cyclone3d wrote on 2025-05-03, 22:48:

And you can switch the drum sets while in use.

Unfortunately, that is not the case. While you CAN in fact change the drum set while playing a MIDI file on the fly (as can be done with any external module virtually) it resets the what yamaha calls the "accompaniment" section, which is every midi channel except 10 to default (piano).
Still I like it because it sounds different compared to all my other devices.

Bought this IBM Model 8513 monitor. After good cleaning, it looks almost like brand new. Only visible flaw is slightly yellowed power switch. I expected the caps in old junk like this to be dead. I de-soldered few of them to test, and all of them tested fine, so I let them be.

Now I have all the components of my first computer setup in ~1990. This monitor, IBM PS/2 Model 30 8086, Model M keyboard and that IBM's first PS/2 mouse. I already thought I would never find the monitor in decent condition.

kinetix wrote on 2025-05-03, 03:05:

I have started restoring this 386. It is slightly damaged by the battery (easy compared to the one I restored before in which some lines had already disappeared eaten away). this and a MiTAC/Trigon PWA-PB5500C are the ones that interests me the most.

That looks like this: https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/artek- … ems-inc-opti-25
and a bunch other too, and there is a bios 😀

Trashbytes wrote on 2025-04-30, 23:48:

Apologies, memory requires a kick in the pants these days!

Hey, no worries.
It took a few moments for me to recall the timelines too, even though I deal with nothing but "yesteryear" retro on most of my PCs.

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-05-01, 02:36:

The HD 4000 series were very well received at the time because they were a fantastic value. The 4850 and 4870 at $199 and $299 were priced to compete with the 8800GT\9800GT - 9800GTX, but were often much closer to the performance range of the GTX 260 and GTX 280 priced at $399 and $650.

I miss those times when you could actually buy a pretty decent near top-of-the-line GPU for just a few hundred $. These days, it's... a LOT more. Thank you fucking bitcoin/cryptocurrency bullshit!

Trashbytes wrote on 2025-05-01, 02:47:

I just keep them on my display shelf as a reminder of how damn cool that period of PC gaming was.

You mean how *hot* that period of PC gaming was. 🤣
I'm personally not a fan of these hot GPUs, though. Past nVidia 6000 series and ATI X100 series, things got stupid pretty quickly with the power requirements, particularly on the high end cards. But at least the low and mid-range was still OK. The GTX 1000 series were finally a step in the right direction - reducing the TDP and actually giving a significant boost in performance over anything that was out before. No wonder the GTX 1080 is still relevant today. Felt like the ATI R300 era all over again. But then the GTX 2000 series reversed that quickly. The 3000 series and beyond, I won't even talk about. TDP levels have reached a new level of stupid at this point. I guess we can thank the ray-tracing craze for that (or at least partially.)

BitWrangler wrote on 2025-05-01, 04:19:

I had an HD4670 in 2009 and it seemed like more GPU than I knew what to do with, as I was still picking up cheaper/older games, not paying release prices. Also was at modest monitor res. So seemed like overkill just that. For XP/Vista/Early7 builds sticking with "office" resolution monitors, they still seem to cover a wide range adequately, as long as it's okay on DX10. Heck they still come into consideration for near modern, since they do as well as a 440GTX or something.

I remember a few years back (well, more like 5 now) when Unreal 4 engine / Fortnite didn't have the DX11 minimum requirement and you could still run it with an old DX10 card like the HD4670. AFAIK, season X (from chapter 1) was the last one to allow this and online videos showed decent framerates pumped out even with these 10+ year-old cards at the time. I actually tried it with my HD3870 (essentially a very near class of card as the HD4670) and even with that the game ran OK. Only issue was that the HD3870 had 512 MB of VRAM, making the game micro-stutter due to constant texture loading/unloading to VRAM. Apart from that, I could see the card getting decent FPS (around 60). CS-GO (the days before it turned into CS2) ran even better.

CharlieFoxtrot wrote on 2025-05-01, 18:47:

These days if you manage to get anything 3dfx for free, it is an amazing win!

Indeed it is.
I've personally given up, though. Seems like these are nowhere to be found where I currently live, or for even more outrageous prices (because people look up stuff on Ebay and then match or ask an even higher price) without necessarily knowing if the card is working or not. - No thanks, I'll stick to GeForce 4 MX-440 and newer AGP cards for my retro builds, as these seem to be much more abundant (and extremely affordable) here.

