AndrettiGTO wrote on 2024-04-06, 23:54:

I have this 'white' model: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/235096727128 Dell U2412M 1920x1200 IPS (VGA, DVI-D, DP) […]
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bestemor wrote on 2024-04-06, 23:33:

I have this 'white' model:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/235096727128
Dell U2412M 1920x1200 IPS (VGA, DVI-D, DP)

I don't think that's a 4:3 aspect, maybe 16:9?

bestemor wrote on 2024-04-06, 23:33:

PS: but if 15inch is what is required, then that one might not be suitable 😊
(still has a 4:3 aspect setting, + it is a 1920x1200 though)

AndrettiGTO wrote on 2024-04-06, 23:54:

Not necessarily a 15" but native 1024x768 would be ideal for this sort of build.
Darn you for sending that link, ended up browsing for far too long... 😁

Well, according to Dell it is actually 16:10, of course not 4:3 aspect, BUT you can choose aspect yourself, in the menu (16:10, 5:4, 4:3)
https://tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2412m.htm#osd_menu
https://dl.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esup … guide_en-us.pdf

Haven't tried it with 1024x768, but I'm pretty sure the combination with forced 4:3 setting would work (black bars on each side though).

PS: of course, finding a 1366x768 native monitor would be better for pixel clarity, when using a forced 4:3 setting in the LCD.
That would only cut off the 'ends' on each side, while keeping the remaining pixels pixel perfect (1:1, no interpolation needed)

AndrettiGTO wrote on 2024-04-05, 22:15:

I'd like to share my latest build. Actually, I should really call it a rebuild as most of the components I've owned since new. […]
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I'd like to share my latest build. Actually, I should really call it a rebuild as most of the components I've owned since new.
My goal was to recreate a Windows gamer system (no DOS) based on hardware and software from '98 to mid 2001. DX9 arrived around mid 2001 and by October, XP. I wanted to make it easy for someone else to use in the future.

The case chassis suffered corrosion and internal fluid stains so, having a media blast cabinet, I disassembled, cleaned and painted it. It was a good time to modify the motherboard tray (removable on this case) to enable hiding some of the wiring. Looks weird, but I wanted the CF card out back so had to fabricate an extension on the secondary IDE. I do like that Rainbow and now find myself looking at that SLI cable...

Using DirectX 8.1, I found my first choice nVidia GeForce2 Ti (Oct.'01) struggled with later titles so cheated a bit there. Also, added some Asus squirrel cage fans for extra cooling and lowered the front case fan to 5v making it relatively quiet.

- MSI MS-6119 ATX BX2 v1.1 w/PII 450 - 12/98
- 384mb PC100 SDRAM
- MSI GForce4 Ti4200-VTD8X 128MB - 02/02
- Creative 3D Blaster VooDoo2 12mb SLI - 02/98, 8/98
- Creative Sound Blaster AWE64 CT4500 - 04/09
- DFE 530tx Rev.B - 02/98
- CF-IDE Adapter
- Maxtor DiamondMax 80GB x2 (Backup Image) - 06/01
- HP CD_Writer+ 7200 - 06/98
- Panasonic JU475 5.25" DSHD & 3.5" HD Floppy drives
- LITEON PS-5251-08 250w p/s

Titles requiring physical media are virtually inserted without any user input. It's a pretty solid install now but getting there was difficult. Brought back memories of poorly written installers overwriting system files. I lost count of how many times I had to reinstall Windows, Service Packs and drivers and many times I found myself just walking away from it. This is supposed to be fun, right?

But now that it's finished, I'm really happy with it. 😊

Awesome case rebuild.

Hello everyone! This is my first post, so I would like to introduce my crew. The First system I will be sharing with you is my Primary "Retro" rig. It runs DOS 6.22/3.11 and Windows 95. I haven't been able to find any branding on the motherboard, but it is a 440LX with a Pentium II 266 and 256 MB (2x64, 1x128) PC100, GeForce 2MX 400, SoundBlaster 16 (CT1740), and other. I liked using the Sony drives, so I put the both of them in here. The Primary drive is a Fujitsu 8.5GB and the secondary is that Maxtor (which I've had since it was 2 years old). I added a Teac FD-55 as well, so I can use this system to read all the more vintage media that I can't use in even my 2006 era system(s). I was on the fence about having the ZIP internal, but I really needed two HDDs for my dual-boot. It was some monkey-business, but you guys helped get that ZIP working in 6.22 perfectly. (thanks) I use ZIPs to move data around my old systems because I have plenty of the things around still and I really like the noise (especially from my ZIP250) and the eject sound. I love to turn this on just for the plethora of vintage sounds that burst forth. I have speakers installed INSIDE the system so it always has the 'Blaster ready to go. I use it as a MIDI instrument as well and it works great, sounds great. A still very useful tool even in the modern age. I'll post other systems when I can. Enjoy!

