Irinikus wrote on 2023-02-16, 09:05:

A new in box Pentium Pro CPU to get its heatsink, fan and sticker (as I currently only have one of these Heatsinks and fans!)

There's an adaptor Socket 8 retention hook to AMD retention hook avaliable on thingiverse if something non original will do.
I posted this in another Socket 8 thread before, I can dig up the link if you want me to.

Edit: On second thought that adaptor may collide with components around the socket on the CPU card.😐

Doornkaat wrote on 2023-02-17, 17:03:

There's an adaptor Socket 8 retention hook to AMD retention hook avaliable on thingiverse if something non original will do. I p […]
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Irinikus wrote on 2023-02-16, 09:05:

A new in box Pentium Pro CPU to get its heatsink, fan and sticker (as I currently only have one of these Heatsinks and fans!)

There's an adaptor Socket 8 retention hook to AMD retention hook avaliable on thingiverse if something non original will do.
I posted this in another Socket 8 thread before, I can dig up the link if you want me to.

Edit: On second thought that adaptor may collide with components around the socket on the CPU card.😐

Thanks for the input! The reason I want to go for the original coolers is primarily because of their look. Between them and the original coolers fitted to the Pentium II Overdrives, you have some of the coolest looking coolers Intel has ever released, in my opinion! 😀

I'm probably going to be modding my Voodoo2's in the way that's suggested in this thread, as I want to at least run the system @1280x1024 without any loss in 2D image quality due to the losses incurred by the passthrough circuitry found on these cards:

Image quality fix for Voodoo1 and 2 cards

I will however try to make it look cleaner by soldering the piggybacked chip in place making use of hot air and flux that's imbedded with micro solder spheres.

how about just leave the cards alone and use an external VGA auto switch, like the extron VSW 2VGA A?

That's a great idea! Thanks for the input! 😀

One of these it will be then!

The way this will work is that the switch will be setup to output the Matrox Millennium II as it’s standard setup and as soon as the Voodoos are fired up, it will automatically switch to output their output. Thus eliminating the need to make use of the pass through on the Voodoo cards, thereby eliminating the problem of their poor 2D pass through performance! 😀 (This is a standard problem encountered when running Voodoo2’s in a system running a “high resolution”. It originally wasn’t a problem, as most people ran lower resolutions back in the day!)

I've just bought one of these new in box: (It's really amazing how for every component that you buy for one of these systems, you need to buy two to three more just to get things working! It never seems to end!!!)

This GPU bracket may indeed prove useful here, as I can mount this switch inside the case!!!!! (I really don't want to have this appendage lying around!!!)

For this to work I'm going to need to purchase two of these short VGA cables! (As I stated before, one thing leads to another!!!!)

Apparently I’ll be able to power the switch off the systems 12v rail, so the power brick won’t be needed, allowing it to be a self contained system.

I now intend to install the motherboard in a “chimney layout”, with the switch installed in the GPU bracket, which I’ll install above the drives to the right of the motherboard (towards the front of the case.)

This will allow me to install the solid rear panel, thus elevating the problem of mounting an AT motherboard in an ATX case, as the unused hole for the ATX I/O panel would present a problem and would look ugly!

So therefore this seemingly extravagant case actually makes some sense here!

Irinikus wrote on 2023-02-19, 06:01:

I've just bought one of these new in box: (It's really amazing how for every component that you buy for one of these systems, yo […]
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I've just bought one of these new in box: (It's really amazing how for every component that you buy for one of these systems, you need to buy two to three more just to get things working! It never seems to end!!!)

Great choice, you won't be disappointed those are fantastic switchers

Irinikus wrote on 2023-02-19, 11:12:

Apparently I’ll be able to power the switch off the systems 12v rail, so the power brick won’t be needed, allowing it to be a self contained system.

I did the same thing, finally found a use for Antec's external molex connector on the back of the PSU

maxtherabbit wrote on 2023-02-19, 14:26:

Great choice, you won't be disappointed those are fantastic switchers

Thanks very much for your input as it's helped to shape my planning for this build in a very positive way! 😀 (I had no idea that these automatic switches existed!)

After thinking about it a bit, I've decided that rather than making use of the GPU bracket to hold the VGA switch, I will use adhesive velcro to place the switch over the cable covers/SSD mounts to the front of the case, with the motherboard tray orientated in a "Chimney Layout". This will hold the switch firmly in place inside the case and allow it to be removed if necessary. (I don't want to have to drill any holes into the switch or case fittings!)

I'm going to have to get a motherboard mounting plate made up from hardboard to fit the motherboard into this case!!! (The hardboard plate will take the place of the standard risers used to mount the motherboards.)

