info btw, I can recommend it 😀

Firstly, thanks for all your help.

The Coolermaster PSU I have been testing with is a 600w, with 20A on the +5v and 45A on the single +12v rail, Should be up to the task i'd hope, but as the vid shows, it may not be. I have a Celery 533A on its way.

The plan is to be minimal cost and aiming to use bits I have, mainly as I wasn't sure if I would use it. When I started I had an option of this or a early P4 build that I have board/proc/ram for so thats another plan.

Good Vid, I am subscribed to Phil's channel.

bjxhae-6.png

Reply 22 of 25, by x0zm_

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

I've personally had some great luck with both Seasonic & Corsair using DC-DC step down converter PSUs with ~25A on the 5V and 3V in my builds.

My current project for example, being PIII 1.4GHz-S, Voodoo5 5500 PCI, GeForce2 Ultra AGP, along with other 12V stuff has had no issues on my Corsair CX850M. It has 25V on 3.3V & 5V with a combined total of 130W. DC to DC really helps.

I've seen the Seasonic M12II EVO 750W thrown around a lot, since it's also 25V on each rail with a combined 150W, and DC to DC. Fully modular too which just helps keep it tidy.

Based on my research here and elsewhere combined with personal experience, I just find it best to either use recapped old **HIGH END** PSUs, or more preferably a solid, though more expensive, modern PSU with adequate amperage and power delivery on the 5V rail that also has DC to DC step down. You'll have less cross load issues, a stable build and arguably most importantly, putting components at the lowest risk you can. I'd argue it's worth spending more on the PSU for the ease of mind. Considering the V5 PCIs are well into the hundreds of dollars on eBay these days, it's a fairly good precaution and investment to make.

Reply 25 of 25, by Weebob

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
NostalgicAslinger wrote:
Weebob wrote:

The Celery 533A turned up, the system still wont boot. The PSU is in the bin out of spite.

Time for a new build!

Do you have find another mainboard?

No, calling it quits on the s370. I have a s478 board thats going into the next build.

bjxhae-6.png