Re: Keyboard Suggestion?

Posted on 2021-02-23, 07:23

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I am looking for a keyboard with modern features, legacy connectors, and a retro aesthetic :P. I was hoping to get some help here. nkey rollover ideally, but 6+ keys should be fine PS2 connector Beige Gray color scheme Reasonably modern layout suitable for windows and DOS ~ 100$ I am not too picky …

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Re: FIC PSK-2000 LPX Mainboard (AT&T Globalyst 630) proprietary hell

Posted on 2021-02-21, 11:56

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

[...] The next - and bigger - problem is the COAST cache module. FIC / AT&T obviously have a non standard pinout here that prevents regular COAST modules from being used. I tested about 25 different COAST modules, all of them are either not detected or prevent the system from starting. I don't …

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Re: Original Hardware: PCI clock measuring device.

Posted on 2021-02-18, 11:40

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Nice stuff! I would definitely want one - and the ISA version too. Particularly useful when messing around with badly documented boards with jumper settings. Right now best I can do is guess based on when things crash 😉

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Re: Voodoo 5 6000 Clone PCB

Posted on 2021-02-18, 11:38

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Price tag: GeForce RTX 3090 SLI. Not that I would ever spend that much on a video card, but given the choice between the two I'd take the V5 tbh Even as an investment that makes sense. That RTX3090 SLI will be worth a fraction of its current price in a year or two, a V5-6000 (even if it is a …

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Re: Need some help with some 90s era builds

Posted on 2021-02-17, 12:08

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

[...] I'm not super familiar with most games from that period, besides big names like Doom or Quake. I'm hoping to get a machine that will generally play nice with whatever I decide to try out. I've come to realize that there's likely nothing that will do everything well, so to start I'm shooting …

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Re: Would upgrading from a K6-2/400mhz to a K6-3/500mhz result in an appreciable speed increase?

Posted on 2021-02-17, 11:29

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Could you confirm your motherboard? As we're just going by something in your sig with the assumption of V72MA - and I'm not so sure. You posted that your board is So7, not SS7. The V72MA is clearly SS7, with an AGP chipset, 100MHz bus and SDRAM support. So if your board isn't, you probably have …

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Re: S604 Project - Worth a Shot?

Posted on 2021-02-17, 09:05

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Well, if central heating has failed, a dual So604 system with Netburst CPUs (the only ones supported on that board) is certainly a way to keep the house warm ;) As for "is it worth it?" - well, does the platform interest you enough? And/or do you have dual CPU-capable software that would utilize the …

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Re: Need some help with some 90s era builds

Posted on 2021-02-17, 08:49

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

[...] It's too late for me now lol I certainly don't mind waiting around for something more suitable, or even buying something on eBay at some point. Just a matter of finding out what's most suitable, whether it be something I've already scrounged or not, because that's where I'm most ignorant. …

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Re: Need some help with some 90s era builds

Posted on 2021-02-16, 22:29

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

If you only have one board, and only one of your CPUs matches that, that's what you have to work with. The Chaintech 6VTA2 is an unremarkable ApolloPro133 board, but assuming its caps are good (big assumption...) it's fine for both Win98SE and DOS. Agree with above though, how suitable it is for DOS …

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Re: Would upgrading from a K6-2/400mhz to a K6-3/500mhz result in an appreciable speed increase?

Posted on 2021-02-16, 22:13

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Could you confirm your motherboard? As we're just going by something in your sig with the assumption of V72MA - and I'm not so sure. You posted that your board is So7, not SS7. The V72MA is clearly SS7, with an AGP chipset, 100MHz bus and SDRAM support. So if your board isn't, you probably have …

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Re: 44 pin Modem Header on Slot-1 Motherboard?

Posted on 2021-02-16, 11:44

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

This looks like a proprietary implementation of what later became standardized as AMR, which had 46 pins, most of which related to AC97 data, although a handful also moved analog sound.

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Re: Creative ISA Sound Card Floating Op-Amps Running Log/List

Posted on 2021-02-16, 00:29

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Relative noob here: why floating op-amps are bad is clear enough. So they need to be tied down. Any simple guide as to how to go about doing that?

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Re: OS recommendations?

Posted on 2021-02-15, 19:32

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

If you only want to do DOS, why not just stick to DOS (7.1) only? Adding Windows just wastes hard disk space and increases configuration complexity.

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2021-02-15, 12:58

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Did it! Have been snapping up every MSI MS-6168v2 board I can find for this moment: 16133931605680.jpg Board manages both Tualatin CPU and 133MHz FSB, so I'm running a P3-1400S at full speed. Why now and not before? Possibly because I've done a cleaner job on the re-capping than before. Possibly …

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Re: Intel Pro/100 Ethernet Adapter Freezes Whole Computer (Win95)

Posted on 2021-02-15, 09:19

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

What resources get allocated to the card? And to the Soundblaster? This could be an IRQ or DMA conflict. Is it a PnP Vibra or non-PnP? Also with older PCI systems the slot you use can make a lot of difference. Try it in other slots. Finally there are usually BIOS settings regarding PCI (interrupt …

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Re: Why are 3Com NICs in such high regard?

Posted on 2021-02-15, 08:52

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Just spent a frustrating couple of days trying to get a 3Com PCI NIC (*any* 3Com PCI NIC - tried various versions of the 3C905 and 3C980) working under DOS. In their defense, motherboard was old and obscure and probably messing up PnP resources. Even so, after half hanging the config util and the …

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Re: What parts of my SS7 PC should I upgrade first?

Posted on 2021-02-14, 22:34

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

How well will a K6-2+ 450ACZ overclock? That's the cheapest one on eBay. Planning on doing a 6x100 overclock, can't do anymore since the FSB can't be changed past 66/95/100. I'll probably get a RAM upgrade with it. One way to find out. With good control of voltage and FSB, you can squeeze the most …

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2021-02-14, 18:53

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Had some quality time with my son (8) starting his first soldering project, a digital clock. While he was messing around with bits I used the soldering iron to recap another MSI MS-6168. It's alive again. Haven't tested the onboard Voodoo3 beyond conjuring up a 1024x768 desktop, but it handles that …

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Re: What parts of my SS7 PC should I upgrade first?

Posted on 2021-02-14, 12:12

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Haven't you already asked this question before? https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=73204 Tbh there's not much more you can do here. You've already added the fastest video card that you can. Beyond that... The problem is that you're already close to the max you can get out of that …

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Re: RDRAM 16 vs. 32-bit

Posted on 2021-02-14, 02:26

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Also, regular 16b modules were also available unregistered and without ECC up to 512MB, so you could do 1GB on i820 and 2GB on later desktop chipsets with them.

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