That's one of the weirdest things I've seen in this hobby.

This is cool but I can't help thinking it would be even cooler with the original 386 build in these slimline black desktop cases

Hi Guys,

Posted this on reddit a few days ago and got pretty mixed reactions, some of you probably saw it. This is a sleeper build I did over the course of 4 years and just been adding to it up until this point. Case is not from an original 5170 but a clone I made look like one. Display is not IBM PC related but a heavily water damaged and worn out IBM Terminal Display I modified with the guts from an IBM 8513 display (with a damaged case). Keyboard is an unmodified IBM Model M (PS/2 style) , Mouse is an IBM PS/2 mouse modified to USB optical. I hope you guys like my build, but at this point i'm a bit dissappointed in some of the reactions so far. I'm an enthusiast of both the IBM 5170 (and would never modify one of those) and retro PC's in general. I agree that some things should be left alone, but in this case, i feel no harm was done to valuable vintage parts. Specs and parts are listed in the image. Enjoy.

I think it's great 😀 Personally I wouldn't have used a Gotek because it looks somewhat out of place, but apart from that what problem do people have with the build?
Is that the original old PSU?

Dustinslab wrote on 2022-03-15, 11:29:

Hi Guys,

Posted this on reddit a few days ago and got pretty mixed reactions, some of you probably saw it. This is a sleeper build I did over the course of 4 years and just been adding to it up until this point. Case is not from an original 5170 but a clone I made look like one. Display is not IBM PC related but a heavily water damaged and worn out IBM Terminal Display I modified with the guts from an IBM 8513 display (with a damaged case). Keyboard is an unmodified IBM Model M (PS/2 style) , Mouse is an IBM PS/2 mouse modified to USB optical. I hope you guys like my build, but at this point i'm a bit dissappointed in some of the reactions so far. I'm an enthusiast of both the IBM 5170 (and would never modify one of those) and retro PC's in general. I agree that some things should be left alone, but in this case, i feel no harm was done to valuable vintage parts. Specs and parts are listed in the image. Enjoy.

Totally sweet build! Who would hate on this?
(I share HanSolo's Gotek opinion though. 😉)

Hi thx! Well, some people/communities seem to think i destroyed a vintage computer to do this. They either didn't read my comments or they're just hating. The Gotek does look out of place, but is very practical. I'm a practical guy. 😉 I do have a 5,25" inch floppy drive, but since I don't use that for anything, i did not see the point in installing that just for those pictures. It is the original PSU case, but the PCB is from a more modern AT PSU. The original one was too old/unstable to use longterm.

Dustinslab wrote on 2022-03-15, 13:08:

Hi thx! Well, some people/communities seem to think i destroyed a vintage computer to do this. They either didn't read my comments or they're just hating. The Gotek does look out of place, but is very practical. I'm a practical guy. 😉 I do have a 5,25" inch floppy drive, but since I don't use that for anything, i did not see the point in installing that just for those pictures. It is the original PSU case, but the PCB is from a more modern AT PSU. The original one was too old/unstable to use longterm.

I just watched the videos about the case on your channel 😀
About the Gotek being practical: that's a Pentium 3 with USB ports. When you want to transfer data to that box, why do you even mess with disk-images and don't just plug the stick into the ports on the backside? 😀

You do have a point actually. The first build was a P1 and there the Gotek did make more sense. But messing with old images is fun and a quick switch to another OS with a boot disk image or a simple file transfer is easy with a Gotek. I use the rig to fix other rigs in my lab. (Prepare HDD's or test drives and drivers) In general and in current use, i switch out the SD card more than I use the Gotek. Thx, I'll have to see how my flow evolves.

HanSolo wrote on 2022-03-15, 13:20:

Dustinslab wrote on 2022-03-15, 13:08:

Hi thx! Well, some people/communities seem to think i destroyed a vintage computer to do this. They either didn't read my comments or they're just hating. The Gotek does look out of place, but is very practical. I'm a practical guy. 😉 I do have a 5,25" inch floppy drive, but since I don't use that for anything, i did not see the point in installing that just for those pictures. It is the original PSU case, but the PCB is from a more modern AT PSU. The original one was too old/unstable to use longterm.

