Brawndo wrote on 2021-09-22, 05:29:

Went to a local thrift store again today, picked up a complete Core2Duo tower in an Antec case for $5. I really didn't have a re […]
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Went to a local thrift store again today, picked up a complete Core2Duo tower in an Antec case for $5. I really didn't have a reason to get it, other than it was $5, but the C2D generation of PCs is fun and cheap to tinker with right now, so why not? It has a 500 watt Antec earth watts PSU, what looks like an EVGA GeForce 8600 GT, a D Link wireless card, and I don't know what CPU is in it as I have yet to turn it on.

Noice!
I would've picked that up just for the case and PSU!

Nice! It's an Antec Sonata III if I'm not mistaken. Used to have one of these, and I still have one of my Core2Q systems in a Sonata II.

MMaximus wrote on 2021-09-22, 15:24:

Nice! It's an Antec Sonata III if I'm not mistaken. Used to have one of these, and I still have one of my Core2Q systems in a Sonata II.

Yeah I'm not sure, I'll have to look closer. I will say though, it does feel a bit cheap for an Antec case, seems like they eventually began using thinner materials. It doesn't have the heft of the older Performance model cases. I'm sure it'll do just fine though. I'll keep it a C2D system considering it already has the sticker. 😁

MMaximus wrote on 2021-09-22, 15:24:

Nice! It's an Antec Sonata III if I'm not mistaken. Used to have one of these, and I still have one of my Core2Q systems in a Sonata II.

The first build I ever funded entirely on my own was around 2003 - complete with an Antec Sonata (I believe it was the first edition). I purchased it based on budget and this https://silentpcreview.com/antec-sonata-case-psu/ - I was building a home music studio at the time). I have very fond memories of that case but looking at it now, I'm reminded of how cheap the plastic was.

I just ordered an Asus VX97 on ebay.

Why do I do these things? 🤣

pete8475 wrote on 2021-09-23, 02:04:

I just ordered an Asus VX97 on ebay.

Why do I do these things? 🤣

😜

Brawndo wrote on 2021-09-22, 05:29:

Went to a local thrift store again today, picked up a complete Core2Duo tower in an Antec case for $5. I really didn't have a reason to get it, other than it was $5, but the C2D generation of PCs is fun and cheap to tinker with right now, so why not? It has a 500 watt Antec earth watts PSU, what looks like an EVGA GeForce 8600 GT, a D Link wireless card, and I don't know what CPU is in it as I have yet to turn it on.

worth it for the parts but actually also a good system in itself.

at $5 it's something i would have got too, no matter if i already had similar ones

This generation of PCs is cheap, i guess because its less able to run windows 10 (it can actually, but less smoothly), can run linux ok but most people wont and it wont run much in the way of games (from the last 8-10 years)

with linux they are likely to remain viable general purpose PCs for years, albeit at the 'lighter' end of linux distributions and increasingly they can serve as 'retro' machines with windows 7 and a selection of mid to late 2000's games

Stuff 8gb of ram, a C2Q, a SSD and a GPU together and you make a great budget machine for Windows 10. Honestly SSD's are the single greatest quality of life upgrade for any "Modern" PC. Especially with how badly a HDD gets trashed by Windows 10

Hey @scorp look what the cat brought in. Time to build me five PS2toSerial adapters now!

I'm excited 😁

I was in the market for a k6-3 but damn...they are crazy!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/165081901080?mkevt=1 … %2Cchnl%3Dmkcid

i might stick with my k6-2 500Mhz for now

Got this thing (sellers photo - doesn't his home have a retro feeling 🤣 ), tested and working fine 😀

and this one for convenience (also sellers photo):

Received this in the mail today:
download/file.php?mode=view&id=120263
NOS Boca GD5426 1MB, complete with documentation and drivers. I will have a rig set up tomorrow that can handle floppies and will rip them and post the disk images to the driver site.
This will be my first experience with VLB. I am also going to upgrade the card to 2MB.

I also picked up a 2MB S3 Virge DX I will be upgrading to 4mb. It is really more for the collection and for comparison testing with a related SIS6326 that will be the primary card in my upcoming overclocked PMMX build.
download/file.php?mode=view&id=120264

I took a gamble on a new old stock BTC keyboard sold on ebay. Just a simple keyboard, pre-windows keys, so great for DOS. I wasn't expecting much, quality wise, but I'm actually pleasantly surprised. It's some sort of rubber-dome key contraption (I'm not a keyboard nut 😀), but it types well and finally a keyboard that doesn't need cleaning on arrival 😀

Oh, and it came with a plastic dust cover. Somehow this is getting more important as I'm getting older, no idea why... 🤔

Edit: Oh, only downside to this keyboard so far is that the cable is a bit on the short side, would have been nice it was was at least twice as long like most other keyboards I have.

pan069 wrote on 2021-09-24, 05:04:

I took a gamble on a new old stock BTC keyboard sold on ebay. Just a simple keyboard, pre-windows keys, so great for DOS. I wasn […]
Show full quote

I took a gamble on a new old stock BTC keyboard sold on ebay. Just a simple keyboard, pre-windows keys, so great for DOS. I wasn't expecting much, quality wise, but I'm actually pleasantly surprised. It's some sort of rubber-dome key contraption (I'm not a keyboard nut 😀), but it types well and finally a keyboard that doesn't need cleaning on arrival 😀

Oh, and it came with a plastic dust cover. Somehow this is getting more important as I'm getting older, no idea why... 🤔

PXL_20210924_004043293.jpg

Edit: Oh, only downside to this keyboard so far is that the cable is a bit on the short side, would have been nice it was was at least twice as long like most other keyboards I have.

i was about to say it looks unused - but then it's new old stock! 😀

the dust cover awareness is a general increase in appreciation of what it takes to make things last i think

to join the thread - on new old stock - i had bought an asus a9250 agp card as new old stock and recently put it to use in an athlon xp machine, something quite nice about having a 'new' component.

An Asus Radeon 9600xt/tvd picked up for a few $ untested.

Sadly my testing rig is acting up so I don't know if it works yet.

I bought a 5.25" FDD Teac like brand new (20$) from a friend and donated a box of Pinnacle Studio Ultimate with media and license for free. Elsewhere I bought Radeon 7200 AIW 32MB PCI (10$), which I hope will be a decent successor to his older brother Rage Pro LT 8MB for my PCI only boards. The card was without a box, but with complete cables and CDs.

That 5.25 drives looks super slim, almost no components. Must be a very late one?

This may look like it from a perspective, it's a standard TEAC FD55-GFR.

pixelatedscraps wrote on 2021-09-23, 02:02:

MMaximus wrote on 2021-09-22, 15:24:

Nice! It's an Antec Sonata III if I'm not mistaken. Used to have one of these, and I still have one of my Core2Q systems in a Sonata II.

The first build I ever funded entirely on my own was around 2003 - complete with an Antec Sonata (I believe it was the first edition). I purchased it based on budget and this https://silentpcreview.com/antec-sonata-case-psu/ - I was building a home music studio at the time). I have very fond memories of that case but looking at it now, I'm reminded of how cheap the plastic was.

Yeah I also have a Core2Quad machine in an Antec P180 and the P180 is a step up quality wise, however I can't say the Sonata is the worst. I've got a case from their VSK series and the quality is definitely inferior to the Sonata.

FIY here is a thread I made about my Core2Q Sonata system a while ago.