finally completed, my 486 \ VOGONS

finally completed, my 486

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First post, by soviet conscript

Posted on 2014-03-01, 02:09

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of all my machines this is probably my favorite. I've been adding to it since I first started it as a 486 project 6 or so years ago.

specs
HDD - 1.4GB SCSI, 500MB IDE (in the caddy for easy removal)
1.44 floppy drive
1.2 mb floppy drive
100MB SCSI Zip drive
CD-ROM drive IDE
UM 486V AIO motherboard
66mhz Intel 486 DX2
32MB fpm RAM
256kb cache
BusLogic BT-445S VLB SCSI card
Tseng Labs ET4000 VLB video card 2MB
Roland mpu-401-T midi card
Gravis Ultrasound ACE
Sound Blaster 16 CT2900

I know, cable management. But to be fair I don't have much room to work with here and the areas that get the most heat are relatively cable free and well cooled. I know this isn't a "hot rod" system. I actually have a 133mhz Kingston chip sitting here but I just feel that the 66mhz is iconic and is "just right" for this machine and the games I play on it. The motherboard isnt high end either but I do like the built in IDE and its been pretty stable for me. I suppose if a board that supported EDO and more cache fell into my lap I may go through the trouble of swapping them but it just doesn't seem necessary.

Last edited by soviet conscript on 2014-03-01, 09:14. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 7, by bjt

Posted on 2014-03-01, 08:11

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Nice system and agree 66MHz is a great speed for a 486.

Reply 2 of 7, by badmojo

Posted on 2014-03-01, 08:50

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Very nice indeed, and yes I'm a big fan of the 66MHz too. I also approve of the cooling fan on the CPU - those bad boys get really hot!

6 years you say? What do you plan to do with it now that's it's finally done?

Life? Don't talk to me about life.

Reply 3 of 7, by soviet conscript

Posted on 2014-03-01, 09:04

soviet conscript Offline

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badmojo wrote:
Very nice indeed, and yes I'm a big fan of the 66MHz too. I also approve of the cooling fan on the CPU - those bad boys get really hot!

6 years you say? What do you plan to do with it now that's it's finally done?

games of course, that and the acquiring of midi modules as all I have ATM is a MT-32.

It took so long because usually I have a million builds going at once and money is sometimes sparse. waiting for things like a Roland midi card, et4000 VLB and a Gravis ACE to pop up for reasonable prices when I happened to have a little extra money to spend was another factor in the long process.

there are still a few issues, one is that monitor. it works great but it just looks so out of place with the rest of it. I'd like a nice off white monitor to match it but id really like it to be flat screen CRT with a good image. I have an older viewsonic that matches but I don't think the image is quite as good, that and it has a lot of glare issues.

One other issue I have with this machine that only started recently is sometimes it doesn't quite power up. I hit the power button and the HDD's spin up and the lights come on and the fans but I get no video output and the RAM doesn't count up. sometimes I have to shut it down completely and power it up 2 or 3 times before it actually starts for real. thinking maybe I need a new PSU. 250 Watts should be plenty for this era right? Once its up and running its completely stable.

Reply 4 of 7, by borgie83

Posted on 2014-03-01, 14:36

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@soviet conscript, how do you go using a zip drive in a 486? As in bios recognise it ok? Transfer speed ok?

I love zip drives but honestly thought a 486 would be a bit slow for them.

Reply 5 of 7, by borgie83

Posted on 2014-03-01, 14:38

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Nice build btw 😀

Reply 6 of 7, by soviet conscript

Posted on 2014-03-01, 15:18

soviet conscript Offline

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borgie83 wrote:
@soviet conscript, how do you go using a zip drive in a 486? As in bios recognise it ok? Transfer speed ok?

I love zip drives but honestly thought a 486 would be a bit slow for them.

as far as I,ve read you can run a Zip drive on anything from a nec V20 up using GUEST.EXE. Mine is actually really fast. Its an SCSI drive being controlled by the BusLogic SCSI controller card. It took me a minute to get it working. After the card recognizes it and I run the cards device manager program GUEST.EXE detects the Zip drive fine.

Reply 7 of 7, by borgie83

Posted on 2014-03-01, 15:40

borgie83 Offline

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Location: Victoria, Australia

@soviet conscript,cool! I might consider dropping one into my soon to be finished 486 rig 😀

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