Cobra42898 wrote on 2020-01-25, 15:25:

There's no such thing as too many spare parts/boards/CPUs..... great deal. […]
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There's no such thing as too many spare parts/boards/CPUs.....
great deal.

Even if you don't like it, you could recoup your cost by selling it to buy what you want more.
Nice.

Easily. That Stacker was cheap even without a board in it. Only problem is that it requires an EPS PSU and I don't have one, so even to test if it works after I've swapped out the bad caps means more stuff. Still, that's just "test equipment" 😜

isn't EPS12V on pretty much any new PSU nowadays?
are you sure you have no modern PSU lying about that has both a 4pin and 8pin cpu plug?

also the motherboard might not even need both if only one CPU is installed?

I just played the lottery on ebay... bought a meh condition luggable computer for not even that cheap... but there was a picture of the bootscreen:

wish me luck ^^

dionb wrote on 2020-01-25, 14:39:

Accidentally bought a Tyan Thunder S2912 today, with an unknown dualcore Opteron and 5GB RAM.

Needed a bigger case for my son's PC, saw a Coolermaster Stacker advertised for a nice price nearby. While I was already driving towards it the seller messaged that there was "still a computer in it" I could have if I wanted. So I now have this beast. A few bad caps, but nothing a few minutes' soldering couldn't fix. Now, what the hell to do with it...

Not bad!

This reminds me of how I almost bought a nice case for my main PC. It was 2014, I found a local ad on a Thermaltake Shark in great condition. A kickass mid-2000s case, what could be better? 😀 I called the guy, it was a 15 km drive from my home, however, he said he always works late and can only be home after midnight. Alright, midnight it is. I got there, waited for half an hour by his door because he was late, only to find out the case he was selling had his main computer still inside at the moment. I asked him if he expected me to extract his hardware or what, to which he replied that he needed his computer and could not do without the case. Oh well... It turns out that he expected me to take a look at the case, pay in advance, and then wait for him to get a new case before I can pick the old one up. Wow. Of course, I declined and went home.

He called me six months later saying the case was ready to be picked up, but I knew better than to deal with the guy. Who knows what strange deal he would offer this time around.

imi wrote on 2020-01-25, 16:06:

isn't EPS12V on pretty much any new PSU nowadays?

Yes. It is basically the same as 2x 4-pin ATX12V in row. And these have been on pretty much any new PSUs in the last decade that are 400W+. In addition to this EPS12V (which is basically ATX12V x2,) you would need a third one, but as you already mentioned, that one might be optional if only one CPU is used, BUT: "....an additional 4-pin 12V plug was used for CPU powering AS WELL AS anything the motherboard manufacturer wanted, really..." So.. Take care.

RacoonRider wrote on 2020-01-25, 16:26:

[...] […]
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[...]

Not bad!

This reminds me of how I almost bought a nice case for my main PC. It was 2014, I found a local ad on a Thermaltake Shark in great condition. A kickass mid-2000s case, what could be better? 😀 I called the guy, it was a 15 km drive from my home, however, he said he always works late and can only be home after midnight. Alright, midnight it is. I got there, waited for half an hour by his door because he was late, only to find out the case he was selling had his main computer still inside at the moment. I asked him if he expected me to extract his hardware or what, to which he replied that he needed his computer and could not do without the case. Oh well... It turns out that he expected me to take a look at the case, pay in advance, and then wait for him to get a new case before I can pick the old one up. Wow. Of course, I declined and went home.

He called me six months later saying the case was ready to be picked up, but I knew better than to deal with the guy. Who knows what strange deal he would offer this time around.

Srsly, some people... glad this one wasn't like that.

As for EPS on current PSUs and not using the 12V connector - the manual explicitly states all three (24p ATX, EPS and ATX12V) need to be plugged in to boot. Also I try to maximize PSU efficiency, so try to minimize overprovisioning op PSUs, trying to keep full realistic load around 80% of the PSU ratings, instead getting low-end good-brand stuff. As my "modern" rigs don't have huge GPUs (and "modern" means 2012-vintage) that means they're generally not over 400W, so the only one that has a second 12V connector is the one in my main PC, which I'm not going to risk testing this stuff - no, I'll just check my old PSU bin to see of any of the 2000-ish vintage PSUs have one, if not I'll source one somewhere. I believe they're upgrading a few file servers at work, they generally throw out the old stuff, so I might be in luck 😉

Bought this 5x86 with rather unusual designation (DS91548).