This image shows how it would sit with the screw positions as found in the case: (It would have to sit one slot lower in order to accommodate the CPU card!!!)

Take note that the CPU card is also slightly longer than the motherboard, however there is enough space to accommodate this extra length of the CPU card, even with the motherboard in a "chimney orientation"! (It will be a very tight fit though!)

If worst come to worst and the "chimney layout" can't be accommodated (Due to the length of the CPU card) then I'll use the standard layout and have a blank made up with the VGA port fitted into it and slot that into the space where the ATX I/O panel should go. (Feed the output of the cards to the switch and then feed the switches output to the VGA port on the blank)

However, looking at the rear of the motherboard tray, it looks like it can indeed be moved upward one notch when orientated in the "chimney orientation", as the small cover panel above the motherboard tray gets removed when you configure the case in a "chimney orientation"

This would allow for more than enough room for the CPU card!

Decisions, decisions, decisions!!!

After two cancelled orders for the Cosmos C700M (There isn't one available in South Africa at this time), I have settled for one of these for this build: (Corsair CC-9011227-WW iCUE 7000X RGB Tempered Glass White Steel Full Tower Desktop Chassis)

THE RGB FANS WILL BE SET TO A SOLID OFF WHITE!!! (NO RAINBOWS!!!)

It has the following specs:

The nice thing about this case, is that it will allow for better management of the ribbon cable for the SCSI drives (And superior cooling for the drives themselves), and the components will stand out against the white interior! (So it's not all bad!)

I have ordered a 305mm x 277mm sheet of white 3mm thick plexiglass which will be used as a motherboard adapter for this build. It will be drilled appropriately to bolt onto the motherboard tray and it will in turn be taped in the right places to fit 3mm risers to mount the AT motherboard into the case.

In the space above the motherboard I intend to fit a little capsule containing a perfect Pentium Pro CPU (which I'll obtain when I buy one new in box to get the cooler), and another one which I already have, which I'll get de-lidded, exposing its CPU and cache dies . (This should add a nice touch to the build!)

I would be arranged something like this:

Irinikus wrote on 2023-02-24, 10:17:

After two cancelled orders for the Cosmos C700M (There isn't one available in South Africa at this time), I have settled for one of these for this build: (Corsair CC-9011227-WW iCUE 7000X RGB Tempered Glass White Steel Full Tower Desktop Chassis)

Where does the CD drive go it doesn't have any external drive bays?
I do like the basic rectangle look though, surprising for a gaming company like Corsair and have a pair of Obsidian 650D cases stacked on top of each other myself.
My dual PPro on the other hand lives in a Antec 300. The VRM's especially like to get hot so having a modern-ish case with plenty of fans, way better then anything from back in the PPro's day makes me feel comfortable.

Awww, don’t de lid a real working cpu 🙁

Print a photo quality pic of it and tape it to the bottom of the display cpu

chinny22 wrote on 2023-02-27, 10:49:

Where does the CD drive go it doesn't have any external drive bays?
I do like the basic rectangle look though, surprising for a gaming company like Corsair and have a pair of Obsidian 650D cases stacked on top of each other myself.
My dual PPro on the other hand lives in a Antec 300. The VRM's especially like to get hot so having a modern-ish case with plenty of fans, way better then anything from back in the PPro's day makes me feel comfortable.

If need be, I'll make use of an external SCSI CD-ROM.

I also have the onboard USB up and running and may also install an additional PCI USB2 card if required. (As I may have to control the RGB controller through software) All I want is SOLID OFF WHITE!!!

I think it will look great in this case, and there's also plenty of room to neatly install the VGA switch into the case!

It's going to have one of these monsters installed in it after all:

Sphere478 wrote on 2023-02-27, 12:10:

Awww, don’t de lid a real working cpu 🙁

Print a photo quality pic of it and tape it to the bottom of the display cpu

It' will be a sad thing to do, but it will go a long way to paying homage to the masterpiece of design and engineering that the Pentium Pro was!

This is the layout that I'm pretty much going to go for here: (I may not have to de-lid a Pentium Pro after all, as it looks better with just the one CPU!)

I'll end up placing the Voodoo2 and Gravis Ultrasound badges below the Pentium Pro CPU!

This is what the card layout will look like:

Yay!!! No de lidding!

Okay, so I love me some scsi, I really do, but. What about a cached sata pci-x card hooked to 2.5” to sata m.2 sticks? Wouldn’t that be faster?
Here is an idea: supposedly these are among the fastest for pci. (There are ways to run cards like this in a agp port at 66mhz 32-bit btw.)
Areca ARC-1160 PCI-X 16 Port 64-Bit 133MHz

Re: AGP to PCI adapters - any PCB designers here willing to make one?

I know you don’t have agp but interesting figured I’d add.