gerry wrote on 2023-06-01, 07:44:

... the real game is the maintenance of all this and testing it out and so forth 😀

THIS

gerry wrote on 2023-06-01, 07:44:

however the vintage tech and the marginal differences can be fun, interesting and feel like something authentic and so on. building something in order to play x is what we tell ourselves, the real game is the maintenance of all this and testing it out and so forth 😀

+1

Experience isn't the same with the current PC emulators and I like to tinker with hardware to see any quirks they have.

Gmlb256 wrote on 2023-06-01, 12:56:

gerry wrote on 2023-06-01, 07:44:

however the vintage tech and the marginal differences can be fun, interesting and feel like something authentic and so on. building something in order to play x is what we tell ourselves, the real game is the maintenance of all this and testing it out and so forth 😀

+1

Experience isn't the same with the current PC emulators and I like to tinker with hardware to see any quirks they have.

Yep.

The real reason I have a collection of hardware is to try different combinations and setups, the actual gameplay is handled by two or three "static" configurations that I've decided are keepers (Pentium 120, K6-III 450, P3 Tualatin). The rest of the hardware gets rotated in and out due to space constraints, number of available cases and PSUs vs motherboards, and number of GPUs vs motherboards.

I didn't just buy my Rage Pro MAXX because it's great, I bought it precisely because it's not! It's an oddity that I can beat with any number of other GPUs I own, but it is unique, has its quirks and thus is interesting to tinker with!

Due to constant Russian bombing, our system administrator left for Odessa.
I was promoted to IT-technicist (from the head of the network planning department, and I felt 20 years younger))).
I got access to deposits of computer trash.
Well, I never understood asus fans. But I'll try to join.
TUSL2-C - The first encounter.
Cubx-L - The second encounter.
PS. The first encounter with the Cubx-L was unsuccessful, I did not like the motherboard, and I took it apart.

Asus was top of the line in this era. I never had a significant issue with any of their products until very recently.

Their boards were top notch in an ocean of mediocre Taiwan clones.

One of my first self built and purchased systems had an Asus P3B-F at its core.

luckybob wrote on 2023-06-01, 14:12:

Asus was top of the line in this era.

Is this the one that BIOS will force the AGP in 2x mode when overclocking more than 10MHz?
My Aopen doesn't suffer like that.

By the way,
the ASUS VIO voltage boost module boosts it not only for chipset and RAM, but also for AGP/PCI.
I implemented it in CUBX-L, there is nothing complicated there. There are all pads on the PCB.
In fact, this is an artifact from the AT PSU, which did not have a 3.3V power rail and is pulled from the P2 series of motherboards.
As a result, we get 4 workable RAM slots (1Gb) at 133MHz and Vio at 3.5V. And an inoperable Radeon 9800.
Because the AGP reference level is a 3.3V rail divided in half.
3 slot at 3.3V + Radeon 9800 - work OK
4 slot at 3.5V + RAdeon 9800 - not videocard present. 🙁
This is not counting the fact that using Vio completely disables the use of the 3.3V bus of the ATX PSU.
At the same time, the popular APW1175 GPU power controller uses two-phase operation with current sharing control.
I.e. one phase is powered by + 5V, the second - by + 3.3V., which is maked on the motherboard in Vio module. And which greatly distorts the power consumption by rails a typical ATX power supply.

Radeon X800GT PCI-e for $15 from an untested PC.

Untested.. ( ͡° ʖ̯ ͡°)

Maryoo wrote on 2023-06-01, 15:06:

Radeon X800GT PCI-e for $15 from an untested PC. […]
Show full quote

Radeon X800GT PCI-e for $15 from an untested PC.

Untested.. ( ͡° ʖ̯ ͡°)

Yep, tested and faulty = untested. A lot of seller plays this game, hardware can be sold for more (or at all) and they have to take responsibility.

Damn, a lot of trash talking on the last couple of pages.

I had an ATA drive fail. Does that mean all ATA drives are bad?

In the same vein, I had several SATA drives fail SMART tests. Also am using a SATA drive that has over 10 years power on time and no issues.

