zapbuzz wrote on 2021-11-17, 17:20:

pete8475 wrote on 2021-11-16, 22:49:

Got some case badges on ebay to add that extra little something to a few of my retro machines.

retro inside i like that now everyone will have to watch the boot to see what cpu i have 🤣

I didn't even order that sticker! I guess they just threw it in for free, which was very nice of the seller.

bestemor wrote on 2021-11-17, 18:32:

Ok, so not bough (yet), but... seller claims this thing is unique (and that he has no clue about computers). So, the front looks […]
Show full quote

Ok, so not bough (yet), but... seller claims this thing is unique (and that he has no clue about computers).
So, the front looks somewhat like a normal Pentium4 box. But the back....!


Now THAT I've never seen before! So perhaps he's right, this one is unique... 😁
Wonder what it looks like inside.

I think those were called Asus Terminators, although I could be wrong. I'm quite certain a friend of mine had one, it had no AGP slot and eventually the caps went bad on the board.

pete8475 wrote on 2021-11-17, 18:35:

bestemor wrote on 2021-11-17, 18:32:

Ok, so not bough (yet), but... seller claims this thing is unique (and that he has no clue about computers). So, the front looks […]
Show full quote

Ok, so not bough (yet), but... seller claims this thing is unique (and that he has no clue about computers).
So, the front looks somewhat like a normal Pentium4 box. But the back....!


Now THAT I've never seen before! So perhaps he's right, this one is unique... 😁
Wonder what it looks like inside.

I think those were called Asus Terminators, although I could be wrong. I'm quite certain a friend of mine had one, it had no AGP slot and eventually the caps went bad on the board.

Yes, Asus Terminator barebone case: https://www.newegg.com/asus-terminator-p4-533 … N82E16856110007

Im assuming this and that small shuttle barebones case where the starting point for what would eventually become the ITX shoebox PC fad?

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-11-17, 17:11:

HanJammer wrote on 2021-11-17, 16:52:

And here are some of the parts found in those 2 minitower rigs I mentioned before (all works OK as far as I can tell) and in the A2000...

The triangular card in the second pic looks just like my ESS 1868F.

If so, that's a great, noise-free model. Be sure to set the jumpers to the "Line Out" position.

Yeah, it probably is, however I'm more interested in the Hizon (Formosa) DB 333 wavetable attached to it. It's not something very usunual but I didn't had any Dream based wavetable so far.

NOS Ultra Wizard mid tower black case. Sellers pic, since I wont be picking it up for a few days. Iv been looking for a Chieftec or Antec like this for ages, so $40 on Craigslist feels like an absolute find. It's also been listed for 2 months and iv been debating on it the entire time.

I scored a NOS (sealed in box) M-Audio 1010LT for 115 CAN$ (including 15% sales tax) locally . It was an unplanned impulse buy . Strangely, the store has a few more available . They have been hiding in plain sight for at least a decade on a a shelf so high that a motorized lift was required to retrieve one . They have a couple other NOS vintage M-Audio PCI audio cards available too on that same shelf along with a Behringer FCA610 .

I'm a sucker for these things, what can I say ?

3dfx Voodoo 5, 5500 wearing a PC Doodle Crystal Air cooler (original grindy fans safely tucked away). Nothing like kitting out a 20+ year old card with an aftermarket cooler that was manufactured about 4 hours ago.

bestemor wrote on 2021-11-17, 18:32:

Ok, so not bough (yet), but... seller claims this thing is unique (and that he has no clue about computers). So, the front looks […]
Show full quote

Ok, so not bough (yet), but... seller claims this thing is unique (and that he has no clue about computers).
So, the front looks somewhat like a normal Pentium4 box. But the back....!


Now THAT I've never seen before! So perhaps he's right, this one is unique... 😁
Wonder what it looks like inside.

Nice, but not that unique - as above, there were a whole series of Asus Terminator systems with differing specs / case bezels. This is my Skt462 / DDR one (no AGP though)

So my 486 motherboard is in, and my VLB IO card isn’t, so it’s just had a power on to make sure everything was okay. It did come with full cache, and a nice 8MB of ram. I’m unsure if I need to upgrade the RAM, as it requires four slots per bank as expected, and I don’t have any four-matching 30Pins, only two matching 2 MB sticks, and a bunch of mismatched 1MB sticks.

I have also noticed that it is reporting the RAM as 7168+640 rather than 8MB. Is this normal?

It’s also nice to know that my all but new Mach32 VLB not only works, but looks crisp as all hell.

MN_Moody wrote on 2021-11-10, 22:50:

Twin Diamond Stealth 64 VRAM cards in VLB and PCI varieties, same S3 Vision 968 chipset + TI TVP3026 DAC's... they even have matching BIOS versions and almost matching FP vram.

Anyone know if the BIOSes on the PCI and VLB versions of these cards were identical and interchangeable?

