vetz wrote:

That SCSI/IDE controller is very nice, I have the AVA-2825 model (http://www.vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?file … 921&menustate=0). Best performing controller I've come across for VLB.

Thanks! I wonder what's the difference between those two models. I am also curious if IDE interface on that card offers anything more than the usual VLB I/O cards.

tikoellner wrote:

vetz wrote:

That SCSI/IDE controller is very nice, I have the AVA-2825 model (http://www.vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?file … 921&menustate=0). Best performing controller I've come across for VLB.

Thanks! I wonder what's the difference between those two models. I am also curious if IDE interface on that card offers anything more than the usual VLB I/O cards.

Must be minor differences. Yes, it's quicker than usual VLB I/O cards that don't have a BIOS built-in. See here:
VLB IDE cache controllers, benchmark

I paid through the nose for it, but I finally got a hold of one of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMI-BIOS-Motherboard- … MQAAOSwmgJY7i0O

American Megatrends Mark V "Baby Screamer"

Probably one of the better 386 motherboards. At least it's in my top 5. I've been trying to get one for 10+ years.

Anonymous Coward wrote:

Probably one of the better 386 motherboards. At least it's in my top 5. I've been trying to get one for 10+ years.

That's a bloody nice board - co-pro included, too! To be added to the thread about people that paid too much for something they had to have 😉

brassicGamer wrote:

Anonymous Coward wrote:

Probably one of the better 386 motherboards. At least it's in my top 5. I've been trying to get one for 10+ years.

That's a bloody nice board - co-pro included, too! To be added to the thread about people that paid too much for something they had to have 😉

Still better than the last poor sap that paid $249 plus shipping.

Recieved today. Aztech Waverider 32 Plus and Ensoniq daughterboard for Soundscape II.
Now I have to find SoundScape II... anyone can help 😀 ????

http://www.ebay.com/itm/142312267250?_trksid= … K%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Not only was there the issue with the GPU, but the front panel seems to have been ripped off by an ape. If any of you know this case design you know how easy it is to take off. All of the tabs along one side were completely destroyed. Not "slightly broken" as they stated. I'm really getting fed up with these "microsoft certified refurbishers" The only one i've had really good experiences with is rawko "TBF Computing"

xplus93 wrote:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/142312267250?_trksid= … K%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Not only was there the issue with the GPU, but the front panel seems to have been ripped off by an ape. If any of you know this case design you know how easy it is to take off. All of the tabs along one side were completely destroyed. Not "slightly broken" as they stated. I'm really getting fed up with these "microsoft certified refurbishers" The only one i've had really good experiences with is rawko "TBF Computing"

I really like that style of case. I've got a Dell one as well as a Micron one.

I had another quite a while ago, but I gave it away..

I am probably going to use one of mine for a Tyan S1854 / Pentium III build. In fact, I already rewired the front panel to work with a regular ATX motherboard.

The last couple of weeks I have bought some dual CPU server boards, some more retro than others but all old and obsolete.

This is the latest of the bunch and the only one I dare to call outright retro. The Asus NCCH-DL Intel 875P/E7210 Canterwood chipset motherboard, an update of the original Asus PC-DL dual CPU Canterwood motherboard. Most people in the know say the slightly older Asus PC-DL actually is the better motherboard. The Asus NCCH-DL sadly wasn't very cheap but with large motherboards shipping is worth taking into the equation and the shipping was free so I find the $90 I paid acceptable as the motherboard comes with two Nocona (Prescott 1M) core 3GHz Xeons, I/O brackets and the manual, no I/O shield though but I'm sure I have a suitable one.

The Asus NCCH-DL and PC-DL are two boards on a very short list of motherboards that is good for overclocking single core Netburst Xeon CPUs. This is the reason they are worth more than the typical going rate for Socket 603/604 motherboards which is hardly over minimum bid or $20 "Buy it Now". If someone cares enough to bother to search daily I'm sure it's possible to find a much better deal than I did.

A thing worth knowing is that this motherboard will not run Gallatin CPUs with 400 MHz FSB unless they can POST at 533 MHz FSB (as far as I know). This makes the only Gallatin with 4MB L3 cache a no go as it has a 30x multiplier and would have to POST at 4GHz.

The sellers picture of the ASUS NCCH-DL. I'm sure it's an ESD safe blanket! 😀

Skyscraper wrote:

The last couple of weeks I have bought some dual CPU server boards, some more retro than others but all old and obsolete. […]
Show full quote

The last couple of weeks I have bought some dual CPU server boards, some more retro than others but all old and obsolete.

