VOGONS


First post, by Intel486dx33

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I finally finished my tower version of the Ultimate DOS retro gaming computer.
It looks really nice and performs great.
Very stable.
Graphics and Audio is really nice too.

Specs:
Motherboard - FIC VA-503+ Baby ATX Super Socket 7.
http://www.win3x.org/uh19/public/motherboard/ … a4777462618.pdf
Chipset - Via Apollo MVP3
Cache - 1028kb.
RAM - 256mb PC-133 SIMM
CPU - AMD K6-3+,450 over clocked to 550mhz. ( using stock 2.0v )
PS/2 mouse
USB
Graphics - Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Audio - Sound Blaster Live 5.1 with live drive and toslink SP/DIF adapter.
Network - 3com 3C509b-TX PCI
Hard-drive - 1gb Seagate ST1000DM003 7200rpm. Sata with IDE adapter.
DVD - Pioneer 8x
CDROM - Aopen 52x ( replaced with Sony 52x CDROM ).
Fan controller - Cooler Master Drive 4
Case - Aluminum Lian Li tower
PSU - 450 watt.

Motherboard jumper settings:
100mhz. X 5.5
CPU Voltage 2.2

Fans:
3 Case fans with fan control and case temp monitoring.
Voodoo GPU fan 60mm x 60mm x 20mm with speed control and temp monitoring.
CPU fan with temp monitoring.

Software:
Windows 98se, SP3, USB patch, I.E.5.5 , AMD K6 CPU Patch.

This computer runs fairly cool and quiet with good ventilation.

Attachments

Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2023-11-03, 11:20. Edited 21 times in total.

Reply 1 of 50, by Intel486dx33

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

More photos

Attachments

Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2019-06-07, 15:04. Edited 4 times in total.

Reply 2 of 50, by Intel486dx33

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

More phots:

Attachments

Reply 3 of 50, by Intel486dx33

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

More Sceenshots:

Attachments

Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2019-06-07, 15:05. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 4 of 50, by Intel486dx33

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

More phots:

Attachments

Reply 5 of 50, by Intel486dx33

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

SP/DIF Toslink optical output connection back plate for rear of case.
Will provide 5.1 surround sound via A/V receiver.

Attachments

Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2019-06-07, 14:11. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 7 of 50, by Intel486dx33

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

DOS benchmarks
These test run really smooth and graphics is really nice in DOS too.

Attachments

Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2019-06-07, 12:45. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 8 of 50, by Intel486dx33

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Some more

Attachments

Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2019-06-07, 13:25. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 9 of 50, by Intel486dx33

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Some more

Attachments

Reply 10 of 50, by Intel486dx33

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

DOOM benchmark

Attachments

Reply 11 of 50, by Intel486dx33

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Motherboard FIC VA-503+ Baby ATX Super Socket 7

Attachments

Reply 12 of 50, by Intel486dx33

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

More photos

Attachments

Reply 13 of 50, by Intel486dx33

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Why I used wire to attach the fan to the Voodoo card ?

I did not want to to fasten the fan to the heat sink because I did not want to add extra weight and tension to the 3DFX GPU chip as the heat sink is glued to the 3DFX chip.
These 3DFX GPU chips are solder ball welded to the PCB. When the chip over heats the welds break and fail. This is the main reason why these Voodoo cards go bad and stop working. Adding more stress on the solder welds will increase the chance of solder ball weld breaks.
I know because I have some bad Voodoo cards and this is why they stopped working.
I was able to fix them by reflowing the 3DFX chip to the PCB with No-Clean flux.

So I purchased some thin wire from the Dollar store and tied on the fan. I tied the fan to the entire PCB board so the board is supporting the weight of the fan and not the heatsink which is glued to the 3DFX GPU chip. The fan is actually fastened very well to the PCB and will NOT come loose and does not rattle.
The wire does not impact the slot connection as the wire is very thin and it has a light plastic shielding.
I used a 2 wire 60mm x 60mm x 20mm fans that I purchased from ebay. But I think I should have use a 3 wire 60mm x 60mm x 15mm fan instead.
These cost about $6 each.
3 rolls of wire was only $1 at the Dollar store.

They make a BIG difference and keep the Voodoo card cool.
Fan runs quiet.

Attachments

  • reballing-GPU.jpg
    Filename
    reballing-GPU.jpg
    File size
    7.39 KiB
    Views
    3950 views
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception
  • 20.jpg
    Filename
    20.jpg
    File size
    93.36 KiB
    Views
    3950 views
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception
  • tray_vsa100_22.jpg
    Filename
    tray_vsa100_22.jpg
    File size
    187.44 KiB
    Views
    3950 views
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception
Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2019-06-23, 22:07. Edited 6 times in total.

Reply 14 of 50, by melbar

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Nice build !

Now you have two really similar system's, both silver colored.

What i don't like myself are these beige colored drive's in these silver cases...

#1 K6-2/500, #2 Athlon1200, #3 Celeron1000A, #4 A64-3700, #5 P4HT-3200, #6 P4-2800, #7 Am486DX2-66

Reply 15 of 50, by Intel486dx33

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Yeah, I have some silver drives but they are old and no longer work. And I do not want to paint these drives because I am a terrible painter. Actually the silver cdrom is beginning to fail too so I am going to replace it too with a beige cdrom.

Reply 18 of 50, by Intel486dx33

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
cde- wrote:

Very impressive work!

Out of curiosity, how did you reball this BGA? Did you create a reballing mask specifically for it?

Actually, I do not have a stencil so I just reflowed the chip with some No-clean flux and a heat gun and it worked.

Reply 19 of 50, by Intel486dx33

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
oeuvre wrote:

Where do you get these 2000s cases from?

They turn up every now and then on craigslist or ebay.
Sometimes you can fin NEW ones in sealed box.