feipoa wrote on 2023-04-27, 20:54:

What is that used for?

it's the IBM Music Feature Card, the first PC sound card, that was competing alongside the AdLib and LAPC-1. the AdLib was a lot cheaper and simpler and ended up murdering it, and it was sold only as an IBM option, so sold poorly and is rather rare nowadays. a bunch of Sierra games support it.

LGR driving up them prices again 🤣

For anyone that doesn't know it has the basically the same audio chips as the yamaha FB01 desktop synthesizer which are way cheaper.

They aren't totally compatible with all MFC games because the IBM MFC uses a proprietary midi interface but I think a few games are mutually compatible with both since sierra supported basically every sound device in the 80s. So your best bet might be an FB01 hear what the card sounds like in some sierra games.

Also there was an expansion cart for the MSX home computer called the SFG-01 which had the YM2151 sound chip which is like an earlier variant of the same chip , the 2164.

An updated cart was released : the SFG05 which had an actual 2164 though.
I think some games used it for better music.

libby wrote on 2023-04-27, 17:45:

Heh, jesus. didn't expect that

This is one the few really collectible items that make no sense for practical use and were always expensive, but I guess prices now have the LGR value added.

Alright, I'm looking to see what this community considers as "fair value" for a Soundblaster Live PCI, not gold.
I'm in the market for one, and would like to know the value range to look at.

yourepicfailure wrote on 2023-04-28, 08:24:

Alright, I'm looking to see what this community considers as "fair value" for a Soundblaster Live PCI, not gold.
I'm in the market for one, and would like to know the value range to look at.

As far as I know sound blaster lives are still dirt cheap , should be like what 5-10 dollars worth or so?
Okay on second inspection it looks like eBay prices have jumped up a bit to like 20 - 30AUD?
I'm not sure why that is I guess sellers have figured they can scalp people for higher prices?

AppleSauce wrote on 2023-04-28, 08:58:

As far as I know sound blaster lives are still dirt cheap , should be like what 5-10 dollars worth or so? Okay on second inspect […]
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yourepicfailure wrote on 2023-04-28, 08:24:

Alright, I'm looking to see what this community considers as "fair value" for a Soundblaster Live PCI, not gold.
I'm in the market for one, and would like to know the value range to look at.

As far as I know sound blaster lives are still dirt cheap , should be like what 5-10 dollars worth or so?
Okay on second inspection it looks like eBay prices have jumped up a bit to like 20 - 30AUD?
I'm not sure why that is I guess sellers have figured they can scalp people for higher prices?

Yeah that was what I was afraid of. It seems scalpers see "SB Live!" and think they can get a premium.
For the most part, seems like only a 5usd difference.

The reason I ask is I came across a ruggedized laptop/machine with a PCI expansion board and I figure this core2 bohemoth of a laptop would do well for old gaming.
And by bohemoth, think old-school luggable.

The “Creative” logo alone seems to increase the price of retro hardware in a ridiculous way. I’ve seen many cases of two versions of the exact same optical drive where the only difference was the logo in the tray. The Creative-branded ones tend to be significantly more expensive.

So even a common card like the SB Live is affected in a similar way, but I think you should be able to find it cheap as a lot of them were produced.

Also look for Audigy and Audigy2 cards.

Make sure to get one that has the real chip and not one of the cut down non-hardware accelerated chips.

AppleSauce wrote on 2023-04-28, 04:49:

They aren't totally compatible with all MFC games because the IBM MFC uses a proprietary midi interface but I think a few games are mutually compatible with both since sierra supported basically every sound device in the 80s. So your best bet might be an FB01 hear what the card sounds like in some sierra games.

For 386+ computers, there is a TSR called SoftIMFC by Scali which makes the Yamaha FB-01 compatible with software using the IMFC drivers.

Gmlb256 wrote on 2023-04-28, 14:48:

AppleSauce wrote on 2023-04-28, 04:49:

They aren't totally compatible with all MFC games because the IBM MFC uses a proprietary midi interface but I think a few games are mutually compatible with both since sierra supported basically every sound device in the 80s. So your best bet might be an FB01 hear what the card sounds like in some sierra games.

For 386+ computers, there is a TSR called SoftIMFC by Scali which makes the Yamaha FB-01 compatible with software using the IMFC drivers.