CrFr wrote on 2025-05-04, 09:52:

Bought this IBM Model 8513 monitor. After good cleaning, it looks almost like brand new. Only visible flaw is slightly yellowed power switch. I expected the caps in old junk like this to be dead. I de-soldered few of them to test, and all of them tested fine, so I let them be.

Now I have all the components of my first computer setup in ~1990. This monitor, IBM PS/2 Model 30 8086, Model M keyboard and that IBM's first PS/2 mouse. I already thought I would never find the monitor in decent condition.

Awesome!
Yeah, old gear like that was build with pretty serious quality parts back in the day. That's not to say there weren't stuff to beware of (e.g. RIFA caps in old Apple PSUs, Nichicon PR and UCC LXF caps in anything from the mid-90's, and etc.) But for the most part... yeah, things were just made to last.
The picture on that monitor looks brilliant - very nice capture!
Makes me miss the cool pixel art of the 90's.

Horun wrote on 2025-05-04, 17:00:

kinetix wrote on 2025-05-03, 03:05:

I have started restoring this 386. It is slightly damaged by the battery (easy compared to the one I restored before in which some lines had already disappeared eaten away). this and a MiTAC/Trigon PWA-PB5500C are the ones that interests me the most.

That looks like this: https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/artek- … ems-inc-opti-25
and a bunch other too, and there is a bios 😀

yes, there are several similar, but in this one the extra slot is shorter. surely all those use a similar if not the same BIOS.
I'm working on this board. I had to extract a couple of resistors and diodes, the external battery pins, and two ICs., and two broken capacitors. I had a really long hard time with the chips because I don't have a desoldering gun, and the oxidation on the top made it hard to melt the tin. Applying enough heat and time to melt the tin so I could extract it with the manual solder sucker was also a limitation (I used a wet-cooling trick on the ICs), the small holes and ground plane didn't helped either . I'm rebuilding some broken lines, but beyond this zone in the board, there don't seem to be any more problems. I looked with a camera and didn't see any oxidation. I'll take some time before continuing.
I still need to get another 386 CPU; I only have a "486" DLC/40 in another board.

kinetix wrote on 2025-05-05, 02:07:

yes, there are several similar, but in this one the extra slot is shorter. surely all those use a similar if not the same BIOS. […]
Show full quote

Horun wrote on 2025-05-04, 17:00:

kinetix wrote on 2025-05-03, 03:05:

I have started restoring this 386. It is slightly damaged by the battery (easy compared to the one I restored before in which some lines had already disappeared eaten away). this and a MiTAC/Trigon PWA-PB5500C are the ones that interests me the most.

That looks like this: https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/artek- … ems-inc-opti-25
and a bunch other too, and there is a bios 😀

yes, there are several similar, but in this one the extra slot is shorter. surely all those use a similar if not the same BIOS.
I'm working on this board. I had to extract a couple of resistors and diodes, the external battery pins, and two ICs., and two broken capacitors. I had a really long hard time with the chips because I don't have a desoldering gun, and the oxidation on the top made it hard to melt the tin. Applying enough heat and time to melt the tin so I could extract it with the manual solder sucker was also a limitation (I used a wet-cooling trick on the ICs), the small holes and ground plane didn't helped either . I'm rebuilding some broken lines, but beyond this zone in the board, there don't seem to be any more problems. I looked with a camera and didn't see any oxidation. I'll take some time before continuing.
I still need to get another 386 CPU; I only have a "486" DLC/40 in another board.

Ah wow, haven't seen one of those for a while - I knew I'd seen it before and I have indeed but mine is branded WTC POP3254: Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?
Perhaps the tracing there could be useful to you 😀 There must have been a reference design because there are 5+ boards all with the same layout.
For clearing out those oxidised pins / vias, scratching them first with maybe a ceramic tool can help. I've also found that rosin flux does a better job with corroded solder than modern no-clean fluxes do.

And the later follow up where I found that pulling cleaning and reinstalling the two chips by that 8-bit ISA slot resolved my DMA problems: Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Good luck with the fixes, getting all those boards for that price each now-a-days is rather rare. This Opti 386 board is quite decently quick even though it doesn't have cache.

