dominusprog wrote on 2025-03-19, 15:16:

Major Jackyl wrote on 2025-03-17, 02:13:

Got some stuff today. The most interesting though, is these screens and video cards/interface cards. […]
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Got some stuff today. The most interesting though, is these screens and video cards/interface cards.

From some kind of "industrial" PC, like a casino game? Very interesting video card. It uses the SCSI output to the monitor input. Luckily the box had three screens and three cards. I tested the first one and it has video output! Pretty neat! Hope it can run DOOM, 🤣 It can barely run the BIOS, 🤣

Build a wooden case for it. You can make a frame out of aluminum profile.

Now they make some interior household trim out of extruded plastic, it's less likely to split up to drive screws into it, it will hold a self tap metal screw pretty well if drilled. So you can get inside angle or outside angle offcuts of that and use it to hold lighter/smaller panels together. Wouldn't use it for more than say 1/4" ply though.

BitWrangler wrote on 2025-03-19, 16:24:

dominusprog wrote on 2025-03-19, 15:16:

Major Jackyl wrote on 2025-03-17, 02:13:

Got some stuff today. The most interesting though, is these screens and video cards/interface cards. […]
Show full quote

Got some stuff today. The most interesting though, is these screens and video cards/interface cards.

From some kind of "industrial" PC, like a casino game? Very interesting video card. It uses the SCSI output to the monitor input. Luckily the box had three screens and three cards. I tested the first one and it has video output! Pretty neat! Hope it can run DOOM, 🤣 It can barely run the BIOS, 🤣

Build a wooden case for it. You can make a frame out of aluminum profile.

Now they make some interior household trim out of extruded plastic, it's less likely to split up to drive screws into it, it will hold a self tap metal screw pretty well if drilled. So you can get inside angle or outside angle offcuts of that and use it to hold lighter/smaller panels together. Wouldn't use it for more than say 1/4" ply though.

I would like to make a tri-angle computer with the motherboard standing in the middle, but I don't know if they can all work simultaneously... If no, I'll knock a hole in a scrap case, see how it looks mounted inside a computer. Good for emergency DOS only.

I only have one cable at the moment; I want to see what happens if I plug all three in at once. Is there a ribbon that can do all three with one card?! I had two cards in my test computer and it didn't mind, but I couldn't connect more than one at a time (all work). Windows knows nothing about it. Doesn't even know where the video is coming/going. Duke3d was a sledge-fest (slow'd down Duke is pretty metal, too) and Doom runs... playable. (In DOS)
(https://youtu.be/PdtfbcWLJ6Y) - Short video of slow'd down duke3d. Mostly the sound.

I still haven't found much on the cards. Nothing on the screens, either. They DO pass the 70hz test, though and look pretty good. I'll look up chips on the WDFPCard soon, see if I can't find some drivers/init program or something. The monitors, cards AND the box they came in all said "Computer Dynamics - The Flat Panel Experts™"

Major Jackyl wrote on 2025-03-19, 22:38:

I would like to make a tri-angle computer with the motherboard standing in the middle, but I don't know if they can all work sim […]
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BitWrangler wrote on 2025-03-19, 16:24:

dominusprog wrote on 2025-03-19, 15:16:

Build a wooden case for it. You can make a frame out of aluminum profile.

Now they make some interior household trim out of extruded plastic, it's less likely to split up to drive screws into it, it will hold a self tap metal screw pretty well if drilled. So you can get inside angle or outside angle offcuts of that and use it to hold lighter/smaller panels together. Wouldn't use it for more than say 1/4" ply though.

I would like to make a tri-angle computer with the motherboard standing in the middle, but I don't know if they can all work simultaneously... If no, I'll knock a hole in a scrap case, see how it looks mounted inside a computer. Good for emergency DOS only.

I only have one cable at the moment; I want to see what happens if I plug all three in at once. Is there a ribbon that can do all three with one card?! I had two cards in my test computer and it didn't mind, but I couldn't connect more than one at a time (all work). Windows knows nothing about it. Doesn't even know where the video is coming/going. Duke3d was a sledge-fest (slow'd down Duke is pretty metal, too) and Doom runs... playable. (In DOS)
(https://youtu.be/PdtfbcWLJ6Y) - Short video of slow'd down duke3d. Mostly the sound.