Just because some folk had a bad experience with something, doesn't mean the same make and model can't work well for someone else. I have a very broad range of graphics cards and CPUs, and over 150 motherboards (mostly untested as yet, but hope to get my work space set up soon). I look forward to making my own comparisons between hundreds or even thousands of setups. Just because I can, no other reason.

Finally found good looking, high spec CRT for Windows XP+ gaming.

No i fajnie, co to za model?

It's HP P1130, another clone of Sony G520 like DELL P1130. It needs some adjustments of course but it's not worn out.

Trashbytes wrote on 2023-06-01, 00:48:

W.x. wrote on 2023-05-31, 16:52:

He has a syndrom of "all what is not high class is garbage". He knows only black and white. He is like Retro Hardware channel on youtrube, scrapping functional Ati Xpert 2000 (Rage 128) cards, just because "it's junk", according him, and he already have 1000x better stuff. It's kinda disrespectful to old hardware. Even low end and mid-tier hardware has its place in history and deserves respect, as nothing new will be made.

TBF Rage 128 cards are like the cockroaches of the retro hardware world, there are 10's of thousands of them out there selling for pennies, you cant give them away and in the end how many people would actually use one even if it was working ? (Does testing and benches count here? I'm thinking of actual use in a finished build)

Some retro hardware really is rubbish no matter how much you want it to not be, this is something all collectors need to come to terms with eventually. (on a side point, there are still rage cards being made from out of china which makes the retro ones even less useful)

lets scrap Virge, S3 Trio3D, MX440's, and all celerons too.
I never scrap anything, particulary graphic cards.
And no, they don't make "new" cards. They need working chip, and place it on PCB. Not sure about Rage 128, I saw only Rage XL's . And quality is terrible. Not comparable by original Rage XL, that was made by Ati. Not to mention, that I'm not sure, they are working in all PCI slots. In original Rage XL, they included some voltage logic, so it can work in all PCI slots, old and new boards. But to be cheapest possible, newly made Rage cards, don't work in old motherboards, like 486.
Not to mention historical value. Even when you make replica, original is original, and have historical value. New historical cards will never be made. What is scrapped is scrapped forever.

debs3759 wrote on 2023-06-01, 16:38:

Damn, a lot of trash talking on the last couple of pages.

I had an ATA drive fail. Does that mean all ATA drives are bad?

In the same vein, I had several SATA drives fail SMART tests. Also am using a SATA drive that has over 10 years power on time and no issues.

I tend towards thinking SMART cries wolf a lot. 1 fail = drive out of warranty period, 2 fails, meh, third of useful life expired.... 10 fails, hmmm maybe I'll stop saving new stuff to it.. 20 fails, yah, maybe should replace this sometime, the warnings are annoying. 🤣

For serious though, there's only one or two stats that are really worrying like climbing reallocated sectors, or rapid increase of spinup time.

Power on hours seems a bit of a stupid metric to me, got several that have run wayyy over, it's heat cycles that kill sooner IMO, panic people into power off power on incessantly and they'll sell more drives maybe IDK

debs3759 wrote on 2023-06-01, 16:38:

Just because some folk had a bad experience with something, doesn't mean the same make and model can't work well for someone else. I have a very broad range of graphics cards and CPUs, and over 150 motherboards (mostly untested as yet, but hope to get my work space set up soon). I look forward to making my own comparisons between hundreds or even thousands of setups. Just because I can, no other reason.

There's so many factors that can make a system tweaky, particular card mix, PSU that's "fine" on every other system, etc and so forth, even had boards that don't like particular keyboards and vice versa.

RandomStranger wrote on 2023-06-01, 15:50:

Maryoo wrote on 2023-06-01, 15:06:

Radeon X800GT PCI-e for $15 from an untested PC. […]
Show full quote

Radeon X800GT PCI-e for $15 from an untested PC.

Untested.. ( ͡° ʖ̯ ͡°)

Yep, tested and faulty = untested. A lot of seller plays this game, hardware can be sold for more (or at all) and they have to take responsibility.