Thermalwrong wrote on 2025-05-05, 03:06:

Good luck with the fixes, getting all those boards for that price each now-a-days is rather rare. This Opti 386 board is quite decently quick even though it doesn't have cache.

"that price each" no, that price was for ALL.
Thanks for those tips. I did scratched the pins. Will do some tests with rosin latter on some other oxidized circuits.
My motherboard is in somewhat better condition than yours. I hope there are no broken lines under the 82C206, as I have no way to unsolder it. However, since the damage isn't that extensive and is fairly localized, there may be no surprises under that chip. I´ll check all I can, with the help of your trace diagrams. I'll try one of the BIOSes, like you did, something more modern.
this was may previous (and first) restored 386: some help to repair/restore a leaking battery ravaged motherboard . since then I cleaned that brown nail paint and replaced it with a transparent one, also some ugly wires.

Salient wrote on 2025-05-04, 09:14:

cyclone3d wrote on 2025-05-03, 22:48:

And you can switch the drum sets while in use.

Unfortunately, that is not the case. While you CAN in fact change the drum set while playing a MIDI file on the fly (as can be done with any external module virtually) it resets the what yamaha calls the "accompaniment" section, which is every midi channel except 10 to default (piano).
Still I like it because it sounds different compared to all my other devices.

Hmmm, I thought I remembered reading the manual and changing the drums did not reset anything else.

Mobos from my scrapper, coming soon:

- Soyo SY-6BA+III

- DFI P2XBL RevD

- Gigabyte GA-6BXC rev2.0

- ABIT ST6-RAID

Also, upcoming tomorrow:

- unknown 430TX mobo (will update once it arrives) + early black-lettered K6
- PCChips M577 w/ all brackets + K6-2

ChrisK wrote on 2023-01-11, 20:39:

So here are some pictures of the card. […]
Show full quote

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2023-01-10, 18:28:

ChrisK wrote on 2023-01-10, 13:30:

Additionally the PCI versions have a LDO regulator which adds "some" more heat to the game (that small part with the heatsink).
I once changed that to a DIY switching regulator leading to a decreased system power consumption of several Watts.
This regulator got untouchable hot and I still don't see how any of these cards could survive that long. The switching one don't even gets hand-hot.

I'm very curious about this. What part did you use to replace that ridiculously hot regulator? I know several Voodoo cards from this time period have similar issues with heat dissipation and regulators that run at least as hot as the graphics chip itself.

So here are some pictures of the card.

The attachment Riva TNT_switching reg_1.jpg is no longer available

The attachment Riva TNT_switching reg_2.jpg is no longer available

The attachment Riva TNT_switching reg_3.jpg is no longer available

Have to dig in my archive for the PCB files since they obviously have disappeared on my main machine. Will append them here as soon as possible.

How can I do this?! I just got a TNT and that little regulator is insanely hot!

9646gt wrote on Yesterday, 02:25:

ChrisK wrote on 2023-01-11, 20:39:

So here are some pictures of the card. […]
Show full quote

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2023-01-10, 18:28:

I'm very curious about this. What part did you use to replace that ridiculously hot regulator? I know several Voodoo cards from this time period have similar issues with heat dissipation and regulators that run at least as hot as the graphics chip itself.

So here are some pictures of the card.

The attachment Riva TNT_switching reg_1.jpg is no longer available

The attachment Riva TNT_switching reg_2.jpg is no longer available

The attachment Riva TNT_switching reg_3.jpg is no longer available

Have to dig in my archive for the PCB files since they obviously have disappeared on my main machine. Will append them here as soon as possible.

How can I do this?! I just got a TNT and that little regulator is insanely hot!

This is a custom made PCB with a switching regulator module.
You can find the design files and more here:
Switching regulator module as replacement for hot linear regulators (mainly used on PCI VGA cards)

I have bare PCB left should there be interest but you would have to source and solder all other components on your own.

clownwolf wrote on 2025-05-02, 08:33:

Finally bought a PowerVR PCX2. Its a Matrox M3D REV: A […]
Show full quote

Finally bought a PowerVR PCX2. Its a Matrox M3D REV: A

I paired it with a Virge DX and ran benchmarks. It is smooth and had no issues in Final Reality, but is missing half of the textures in 3Dmark 99.