Was hoping it could run at 200 MHz given late mfg date. However, no luck. At least it can do 150 and 166 MHz with no voltage increase.

dionb wrote on 2020-01-25, 17:04:

As for EPS on current PSUs and not using the 12V connector - the manual explicitly states all three (24p ATX, EPS and ATX12V) need to be plugged in to boot. Also I try to maximize PSU efficiency, so try to minimize overprovisioning op PSUs, trying to keep full realistic load around 80% of the PSU ratings, instead getting low-end good-brand stuff. As my "modern" rigs don't have huge GPUs (and "modern" means 2012-vintage) that means they're generally not over 400W, so the only one that has a second 12V connector is the one in my main PC, which I'm not going to risk testing this stuff - no, I'll just check my old PSU bin to see of any of the 2000-ish vintage PSUs have one, if not I'll source one somewhere. I believe they're upgrading a few file servers at work, they generally throw out the old stuff, so I might be in luck 😉

This is a good way to do it. As essentially - although you might have an additional 12V on the PSU you mentioned - in this case you actually need 3.
EPS12V (which is essentially ATX12V x2, and another ATX12V (half an EPS). This only started to appear on PSUs roundabout the time it was necessary (around ...~2005/6?)

For example:
The Tyan S28xx series has an EPS12V (8-pin) additionally to the ATX24pin
The Tyan S29xx series has an EPS12V (8-pin) additionally to the ATX24pin AND an additional ATX12V 4-pin (like your board)

It's a little rough but not broken. Was able to procure this iconic ATX case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUghjj0cxgU

Finally got a pair of Primax Soundstorm 120W today:

I've been using Creative SBS20 for years with my retro rigs, and always wanted to get an upgrade. After all, why bother with cool soundcards if your speakers catch every possible noise from your system?

I'm not an audiophile, so I don't have the vocabulary to describe the sound, but I guess these speakers are a bit on the crappy side when it comes to music, but really great for old games.

I've tried these speakers with some MT-32 and AdLib games, some GUS demos and mods and I can say I'm very pleased. The sound is clean, I don't hear any noises like I did with SBS20 and with AdLib/GUS I really liked that the speakers have a lot of bass. Especially in Doom!

I've also listened to some Michael Kiwanuka, and it sounded weird... Like there are high frequencies and bass, but everything in between is kind of dim.

Other drawbacks: the volume knob doesn't seem to do anything after 50%. Also, between different cards I did have to adjust treble and bass. With MT-32 higher trebble introduced some weird artifacts to the sound.

Working on my "OpenGL Workstation" build. I'm building a machine around the HP Visualize fx10 NT (AGP Pro). After unsuccessfully trying to just order an HP Visualize workstation I decided to build my own.

This is all going in an InWin A500 case.

I got Noctua fans to replace all the regular fans, so I got a speed controller. Alseye a-100L(WR)

SuperMicro 370DE6 Dual Pentium P3 Socket 370 Motherboard

2x 1.0ghz P3's (I know I could have gone to 1.4 but I wanted to stick to 1.0)

4x 39L6JS0R-1G00 1GB 128X72 PC133 ECC REG SDRAM

2x Socket A - 370 - 462 - 7 Copper heatsink/fan Low Profile Dynatron Fan Blower

^Needed to get the clearance for the CPUs by the power supply. Still not sure about this case for this build.

Not retro:
Noctua NF-F12 PWM, Premium Quiet Fan, 4-Pin (120mm, Brown)
2 of Noctua NF-A6x25 PWM, Premium Quiet Fan, 4-Pin (60mm, Brown)
LM YN Motherboard Extension Wire Set (for slide out motherboard tray)
10x Winbond W9825G6KH-5 256mbit 200mhz SDRAM
5mm Lumex InspirationLEDs turquoise "comfort" LEDs (meant for hospital equipment)

BTW what those Lumex InspirationLEDs look like (they came out some time ago):

I want to build in an LED CPU meter that tracks both CPUs but also does different crawling animations, so I got two high density (128 pixel) LED strips to go in the 'divet' at the front of the inwin a500 case.

Is there a way to use [img] to make a smaller thumbnail? Thanks.

not to be "that guy", but the 370-DE6 is coppermine only.

Now thats out of my system, its awesome to see anyone do a dual-cpu setup. I love dualies!

luckybob wrote on 2020-01-25, 21:55:

not to be "that guy", but the 370-DE6 is coppermine only.

