New 486 rig assembled *Updated, again* \ VOGONS

New 486 rig assembled Updated, again

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First post, by Amigaz

Posted on 2009-01-31, 20:20

Amigaz Offline

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(Think 😀 ) I have settled with just two socket 3 systems and this is one of them...since you guys bullied me for using a Cx5x86 in my last buold I'm using a cpu you can't nag on me for using 😉

Ok, here's the spec's:

Mobo: Gigabyte GA 486TA
8 Eisa slots, 2 of them have VLB slots
20mb RAM

CPU: Evergreen 586 upgrade (am5x86 133mhz)

I/O :

1Adaptec AHA 2742W Wide Eisa SCSI controller [i][color=green]*NEW*[/color][/i]
2Simple Goldstar chipset I/O card with only COM1 active for 
3mouse support
4
5[b][u]Storage[/u][/b] : Maxtor 18gig 15k RPM SCA SCSI disk
6Pioneer 12x SCSI CD-ROM
71.44 Floppy drive, 5.25 1.2mb Floppy drive
8
9[b][u]Graphics[/u][/b]: Diamond 64 DRAM VLB [i][color=green]*NEW*[/color][/i]
10
11[b][u]Sound[/u][/b]: Sound Blaster AWE32 CT3900 + Nec Yamaha DX60XG clone [i][color=green]NEW[/color][/i]
12Gravis Ultrasound PnP rev 3, Ensoniq Soundscape Elite, Roland Super MPU,
13Roland MT32, Roland CM-500
14
15Everything housed in a Vobis Hisgscreen Colani tower
16
17[url=http://www.imagebam.com/image/bdf55f25258091][img]http://thumbnails15.imagebam.com/2526/bdf55f25258091.gif[/img][/url]
18
19[url=http://www.imagebam.com/image/b66bbd25258094][img]http://thumbnails15.imagebam.com/2526/b66bbd25258094.gif[/img][/url]
20
21[url=http://www.imagebam.com/image/2d16e725258092][img]http://thumbnails4.imagebam.com/2526/2d16e725258092.gif[/img][/url]
22[u]
23
24[b][u]Planned upgrades/mods[/u][/b]:
25Max out RAM to 128mb with 8x 16mb 30pin sticks
26Connect speaker output to speaker input on the SB16
27Add my Adlib Gold in the vacant Eisa/Isa slot...if it doesn't work I'll
28throw in a 3Com Eisa 10mbit NIC in there 
29[/u]

Last edited by Amigaz on 2009-10-10, 20:06. Edited 3 times in total.

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 1 of 67, by swaaye

Posted on 2009-01-31, 20:38

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🤣 look at how bent that poor Ensoniq card is! Maybe after time it'll return to it's natural shape....

That is one tricked out 486 there. If it works, it's truly amazing.

An interesting Am5x86 you have too. Does that board need a upgrade version of it because of a lack of 3.3v support?

Reply 2 of 67, by Amigaz

Posted on 2009-01-31, 20:54

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swaaye wrote:
🤣 look at how bent that poor Ensoniq card is! Maybe after time it'll return to it's natural shape....

That is one tricked out 486 there. If it works, it's truly amazing.

An interesting Am5x86 you have too. Does that board need a upgrade version of it because of a lack of 3.3v support?

yeah, it's amazing it works with that bent in it...I think the reverb DB saved it from taking a fatal bend

The board is from early 1993 so it's only 5V....I first tried a regular am5x86 with a VRM adapter but I got terrible performance and never got it running at 4x33mhz = 133mhz...even by fiddling with the jumper on the VRM adapter (2x, 3x modes) so I guess this Evergreen thingie has some "magic" in it

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 3 of 67, by Anonymous Coward

Posted on 2009-02-01, 03:51

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Your 486 system is looking very similar to mine these days. I have exactly the same DB60XG board also on an SB16 (only CT1770).

I think it's interesting you had troubles getting a real 5x86 chip going in there. I've had problems with the Cyrix chips, but the AMD 5x86 is usually trouble free. I actually tried that same evergreen 5x86 chip you are running in yours, only mine gave me NMI timer errors. Maybe it's defective?

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

Reply 4 of 67, by prophase_j

Posted on 2009-02-01, 04:38

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Also be careful with those SCA-68pin adapters. If you strain the little board from the top toward the drive the solder points from the molex power connector can come into contact with the today of the hard drive! I Burned out two disks one time before I figured out what was happening. I urge you to inspect this detail to see if your setup is suspect as well. Problem was all but eliminated with a carefully cut piece of pizza box made to act like shim

"Retro Rocket"
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Reply 5 of 67, by Amigaz

Posted on 2009-02-01, 09:36

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Anonymous Coward wrote:
Your 486 system is looking very similar to mine these days. I have exactly the same DB60XG board also on an SB16 (only CT1770).

I think it's interesting you had troubles getting a real 5x86 chip going in there. I've had problems with the Cyrix chips, but the AMD 5x86 is usually trouble free. I actually tried that same evergreen 5x86 chip you are running in yours, only mine gave me NMI timer errors. Maybe it's defective?