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-04-13, 00:46:

Hello everyone! This is my first post, so I would like to introduce my crew. The First system I will be sharing with you is my Primary "Retro" rig. It runs DOS 6.22/3.11 and Windows 95. I haven't been able to find any branding on the motherboard, but it is a 440LX with a Pentium II 266 and 256 MB (2x64, 1x128) PC100, GeForce 2MX 400, SoundBlaster 16 (CT1740), and other. I liked using the Sony drives, so I put the both of them in here. The Primary drive is a Fujitsu 8.5GB and the secondary is that Maxtor (which I've had since it was 2 years old). I added a Teac FD-55 as well, so I can use this system to read all the more vintage media that I can't use in even my 2006 era system(s). I was on the fence about having the ZIP internal, but I really needed two HDDs for my dual-boot. It was some monkey-business, but you guys helped get that ZIP working in 6.22 perfectly. (thanks) I use ZIPs to move data around my old systems because I have plenty of the things around still and I really like the noise (especially from my ZIP250) and the eject sound. I love to turn this on just for the plethora of vintage sounds that burst forth. I have speakers installed INSIDE the system so it always has the 'Blaster ready to go. I use it as a MIDI instrument as well and it works great, sounds great. A still very useful tool even in the modern age. I'll post other systems when I can. Enjoy!

What a nice fella of a system! 😊Do you dual-boot by way of swapping IDE cables? That other HD looks ancient - is it even IDE?

Obijuan1983 wrote on 2022-09-07, 19:24:

My recentrly restored-Retrobrighted PC's :) […]
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My recentrly restored-Retrobrighted PC's 😀

Hi,

Is there any way you would be willing to sell me the PC case for the one on the very left? The small PC case. 😐

I ask because it is the exact case I'm looking for, as it is almost identical to my first ever computer. So it has a lot of sentimental value to me (I'm rebuilding my old PC and it would be absolutely perfect).

Please let me know, thank you. And yes I am willing to pay a good amount of money for it, and for shipping. 😀

Two similar-era cases with very different systems inside:

First one is not actually a Pentium Inside:

CPU: 486 DX2/66
Mobo: ASUS ISA-486SV2 (Mr BIOS)
Memory: 16 MB RAM
Video: ATI Graphics Wonder VLB (Mach 32) 2MB
Sound: Sound Blaster 16 CT1790 /w DreamBlaster X2GS
Gravis Ultrasound Classic
I/O: Goldstar Prime 2C 16-Bit EIDE
Adaptec AHA-1520B SCSI
Storage: Seagate 40GB PATA
Network: Linksys Ether16 ISA
Removable Media: NEC Multispin 6xi SCSI
3.5" floppy
GoTek floppy emulator

Second one is a Slot 1 Tualatin: 😎

CPU: Tualatin Celeron 1.4GHz SL6C6
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-6BA
Memory: 256MB PC100
Video: ASUS V8200T2 Pure (GeForce 3 Ti 200) 64MB
Sound: Sound Blaster Live!
I/O: Promise FastTrak S150 TX SATA PCI
NEC USB 2.0 PCI
Storage: Western Digital 40GB PATA
Seagate 2.0TB SATA
Removable Media: LG 12x 8x 32x CD-RW
GoTek floppy emulator

ubiq wrote on 2024-04-24, 20:30:

Two similar-era cases with very different systems inside: IMG_1126.jpeg IMG_1127.jpeg […]
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Two similar-era cases with very different systems inside:
IMG_1126.jpeg
IMG_1127.jpeg

First one is not actually a Pentium Inside:
IMG_1128.jpeg
CPU: 486 DX2/66
Mobo: ASUS ISA-486SV2 (Mr BIOS)
Memory: 16 MB RAM
Video: ATI Graphics Wonder VLB (Mach 32) 2MB
Sound: Sound Blaster 16 CT1790 /w DreamBlaster X2GS
Gravis Ultrasound Classic
I/O: Goldstar Prime 2C 16-Bit EIDE
Adaptec AHA-1520B SCSI
Storage: Seagate 40GB PATA
Network: Linksys Ether16 ISA
Removable Media: NEC Multispin 6xi SCSI
3.5" floppy
GoTek floppy emulator

Second one is a Slot 1 Tualatin: 😎
IMG_1129.jpeg
CPU: Tualatin Celeron 1.4GHz SL6C6
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-6BA
Memory: 256MB PC100
Video: ASUS V8200T2 Pure (GeForce 3 Ti 200) 64MB
Sound: Sound Blaster Live!
I/O: Promise FastTrak S150 TX SATA PCI
NEC USB 2.0 PCI
Storage: Western Digital 40GB PATA
Seagate 2.0TB SATA
Removable Media: LG 12x 8x 32x CD-RW
GoTek floppy emulator

Serious configurations!