Now thats out of my system, its awesome to see anyone do a dual-cpu setup. I love dualies!

Good to know! Thank you! Sometimes that guy is necessary!

Robert B wrote on 2020-01-25, 14:08:

Paradise Systems PVGA1A-JK - WDC '89 62-003139-130 - WDC 1989 61-603235 - mnf 1990 week 30 FCC ID : DBM603235P - ISA 8 bit ATI G […]
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Paradise Systems PVGA1A-JK - WDC '89 62-003139-130 - WDC 1989 61-603235 - mnf 1990 week 30 FCC ID : DBM603235P - ISA 8 bit
ATI Graphics Solution Plus Rev. 1 - mnf 1987 week 40 - ISA 8 bit
Chips&Technologies P82C435 - P82A436 - ISA 8 bit - the BIOS chip was missing the protective tape but I covered it as soon as I bought - status unknown

These puppies are among my oldest video cards in my collection.

Putting a device using UV EPROM chip with it's window exposed in the full sunlight - what a great idea ;]

well putting bare cards onto the ground outside isn't a great idea to begin with x3

dionb wrote on 2020-01-25, 15:49:

Cobra42898 wrote on 2020-01-25, 15:25:

There's no such thing as too many spare parts/boards/CPUs..... great deal. […]
Show full quote

There's no such thing as too many spare parts/boards/CPUs.....
great deal.

Even if you don't like it, you could recoup your cost by selling it to buy what you want more.
Nice.

Easily. That Stacker was cheap even without a board in it. Only problem is that it requires an EPS PSU and I don't have one, so even to test if it works after I've swapped out the bad caps means more stuff. Still, that's just "test equipment" 😜

How about a PCI-E to 12V EPS adapter

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/183959892920

imi wrote on 2020-01-26, 01:57:

well putting bare cards onto the ground outside isn't a great idea to begin with x3

True ;D

Yet it looked more like some plastered ledge to me. Still not the best way to keep your PCBs healthy ;]

Your observation is pertinent though. 😁 UV EPROM + BRIGHT SUNLIGHT = LOVE (NOT!)

I saw that exposed EPPROM chip from a mile away. In the end I decided to buy the card regardless. It looked like it already spent a lot of time that way so I'm pretty sure that the infromation was lost a long time ago. If my programmer can read the chip and I somehow find something on it I'll let you know.

The funny thing is that I don't have a EGA monitor/converter to test it.

These are just a curiosity for me as I got into computers only in the late 486 era.

All of my other cards that have UV EPROM chips have received a treatment with black tape just a precaution. The glue on those labels isnt getting any younger.

The cards were put on asphalt in a parking lot for about 20 seconds while I took the pics. You should've seen from where I fished them out. It was a graveyard on a dirty sheet to say the least. A heap of old components that took a while to see what's what.

Cobra42898 wrote on 2020-01-25, 15:25:

There's no such thing as too many spare parts/boards/CPUs..... great deal. […]
Show full quote

There's no such thing as too many spare parts/boards/CPUs.....
great deal.

Even if you don't like it, you could recoup your cost by selling it to buy what you want more.
Nice.

+1 This. I'm always buying things I don't need as insurance against the future. I can always resell it later if I need money for something else.

It takes weeks for direct sunlight to erase an EPROM, so there's not much danger here.

TLDR; Looking for a full-size 46.61512Mhz oscillator? Google it. There is a place selling it.

Desperately needed a full-size 46.61512Mhz oscillator, and looked out for it in a good while.

That particular frequency, 46.61512Mhz, must be some magical one as it was mainly used in amateur HAM radio and Creative soundcards, extensively. Nowadays? not much.

Ofc, the big three, (mouser/digikey/arrow), do not carry them.

Stocks were dry in every 2nd-tier trustworthy source I looked into; time to dig in local component shops.

Found myself in a puddle where all the local suppliers had were half-sized RANOK one.

As a last resort, I ordered few full-sized ones to an Internet site. (you can find the site in the first page of google search. I won't name it.)

My order had arrived some time ago.

I was able to make a reservation in a place for using few hours of their big-ass oscilloscope; I need to see if these oscillators are what they are.

Once they pass the check, I think I can start fixing my card.

TIL old cards tend to break. It takes long time to even find a matching component, provided that you're lucky.