Oh wow that's awesome , I'll have to look into that.

AppleSauce wrote on 2023-04-28, 08:58:

As far as I know sound blaster lives are still dirt cheap , should be like what 5-10 dollars worth or so?
Okay on second inspection it looks like eBay prices have jumped up a bit to like 20 - 30AUD?
I'm not sure why that is I guess sellers have figured they can scalp people for higher prices?

christ. I have to have at least 60-70 of them in my inventory at this point, hahaha. they multiply.

libby wrote on 2023-04-29, 03:58:

AppleSauce wrote on 2023-04-28, 08:58:

As far as I know sound blaster lives are still dirt cheap , should be like what 5-10 dollars worth or so?
Okay on second inspection it looks like eBay prices have jumped up a bit to like 20 - 30AUD?
I'm not sure why that is I guess sellers have figured they can scalp people for higher prices?

christ. I have to have at least 60-70 of them in my inventory at this point, hahaha. they multiply.

you're rich!! 😀

as more general comment, i track vintage PCs that actually sell and most of the time if there is a 486 or pentium it will sell but not for crazy money, just about 3 times the value of a basic 775 based system, as rough guide

not too bad i guess, prices vary lots though - so even my anecdotal survey isn't reliable, sold prices for old stuff vary a lot!

Jesus , hopefully these outrageous prices justify Keropi or someone to make a reproduction at some point 😆

A few items I was watching.

IODATA PK-X486 with PLCC connector. Turns your 286 into a TX486SLC with clock doubling. $313. Boxed unit.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/334845788215

IODATA PK-X486S50-3 with PLCC connector. Turns your 286 into a 16-bit IBM Blue Lightning 486 with clock doubling. $200.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/155541835313

I thought these would sell for more. Perhaps prices dropping a bit. I've also noticed a slight decrease in Voodoo3 prices over the past few months.

Prices may be coming down as inflation pressures dry up the pool of people who have a large disposable income to throw at retro parts, prices are falling in Australia for local parts but import costs and exchange rates have made international buying stupidly expensive off setting any savings from part price decreases.

Ive seen a number of bits I want but exchange rates make them cost approx double to nearly triple depending on base currency for the item, then you add shipping and import duties and ebay fees and well ...that 70 USD item just became a 200 AUD item.

Things aint going to get better if the US doesn't sort its debt default shit out before June, if the default happens well ...I dont want to think about it honestly.

Here's two items I was watching. They are rather obscure upgrades for less popular platforms - 386SX and 486SX (QFP).

Make-It 486 upgrade for the 386SX. The upgrade uses a TI486SXLC2 at 50 MHz.
Sold for $365 + $44 shipping from S. Korea. $409 USD
https://www.ebay.com/itm/334866454556

.
.
.
.
Even more obscure, an upgrade for the QFP variant of the Intel 486SX. These CPUs had a lower pin count (196) than a more traditional QFP 486, like an Intel DX4 or Am5x86 QFP (208). It was kind of amusing to see the seller show photos of it strapped to an Intel 486SX QFP on a socket 3 interposer board. Obviously, his motherboard already supports more advanced 486 CPUs. I bet a lot of motherboards will have clearance issues with this upgrade.
Viper Power Multi 586Cs2 with Am5x86.
Sold for $510 + 39 shipping from S. Korea. $549 USD
https://www.ebay.com/itm/334865086871

again i am mystified somewhat with the apparent value! Just because something is rare doesn't make it valuable - but it seems it does after all!

maybe they all get bought by youtubers in order to make videos about rare things

i like coming to this thread when i think spending 10-20 on something is a bit much

Yowzers... The prices for those 286-486 upgrades are not sure surprising.

The price for that PAS 8-bit is crazy though. I kinda understand why a hardcore collector would pay that much though as I looked for one for years before I found one for a decent price.

upgrade CPUs represent the maximum overlap between "things I don't care about" and "overpriced"

maxtherabbit wrote on 2023-05-23, 14:24:

upgrade CPUs represent the maximum overlap between "things I don't care about" and "overpriced"

Heh...

I was looking at getting a socket 4 to socket 5 adapter and then was going to use a socket 5 to socket 7 interposer.

I've also got a slot-1 to socket 8 adapter and plan on putting a socket 8 Pentium ii overdrive 333 in it just for funsies.