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-04-13, 00:46:

Hello everyone! This is my first post, so I would like to introduce my crew. The First system I will be sharing with you is my Primary "Retro" rig. It runs DOS 6.22/3.11 and Windows 95. I haven't been able to find any branding on the motherboard, but it is a 440LX with a Pentium II 266 and 256 MB (2x64, 1x128) PC100, GeForce 2MX 400, SoundBlaster 16 (CT1740), and other. I liked using the Sony drives, so I put the both of them in here. The Primary drive is a Fujitsu 8.5GB and the secondary is that Maxtor (which I've had since it was 2 years old). I added a Teac FD-55 as well, so I can use this system to read all the more vintage media that I can't use in even my 2006 era system(s). I was on the fence about having the ZIP internal, but I really needed two HDDs for my dual-boot. It was some monkey-business, but you guys helped get that ZIP working in 6.22 perfectly. (thanks) I use ZIPs to move data around my old systems because I have plenty of the things around still and I really like the noise (especially from my ZIP250) and the eject sound. I love to turn this on just for the plethora of vintage sounds that burst forth. I have speakers installed INSIDE the system so it always has the 'Blaster ready to go. I use it as a MIDI instrument as well and it works great, sounds great. A still very useful tool even in the modern age. I'll post other systems when I can. Enjoy!

A Free Geek find 😀

Love that place. I limit myself though because of storage space.

ubiq wrote on 2024-04-14, 16:57:

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-04-13, 00:46:

What a nice fella of a system! 😊Do you dual-boot by way of swapping IDE cables? That other HD looks ancient - is it even IDE?

I actually have a Gnd lift switch on the back wired to a molex adapter for the "Primary" drive. The HDD is a basic Maxtor(1998), but in a bad-ass adapter(1991).

ubiq wrote on 2024-04-24, 20:30:

Video: ASUS V8200T2 Pure (GeForce 3 Ti 200) 64MB

Looking at the pic, it looks like the GeForce 3 has a custom heatsink + Noctua fan combo?

Nice builds, btw! 😁

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-04-26, 00:40:

ubiq wrote on 2024-04-24, 20:30:

Video: ASUS V8200T2 Pure (GeForce 3 Ti 200) 64MB

Looking at the pic, it looks like the GeForce 3 has a custom heatsink + Noctua fan combo?

Nice builds, btw! 😁

Thanks!

And yeah, I added chunkier chipset HS + Noctual to the GF3. Single-slot height HS/Fan combos from that era tend to be rattley/noisier than I want to put up with.

Late 90’s home computer, which could run everything just like today computers, today programs.

I named it wireshell.
Very good hardware option for Windows 98/MS-Dos system.

Mobo: Asus SP97-V
Intel Pentium MMX 233mhz
3dfx Voodoo3 2000 PCI
Sound Blaster vibra CT2890
SIMM Rams

Hi everyone. I never get tired of looking at this. My 386 upgraded with cyrix 486drx2 CPU. It has been in my family for 33 years now. On the slow side but good enough for many of the popular shareware games of the early 90s

2 sound cards (Gus and opti), lan card, 2x CD-ROM and compact flash adapter.

I recently rebuilt/refurbished it after decades in storage. Here was the rebuild log Standard Computer Corporation 386/486, attempt to refurbish

Here it is playing a demo of commander keen 6
https://youtu.be/ruRno22YQXU?si=f5KOOxPx58AfXs6X

Boomer wrote on 2024-04-30, 00:54:

Late 90’s home computer, which could run everything just like today computers, today programs. […]
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Late 90’s home computer, which could run everything just like today computers, today programs.

I named it wireshell.
Very good hardware option for Windows 98/MS-Dos system.

Mobo: Asus SP97-V
Intel Pentium MMX 233mhz
3dfx Voodoo3 2000 PCI
Sound Blaster vibra CT2890
SIMM Rams

i like such late pentium 1 systems, this one is pretty much the top end. It must be a joy to use. I have a P166mmx, a mere 64mb edo and budget sound, video - but its still a joy 😀

dukeofurl wrote on 2024-04-30, 01:40:

Hi everyone. I never get tired of looking at this. My 386 upgraded with cyrix 486drx2 CPU. It has been in my family for 33 years […]
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Hi everyone. I never get tired of looking at this. My 386 upgraded with cyrix 486drx2 CPU. It has been in my family for 33 years now. On the slow side but good enough for many of the popular shareware games of the early 90s

PXL_20240429_012542563.jpgPXL_20240406_195550933.jpg

2 sound cards (Gus and opti), lan card, 2x CD-ROM and compact flash adapter.