This is the latest of the bunch and the only one I dare to call outright retro. The Asus NCCH-DL Intel 875P (E7210) Canterwood-ES chipset motherboard, an update of the original Asus PC-DL Canterwood-ES motherboard. Most people in the know say the slightly older Asus PC-DL actually is the better motherboard. The Asus NCCH-DL sadly wasn't very cheap but with large motherboards shipping is worth taking into the equation and the shipping was free so I find the $90 I paid acceptable as the motherboard comes with two Prestonia (Northwood) core 3GHz Xeons, I/O brackets and the manual, no I/O shield though but I'm sure I have a suitable one.

The Asus NCCH-DL and PC-DL are two boards on a very short list of motherboards that is good for overclocking single core Netburst Xeon CPUs. This is the reason they are worth more than the typical going rate for Socket 603/604 motherboards which is hardly over minimum bid or $20 "Buy it Now". If someone cares enough to bother to search daily I'm sure it's possible to find a much better deal than I did.

A thing worth knowing is that this motherboard will not run Gallatin CPUs with 400 MHz FSB unless they can POST at 533 MHz FSB (as far as I know). This makes the only Gallatin with 4MB L3 cache a no go as it has a 30x multiplier and would have to POST at 4GHz.

The sellers picture of the ASUS NCCH-DL. I'm sure it's an ESD safe blanket! 😀

ASUS NCCH-DL.jpg

Aparently, this board will run Nocona (Prescott) and Irwindale (Prescott-2M) Xeons as well with proper BIOS update, it doesn't support dual core Netbrust Xeons though. I wonder if you force the board to run at 400 mhz FSB with the Gallatin 4 MB L3 Xeon if is possible

I belive also the fact of having an AGP slot also makes more expensive as well

Carlos S. M. wrote:

[
Aparently, this board will run Nocona (Prescott) and Irwindale (Prescott-2M) Xeons as well with proper BIOS update, it doesn't support dual core Netbrust Xeons though. I wonder if you force the board to run at 400 mhz FSB with the Gallatin 4 MB L3 Xeon if is possible

I belive also the fact of having an AGP slot also makes more expensive as well

Sadly I think the motherboard only supports POSTing at 133/533 and 200/800 MHz even if the clock generator supports 100/400 MHz FSB, that was at least was a quick Google search indicated. The Gallatin MPs performance would suffer from the low FSB compared to CPUs with 800 MHz bus speed anyhow so it's not a huge loss. I do not think that even 4MB L3 cache makes up for halved FSB. Using two 2.4 GHz Gallatins with 1M L3 cache would be interesting though as they have 18x multipliers and 18x200 = 3600 MHz which is within the realm of possibility.

Yes the AGP slot is kind of important, at least for us VOGONS members! 😀

I just realized that the two included Xeons are Nocona core as I can see from the sellers POST screenshot that they run at 800 MHz FSB, I guess the BIOS is already updated.

@tikoellner

I approve of anyone using scsi. Bonus points for VLB. kudos!

SCSI!!!!!!

Thanks. After initially buying mostly socket 3 PCI mobo and stuff I'm actally getting rid of any stuff beyond VLB. PCI belongs with those modern Pentium computers that I, as a poor 486 guy, can't afford (storing) 😀

luckybob wrote:

@tikoellner

I approve of anyone using scsi. Bonus points for VLB. kudos!

Skyscraper wrote:

Sadly I think the motherboard only supports POSTing at 133/533 and 200/800 MHz even if the clock generator supports 100/400 MHz FSB, that was at least was a quick Google search indicated. The Gallatin MPs performance would suffer from the low FSB compared to CPUs with 800 MHz bus speed anyhow so it's not a huge loss. I do not think that even 4MB L3 cache makes up for halved FSB. Using two 2.4 GHz Gallatins with 1M L3 cache would be interesting though as they have 18x multipliers and 18x200 = 3600 MHz which is within the realm of possibility.

Yes the AGP slot is kind of important, at least for us VOGONS members! 😀

I just realized that the two included Xeons are Nocona core as I can see from the sellers POST screenshot that they run at 800 MHz FSB, I guess the BIOS is already updated.

From my experience, Gallatin 3.2 / 2M L3 at 533 MHz FSB performed very much the same (maybe 1% difference) as when running FSB 800. Don't forget all (most?) Xeons DP have unlocked multiplier from 12 (i think) up to the default value. You can lower the multiplier in BIOS and then get FSB 800 using setFSB in windows. Perhaps NCCH-DL even supports this FSB in bios (while PC-DL or PCH-DL does not)
3.6 GHz is not that easy on gallatin, at least with default vcore. But 3.4 might be possible. The issue with 4MB Gallatin (and every other 400 FSB Xeon for that matter) is memory divider locked at 1.33... so you can't run them at FSB 800 and DDR 400. This is the maximum I could do with mine https://abload.de/img/xeon_mp_3.0_spi_1m_33qqu3i.png Btw - I have two MPs and the other one hits the wall at 3.3 GHz, so 3.6 GHz is not that common.

