slivercr wrote on 2025-04-29, 15:26:

Sorry for slow reply. From what I can tell, this supplies both CPUs and there's no way to start the board without it. […]
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H3nrik V! wrote on 2025-04-24, 04:15:

slivercr wrote on 2025-04-24, 01:15:

Speaking of the CPU VRMs, I took some pics of it to post in another thread, I'll add them here for reference as well.
Mine are Delta based.

Is this VRM supplying both CPUs or it's one supplied directly from the motherboard and the VRM only used when running dual CPUs?

Sorry for slow reply. From what I can tell, this supplies both CPUs and there's no way to start the board without it.

SWZSSR wrote on 2025-04-29, 14:21:

Hi All... after a long long time I finally got the OR840ES System going. […]
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SWZSSR wrote on 2020-06-05, 02:05:

Hey guys […]
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Hey guys

I recently acquired this OR840 Engineering Sample System in Adelaide, Australia. My friend saved it from the crusher!

I hope to find what original expansion cards & hdd it had. PSU will need recapping as its shot.

Photos

Hi All... after a long long time I finally got the OR840ES System going.

The attachment internals.jpeg is no longer available

The attachment cpuinfo.jpeg is no longer available

The attachment raminfo.jpeg is no longer available

Specs
2x600B Katami 133FSB (Was installed when found)
2x128MB PC600 Samsung RIMMS
TNT2 M64 Originally? Placed a G400MAX Inside (Date Codes Match)
LITEON PSU Fully Recapped with Service\Removal of Hotsnot Glue

Installed W2K. Did an ACPI Installed. Holy smokes that was slow!

Bios is very very early - P01.9910011410 !!!!

The attachment biosver.jpeg is no longer available

I can confirm only 128MB or less PC600 RIMMS work! Memory beep with anything larger or faster...

I can post more below if people are interested. I dont want to hijack silvercrs thread though!

Yooooo, good to see you! Hijack? Show us more!

Can you please try to back-up the original BIOS? I dont think we have many versions archived.

Here is the bios from my AA 750701-603 engineering sample. I had to use Universal Bios Backup Toolkit 2.0 to save it. I have also contacted retro web to upload it.

I've been slowly rebuilding this system after having it in storage for a while.
The first step was taken a few days ago when I patched the AGP slot.

I have a few ideas to build it into a very compact case, with no drive bays at all.
I want to have a lot of airflow, and got 3 big fans to provide cooling: 2x 140mm intake fans, and 1x 120mm exhaust.

The only problem is, the fans are noisy! They're PWM controlled, but of course the OR840 has no way to send a PWM signal.
I've spent a few hours making a prototype PWM controller with an Arduino Nano, using only spare parts I had.

Its not original at all, being based on THIS ONE.

The only thing I did was alter the power functions a bit so that the minimum fan speed is always 20%, and also tweak the parameters a bit.
The original design uses an NTC10k thermistor, for now I soldered a header and plugged in a potentiometer to regulate the speed.
It works wonderfully!

Later on I'll plug a thermistor, but I want to put it right in the heatsink of the lower CPU.
I.e., I'll need to drill a hole in the heatsink to set it up the way I want it.

Why on the lower CPU? its the one that always gets hotter, somewhy.
More later.

slivercr wrote on 2025-05-11, 00:41:

I've been slowly rebuilding this system after having it in storage for a while. The first step was taken a few days ago when I p […]
Show full quote

I've been slowly rebuilding this system after having it in storage for a while.
The first step was taken a few days ago when I patched the AGP slot.

I have a few ideas to build it into a very compact case, with no drive bays at all.
I want to have a lot of airflow, and got 3 big fans to provide cooling: 2x 140mm intake fans, and 1x 120mm exhaust.

The only problem is, the fans are noisy! They're PWM controlled, but of course the OR840 has no way to send a PWM signal.
I've spent a few hours making a prototype PWM controller with an Arduino Nano, using only spare parts I had.

The attachment 20250510_180702.jpg is no longer available

Its not original at all, being based on THIS ONE.

The only thing I did was alter the power functions a bit so that the minimum fan speed is always 20%, and also tweak the parameters a bit.
The original design uses an NTC10k thermistor, for now I soldered a header and plugged in a potentiometer to regulate the speed.
It works wonderfully!

Later on I'll plug a thermistor, but I want to put it right in the heatsink of the lower CPU.
I.e., I'll need to drill a hole in the heatsink to set it up the way I want it.

Why on the lower CPU? its the one that always gets hotter, somewhy.
More later.

Nice one. Adding PWM capability to such old hardware will make it a lot quieter.
As for the lower CPU always getting hotter, that could be because it always gets used more, or needs new thermal paste. Or maybe even different results in the silicon lottery. Have you tried switching them around?

TechieDude wrote on 2025-06-04, 17:26:

slivercr wrote on 2025-05-11, 00:41:

I've been slowly rebuilding this system after having it in storage for a while. The first step was taken a few days ago when I p […]
Show full quote

I've been slowly rebuilding this system after having it in storage for a while.
The first step was taken a few days ago when I patched the AGP slot.

I have a few ideas to build it into a very compact case, with no drive bays at all.
I want to have a lot of airflow, and got 3 big fans to provide cooling: 2x 140mm intake fans, and 1x 120mm exhaust.

The only problem is, the fans are noisy! They're PWM controlled, but of course the OR840 has no way to send a PWM signal.
I've spent a few hours making a prototype PWM controller with an Arduino Nano, using only spare parts I had.

The attachment 20250510_180702.jpg is no longer available

Its not original at all, being based on THIS ONE.

The only thing I did was alter the power functions a bit so that the minimum fan speed is always 20%, and also tweak the parameters a bit.
The original design uses an NTC10k thermistor, for now I soldered a header and plugged in a potentiometer to regulate the speed.
It works wonderfully!

Later on I'll plug a thermistor, but I want to put it right in the heatsink of the lower CPU.
I.e., I'll need to drill a hole in the heatsink to set it up the way I want it.

Why on the lower CPU? its the one that always gets hotter, somewhy.
More later.

Nice one. Adding PWM capability to such old hardware will make it a lot quieter.
As for the lower CPU always getting hotter, that could be because it always gets used more, or needs new thermal paste. Or maybe even different results in the silicon lottery. Have you tried switching them around?

Its working nicely and quietly, as you said.

Yeah, I've tried switching the CPUs around and the result is the same: lower CPU gets hotter. And it happened with multiple pairs of matched CPUs (including Tualatin core).

My guess is the lower CPU is just the "primary" CPU if that makes sense. Or my board has that quirk and sends more vcore to the lower CPU... could try measuring that.

slivercr wrote on 2025-06-04, 20:23:

Its working nicely and quietly, as you said.

Yeah, I've tried switching the CPUs around and the result is the same: lower CPU gets hotter. And it happened with multiple pairs of matched CPUs (including Tualatin core).

My guess is the lower CPU is just the "primary" CPU if that makes sense. Or my board has that quirk and sends more vcore to the lower CPU... could try measuring that.

Weird... Yeah, best to look into it, I guess...