I just watched the videos about the case on your channel 😀
About the Gotek being practical: that's a Pentium 3 with USB ports. When you want to transfer data to that box, why do you even mess with disk-images and don't just plug the stick into the ports on the backside? 😀

Many DOS things simply require (the appearance of) a floppy. At least it might be more effort to work around that via usb, etc.
I'm a bit of a purist myself but there are limits - floppies simply stink.

Nice build there and, haters gonna hate. But take into account that certain people are not above disemboweling really rare things for a sleeper or something else.

And even generic AT cases are getting scarce nowadays, it might seem.
Bought a 430TX socket 7 AT motherboard few weeks ago, that was sold with all the AT front panel stuff still dangling from it, LEDs and such.
Inquired about the case. Turn's out, that was sitting in the garage, heading for the scrap.
Got it for a tenner on top. And the additional shipping cost, that turned out to be another ten with the usual crooks.
But boy was it worth it. That thing, a bloody mini tower, weighs around 10 kg including PSU, I would not believe it but the parcel was the correct price with DHL. Mint condition.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-15, 13:37:

I'm a bit of a purist myself but there are limits - floppies simply stink.

Tell me about it. When I got the physical game box collection bug a couple of years ago, floppies is where I draw the line. I will not buy anything that comes on a floppy - CD/DVD only. 😉

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-15, 13:37:

And even generic AT cases are getting scarce nowadays, it might seem.

Yes. 2 decades ago I had a Cyrix in a Packard Bell (I think) AT case. Threw it into the bin when it stopped working (it only lasted a few short years). Had no idea back then how to fix these things, get parts, or whether they might be worth anything one day.

Dustinslab wrote on 2022-03-15, 13:08:

Hi thx! Well, some people/communities seem to think i destroyed a vintage computer to do this. They either didn't read my comments or they're just hating.

Even if they didn't read the comments: Those people do not understand that an open standard that allowed for add on cards and various upgrades (including the mainboard in the case!) played a big part in making IBM's PC a smashing success. It is normal to modify and upgrade your PC. You were supposed to!😄

Dustinslab wrote on 2022-03-15, 11:29:

Hi Guys,

Posted this on reddit a few days ago and got pretty mixed reactions, some of you probably saw it. This is a sleeper build I did over the course of 4 years and just been adding to it up until this point. Case is not from an original 5170 but a clone I made look like one. Display is not IBM PC related but a heavily water damaged and worn out IBM Terminal Display I modified with the guts from an IBM 8513 display (with a damaged case). Keyboard is an unmodified IBM Model M (PS/2 style) , Mouse is an IBM PS/2 mouse modified to USB optical. I hope you guys like my build, but at this point i'm a bit dissappointed in some of the reactions so far. I'm an enthusiast of both the IBM 5170 (and would never modify one of those) and retro PC's in general. I agree that some things should be left alone, but in this case, i feel no harm was done to valuable vintage parts. Specs and parts are listed in the image. Enjoy.

That system looks awesome seriously great job!!!
Don't worry about all the people hating your system people will always find away to complain about something.

I do have a question how's the temperatures in that case?

Dustinslab wrote on 2022-03-15, 11:29:

Hi Guys,
Posted this on reddit a few days ago and got pretty mixed reactions, some of you probably saw it. This is a sleeper build I did over the course of 4 years and just been adding to it up until this point. Case is not from an original 5170 but a clone I made look like one. Display is not IBM PC related but a heavily water damaged and worn out IBM Terminal Display I modified with the guts from an IBM 8513 display (with a damaged case). Keyboard is an unmodified IBM Model M (PS/2 style) , Mouse is an IBM PS/2 mouse modified to USB optical. I hope you guys like my build, but at this point i'm a bit dissappointed in some of the reactions so far. I'm an enthusiast of both the IBM 5170 (and would never modify one of those) and retro PC's in general. I agree that some things should be left alone, but in this case, i feel no harm was done to valuable vintage parts. Specs and parts are listed in the image. Enjoy.

