Picked up a pair of HD 4850x2 cards for £15 each from different sellers: £30 for what would have cost $840 in 2008 ain't bad and it outperforms the GTX 280 and 9800 GTX in most cases. They will go in my 'Triple Quad' Vista build (quad core Phenom, quad CrossfireX, GTA IV). Still need the CPU for that and it might actually end up being hexa-core seeing how they're going for £40~ at the moment. The entire system including RAM and mobo will end up costing about £100, which is pretty trivial for an as-high-end-as-possible-AM2 setup.

EDIT: forgot I also got a 486DX/50 from Amibay for my as-high-end-as-possible 1992 build.

brassicGamer wrote:

Picked up a pair of HD 4850x2 cards for £15 each from different sellers: £30 for what would have cost $840 in 2008 ain't bad and it outperforms the GTX 280 and 9800 GTX in most cases. They will go in my 'Triple Quad' Vista build (quad core Phenom, quad CrossfireX, GTA IV). Still need the CPU for that and it might actually end up being hexa-core seeing how they're going for £40~ at the moment. The entire system including RAM and mobo will end up costing about £100, which is pretty trivial for an as-high-end-as-possible-AM2 setup.

EDIT: forgot I also got a 486DX/50 from Amibay for my as-high-end-as-possible 1992 build.

How do those compare to the 9800 GX2? I'm planning on a similar build, but intel/nvidia

xplus93 wrote:

brassicGamer wrote:

Picked up a pair of HD 4850x2 cards for £15 each from different sellers: £30 for what would have cost $840 in 2008 ain't bad and it outperforms the GTX 280 and 9800 GTX in most cases. They will go in my 'Triple Quad' Vista build (quad core Phenom, quad CrossfireX, GTA IV). Still need the CPU for that and it might actually end up being hexa-core seeing how they're going for £40~ at the moment. The entire system including RAM and mobo will end up costing about £100, which is pretty trivial for an as-high-end-as-possible-AM2 setup.

EDIT: forgot I also got a 486DX/50 from Amibay for my as-high-end-as-possible 1992 build.

How do those compare to the 9800 GX2? I'm planning on a similar build, but intel/nvidia

Check out this very detailed review [techpowerup.com], which includes numbers from the GX2. It seems they are comparable / near identical in some cases. I'd be interested to see a comparison between your build and mine - what CPU are you going for?

The mailman passed by with goodies today..

Seagate 8.4GB HDD for my Pentium 166MMX. Not exactly period correct as it's a couple years too young, but it's about as accurate as I could go without fearing a million bad sectors and a wonky HDD head..

A HIS Radeon 9600XT 256MB for my Socket 370 Tualeron build. Again, not very period correct - I wanted a Radeon 8500 instead, but couldn't find one, so I had to settle for a nearly contemporary GPU.

CelGen wrote:

Because screw calling PCIe mobos and sdram era machines retro, I picked up an empty chassis from Northgate Computer Systems. […]
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Because screw calling PCIe mobos and sdram era machines retro, I picked up an empty chassis from Northgate Computer Systems.

*snip*

It will be converted to operate as the CPU for a dedicated ContrALTO machine once I can source the appropriate portrait CRT monitor. The emulator will load images from 5.25" Syquest cartridges.

Love this old iron! What will you be running in it? I could only find this info about ContrALTO - http://www.righto.com/2016/10/simulating-xero … -contralto.html - as links to the download seem to end up at the generally interesting but unhelpful LCM website ...

Matrox Impression Lite. The board (PCB) is the same as Matrox Ultima but this has IS-ATHENA graphics chip

Carlos S. M. wrote:

PC2 (right tower, blue case): QDI Advance 10F Pentium III 866 Geforce 2 MX/400 CMI-8738 PCI soundcard Realtek 8139 network card […]
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PC2 (right tower, blue case):
QDI Advance 10F
Pentium III 866
Geforce 2 MX/400
CMI-8738 PCI soundcard
Realtek 8139 network card
56k Modem
Phillips TV tuner
no HDD
250 watt PSU

I've never seen a case with a front like the one on that blue case before.

download/file.php?id=32473

I bought a FIC PA-2000 PCB revison 1.1 Socket 5 motherboard (VIA Apollo Master). This motherboard is probably one of the first Pentium motherboards with VIA chipset.

Untested FIC PA-2000 (The empty socket is for a keyboard controller but I think there is one in the I/O controller chip making the external one unnecessary)

http://www.arvutimuuseum.ee/th99/m/E-H/32961.htm

FIC only lists the later PCB revision 1.32 on their page. They did not have the manual but "the Internet" did.

Here are some information about the VIA Apollo Master.

Yes the VT82C416 chip should have keyboard controller integrated in.

Asomodai wrote:

Just picked up one of these on ebay.

....... <snip> ............

Nvidia 7950 GX2. Two 7950GTs in one card. This is going into my fast Win98/Windows XP build along with my P4 Cedar Mill. Whilst 98 wont recognise one of the cards, it's still fast with just one of them operating in it's own right. Of course XP will recognise both.