I havent played SGL capable games on it yet, but it came with an Evaluation CD that has about 10 game demos I can try later.

The attachment 20250502_011713.jpg is no longer available

I had one once. You might want to slap a heatsink on that chip, because it runs very hot.

Yet another mystery box, a local listing with a very concise title: old pc. Two pictures as well.

When you see this, a retro enthousiast knows enough:

I just had to have it, so I did. Lost a kidney again but still happy.

Crappy pic:

(PT-2006 board in the background)

Now to get some Sega controllers.

Oh that's awesome. Just need some Saturn controllers and your set

PcBytes wrote on 2025-05-05, 11:28:

Mobos from my scrapper, coming soon: […]
Show full quote

Mobos from my scrapper, coming soon:

- ABIT ST6-RAID

The attachment IMG-20250503-WA0004.jpg is no longer available

Also, upcoming tomorrow:

- unknown 430TX mobo (will update once it arrives) + early black-lettered K6
- PCChips M577 w/ all brackets + K6-2

Oh, wow! Socket 370 board with a RAID controller, nice!

Nunoalex wrote on 2025-05-02, 21:13:

Hi […]
Show full quote

Hi

I found this today and I have no idea what it is
looks like some fancy and rare graphics card
It says "Boca Vortek" and I am DEFINITELY not going to peal the label to see what chip is underneath

I checked online and there seems to ba a VLB card with similar name but thats as fas as I researched

There are some bent pins on the main chip so I will carefully repair them on the next days before attempting to turn it on

if someone can help me identify it that would be great
I promise I will upload all the possible information to the Retro Web

cheers

Please submit these photos to The Retro Web Discord channel if you can.

Nunoalex wrote on 2025-05-02, 21:13:

Hi […]
Show full quote

Hi

I found this today and I have no idea what it is
looks like some fancy and rare graphics card
It says "Boca Vortek" and I am DEFINITELY not going to peal the label to see what chip is underneath

I checked online and there seems to ba a VLB card with similar name but thats as fas as I researched

There are some bent pins on the main chip so I will carefully repair them on the next days before attempting to turn it on

if someone can help me identify it that would be great
I promise I will upload all the possible information to the Retro Web

cheers

See Windows drivers for IIT AGX 015/016 for more information. Windows 3.1, Win95 and OS/2 drivers have surfaced.

PD2JK wrote on Yesterday, 17:57:

Yet another mystery box, a local listing with a very concise title: old pc. Two pictures as well. […]
Show full quote

Yet another mystery box, a local listing with a very concise title: old pc. Two pictures as well.

When you see this, a retro enthousiast knows enough:

The attachment DSC_4014.JPG is no longer available

I just had to have it, so I did. Lost a kidney again but still happy.

Crappy pic:

The attachment DSC_4013.JPG is no longer available

(PT-2006 board in the background)

Now to get some Sega controllers.

Holy cow, nice find! You may have paid a kidney for the system, but have you seen the ebay prices of those cards lately? They are absolutely through the roof, especially with the Saturn controller daughter card. Probably has something to do with it being the first product of what is now one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Make sure to post some more pics of the system once you get it. I'm always curious to see what the builds looked like that incorporated really oddball cards back in the day. Though, judging from the labels, it looks like cards have been moved around in this so it may be a more recently reconfigured retro PC.

Ozzuneoj wrote on Yesterday, 20:07:

Though, judging from the labels, it looks like cards have been moved around in this so it may be a more recently reconfigured retro PC.

Good eye! The system is from 1995 or 96 I think. The LAN card (or NIC) came later into play when cable and xDSL internet became a thing here. So the Edge 3D had to move a position to free up a slot, the daughter card isn't connected to the mainboard anyway. So far for theory. I will shoot some photos this week. 😀

PD2JK wrote on Yesterday, 17:57:

Yet another mystery box, a local listing with a very concise title: old pc. Two pictures as well. […]
Show full quote

Yet another mystery box, a local listing with a very concise title: old pc. Two pictures as well.

When you see this, a retro enthousiast knows enough:

The attachment DSC_4014.JPG is no longer available

I just had to have it, so I did. Lost a kidney again but still happy.

Crappy pic:

The attachment DSC_4013.JPG is no longer available

(PT-2006 board in the background)

Now to get some Sega controllers.

Might be a good time to go buy a lottery ticket 😉