I still haven't found much on the cards. Nothing on the screens, either. They DO pass the 70hz test, though and look pretty good. I'll look up chips on the WDFPCard soon, see if I can't find some drivers/init program or something. The monitors, cards AND the box they came in all said "Computer Dynamics - The Flat Panel Experts™"

Setting the video output in duke3d.cfg to Screen Buffer can improve the performance.

2x1GB DDR 333
1st time I see 333MHz 1GB modules.

Ahrle wrote on 2025-03-14, 18:08:

#2. Compaq Contura 430CX […]
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#2. Compaq Contura 430CX

Not sure about CPU (can't get into BIOS), but has 8MB RAM, and a relatively huge 700MB HDD with catchy noises.
Obliterates the Acernote's performance in the pinball demo that came on both.
Can't find anything wrong except dead CMOS battery, and previous owner's notice it won't cooperate with SD cards.

I had one of those in the late 1990s. Mine was a 486DX2-50; model no. 410C if I remember correctly. Sadly it got stolen when I was at University 🙁

Okay, here's another one for the PC hardware detectives out there.

Bought this computer as-is recently, and 80% of my reason for purchasing it was a component in this photo. Can you spot it?

EDIT: To keep it fair, here is the other picture I used to identify the part:

And yes, I know the PSU has some surface rust. I will not be using that. The case is super cool though and thankfully isn't rusty. I'm not sure if this is an original GEM desktop or if all of the parts were swapped out at some point (it has an 8x CDROM too).

Whatever the sound card is?

cyclone3d wrote on 2025-03-21, 02:48:

Whatever the sound card is?

And what sound card is it? 😁

When I saw those pictures it jumped out at me, because only one card looks like that. It's a fairly rare card but not total unobtainium.

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-03-21, 02:55:

And what sound card is it? 😁

When I saw those pictures it jumped out at me, because only one card looks like that. It's a fairly rare card but not total unobtainium.

The voltage regulators in that position make me think of PAS, but the rest doesn't match with the images I can find...

Indulged a bit yesterday and bought a funky motherboard to test CPUs with

I wasn't too sure, but intel branding, ISA, and 3 RAM slots suggest it's a 440BX so I pulled the trigger. Looks to be this motherboard.

From the same seller I got a Radeon DDR, the AIW version–I was missing an og Radeon in my collection so this is quite welcome!

slivercr wrote on 2025-03-21, 05:16:

Indulged a bit yesterday and bought a funky motherboard to test CPUs with

That's kind of odd. The website you linked doesn't mention Coppermine support, even though it's a 440BX. Something worth checking out and letting us know if it's supported.

Kahenraz wrote on 2025-03-21, 05:47:

slivercr wrote on 2025-03-21, 05:16:

Indulged a bit yesterday and bought a funky motherboard to test CPUs with

That's kind of odd. The website you linked doesn't mention Coppermine support, even though it's a 440BX. Something worth checking out and letting us know if it's supported.

The voltage regulator should support the lower Coppermine voltages, so it's just a matter of whether the BIOS does or not.

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-03-21, 00:43:

Okay, here's another one for the PC hardware detectives out there. […]
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Okay, here's another one for the PC hardware detectives out there.

Bought this computer as-is recently, and 80% of my reason for purchasing it was a component in this photo. Can you spot it?

EDIT: To keep it fair, here is the other picture I used to identify the part:

And yes, I know the PSU has some surface rust. I will not be using that. The case is super cool though and thankfully isn't rusty. I'm not sure if this is an original GEM desktop or if all of the parts were swapped out at some point (it has an 8x CDROM too).

I spy with my little eye .... A Pro Audio Spectrum Plus !!!!

Xicor wrote on 2025-03-21, 20:35:

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-03-21, 00:43:

Okay, here's another one for the PC hardware detectives out there. […]
Show full quote

Okay, here's another one for the PC hardware detectives out there.

Bought this computer as-is recently, and 80% of my reason for purchasing it was a component in this photo. Can you spot it?

EDIT: To keep it fair, here is the other picture I used to identify the part:

And yes, I know the PSU has some surface rust. I will not be using that. The case is super cool though and thankfully isn't rusty. I'm not sure if this is an original GEM desktop or if all of the parts were swapped out at some point (it has an 8x CDROM too).