BetaC wrote on 2021-11-18, 02:31:

So my 486 motherboard is in, and my VLB IO card isn’t, so it’s just had a power on to make sure everything was okay. It did come with full cache, and a nice 8MB of ram. I’m unsure if I need to upgrade the RAM, as it requires four slots per bank as expected, and I don’t have any four-matching 30Pins, only two matching 2 MB sticks, and a bunch of mismatched 1MB sticks.

8MB should be fine for most games a DX2 can run, 16MB is nice if you can find 4 x 4MB SIMMs cheap, not worth overpaying IMO. More than that is pretty much useless for that era (and would have been incredibly expensive back then).

Love that blue heatsink DX2 by the way!

BetaC wrote on 2021-11-18, 02:31:

I have also noticed that it is reporting the RAM as 7168+640 rather than 8MB. Is this normal?

I think it's fine, try playing around with the Shadow RAM settings in the BIOS and you may see closer to the full 8MB during the memory count. Some BIOS do not include shadow in the memory count.

TheMobRules wrote on 2021-11-18, 04:14:

8MB should be fine for most games a DX2 can run, 16MB is nice if you can find 4 x 4MB SIMMs cheap, not worth overpaying IMO. Mor […]
Show full quote

BetaC wrote on 2021-11-18, 02:31:

So my 486 motherboard is in, and my VLB IO card isn’t, so it’s just had a power on to make sure everything was okay. It did come with full cache, and a nice 8MB of ram. I’m unsure if I need to upgrade the RAM, as it requires four slots per bank as expected, and I don’t have any four-matching 30Pins, only two matching 2 MB sticks, and a bunch of mismatched 1MB sticks.

8MB should be fine for most games a DX2 can run, 16MB is nice if you can find 4 x 4MB SIMMs cheap, not worth overpaying IMO. More than that is pretty much useless for that era (and would have been incredibly expensive back then).

Love that blue heatsink DX2 by the way!

BetaC wrote on 2021-11-18, 02:31:

I have also noticed that it is reporting the RAM as 7168+640 rather than 8MB. Is this normal?

I think it's fine, try playing around with the Shadow RAM settings in the BIOS and you may see closer to the full 8MB during the memory count. Some BIOS do not include shadow in the memory count.

Okay, once the computer is in a more usable state, I'll get to messing with the Shadow RAM. As for the heatsink, that's how it came to me. The only other difference I can spot is having a gold cap on the bottom instead of a normal ceramic one. I do want to figure out how to bend the heatsink pins back in to line, but that's not a high priority.

BetaC wrote on 2021-11-18, 08:12:

The only other difference I can spot is having a gold cap on the bottom instead of a normal ceramic one. I do want to figure out how to bend the heatsink pins back in to line, but that's not a high priority.

Old cpus had "golden" bottom plate.

Fins on the cooler are easy to straighten. Just use a flat screwdriver and gently push them in the correct position.

Bought this a few weeks ago, but didn't have time to test it yet.
According to the seller, everything did work when the machines were disassambled 20 years ago.

Won the auction for 65€ (shipping included).
The pictures provided by the seller were bad quality, but I did recognize the two Tseng cards (ET4000 and ET3000), the Adaptec SCSI controller and the ISA sound cards. But the real treasure in that lot is the card with the socketed RAM. It's a so called Janus card. A device similar to the 3DO Blaster. Turns your PC into an ATARI ST. Super rare and highly sought after. I'm not really interested in it, but I won't sell it. Will keep it as a bargaining token.
Can you spot any more treasures?

In fact those were 2 lots.
Seller also had another lot with a Voodoo3 2000 PCI. 3dfx or Voodoo wasn't mentioned in the description, but I could identify it by comparing pictures. Sadly I didn't won that lot. I did bid 80€ on it and got outbid.

kixs wrote on 2021-11-18, 08:53:

BetaC wrote on 2021-11-18, 08:12:

The only other difference I can spot is having a gold cap on the bottom instead of a normal ceramic one. I do want to figure out how to bend the heatsink pins back in to line, but that's not a high priority.

Old cpus had "golden" bottom plate.

Fins on the cooler are easy to straighten. Just use a flat screwdriver and gently push them in the correct position.

I see. Thanks for the advice, and I had assumed that my 486SX was an indication of the norm.

RaiderOfLostVoodoo wrote on 2021-11-18, 16:22:

Bought this a few weeks ago, but didn't have time to test it yet.
According to the seller, everything did work when the machines were disassambled 20 years ago.

Always nice to see good old Adaptec ISA SCSI controller - those are useful as hell.

And those two Tseng cards are nice as well!

Got this beauty last week. Still can't believe that I found a complete one with Program CD and remote

Love me some Creative Infra.

One of those, I'd be tempted to just hook it to power and speakers and use it as a CD player.

BitWrangler wrote on 2021-11-19, 03:29:

One of those, I'd be tempted to just hook it to power and speakers and use it as a CD player.

Mine is looking sexy af on my rig hahaha