My Retro DOS Machine with stripped Pentium! (small update!) \ VOGONS

My Retro DOS Machine with stripped Pentium! (small update!)

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First post, by northernosprey02

Posted on 2013-05-22, 15:38

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My ECS P5TX-Apro just resurrected from his death, so I want to reassembling them to Retro DOS Machine. Here's the specification:

ECS P5TX-Apro 430TX ATX motherboard (ALR Optima MT OEM)
Intel Pentium 100 (downclock to 75 MHz)
Visipro (local brand, using Hyundai now Hynix chip) 64MB SDRAM
S3 Trio64V2/DX
Sound Blaster ViBRA 16S
3Com Etherlink III Ethernet Card
Samsung Winner 2 Advance 2.1GB 4500RPM Hard Drive
ASUS 52x CD-ROM (to match with case)
Tiger 200W PSU

Plan for this system:
- Underclock eventually, to 75 MHz for maximum compatibility for DOS games (UPDATE: Succesfully downclocked) 😁 🤣
- Downgrade memory to 16MB for maximum compatibility for DOS
- Buy new PSU for this system to make IBM NetVista usable (UPDATE: Tiger PSU works finely because my bad)
- Buy old sound card (optional, probably AWE64)
- Reducing noise by using noise dampening

Need some help:
- What is most interesting DOS and Windows 3.x program? I want to make DOS machine feel cutting-edge while keeping retro feel.
- (DELETED)
- (DELETED)
- (DELETED)

Some problem:
Can't restart correctly, when I press restart the screen goes black after restart. No restart, so I push the power button and push again and boot normally.

Picture:
Updated photo with better light! 😁

Updated picture, now with cover and beige CD-ROM

Inside of my DOS machine

Yellowish keyboard

Nice desktop setup but doesn't look perfect due yellowish keyboard 🤣

Successfully POST!

More coming soon 😜

Last edited by northernosprey02 on 2013-05-30, 15:05. Edited 8 times in total.

Reply 1 of 11, by Mau1wurf1977

Posted on 2013-05-23, 00:40

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Very nice!

My website with reviews, demos, drivers, tutorials and more...
My YouTube channel

Reply 2 of 11, by northernosprey02

Posted on 2013-05-23, 03:59

northernosprey02 Offline

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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:
Very nice!

Hehe, can you help me to improve this DOS Gaming Machine? My question in this thread

BTW, the picture was arrived. Come on see them! 😁

Reply 3 of 11, by stbunny

Posted on 2013-05-26, 08:01

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Full loaded Pentium I system consumes ~40-50W.

P55T2P4, Intel Pentium 133MHz, 32Mb EDO, S3 Virge 325, YMF-719s + SC-55, AHA-2940U2W, ST39175LW, UltraPlex40Max, Opti USB PCI, Sony CPD-G400P 19"

Reply 4 of 11, by northernosprey02

Posted on 2013-05-26, 12:46

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stbunny wrote:
Full loaded Pentium I system consumes ~40-50W.

Oh, thanks for information about PSU on Pentium classic, but I don't buy PSU anymore because Tiger PSU works finely. That's my bad 😁

Reply 5 of 11, by Mau1wurf1977

Posted on 2013-05-26, 12:59

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northernosprey02 wrote:
Mau1wurf1977 wrote:
Very nice!

Hehe, can you help me to improve this DOS Gaming Machine? My question in this thread

BTW, the picture was arrived. Come on see them! 😁

Cards that I know need -5V are LAPC-I, Sound Blaster 2.0 and Pro Audio Soectrum 16.

So anything else should work fine 😀

Cutting edge DOS games are late 3DFX games like Tomb Raider. Shortly after this all the Games used Windows.

My website with reviews, demos, drivers, tutorials and more...
My YouTube channel

Reply 6 of 11, by northernosprey02

Posted on 2013-05-30, 15:07

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UPDATED! New picture available in high quality!

The DOS Machine now had slight change such CD-ROM and PSU.

Reply 7 of 11, by horstmueller

Posted on 2013-05-30, 20:24

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i am wondering what cpu muliplier are mabe undocumented

Page 49:
http://www.motherboards.org/files/manuals/34/P5txapro.pdf

used 3 Jumperblocks:

9-11-13 -> two options: (9-11/11-13)
17-19-21-> two options: (17-19/19-21)
18-20-22-> two options: (18-20/20-22)

unused Jupers in this block:

10-12-14 -> two options: (10-12/12-14)

Known:
9-11,17-19,18-20 -> 66
9-11,17-19,20-22 -> 75
9-11,19-21,18-20 -> 68.4
9-11,19-21,20-22 -> 83,3
11-13, 17-19,18-20 -> 60
11-13, 17-19,20-22 -> 55
11-13, 19-21,18-20 -> 50
11-13, 19-21,20-22 -> ?

maybe with the use of the 10-12-14 Jumper it will be getting lower than 50

Reply 8 of 11, by Hatta

Posted on 2013-06-02, 14:01

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- Reducing noise by using noise dampening

Consider replacing the fans. I replaced the stock cooler on mine with a socket 370 cooler and a silent fan, but mine is overclocked. Since yours is underclocked, you might not even need a fan at all. If you're careful, you can replace the fan in the PSU too. I also installed a CF card with an IDE adaptor instead of a hard disk. It's really really quiet now.

Need some help:
- What is most interesting DOS and Windows 3.x program? I want to make DOS machine feel cutting-edge while keeping retro feel.

Try 4DOS. It's a command line replacement with a lot of useful features. It was available back in the day, so it won't ruin your period appropriate machine. It has tab completion and a scrollback buffer and a lot more.

Also, you can use mTCP with that ethernet card. It's not vintage, but it's really awesome. Run an FTP server on your DOS machine so you can just FTP software over.

Reply 9 of 11, by northernosprey02

Posted on 2013-06-02, 16:30

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Hatta wrote:

Consider replacing the fans. I replaced the stock cooler on mine with a socket 370 cooler and a silent fan, but mine is overclocked. Since yours is underclocked, you might not even need a fan at all. If you're careful, you can replace the fan in the PSU too. I also installed a CF card with an IDE adaptor instead of a hard disk. It's really really quiet now.

Is Fractal Design Silent Series 50mm good for CPU cooling?

Fan for PSU, is Noctua NF-R8 good for PSU? I've connect them directly on mobo instead PSU (because the connector are too small)

Is Sandisk Ultra 2GB CF enough for my DOS rig?

Reply 10 of 11, by jwt27

Posted on 2013-06-02, 17:23

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Hatta wrote:
Try 4DOS. It's a command line replacement with a lot of useful features. It was available back in the day, so it won't ruin your period appropriate machine. It has tab completion and a scrollback buffer and a lot more.

+1 for 4DOS. It has SO many features it's not funny. I've been using version 8.00 for quite a while and I didn't even know about the scrollback buffer until you said it here.
Combined with the GNU fileutils I would prefer 4DOS over bash.

Reply 11 of 11, by northernosprey02

Posted on 2013-10-18, 12:24

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Bump 😵

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