stamasd wrote:

Ozzuneoj wrote:

This site has turned me into some kind of weirdo... […]
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This site has turned me into some kind of weirdo...

Every time I see blurry, shadowy pictures of old ISA cards I start salivating. As if every card could be a long lost sound card that secretly every game developer used to write music, and would bring tears to my eyes if I heard it in action.

In reality, I know that these things are just neat old relics that won't change anyone's life... and yet, here I am.

... *drool*

My daily pre-bedtime occupation for many months now: scanning ebay and other sites for newly listed old hardware.

I didn't really have any reason to.. just sort of decided to look at ebay all of a sudden at random before dinner for something and.. glad I did.

Managed to score a second GeForce 6800 Ultra 512MB PCI-E card to mate with my other one I bought a couple months ago (and almost killed with my water-win98se project but thankfully didn't). This'll be perfect for my Asus A8n32-SLI Deluxe system (that runs both cards at 16x-16x-SLI) and finally can set that up and start using it later.

Listing was here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/112191842202

Seller says it's a 256 MB card but I happen to know the physical differences in these two cards and know for a fact that is indeed the elusive 512MB version. The 512's have a longer PCB and a heatsink over the VRM section by the power connector, and the 256 MB ones do not.

So yeah.. I'ma do the happy dance. Now I can set up a crazy ultra high end geforce 6xxx series system.

EDIT: Comparison image for others to see.

the 256 MB is on the bottom, and the 512MB is on top. Pretty obvious physical differences.

einr wrote:

Stumbled across a big box of random PC hardware at a flea market. All this for less than $10. Most of it is hard drives and controller cards, XT-386 era 😀 Fun to see all these deceased brands; Kalok, Miniscribe, Tandon...

IMGP8945-01.jpeg

Oh! An infamous Kalok Octagon! I heard these drives' unreliability were legendary. 🤣

stamasd wrote:

Ozzuneoj wrote:

This site has turned me into some kind of weirdo... […]
Show full quote

This site has turned me into some kind of weirdo...

Every time I see blurry, shadowy pictures of old ISA cards I start salivating. As if every card could be a long lost sound card that secretly every game developer used to write music, and would bring tears to my eyes if I heard it in action.

In reality, I know that these things are just neat old relics that won't change anyone's life... and yet, here I am.

... *drool*

My daily pre-bedtime occupation for many months now: scanning ebay and other sites for newly listed old hardware.

I have had to struggle a bit to cut myself off in this regard. I've had to really hold myself back, as I've bought too much over the past year and not moved enough of it on to make it a justifiable expense. I tend to only buy things that are smoking deals or things that I know are very rare (or that I'll use), but I've just accumulated too much. For a while I just couldn't help myself at all if I saw anything listed cheaply (or mislabeled) that I knew was more valuable. Greed is bad. 😢

I have a box full of 3dfx stuff (that isn't a part of my real collection) that'd probably be worth $1500 on eBay if I tested it all and listed it for the going-rate... and I spent a fraction of that price on it... but I've had some bad selling experiences lately and can't get myself to want to do it again. Once I am able to move some of this stuff on to people who will use it, I might keep actively looking for old stuff again, but at this point I just look casually from time to time, hoping that I DON'T find anything really awesome.

By the way... does anyone here have an interest in a Turtle Beach Multisound Classic? I just found one not labeled in a listing of old parts. I'd be tempted by it, since they aren't common, but it seems to be basically useless for games, and I don't know what else I'd use it for...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Computer-Parts-Lot-/2 … NkAAOSwcUBYJ2Mv

There's also a really filthy looking CT1740 SB16 in there, and a Matrox Millennium.

Ozzuneoj wrote:

There's also a really filthy looking CT1740 SB16 in there, and a Matrox Millennium.

You mean the one that's mislabeled in the auction as a CT4380? Chances are it has DSP 4.05 (the label on the back says CT1730). But for $25 I'll pass.

There's also a Goldfinch card mislabeled as CT190 😀 It's $50 so I'll pass on that one as well.