Fun fact if an item is listed in any category other than "For Part or Not Working" it doesn't matter what type of bullshit scammy jargon they put in the description or title, open a case and eBay will make them accept a return or refund you. All other categories you are guaranteed to receive a working item.

Also, there is a chance its genuinely untested. Alot of places legit don't test hardware below a certain value. GPU failure is probably the number one reason people throw their old gaming rig in a closet before scrapping it a decade later. Especially GPUs that run relatively hot, that cooler looks inadequate as fuck for a X800 series card.

shevalier wrote on 2023-06-01, 13:50:

Due to constant Russian bombing, our system administrator left for Odessa. I was promoted to IT-technicist (from the head of the […]
Show full quote

Due to constant Russian bombing, our system administrator left for Odessa.
I was promoted to IT-technicist (from the head of the network planning department, and I felt 20 years younger))).
I got access to deposits of computer trash.
Well, I never understood asus fans. But I'll try to join.
TUSL2-C - The first encounter.
Cubx-L - The second encounter.
PS. The first encounter with the Cubx-L was unsuccessful, I did not like the motherboard, and I took it apart.

Slava Ukraini! Respect for taking on the responsibilities that give you this access.

That CUBX-L looks amazing, hope you can get it working again. If not, a TUSL2-C is a decent consolation prize. And no, I also feel Asus is overrated, but solid FC-PGA BX boards are rare, and Tualatin-supporting i815 boards just as much.

Rejoined the 3Dfx club today after not having used a Voodoo card in over 20 years:

A Voodoo 3 3000 AGP and Voodoo 1 of some sort. Haven't tested them yet, hmm where to start... somewhere in 1997 probably.

ildonaldo wrote on 2023-05-29, 15:47:

I've just got a Sony Vaio PCV-RX402 for small money in absolute untinkered condition and I now want to run a clean setup with Wi […]
Show full quote

I've just got a Sony Vaio PCV-RX402 for small money in absolute untinkered condition and I now want to run a clean setup with Windows XP.

Luckily the drivers are still saved in a separate folder on the Harddrive but the original Sony Software is missing 🙁
... and unfortunately Sony stopped to provide any software Support (e.g. download) for legacy systems on 31. of March 2023 - bad luck for me 🙁 🙁

A call for assistance - maybe anyone here that has the original installation CD/DVD for a PCV-RX4xx model or any similar Vaio model of this period?

2303fb74-9fe9-4537-9679-01b47f51aa26.jpg

I don't have that specific model, but I have a 100% complete Sony PC of that same style (tower, monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, software etc.). I don't have it right here with me so I don't know exactly what model the computer is.

I do have the CDs, but I don't know when I'd have time to rip them all and upload them somewhere. I did find an identical copy of the System Recovery CD #1 that I have here though, so that should at least get it up and running as it would have been back in the day.

In addition to that CD I have the System Recovery CDs #2 and #3, Application Recovery CDs #1 and #2, Corel OEM Word Perfect Office2002 and AOL 7.0. I believe all of these came with the original system. I also have a whole bunch of paperwork and stuff, including a big printed ad for Everquest. Sony was really trying to push some additional sales with these PCs. 🤣

W.x. wrote on 2023-06-01, 19:27:

lets scrap Virge, S3 Trio3D, MX440's, and all celerons too. I never scrap anything, particulary graphic cards. And no, they don' […]
Show full quote

Trashbytes wrote on 2023-06-01, 00:48:

W.x. wrote on 2023-05-31, 16:52:

He has a syndrom of "all what is not high class is garbage". He knows only black and white. He is like Retro Hardware channel on youtrube, scrapping functional Ati Xpert 2000 (Rage 128) cards, just because "it's junk", according him, and he already have 1000x better stuff. It's kinda disrespectful to old hardware. Even low end and mid-tier hardware has its place in history and deserves respect, as nothing new will be made.