I think it's weird that the 2x/3x jumper on the VRM adapter didn't make the CPU run at 133mhz...according to both Norton SI and speedsys it ran at 100mhz and the system fel very sluggish like the cache was turned off ir something.
Tried your evergreen CPU in another system?

btw. still waiting for a pic of what your Eisa system looks like when it's up and running 😉

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 6 of 67, by Amigaz

Posted on 2009-02-01, 09:42

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prophase_j wrote:
Also be careful with those SCA-68pin adapters. If you strain the little board from the top toward the drive the solder points from the molex power connector can come into contact with the today of the hard drive! I Burned out two disks one time before I figured out what was happening. I urge you to inspect this detail to see if your setup is suspect as well. Problem was all but eliminated with a carefully cut piece of pizza box made to act like shim

I've had this adapter for some time..first used it in a dual PIII system I bought..the previous owner had put a piece of electrical insulating tape so it can'nt short..that piece is still there 😀
The 15k rpm drive really makes a difference..the system boot much quicker compared to for example a 7200 rpm drive and moving files between partitions goes lightning fast! 😮

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 7 of 67, by retro games 100

Posted on 2009-02-01, 13:24

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You don't need this machine any more...
You will hand it over to me...

😀

Reply 8 of 67, by Anonymous Coward

Posted on 2009-02-01, 15:04

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But it's a bit noisy, isn't it?

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

Reply 9 of 67, by Amigaz

Posted on 2009-02-01, 15:33

Amigaz Offline

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Anonymous Coward wrote:
But it's a bit noisy, isn't it?

Nope 😀 these "newer" drives are very silent..this one is from 2002
I have two other 18gig 15k rpm and a 146hig 15k rpm drive and they are very silent.
But the 10k rpm drives I own tend to have a whining noise

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 10 of 67, by Amigaz

Posted on 2009-02-01, 15:34

Amigaz Offline

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retro games 100 wrote:
<retro games tries an old Jedi mind trick> […]
Show full quote
<retro games tries an old Jedi mind trick>

You don't need this machine any more...
You will hand it over to me...

😀

har-har!

Jedi mindtricks don't work on me!

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 11 of 67, by Malik

Posted on 2009-02-01, 16:20

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Amigaz wrote:
retro games 100 wrote:
wrote: <retro games tries an old Jedi mind trick> […]
Show full quote

wrote:
<retro games tries an old Jedi mind trick>

You don't need this machine any more...
You will hand it over to me...

har-har!

Jedi mindtricks don't work on me!

Let me try that in a different form...

Need this machine any more,You don't...
Hand it over to me,You will .

😁

Reply 12 of 67, by retro games 100

Posted on 2009-02-01, 19:36

retro games 100 Offline

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🤣

Reply 13 of 67, by WolverineDK

Posted on 2009-02-01, 19:43

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Amigaz, that is one if of the coolest and most awesome looking 486 setups I have seen. Wow that is one fucking awesome machine, thumps up mate 😀 😁

Reply 14 of 67, by keropi

Posted on 2009-02-01, 20:20

keropi Offline

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I never seen this cpu upgrade... my 5x86/133mhz is a normal brown ceramic chip... does yours have a voltage regulator onboard amigo?

🎵 🎧 ⏳ ⚡ PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 15 of 67, by Moogle!

Posted on 2009-02-01, 20:24

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The Evergreens do, yes, and as far as I know, they work in any LIF socket, such as my Compaq deskpro. The cache supports both write back and write through, though regardless of it's onbaord jumper setting, will only do write back in a write back support system. The board the Evergreen is used must be jumpered/switched to to be in Intel DX2, with the DX2/DX4 jumper set in DX2 on both the board AND the Evergreen.

Reply 16 of 67, by Amigaz

Posted on 2009-02-01, 20:36

Amigaz Offline

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keropi wrote:
I never seen this cpu upgrade... my 5x86/133mhz is a normal brown ceramic chip... does yours have a voltage regulator onboard amigo?

Yep, everything is built into the base of this thing 😀

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 17 of 67, by Amigaz

Posted on 2009-02-01, 20:38

Amigaz Offline

Rank Oldbie

Rank: Oldbie
Posts: 1707
Joined: 2007-03-03, 09:01
Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Malik wrote:
Let me try that in a different form... […]
Show full quote
Amigaz wrote:
retro games 100 wrote:
wrote: <retro games tries an old Jedi mind trick> […]
Show full quote

wrote:
<retro games tries an old Jedi mind trick>

You don't need this machine any more...
You will hand it over to me...

har-har!

Jedi mindtricks don't work on me!

Let me try that in a different form...

Need this machine any more,You don't...
Hand it over to me,You will .

😁

No Yoda Hocus Pocus bites on the the might Jabba The Hut! 😎

My retro computer stuff: https://lychee.jjserver.net/#16136303902327

Reply 18 of 67, by swaaye

Posted on 2009-02-01, 20:56

swaaye Offline

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BTW, Amigaz, if you wanna use Cx5x86, don't let us stop you. I have one myself. It's an interesting chip but it's just not as fast as a 160 Mhz Am5x86. And it may have compatibility probs but I am not sure on that. I know it's not Pentium-compatible (neither is Am5x86), but not sure about its 486 and older compatibility.

Reply 19 of 67, by Anonymous Coward

Posted on 2009-02-02, 03:10

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Location: Shandong, China

I have yet to get a cx5x86 working in 5V only socket3 systems using the appropriate adapters.

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

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