Re: My MMX rig

Posted on 2017-12-28, 09:52

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

M558... that brings back memories. Probably the most obscure chipset even PC Chips ever used. I remember it not being able to run Linux (at least, not the Knoppix LiveCD I used around 2005-ish). It looked like it was BIOS/IRQ related, and certainly IRQs were a mess on that thing, which might be why …

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Re: Upgrading your laptop cpu.

Posted on 2017-12-28, 09:41

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The only way to answer that question is to check CPU usage during gaming. If you're stuck at 100% when things start to slow down, you're CPU limited. If you are well below that, you are GPU (if you can call a Blade XP that) limited. Edit: Hang on... is that a dedicated Trident Blade XP chip, or does …

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Re: Promise FT440BX Slot 1 Mainboard - Any Infos?

Posted on 2017-12-28, 09:39

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thanks so far. I will just try with the Pentium III today and see if it boots (the CPU is a SL35D, btw, which can run at 600 MHz :) ). I have a Pentium II 400 MHz as well, but that one is not meant for usage, but for display (may not even work, dunno). So it's a Chaintech board (figures as Promise …

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Re: Help to configure a PCchips m915i motherboard

Posted on 2017-12-28, 00:08

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

[...] Is it possible that you've mistaken this motherboard for one containing the SiS 496/497 chipset, like the Tomato 4DPS or Luckystar LS486E? Definitely not one of those. It was dark green, backed with antistatic plastic, and absolutely tiny - no wider than an ISA slot was long, about 1.5x …

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Re: What is this Tseng ET-4000 PCI Card?

Posted on 2017-12-27, 23:20

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Quick google shows 2 for PLN 150 (EUR 35) in Poland: http://allegro.pl/grafika-tseng-labs-et6000-2mb-pci-warszawa-i6605420318.html?reco_id=d6c7ae93-eb24-11e7-b4ea-246e9680cb48&bi_m=reco&bi_c=Product&bi_s=archiwum_allegro http://allegro.pl/grafika-tseng-labs-et6000-2mb-pci-warszawa-i6592976756.html? …

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Re: Promise FT440BX Slot 1 Mainboard - Any Infos?

Posted on 2017-12-27, 23:11

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Got this Promise FT440BX Slot 1 mainboard, but I'm not able to find any infos on it. Is it any good? Has RAID on-board, it seems. Would like to get my hands on the manual. [...] Mainly interested if it works with a Pentium III 450 MHz. It's a very early BX board (note the date sticker on the BIOS), …

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Re: What is this Tseng ET-4000 PCI Card?

Posted on 2017-12-27, 17:00

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Tseng ET4000 cards are fine DOS VGA cards, but buying this beast just as a retro gaming card is like buying a large truck to do your daily groceries. Yes, it can do it, but it's unnecessarily big, unnecessarily expensive and you wouldn't even use half the functionality it offers. You can get an …

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Re: Help to configure a PCchips m915i motherboard

Posted on 2017-12-27, 16:32

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

[...] Is it possible that you've mistaken this motherboard for one containing the SiS 496/497 chipset, like the Tomato 4DPS or Luckystar LS486E? Definitely not one of those. It was dark green, backed with antistatic plastic, and absolutely tiny - no wider than an ISA slot was long, about 1.5x …

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Re: What is this Tseng ET-4000 PCI Card?

Posted on 2017-12-27, 00:53

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Tseng ET4000 cards are fine DOS VGA cards, but buying this beast just as a retro gaming card is like buying a large truck to do your daily groceries. Yes, it can do it, but it's unnecessarily big, unnecessarily expensive and you wouldn't even use half the functionality it offers. You can get an …

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Re: Help to configure a PCchips m915i motherboard

Posted on 2017-12-26, 20:53

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

First I upgraded it to a Voodoo3-3000, then added more memory. And more. And more. It only had two 72p SIMM slots, but every time I gave it a bigger module, it [...] Could you let me know which UM8881F/8886BF -based motherboard you were able to get a Voodoo3 working in? To-date, I have only been …