If only I had seen this half a year ago. I was thinking about getting a nice AT-Slot 1 board then, but couldn't convince myself buying it 'just for the collection'. I have a similar empty case and the more I look at the pictures the more I like the idea 😀

dr_st wrote on 2022-03-15, 16:32:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-15, 13:37:

I'm a bit of a purist myself but there are limits - floppies simply stink.

Tell me about it. When I got the physical game box collection bug a couple of years ago, floppies is where I draw the line. I will not buy anything that comes on a floppy - CD/DVD only. 😉

Actually I prefer floppy disk releases 😀 But the main reason is that they come from an era where they packed all kinds of stuff into the box. With the advent of CDs all you got was a thin booklet

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2022-03-15, 17:58:

That system looks awesome seriously great job!!!
Don't worry about all the people hating your system people will always find away to complain about something.

I do have a question how's the temperatures in that case?

Thx 😀 I know I shouldn't worry about it too much, but they caught me off guard with this.

Anyway, temperature readout is not really a thing on this AT board afaik, but everything feels normal. I added a fan for the FX5200 and the PSU has quite a beefy fan to pull air out of the system. The metal of the case itself does not get hot. Haven't seen any glitches or system hangs either, so I presume all is well.

dr_st wrote on 2022-03-15, 16:32:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-15, 13:37:

I'm a bit of a purist myself but there are limits - floppies simply stink.

Tell me about it. When I got the physical game box collection bug a couple of years ago, floppies is where I draw the line. I will not buy anything that comes on a floppy - CD/DVD only. 😉

Oh, last time I checked, most commercial dealers of floppy big boxes put a disclaimer "this is a collectible, floppy content may vary" or something like that. Anything else is unrealistic.
I mean, I've heard you can download most floppy images somewhere. Ostensibly. Some people say.

HanSolo wrote on 2022-03-15, 18:00:

Actually I prefer floppy disk releases 😀 But the main reason is that they come from an era where they packed all kinds of stuff into the box. With the advent of CDs all you got was a thin booklet

I think I never really actually read "The Stele Chronicles" but it sure looks nice beside the other book.

Doornkaat wrote on 2022-03-15, 17:31:

Even if they didn't read the comments: Those people do not understand that an open standard that allowed for add on cards and various upgrades (including the mainboard in the case!) played a big part in making IBM's PC a smashing success. It is normal to modify and upgrade your PC. You were supposed to!😄

That is a great point of view! Never even thought of that. I will use that one. 😁

HanSolo wrote on 2022-03-15, 18:00:

But the main reason is that they come from an era where they packed all kinds of stuff into the box. With the advent of CDs all you got was a thin booklet

Civilization II would like to have a word with you...

I love this Pentium III stuff, especially the big Xeon ^^

OOOOOOO000ooo!

The rare and elusive Asus XG-DLS... You even have the cpu mounting hardware and back plate, that's missing from every ebay listing i've seen.

*image of Tom Hanks making suggestive off-camera motions*

Have we reached Darmok and Jalahad levels of memes yet? If not, I feel its close.

luckybob wrote on 2022-03-17, 23:17:

OOOOOOO000ooo! […]
Show full quote

OOOOOOO000ooo!

The rare and elusive Asus XG-DLS... You even have the cpu mounting hardware and back plate, that's missing from every ebay listing i've seen.

*image of Tom Hanks making suggestive off-camera motions*

Have we reached Darmok and Jalahad levels of memes yet? If not, I feel its close.

It's just "Jalad" - Darmok's Buddy. At Tanagra, apparently.
And yes, as I don't get that Tom Hanks reference.

Edit, the occasional on topic remark: Awesome beast, that Xeon board.