Be warned these are rather picky cards and actually refuse to work correctly in anything short of SLI motherboards, and even then sometimes only some of them and not all. I had one once and could only get it to work in one computer I owned, an x58 LGA-1366 system.. Old AMD 939-SLI, fail no POST, AMD 754, fail no post, AMD 754 SLI, Worked POSTED and ran games in windows, Intel socket P45, fail no POST. X58 board, works runs games and everything. Etc. They're picky in which systems they work in. If it doesn't actually show video when you turn it on, it may not be DOA, just may not like the computer you put it in. I ended up selling it back on to ebay because of how it didn't work so well in most computers like that.

JidaiGeki wrote:

Love this old iron! What will you be running in it? I could only find this info about ContrALTO - http://www.righto.com/2016/10/simulating-xero … -contralto.html - as links to the download seem to end up at the generally interesting but unhelpful LCM website ...

It's exactly as you've found. ContrALTO is a full* software and hardware emulation of the Xerox Alto, initiated by the Living Computer Museum.
I don't have $75000 for a real Alto so I'm trying to assemble a machine that looks less like a PC and more like something from the early 80's that you would not expect to find a PC inside. This puppy hides ALL of the motherboard and power supply cabling inside so from the back you would never tell it's a PC. You HAVE to open it to discover it's a masquerade.
Unfortunately ContrALTO requires Windows 7 to run and there is no Linux port, so with the above in mind and the fact it allows me to put some roaring loud fans in it, what the hell lets throw in a Willamette P4 machine with RDRAM to make it as obscene as possible.
Additional options include the mentioned Syquest drive, 5.25" floppy for the hell of it and the bezel of a full-height 5.25" hard drive with the activity light attached to the IDE activity header. Hardest part will be finding a portrait CRT monitor. Could put a regular PC monitor on its side, or I could hope I come across one of the later Radius Full-Page Displays that supported the PC's refresh rates and not just the weird ones Apple used.

JidaiGeki wrote:

CelGen wrote:

Because screw calling PCIe mobos and sdram era machines retro, I picked up an empty chassis from Northgate Computer Systems. […]
Show full quote

Because screw calling PCIe mobos and sdram era machines retro, I picked up an empty chassis from Northgate Computer Systems.

*snip*

It will be converted to operate as the CPU for a dedicated ContrALTO machine once I can source the appropriate portrait CRT monitor. The emulator will load images from 5.25" Syquest cartridges.

Love this old iron! What will you be running in it? I could only find this info about ContrALTO - http://www.righto.com/2016/10/simulating-xero … -contralto.html - as links to the download seem to end up at the generally interesting but unhelpful LCM website ...

That is fucking beautiful.

Never would I have thought the hardest part of collecting a retro AT PC would be finding these:

appiah4 wrote:

Never would I have thought the hardest part of collecting a retro AT PC would be finding these:

Ahhh yes... finding one that matches your case and doesn't look completely out of place is no trivial task.

If you really want a challenge, try finding cd-rom bezels for ps/2 machines.

Got in a few things which were just a bargain

A "new" PSU

Exact samy copy of my brothers old 386

a Radeon 9800 XT (same one I had back in the day combined with my Athlon)

and arriving soon a: Asus A7N8X Delux with a Barton 3200+
only wanted the Barton but the Asus came with it, will use it untill i can get a Gigabyte GA-7VT880 cheap and a fitting PSU for the build a Rasurbo 500W (38A on the 5V rail incase I OC abit)

appiah4 wrote:

Never would I have thought the hardest part of collecting a retro AT PC would be finding these: […]
Show full quote

Never would I have thought the hardest part of collecting a retro AT PC would be finding these:

next time gimme a heads up there is listing on a local website who is selling more then 100 of these things.

appiah4 wrote:

Never would I have thought the hardest part of collecting a retro AT PC would be finding these: […]
Show full quote

Never would I have thought the hardest part of collecting a retro AT PC would be finding these:

Yeah, I always tape them somewhere inside the case whenever I upgrade an older computer. What's really a nightmare is finding a working matching CD drive for my Compaq 4814. The original is the worst designed optical drive I have ever seen.

Yeah, try getting your hands on an AT backplate for an ATX case and tell me about it 🤣

konc wrote:

Yeah, try getting your hands on an AT backplate for an ATX case and tell me about it 🤣

I've got a solution for that. 🤣 I designed this for a slightly proprietary HP case I housed my 486 VLB system in, I should make one for generic ATX and share the design so anyone with a 3D printer can print them...

FesterBlatz wrote:

I've got a solution for that. :lol: I designed this for a slightly proprietary HP case I housed my 486 VLB system in, I should […]
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konc wrote:

Yeah, try getting your hands on an AT backplate for an ATX case and tell me about it 🤣

I've got a solution for that. 🤣 I designed this for a slightly proprietary HP case I housed my 486 VLB system in, I should make one for generic ATX and share the design so anyone with a 3D printer can print them...

IMG_1581.JPG

IMG_1580.JPG

I

must

have

it

!!!

🤣