That didn't take long. Right after I posted the link, someone bought it. Had to be a vogoner. 😀

I think I found the ultimate collection. It's a steal for only $585,000US. 🤣

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wholesale-Lot-Of-128- … SEAAOSwB09YD2o0

Details about Wholesale Lot Of 128,651 Computer Parts HDD, RAM, Power Supplies, Processors Etc

I was doubtful til I realized there was a $65,000 price reduction. Sold! 😁

Brickpad wrote:

I think I found the ultimate collection. It's a steal for only $585,000US. :lol: […]
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I think I found the ultimate collection. It's a steal for only $585,000US. 🤣

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wholesale-Lot-Of-128- … SEAAOSwB09YD2o0

Details about Wholesale Lot Of 128,651 Computer Parts HDD, RAM, Power Supplies, Processors Etc

Y'all do know we have a dedicated ebay thread for this, right? Topic 34088

clueless1 wrote:

I was doubtful til I realized there was a $65,000 price reduction. Sold! 😁

That should keep you busy for a couple days. I just hope you have space in your basement. 😀

Brickpad wrote:

I think I found the ultimate collection. It's a steal for only $585,000US. :lol: […]
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I think I found the ultimate collection. It's a steal for only $585,000US. 🤣

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wholesale-Lot-Of-128- … SEAAOSwB09YD2o0

Details about Wholesale Lot Of 128,651 Computer Parts HDD, RAM, Power Supplies, Processors Etc

*Salivates* Hundreds of thousands of various parts. MOTHER LODE. If I lived in Minneapolis, boy would I like to somehow gain access to that warehouse, convince the guy who owns the stuff to sell me parts individually for cheap, and seriously spend as many days in there as it takes sifting through everything and finding every single worthwhile card, eliminating duplicates, and completing my collection of the finest PC hardware ever made 🤑 🤑 🤑 *continues drooling*

Somebody please drag me to retrophiles anonymous 🤣

JidaiGeki wrote:

Great outcome mate, have been following your quest with interest 😀 guess that means no more funny pics on Amibay though!! I too have affinity for the Media Vision cards, my first sound card was a Pro 3D which is now the only boxed hardware bought by me in the 90s in my collection. Did you source your beauty from AU or elsewhere?

Thanks! Yes I can now retire my years-old Amibay thread now and delete my eBay searches - what a relief! This one came from the U.S where most of my harder-to-find stuff came from if I think about it - a far bigger market than my local I guess. I have seen the very occasional loose PAS16 but it's rare to find boxed retro stuff. I know the PAS16 was sold here because I bought one circa '94.

Nice work on the Maxi Sound - got plans for it?

badmojo wrote:

JidaiGeki wrote:

Great outcome mate, have been following your quest with interest 😀 guess that means no more funny pics on Amibay though!! I too have affinity for the Media Vision cards, my first sound card was a Pro 3D which is now the only boxed hardware bought by me in the 90s in my collection. Did you source your beauty from AU or elsewhere?

Thanks! Yes I can now retire my years-old Amibay thread now and delete my eBay searches - what a relief! This one came from the U.S where most of my harder-to-find stuff came from if I think about it - a far bigger market than my local I guess. I have seen the very occasional loose PAS16 but it's rare to find boxed retro stuff. I know the PAS16 was sold here because I bought one circa '94.

Nice work on the Maxi Sound - got plans for it?

I remember seeing the PAS16 boxes quite a bit in Sydney computer stores, but haven't seen one for years now. Glad you got yours in the end, and can relate to the relief of closing off searches and not having to scan listings fruitlessly for years. quick question - would you have opened it if it was sealed? 😉

The Maxi Studio ISIS was a bargain, though it doesn't seem to have much written about it. I'm curious about its DOS capability, it claims to offer support under DOS as well as Windows DOS box.

It is probably destined for a P3 mATX desktop build, with Win98.

JidaiGeki wrote:

The Maxi Studio ISIS was a bargain, though it doesn't seem to have much written about it. I'm curious about its DOS capability, it claims to offer support under DOS as well as Windows DOS box.

IMG_0564.JPG

It is probably destined for a P3 mATX desktop build, with Win98.

I had one in the early 2000's, I was probably using it in a PIII or Athlon PC and I remember scavenging some EDO Ram from my previous computer to expand the memory on the card. At the time I no longer used DOS: I think I was trying to dabble in music production under Windows Millenium but I never really did anything with it.

A very important thing though - If I remember correctly you MUST NOT connect or disconnect the external rack while the computer is powered on. Doing so will damage the card and/or the rack - I did it at the time and the Guillemot folks were nice enough to send me a replacement even though the card wasn't under warranty anymore.

JidaiGeki wrote:

quick question - would you have opened it if it was sealed? 😉

Without hesitation!

JidaiGeki wrote:

The Maxi Studio ISIS was a bargain, though it doesn't seem to have much written about it. I'm curious about its DOS capability, it claims to offer support under DOS as well as Windows DOS box.

