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My 1st socket 7 system in 20 years - Gigabyte GA-586HX + K6-233

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First post, by bearking

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Hi guys,

As the title says, this is my first socket 7 build in 20 years... I built my firs PC ever in the spring of 2000, I can't remember much of its config, but I know for sure it had a Cyrix 6x86 PR150, 32 Mb of RAM and an ESCOM AT case(exactly this case, from this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUevwi_n7tM). All the parts where used/second hand parts bought locally.
That's why I have a soft spot for socket 7 systems, and that's why I want my first system build log/presentation on this great forum, to be a socket 7 system 😀

So, here is the finished buid in a nice beige minitower case. I've got this case recently, actually it's from a Fujitsu ICL branded Pentium 100 system.

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Here is the parts list:

1. Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-586HX rev 1.56 - updated to the latest unofficial BIOS 5HX29P4 and made the ODIN/DALLAS RTC chip mod, adding a coin battery holder.

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2. CPU: AMD K6-233ANR. I Also tested in this system these CPUs: AMD K6-200ALYD, Intel Pentium MMX 200, and an IBM(Cyrix) 6x86MX PR233 3.0x 66 MHz

3. Graphics cards:
- 2D card: Matrox Millennium II 8Mb PCI
- 3D accelerator: Diamond Monster 3D II VooDoo2 8Mb

4. RAM: 2x32 Mb EDO 60 ns Hyunday

5. Sound card:
- Creative Sound Blaster 32 CT3670 - actually I still need to fix this card, It has a really bad background noise. I've changed a few caps, but I want to recap the whole card, until then...
- Yamaha YMF719 until I fix my SB32

6. SCSI controller: Adaptec AHA-2940U PCI, because this is my very first experience with SCSI controllers...

7. Network: 3COM 3C905C-TX-M 10/100 PCI NIC

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8. Hard drive: IBM DORS-32160 2Gb SCSI drive

9. Optical and floppy drives:
- TEAC CD-532E CD-ROM 32x reader IDE
- Matsushita/Panasonic CW-7502-B SCSI 4x CD burner
- I think it's a SONY drive...

And here is the internal of the beige box:

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And the back of the system with the I/O ports...

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Hardware wise still needs some finishing touches, mostly cosmetic. Like a better cable management if I find shorter ribbon cables; also need to cover up that empty printer port on the back of the case, etc.
But hey, when can you say, a "system is finished"? For me is a never ending story, I'm always changing something on my systems, specially on the retro systems. There is always a "new" expansion card, a CPU or something to check out.

Last edited by bearking on 2020-08-08, 07:43. Edited 3 times in total.

Reply 1 of 15, by bearking

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Here are some benchmarks using Phil's DOS benchmark compilation

AMD K6-233

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Speedsys: 265.24
3DBench(640*480): 216.3
PC Player(640*480): 24.1
Quake (640*480): 12.5 fps
TopBench: 348

AMD K6-200ALYD
Speedsys: 227.36
3DBench(640*480): 200.5
PC Player(640*480): 20.1
Quake (640*480): 11.8 fps
TopBench: 342

Intel Pentium MMX 200
Speedsys: 149.76
3DBench(640*480): 154.7
PC Player(640*480): 21.2
Quake (640*480): 16.1 fps
TopBench: 318

IBM/Cyrix 6x86MX PR233 3*66 MHz
Speedsys: no score - system crash
3DBench(640*480): 292.3
PC Player(640*480): 22.1
Quake (640*480): 12.9 fps
TopBench: 340

Last edited by bearking on 2020-09-01, 19:17. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 3 of 15, by bofh.fromhell

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Repo Man11 wrote on 2020-08-08, 00:16:

That's a very nice case, I'd love to find one like it at a reasonable price.

Looks like a little brother of my case here:
Fantastic AT case and my mid to late 90's system in it.
More of a standard case inside tho.

Reply 5 of 15, by bearking

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bofh.fromhell wrote on 2020-08-08, 02:12:
Looks like a little brother of my case here: Fantastic AT case and my mid to late 90's system in it. More of a standard case ins […]
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Repo Man11 wrote on 2020-08-08, 00:16:

That's a very nice case, I'd love to find one like it at a reasonable price.

Looks like a little brother of my case here:
Fantastic AT case and my mid to late 90's system in it.
More of a standard case inside tho.

Your case looks absolutly great!

Reply 6 of 15, by bearking

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Repo Man11 wrote on 2020-08-08, 00:16:

That's a very nice case, I'd love to find one like it at a reasonable price.

The only thing that held me back on building this system was a good quality AT case. So I was really happy when I found this case.
It is a generic case, nothing special but the materials and the build quality is great. The metal cover just slides in place effortlessly and it sits perfectly on the chassis.

Reply 7 of 15, by Anonymous Coward

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This is a good solid build, and pretty period correct for 96-97. In my opinion, pretty much what a Socket7 build should be.

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

Reply 8 of 15, by bearking

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Anonymous Coward wrote on 2020-08-08, 09:46:

This is a good solid build, and pretty period correct for 96-97. In my opinion, pretty much what a Socket7 build should be.

Building a rock solid socket 7 system was my goal in the 1st place, didn't really care about strict period correctness. Maybe a Voodoo 1 it would be a better fit, but I have only this Voodoo2...

Reply 12 of 15, by bearking

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Intel486dx33 wrote on 2020-08-09, 15:55:

What Operating System are you running ?

For now Windows 98SE, just because that was installed on the hard drive, but just for testing pusposes.
I plan to install DOS 6.22 and the latest Windows 95 I can find, but for now I'm on vacation for a few days...

Reply 13 of 15, by Jackhead

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Nice clean setup! I would add a front fan for some airflow and a PS2 connector for the mouse.

Dos 6.22: Asus VL/I-486SV2GX4 Rev 2.0 1Mb L2 - AMD A5x86 X5 ADZ 133MHz @160MHz - 64MB RAM - CT2230 - GUS ACE - MPU-401 AT - ET4000W32P
Win98SE: Asus P5K-WS - E8600 @ 4,5GHz - Strange God Voodoo 5 6000 PCI @ 66MHz PCI-X - 2GB DDR2 1066 - Audigy 2 ZS

Reply 14 of 15, by bearking

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Thanks!
I was thinking to put a fan on the front side of the case, actually I have a few fans, but I need to see if I have one that fits inside the black fan holder. Or maybe I'll just remove the holder. Also I need to make some holes or a cutout on the bottom of the front panel to have some airflow.
Also I plan to add some ALU radiators to the chips on the Voodoo card...
I have a PS/2 mouse port on the first bracket from the top. I needed to modify the cable a little bit, because the mobo doesn't have the standard PS/2 mouse header.

Last edited by bearking on 2021-06-25, 11:30. Edited 1 time in total.
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