I recently rebuilt/refurbished it after decades in storage. Here was the rebuild log Standard Computer Corporation 386/486, attempt to refurbish

Here it is playing a demo of commander keen 6
https://youtu.be/ruRno22YQXU?si=f5KOOxPx58AfXs6X

i like that it has the 33 year history. nice restore thread too, i'd missed that first time! it is definitely looking very good now

I picked up this gateway yesterday. It's a pentium 75, 28MB ram. From a collector standpoint it came with the original monitor, keyboard, software+drivers CDs and disks and instructions and other literature that I guess came with it originally. It seems the og OS was windows 95 but the previous owner has 98 on it. Will probably look into a lite installation of that.

The original gateway keyboard (not in picture) is broken, basically the entire row of alpha keys starting with A do not register, as well as a couple in other rows. It looks kinda dingy so I will strip it down to clean the keys and circuit membrane/PCB, and hopefully that might repair it as well. Have never cleaned a keyboard before, open to tips for things to look at that might be effecting the non functional row.

At one point, I used to have a lot of Compaqs. This little desktop box is the only one I ended up keeping because it somehow just makes 90s DOS/Win9x gaming pretty accessable in a very small form factor. Its onboard IDE controller acts up sometimes, so I added a PCI ATA100 controller, which really sped up the system.

PSU: Compaq 120W Proprietary
Mainboard: Compaq 239117-001 (i815E B0)
CPU: Intel Pentium III 1000B
RAM: 256MB (2x64MB + 128MB SDRAM)
Floppy Drive: Mitsumi 3.5" DS-HD
Hard Drive: Seagate 20GB IDE
Optical Drive: LG 16x DVD-RW IDE
Graphics: Fastware TNT2 M64 PCI
Sound: Guillemot Maxi Sound Fortissimo PCI
Network: Intel 10/100 O/B
Operating System: Windows 98SE

dukeofurl wrote on 2024-05-12, 14:25:

The original gateway keyboard (not in picture) is broken, basically the entire row of alpha keys starting with A do not register, as well as a couple in other rows. It looks kinda dingy so I will strip it down to clean the keys and circuit membrane/PCB, and hopefully that might repair it as well. Have never cleaned a keyboard before, open to tips for things to look at that might be effecting the non functional row.

That sounds pretty much like a broken trace in what is probably a flex-PCB in the keyboard.

H3nrik V! wrote on 2024-05-13, 11:27:

dukeofurl wrote on 2024-05-12, 14:25:

The original gateway keyboard (not in picture) is broken, basically the entire row of alpha keys starting with A do not register, as well as a couple in other rows. It looks kinda dingy so I will strip it down to clean the keys and circuit membrane/PCB, and hopefully that might repair it as well. Have never cleaned a keyboard before, open to tips for things to look at that might be effecting the non functional row.

That sounds pretty much like a broken trace in what is probably a flex-PCB in the keyboard.

I took the whole thing apart and cleaned it last night. Indeed there is a flex PCB, but eyeballing it, it looked pretty good. The connection between the flex PCB and the cable however looked like a potential issue. There was no plug or slot that would firmly hold the small cable PCB to the flex PCB. Rather, the connection point is simply a two inch row of contacts on each PCB that are held down and sandwiched together by a metal bar with some foam on it. On my keyboard the metal bar was bent like a rainbow so there wasn't as much pressure mashing the contacts together in the middle. I've gently bent it slightly the other way to see if that does anything. Just waiting a day to make sure everything is good and dry before testing.

Pic for reference, the connection and metal bar is in the top left.

Oh, there are soooo many places that could go wrong ... If I am not wrong, it's carbon coated connectors on the PCB? Be careful with those. There could also easy be a break just next to that metal bar, where it goes from being full flexible to being held rigid by the bar ...

Recent pick-up:

Big Tower:

CPU: Pentium 133 Mhz (Socket 7)
Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-586 HX Rev. 1.54
RAM: 96 MB EDO-Ram
GPU: Matrox Millennium II PCI 4 MB
Sound: Terratec Maestro 32/96 ISA
Floppy 1: 5.25 " Floppy (untested, I have no 5.25 inch floppys)
Floppy 2: 3.5 " 1,44 MB Floppy
Drive 1: Iomega Zip 100 (untested, I have no zip-disk)
Drive 2: HP 35480A SCSI DDS-1-DAT Drive (untested, you guessed it: I have no dds1-dat tapes)
Optical 1: Pioneer Slot-In CD-ROM (not working)
Optical 2: Tevion CD-RW 4x4x32
HDD: 16 GB SD2IDE

Midi-Tower:

untested Athlon XP,
missing GPU.
Mainboard (Elitegroup K7S5A) with bulging caps.
I just got this because my 1st PC had the same case - Maybe I will try to replace the caps though, just out of curiosity.