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Re: Help to configure a PCchips m915i motherboard

Posted on 2017-12-26, 19:12

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

If that photo you posted is from your board then the cache chips are almost certainly fake, notice the "WRITE BACK" text on them. You can run a tool like CACHECHK to confirm that. Good news is they're socketed, so perhaps you could eventually replace them with real ones. All the pictures come from …

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Re: Help to configure a PCchips m915i motherboard

Posted on 2017-12-26, 14:05

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

This board has an UMC8498F, not an UM8881F chipset How can I know the maximum amount of memory I can install and this is cached? Regards The link you gave to the manual had a pic with the 8111F chipset - although now I look at it, that name is on dubious stickers on the chips. Long live PC-Chips …

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Re: GA-5AX Motherboard cpu support.

Posted on 2017-12-26, 12:00

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Baoran wrote: I saw the specs earlier, but I never saw those earlier non-mmx socket 5 pentium cpus mentioned in them. I only have 100Mhz with 50Mhz FSB and 90Mhz with 60Mhz FSB when it comes to those socket 5 pentiums. Pentium 100 uses 1.5x66MHz, not 2x50MHz, so that should be no problem.

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Re: Help Fixing suddenly dead Motherboards

Posted on 2017-12-26, 11:58

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Hi to everyone, merry christmas! [...] 3: Leadtek Winfast 741M01C-GX-6L / Foxconn K7S741GXMG-6L Worked fine but now has problems. It appears that the problem is with the bios, because a strange code appears that say something about corrupt bios. Also has the sound chip dead. [...] 3- if it has a …

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Re: GA-5AX Motherboard cpu support.

Posted on 2017-12-26, 11:39

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Note that it only seems to support 66MHz and higher FSB. If that's the case, Pentium 75 and 90 won't work (without overclocking, which probably wouldn't work on early P54 s) and Pentium 120 will either have to be underclocked to 100MHz or overclocked to 133MHz. Edit: Just checked the Gigabyte site …

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Re: Help to configure a PCchips m915i motherboard

Posted on 2017-12-26, 11:25

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

As for the RAM, I can confirm 256MB is possible on an UM8881F chipset. 10 years ago someone gave me a small 486 with a tiny motherboard with that chipset that had been upgraded about as far as I'd ever seen a 486 upgraded (AMD Am5x86DX5 "PR75" (=133MHz) CPU, 32MB RAM, 8MB SiS 6326 PCI video card) …

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Re: Problems with How AGP Graphics Cards Are Inserted into Motherboards and How They Are Secured to a PC Case

Posted on 2017-12-25, 00:35

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

AGP is a touch more fiddly than PCI or PCIe because of the overlapping pins - but it should be solid enough if lined up correctly, and neither of these cards are so monumentally huge and/or heavy to require special considerations. So chances are things aren't lining up correctly. This sounds like …

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Re: Do you recommend any Slot 1 P3 to go with a V3 3000 AGP?

Posted on 2017-12-23, 21:04

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

But the price point for me to choose the Soyo Sy 7vba133 and the Asus P3B-F are basically the same, the performance is not a priority, but the stability is, i will not use a SB Live, i will hunt down one aureal vortex 2 card. Well this project is just on the planning step,i will start buying the …

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Re: Do you recommend any Slot 1 P3 to go with a V3 3000 AGP?

Posted on 2017-12-23, 16:28

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I would rather go for socket 370 than slot 1, as it is easier to come up with a silent / nearly silent cooling solution for S370 CPUs. Slot 1 CPU coolers are usually just good enough, you are limited to loud 40/50mm fan(s) and you could end up having clearance issues with memory, caps, etc. I have …

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Re: IBM Aptiva 2144-M51

Posted on 2017-12-23, 15:52

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

I would simply stick to a cpu where the motherboard was designed for. I own an Aptiva 2176 and its socket 7 (not 5) motherboard officially supports Pentium P54CS up to 166 MHz (yes that's weird for a socket 7 board!). Not so weird, Socket 5 is limited to max P54C, but support for higher CPUs is …

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