First post, by TheMobRules
Hello fellow Vogoners
I want to share with you some pictures of a retro build I just completed. It is a Socket 7 based build using a Pentium MMX processor, I have tried to stay period correct (~1997) where possible given the components I had available.
Some history first: back in the day, I first got a Socket 7 motherboard to replace my aging 486 around late 1996. It was the infamous PCChips "VXPro Mainboard", which I used with a Cyrix 6x86 (that was replaced by a 6x86MX about a year later). This one lasted up until around 1998-99 when I moved to Slot 1.
That board and CPUs should be somewhere in my house, as I don't remember throwing them away, but I was unable to find them so I went with a few new components that I've collected. Here are the specs:
Motherboard: ASUS SP97-V
CPU: Intel Pentium MMX @ 200 MHz
RAM: 2 x 32MB of EDO DRAM
VGA: Matrox Millennium II PCI 4MB
Sound: Creative Sound Blaster AWE64 Value
HDD: Maxtor DiamondMax 10GB IDE
FDD: 1.44MB 3.5''
ODD: Pioneer DVD-ROM
PSU: 300W ATX
As the motherboard features an ATX power connector despite being AT form factor, I decided to use an early ATX case which used to house my Athlon XP back in the day. The case supports AT motherboard mounting so it fit perfectly.
And now, some pictures! Please excuse the poor quality of the images as they were taken using my phone and I am no good at getting nice looking photos 😢
Motherboard ready to go into the case:
Cards installed and all cables connected:
Back of the case:
Ready to go!
If you want to check all the components here is the full album:
The OS I have installed on this build is Windows 95 OSR 2.5, mostly to be in line with the "period correctness", but also because I haven't used Win95 in a while and just wanted to play a bit with it. Now all that remains is installing some nice games of that era and have some fun. 😀
As a future upgrade I'm considering adding a Voodoo 1, but for now I will be playing non-3D accelerated games such as Diablo, System Shock and some graphic adventures so no hurry.