TBF Rage 128 cards are like the cockroaches of the retro hardware world, there are 10's of thousands of them out there selling for pennies, you cant give them away and in the end how many people would actually use one even if it was working ? (Does testing and benches count here? I'm thinking of actual use in a finished build)

Some retro hardware really is rubbish no matter how much you want it to not be, this is something all collectors need to come to terms with eventually. (on a side point, there are still rage cards being made from out of china which makes the retro ones even less useful)

lets scrap Virge, S3 Trio3D, MX440's, and all celerons too.
I never scrap anything, particulary graphic cards.
And no, they don't make "new" cards. They need working chip, and place it on PCB. Not sure about Rage 128, I saw only Rage XL's . And quality is terrible. Not comparable by original Rage XL, that was made by Ati. Not to mention, that I'm not sure, they are working in all PCI slots. In original Rage XL, they included some voltage logic, so it can work in all PCI slots, old and new boards. But to be cheapest possible, newly made Rage cards, don't work in old motherboards, like 486.
Not to mention historical value. Even when you make replica, original is original, and have historical value. New historical cards will never be made. What is scrapped is scrapped forever.

Then you can keep them in a museum, namely your closet or basement buried in the bottom of some plastic storage box just like many other collectors here do .. never to actually be used because there are thousands of cheaper better options available in both PCI and AGP.

Ill even send you the half dozen I have buried in my spares box. The Virge, Trio and MX440 are all worth keeping the first two because they are some of the most compatible DOS cards you can find the MX440 because its a damn fine GPU for Win98SE/ WinXp with more than enough grunt to play a wide range of games, not to mention the MX range are exceptionally reliable as retro hardware goes, same for Virge.

Celerons do have a place, the 300A and 533A are both worth keeping and using along with any Tualatin Celeron, you don't seem to understand the concept of true junk parts .. like early Rage, SiS, Trident and even Cirrus Logic based cards, that said I don't consider late model Rage128 Pro or the Rage Fury MAXX dual GPU cards to be junk, they are capable cards with the right drivers and the MAXX is the most unique due to it being one of the first Dual GPU cards ever released. I put Cirrus Logic here but they did have some wonderful models along with their bad ones, Trident too had some great models.

You need to learn to separate the good stuff from the actual junk .. and yes there was quite a lot of junk parts made back in the day, some were ok and some were actual junk even when new, and if I kept every single GPU I came across because of its supposed historical value I might just need to build myself a museum to house them all.

I too once thought like you do but after 250 odd video cards and lack of space I realized I was collecting junk for the sake of collecting junk because it might have some value but the truth was, much of it only has value to me and possibly other people like me. So most of the Cockroach Rage, Trident, Cirrus Logic and other no name Taiwanese junk got culled, I kept the parts that had value or were unique and were worth keeping and sent the rest to eBay or e-waste if it no longer worked. (I dont sell untested parts on eBay, too much hassle)

Now I have room again to keep collecting parts worth saving and enough sense to know that not all retro parts are worth the storage space.

Thankfully we have people like yourself who like collecting for the sake of collecting and appear to have unlimited space to store it all.

debs3759 wrote on 2023-06-01, 16:38:

Damn, a lot of trash talking on the last couple of pages. […]
Show full quote

Damn, a lot of trash talking on the last couple of pages.

I had an ATA drive fail. Does that mean all ATA drives are bad?

In the same vein, I had several SATA drives fail SMART tests. Also am using a SATA drive that has over 10 years power on time and no issues.

Just because some folk had a bad experience with something, doesn't mean the same make and model can't work well for someone else. I have a very broad range of graphics cards and CPUs, and over 150 motherboards (mostly untested as yet, but hope to get my work space set up soon). I look forward to making my own comparisons between hundreds or even thousands of setups. Just because I can, no other reason.

Nope unless its a Deathstar. https://www.extremetech.com/computing/326292- … -deskstar-story this story is also a valid point for my previous post about true junk parts.

SMART isnt always perfect either or a fool proof indication that a HDD is dead/dying/sick so I take SMART results with a pinch of salt but in the same vein I wont be using that drive for anything critical either. But as a retro HDD sure why not, if it dies I can always replace it easy enough.

150 Motherboards Jesus...do you own a storage unit or perhaps a large garage 😁 but that honestly does sound like a fun time you have ahead there.