I spy with my little eye .... A Pro Audio Spectrum Plus !!!!

You got it! I think I've only ever seen these come up for sale 4-5 times in the years I've been collecting sound cards. I have one that I was never able to get working fully. Now I have a second that will hopefully work and will maybe even aide me in fixing the other one.

Oh, and here's your trophy. 🏆😁

Unsure that it is truly retro, but i just got a Ketron SD2 for my MIDI stack.
I can't test it yet because i lack a free wall plug and need adapters to add it to the stack, probably by daisy chaining it to another device and using a secondary input on my mixer.

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-03-21, 00:43:

Okay, here's another one for the PC hardware detectives out there.

Bought this computer as-is recently, and 80% of my reason for purchasing it was a component in this photo. Can you spot it?

The Sunshine PSU? 😆

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-03-21, 21:07:

Xicor wrote on 2025-03-21, 20:35:

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-03-21, 00:43:

Okay, here's another one for the PC hardware detectives out there. […]
Show full quote

Okay, here's another one for the PC hardware detectives out there.

Bought this computer as-is recently, and 80% of my reason for purchasing it was a component in this photo. Can you spot it?

EDIT: To keep it fair, here is the other picture I used to identify the part:

And yes, I know the PSU has some surface rust. I will not be using that. The case is super cool though and thankfully isn't rusty. I'm not sure if this is an original GEM desktop or if all of the parts were swapped out at some point (it has an 8x CDROM too).

I spy with my little eye .... A Pro Audio Spectrum Plus !!!!

You got it! I think I've only ever seen these come up for sale 4-5 times in the years I've been collecting sound cards. I have one that I was never able to get working fully. Now I have a second that will hopefully work and will maybe even aide me in fixing the other one.

Oh, and here's your trophy. 🏆😁

Oh yeah, now I recognize it. I actually have one as well.

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-03-21, 21:07:

Xicor wrote on 2025-03-21, 20:35:

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-03-21, 00:43:

Okay, here's another one for the PC hardware detectives out there. […]
Show full quote

Okay, here's another one for the PC hardware detectives out there.

Bought this computer as-is recently, and 80% of my reason for purchasing it was a component in this photo. Can you spot it?

EDIT: To keep it fair, here is the other picture I used to identify the part:

And yes, I know the PSU has some surface rust. I will not be using that. The case is super cool though and thankfully isn't rusty. I'm not sure if this is an original GEM desktop or if all of the parts were swapped out at some point (it has an 8x CDROM too).

I spy with my little eye .... A Pro Audio Spectrum Plus !!!!

You got it! I think I've only ever seen these come up for sale 4-5 times in the years I've been collecting sound cards. I have one that I was never able to get working fully. Now I have a second that will hopefully work and will maybe even aide me in fixing the other one.

Oh, and here's your trophy. 🏆😁

Nice find ! Yes a bit rare. The other fairly rare MV's are the original PAS 8bit and the Sigma Designs PAS16 (53-000296 AKA 650-0053-029) with both SCSI and Sony cdrom interfaces (have not seen one for sale in years until just recently).

Horun wrote on 2025-03-22, 02:24:

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-03-21, 21:07:

Xicor wrote on 2025-03-21, 20:35:

I spy with my little eye .... A Pro Audio Spectrum Plus !!!!

You got it! I think I've only ever seen these come up for sale 4-5 times in the years I've been collecting sound cards. I have one that I was never able to get working fully. Now I have a second that will hopefully work and will maybe even aide me in fixing the other one.

Oh, and here's your trophy. 🏆😁

Nice find ! Yes a bit rare. The other fairly rare MV's are the original PAS 8bit and the Sigma Designs PAS16 (53-000296 AKA 650-0053-029) with both SCSI and Sony cdrom interfaces (have not seen one for sale in years until just recently).

Yeah, an original PAS 8bit has managed to elude me all these years. They have popped up a couple times for cheap but they're always snatched up before I can grab them.

I bought this Dell XPS P166s from my local thrift store for 65 euro, kinda expensive if you ask me but it came with a AT101W keyboard and a creative ct1920 goldfinch expansion card so I'm happy.