Please let us know your thoughts on it once you've had a play.

Just bought this on ebay. Put an offer in for £30 and seller countered with an offer of £35 so ended up totalling £39.99 with the shipping. I never pay this sort of money for retro parts but it looks like a good board and feel i paid a fair price.

Gigabyte GA-586TX3 Socket 7 AT board with 128mb, Pentium 200mmx and a CT2230 Soundblaster 16.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gigabyte-GA-586TX3- … UAAAOSwcLxYKHJb

Now the hunt is on for a Nice AT case.

Got a HDT90ZFBK6DGR Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition today. Not really retro, but a bit rare and collectible nevertheless. Phenom II X6 CPUs are quite rare in Romania, although there's plenty of them on ebay, but a tad on the expensive side. So far I managed to snag this one for 50$, and an entry level 1055T I got a month ago for 20$. Odd that they're coming up for sale now - I've been looking for one of these for a while now with no luck.

Best part about this 1090T is it does 4GHz pretty easy. I didn't even use a fancy board for the overclock 😀 I wonder if it's even a bit competitive with today's mid-range CPUs.

kanecvr wrote:

Got a HDT90ZFBK6DGR Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition today. Not really retro, but a bit rare and collectible nevertheless. Pheno […]
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Got a HDT90ZFBK6DGR Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition today. Not really retro, but a bit rare and collectible nevertheless. Phenom II X6 CPUs to be quite rare in Romania, although there's plenty of them on ebay, but a tad on the expensive side. So far I managed to snag this one for 50$, and an entry level 1055T I got a month ago for 20$. Odd that they're coming up for sale now - I've been looking for one of these for a while now with no luck.

Best part about this 1090T is it does 4GHz pretty easy. I didn't even use a fancy board for the overclock 😀 I wonder if it's even a bit competitive with today's mid-range CPUs.

I think you can outperform the FX 6300 with that OC'd Phenom, AMD Bulldozer based CPUs were known to have worse IPC than Phenom II, especially the Zambezi and Vishera FXs

Bought several cards the last weeks. Here the pictures:

Voodoo 1 from Diamond

S3 ViRGE/DX (Hercules Terminator 3D/DX with 4Mb ram)

Geforce4 Ti4800SE (Asus V9480)

Geforce 9800 GT green edition (from Club 3D)

Creative SB Audigy 2ZS (SB0360)

Terratec 128i PCI (with ESS Solo-1)

Avance ALS007 (with LS262)

Elitegroup AI-101 (with OPTi 929, AD1846 & YMF262-M)

Aztech Sound Galaxy Nova16 Extra II-3D (with ATZ2316R, Crystal CS4231 & YMF262-M)

Shuttle HOT-223 (with OPTi 928, Crystal CS4248 & YMF262-M)

Formosa SC1616 (with ESS ES688FC & YMF262-M)

Note:
Maybe, have now 1-2 ISA cards too much for my retro buildings. Actual i don't know which ISA i have to consider first...

Bancho wrote:

Gigabyte GA-586TX3 Socket 7 AT board with 128mb, Pentium 200mmx and a CT2230 Soundblaster 16.

Now the hunt is on for a Nice AT case.

I can confirm that this is an extremely nice board. I've never seen something of the same quality in Romania at their time. I guess we were too cheap 😀. I got mine about 1 month ago, along with a P1 MMX@233. Strangely I also got a CT2290 with it that has real OPL.
It sure is worthy of a nice case. Specifically got some NVS280 (fx5200) PCI boards for it. Not sure of 3dfx yet.

elod wrote:

Bancho wrote:

Gigabyte GA-586TX3 Socket 7 AT board with 128mb, Pentium 200mmx and a CT2230 Soundblaster 16.

Now the hunt is on for a Nice AT case.

I can confirm that this is an extremely nice board. I've never seen something of the same quality in Romania at their time. I guess we were too cheap 😀. I got mine about 1 month ago, along with a P1 MMX@233. Strangely I also got a CT2290 with it that has real OPL.
It sure is worthy of a nice case. Specifically got some NVS280 (fx5200) PCI boards for it. Not sure of 3dfx yet.

Yeah it does look to be a very good board, Plus also having a coin battery is a big positive! I have 3 PCI cards to choose from (TNT2 M64, FX5200 and a Voodoo Banshee) along with a couple of nice wavetable sound cards too (Awe64, ESS and a OPL4).

Looking forward to doing a build around it.