Re: SUNTAC 80286 Mainboard help

Posted on 2017-02-16, 18:57

by

by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Next thing I'd try is replacing that Dallas RTC which will unfortunately require soldering. While it's not a 100% chance that this is the problem, still, your best case scenario is that RTC having a little bit of charge left. It's either dead or close to dead, and many older machines with these …

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Re: DOSBox or Windows 98 in VMware for MS-DOS games?

Posted on 2017-02-16, 18:48

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by kenrouholo

in DOS

in DOS

VMWare also has no video drivers for 9x, so you're looking at 2d only. Not a big deal for most DOS games but you'll have very little luck playing any Win98 games. You can find videos about people supposedly installing some driver with VMWare or Virtualbox, but ignore them, I've tried it and it's …

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Re: "Period-correct" LCD screens?

Posted on 2017-02-16, 18:25

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by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I'm using a NEC MultiSync LCD 1550ME. It's about 15 inches and has 4:3 ratio, I believe. Motion blur and scaling are no problem, as far as I can tell (flight sims do work fine). Before that, I used to have a grey Belinea LCD screen (sorry, can't remember model number). I think if you set it up next …

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Re: Getting started on a Win98 gaming build.

Posted on 2017-02-16, 18:06

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by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Oh and on Ebay search mainly in the "Motherboards & CPUs", "Motherboards", "Vintage Computing" and "Wholesale Lots" categories. Search for terms like "Pentium II" "Pentium 2" "Pentium III" "Pentium 3" "Slot 1" "440BX" etc. Use quotes most of the time. Don't search descriptions if you want to look …

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Re: Getting started on a Win98 gaming build.

Posted on 2017-02-16, 17:39

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by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Missed your question about case. Any ATX (not "Extended ATX") board will just fit in most ATX cases. And you could even go AT and fit it into many cases with minor work, though AT was generally phased out after socket 7 and slot 1 boards should be either ATX or possibly proprietary in some OEM cases …

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Re: Getting started on a Win98 gaming build.

Posted on 2017-02-16, 17:25

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by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

With bad caps how soon would you expect to notice something? Most of the items I'm seeing have a 30 day RTB option, which is nice. Well I think the Gigabyte might be a reasonable starting point. It's really cheap too, only £15 posted so it's not a huge money sink. It is AMD though, if that's an …

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Re: "Period-correct" LCD screens?

Posted on 2017-02-16, 17:17

by

by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Do you game? If so, throw this idea in the garbage because those screens are completely useless for that purpose. Otherwise, sorry, not sure. Why? Is it blur or what? Significant motion blur, input lag on some models (though some modern screens still have a bit too much input lag for some types of …

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Re: Getting started on a Win98 gaming build.

Posted on 2017-02-16, 17:10

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by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Yes, I can see the SE440BX-2 listed on ebay for around that price, but then we have about £40 import charge slapped on top, which is the real kicker. The caps on the Gigabyte mobo are this: http://i.imgur.com/XnQCXC2.png Hmm, not 100% sure. That could be Nichicon as they do make caps of that color …

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Re: Getting started on a Win98 gaming build.

Posted on 2017-02-16, 17:03

by

by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Alrighty, the gigabyte one wouldn't be OEM? The only SE440BX-2 available I can find is £80 with a P2 processor. OEM when used in the context of computers typically means prebuilt machines from companies like Dell, Compaq, HP, IBM/Lenovo, Gateway, eMachines, Acer, etc. Gigabyte has likely made some …

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Re: "Period-correct" LCD screens?

Posted on 2017-02-16, 16:11

by

by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Do you game? If so, throw this idea in the garbage because those screens are completely useless for that purpose. Otherwise, sorry, not sure (sorry if that's not helpful but the first part of my response is meant to be helpful if you do game).

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Re: Getting started on a Win98 gaming build.

Posted on 2017-02-16, 14:25

by

by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

There is no such thing as a power supply from 1998 that is still good today unless it's been recapped. There are "working" examples that have not been recapped, but I wouldn't trust any of them. I'm throwing my opinion in with Ampera. Avoid all OEM systems most of the time unless they are somewhat …

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Re: Can anyone recommend a PS2 to AT style keyboard adapter?

Posted on 2017-02-16, 14:10

by

by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I have been using adapters like this for USB flash drives for years https://www.amazon.com/HDE-Vertical-Female-Adapter-Coupler/dp/B009924TSY I broke a flash drive once, then someone else who was visiting broke one, and a dog broke one, and I'd had enough of breaking them at that point. I recommend …

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Re: Getting started on a Win98 gaming build.

Posted on 2017-02-16, 02:12

by

by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Also make sure to simply put the word out with friends and family... ask them if they or anyone they know have any old computer stuff they'd like to get rid of, and that you'd be willing to pick it up if so. Heck, even if you got non-suitable systems for this build, you could either use them for …

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Re: Getting started on a Win98 gaming build.

Posted on 2017-02-16, 01:58

by

by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I've also never heard of that brand and unfortunately the picture is too noisy for me to have any idea on the caps. It does have more caps overall and more around the AGP slot (though not very large but still more than the Compaq) which means it's more of an enthusiast board but possibly a cheap one …

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Re: What would be the rarest build?

Posted on 2017-02-16, 01:46

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by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I don't have a full build idea, but maybe add a Rise MP6 (socket 7) to the list... or maybe a Transmeta Crusoe S3 Savage2000 cards are also fairly rare.

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Re: Getting started on a Win98 gaming build.

Posted on 2017-02-16, 01:42

by

by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You may find super socket 7 motherboards without AGP - not sure. You will definitely find socket 7 motherboards without it but they generally aren't ideal for K6-2 or K6-3 (though some may work well, not sure). I have no idea if you'll find a 440BX board without AGP for a Pentium 2/3. I'm sure …

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Re: Getting started on a Win98 gaming build.

Posted on 2017-02-16, 01:31

by

by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The caps are fine but the handling there bothers me. PCBs should never be put on any kind of bubble wrap, not even pink, and I'm not sure if that stuff is even the pink stuff. The regular stuff tends to generate quite a lot of static. That board may be working when you get it if you were to order it …

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Re: Getting started on a Win98 gaming build.

Posted on 2017-02-16, 01:08

by

by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Oh, another thing, a lot of motherboards of the Athlon/P3 era had a problem with bad capacitors from brands like Teapo. Companies like Abit (who generally otherwise had pretty good products, or at least they did in the years after until they came out with their heatsink-instead-of-I/O-connector idea …

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Re: Getting started on a Win98 gaming build.

Posted on 2017-02-16, 00:49

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by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thanks for the info both. With regards to getting a Voodoo card, my plan is to buy and get set up with the TI4200 if I can and then add the Voodoo in down the line (same deal with a DOS soundcard, I don't need one right away, but I would like the ability to add one in later). Certainly a lot to …

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Re: Getting started on a Win98 gaming build.

Posted on 2017-02-16, 00:04

by

by kenrouholo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

AGP is generally fine for DOS games - see here https://gona.mactar.hu/DOS_TESTS/ Your card should work well with all of the games you mentioned... I think. There are plenty of motherboards with AGP, PCI and ISA. You can find them up through (and including) Pentium III and AMD Athlon (e.g. with a Via …

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