//edit - MP xeons are unlocked too

havli wrote:

From my experience, Gallatin 3.2 / 2M L3 at 533 MHz FSB performed very much the same (maybe 1% difference) as when running FSB 800. Don't forget all (most?) Xeons DP have unlocked multiplier from 12 (i think) up to the default value. You can lower the multiplier in BIOS and then get FSB 800 using setFSB in windows. Perhaps NCCH-DL even supports this FSB in bios (while PC-DL or PCH-DL does not)
3.6 GHz is not that easy on gallatin, at least with default vcore. But 3.4 might be possible. The issue with 4MB Gallatin (and every other 400 FSB Xeon for that matter) is memory divider locked at 1.33... so you can't run them at FSB 800 and DDR 400. This is the maximum I could do with mine https://abload.de/img/xeon_mp_3.0_spi_1m_33qqu3i.png Btw - I have two MPs and the other one hits the wall at 3.3 GHz, so 3.6 GHz is not that common.

With the the Asus NCCH-DL motherboard the CPUs must be able to POST at their default multipler and the "start up" FSB settiing (133 or 200MHz) as the BIOS dosn't lower the multplier to the value set in the BIOS until after CPU initialization. If you do not force a CPU to POST at 200 MHz FSB you only get accsess to 133-166 MHz FSB (in the BIOS setup). This is why it's important to be able to POST at the default multiplier @ 200 MHz FSB even with "unlocked" Gallatin CPUs if one wants to be able to run at a lower multiplier and 200+ MHz FSB. 233 MHz is the max FSB setting in the BIOS when the start up FSB is 200 MHz.

Using a "Soft FSB tool" to set a FSB of 166+ MHz is of course an option but I'm not sure it's possible to get very far unless using a 200 MHz "start up" FSB.

If the Gallatins dosn't gain much performance from high FSB then perhaps the very cheap 3.2 Ghz (1MB) Gallatins I ordered yesterday could be worth using. They will POST at 24x133 but if their multiplier is unlocked settng the speed to 21*166 in the BIOS for 3500 MHz would probably be somewhat faster than 24 x 146 MHz = 3500 MHz, if they will handle that speed that is.

When it comes to the Gallatin with 4MB cache I know they works reliable in the older Asus PC-DL i875 motherboard as that board has native support for 100/400 MHz FSB CPUs but as it dosn't seem it's possible to force the NCCH-DL to 100 MHz FSB during CPU initialization they will not work at all unless they can handle 30x133 = 4GHz during POST. This is at least what I have gathered from reading forum posts so far but I have to admit that I have not had the time to fully read up on the matter yet.

Perhaps this was all fixed on later motherboard revisions or something. I have only had time to read what people thought and learned about the 1.02 revision of the motherboard shortly after it's release so far but I will continue to read the forum threads about the motherboard later this evening.

Edit.

It seems like the issue with Xeon MP CPUs always trying to post at 133 MHz FSB (and defualt multiplier) was solved with BIOS 1003 and there is a guy at "CPU World" that wrote that they work so I ordered me some SL79V CPUs. If they they end up not working I guess I have a reason to get me an Asus PC-DL or PCH-DL! 😁

/Edit

havli wrote:

From my experience, Gallatin 3.2 / 2M L3 at 533 MHz FSB performed very much the same (maybe 1% difference) as when running FSB 800. Don't forget all (most?) Xeons DP have unlocked multiplier from 12 (i think) up to the default value. You can lower the multiplier in BIOS and then get FSB 800 using setFSB in windows. Perhaps NCCH-DL even supports this FSB in bios (while PC-DL or PCH-DL does not)
3.6 GHz is not that easy on gallatin, at least with default vcore. But 3.4 might be possible. The issue with 4MB Gallatin (and every other 400 FSB Xeon for that matter) is memory divider locked at 1.33... so you can't run them at FSB 800 and DDR 400. This is the maximum I could do with mine https://abload.de/img/xeon_mp_3.0_spi_1m_33qqu3i.png Btw - I have two MPs and the other one hits the wall at 3.3 GHz, so 3.6 GHz is not that common.

//edit - MP xeons are unlocked too

That is also true for the Gallatin based Pentium 4 Extreme Edition, the 3.46 GHz/FSB 1066 version of the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition didn't really have much improvement over the 3.4 GHz/FSB 800 version. The ASUS NCCH-DL does support 800 Mhz officially, also Nocona and Irwindale Xeons which needs the FSB 800 bus

Some reviews about the P4 EE 3.46 GHz:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/1529
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel,910.html

So brought this puppy hopefully is working.The seller says that yes so...in two days i will see...

some new cards

Trident AGP

Fire X1 (R9700 256MB)

AIW 2006

Ti4600

AIW X1900

Asus stuff

dont know how this happened but got second toy ... both working good 😁

^^some awesome toys,any plans for phase change cooling?