luckybob wrote:

And THAT is why I will ALWAYS buy any AT keyboard I come across.

I even have a couple of keyboards, where the switch was ever installed, but I can add one and enable XT mode.

The second one I bought had the option for the AT/XT switch. I was thinking that the circuitry for XT might not be included but now that you say that I will definitely have to disassemble and check it out.

This lot of AMD CPUs with no less than 3 K6-III CPUs.. two of them definitely 450Mhz. Can't read the other one at all because of the potato cam pics. Waited to post until I got shipping confirmation.

Very nice. I can see K6/300 in there. Not very common model I think. 😀

luckybob wrote:

@brostenen

Ibm made a model M that was a rubber dome. In case you were wondering.

Indeed, I have one and use it at work, as I would get lynched if I brought in a real clicky one. They already say this one's too loud 😵

brostenen wrote:

luckybob wrote:

@brostenen

Ibm made a model M that was a rubber dome. In case you were wondering.

It is the switch that IBM used, that I don't like. Does not matter if you install a rubber dome or keep the spring. It is strange, as I have no problem with this aproach if it is an arcade machine (those big ones like pacman). It is only when we are dealing with keyboards that I have to type letters or write essays on. Keyboards, no thanks. Casual gaming, yes please.

The rubber dome board has completely different switches, only the tops of the keys are the same. Under them it has more in common with a EUR 5 Logitech than with any other Model M. However the sculpting and geometry of the M is one of the reasons it's so great, so it's still a vast improvement on the flat chicklet things we get there by default 😒

dionb wrote:

The rubber dome board has completely different switches, only the tops of the keys are the same. Under them it has more in common with a EUR 5 Logitech than with any other Model M. However the sculpting and geometry of the M is one of the reasons it's so great, so it's still a vast improvement on the flat chicklet things we get there by default 😒

I still swear by the type of keyboards, that has a membrane and has a spring. Never really liked IBM keyboards. Logitech as well. The best PC keyboard that I have at this moment, is the one that came with an Compaq Deskpro EN machine.
It has medium profile keys, and they feel close to the Mitsumi keyboard that Commodore used in most Amiga500's. Just slightly better.
https://www.recycledgoods.com/compaq-ps-2-key … ced-123141-001/

Another keyboard that I have used in the past, was from a Unisys 286 machine. I think it was cherry that made it. I am just not 100 percent shure it that is correct. It had this sturdy soft feel to it, like it had springs under each keycap. And it is heavy. (something I like)
https://www.ebay.ie/itm/UNISYS-KEYBOARD-E0344 … b12UJ:rk:2:pf:0

As I said. Then I am not a fan of clicky switches. They tend to give a snap as a feedback, that really annoy's the hell out of me. And I get soar fingertips when using them too long. Switches that have no click. Those I am a fan of. And real springs combined with a membrane are just my kind of thing. Then there are these PCB/Spring combinations, like Commodore64. The keytravel are too long for me to type long text's on. Yet they have this awesomme feel to them. Mitsumi from Amiga500 and then the Compaq I linked to, are the two best keyboards that I have ever tried.

brostenen wrote:

I still swear by the type of keyboards, that has a membrane and has a spring. Never really liked IBM keyboards. Logitech as well […]
Show full quote

dionb wrote:

The rubber dome board has completely different switches, only the tops of the keys are the same. Under them it has more in common with a EUR 5 Logitech than with any other Model M. However the sculpting and geometry of the M is one of the reasons it's so great, so it's still a vast improvement on the flat chicklet things we get there by default 😒

I still swear by the type of keyboards, that has a membrane and has a spring. Never really liked IBM keyboards. Logitech as well. The best PC keyboard that I have at this moment, is the one that came with an Compaq Deskpro EN machine.
It has medium profile keys, and they feel close to the Mitsumi keyboard that Commodore used in most Amiga500's. Just slightly better.
https://www.recycledgoods.com/compaq-ps-2-key … ced-123141-001/

Another keyboard that I have used in the past, was from a Unisys 286 machine. I think it was cherry that made it. I am just not 100 percent shure it that is correct. It had this sturdy soft feel to it, like it had springs under each keycap. And it is heavy. (something I like)
https://www.ebay.ie/itm/UNISYS-KEYBOARD-E0344 … b12UJ:rk:2:pf:0

As I said. Then I am not a fan of clicky switches. They tend to give a snap as a feedback, that really annoy's the hell out of me. And I get soar fingertips when using them too long. Switches that have no click. Those I am a fan of. And real springs combined with a membrane are just my kind of thing. Then there are these PCB/Spring combinations, like Commodore64. The keytravel are too long for me to type long text's on. Yet they have this awesomme feel to them. Mitsumi from Amiga500 and then the Compaq I linked to, are the two best keyboards that I have ever tried.

We have like 20 of these in the old keyboard bin at work. I tried one once, it was too mushy for my tastes. My favorite keyboard currently is the Dell Multimedia Pro that came with our Optiplex 3010s. Flat key design, short travel, low activation force.

There is no such thing as the best keyboard, IMO it is personal preference.

liqmat wrote:

i
Brother, you are right on the money about the SCSI controller. It has 4.5MB of cache memory which was just amazing in 1991-92. The controller has a date stamp of 1991.

I have a question about that Weitek coprocessor. So all my utility software picks up the Kingston Turbochip as an AMD 5x86 133MHz which I don't have a lot of experience with. Does that not have a mathco on it already? Where does the Weitek fit into that? Also, I noticed in all the benchmarks I run the AMD 5x86 133 performs slower than a 486 DX4-100. Luckybob thinks it might have to do with the older motherboard chipset/FSB which is running at 33MHz.

Yes, the 5x86-133 on the turbo chip and the 486DX-33 that was likely originally fitted both have an internal x87 FPU, but in certain applications the Weitek FPU is faster than x87. The fact that most software doesn't support the Weitek (which is why is doesn't usually show up in most benchmarks) is not a problem for the kind of customer the would have bought this system new. Microway would supply compilers to port your software - which could have been originally written in FORTRAN for a VAX mainframe - to run on the Weitek or the 860 coprocessor card they sold.

The 64MB of RAM is likely to be original to the machine - even in 1991. The supplied SCSI card has more ram on it than I had in my PC back in 1992. The optional 860 coprocessor cards came with at least 8MB and up to 32MB of onboard RAM each. When compared to the HP/DEC/Sun workstations these were sold as an alternative to the specification and prices aren't that far out there. It just seems out there compared to the more typical 486 PC of the day.

dr.ido wrote:

liqmat wrote:

i
Brother, you are right on the money about the SCSI controller. It has 4.5MB of cache memory which was just amazing in 1991-92. The controller has a date stamp of 1991.

I have a question about that Weitek coprocessor. So all my utility software picks up the Kingston Turbochip as an AMD 5x86 133MHz which I don't have a lot of experience with. Does that not have a mathco on it already? Where does the Weitek fit into that? Also, I noticed in all the benchmarks I run the AMD 5x86 133 performs slower than a 486 DX4-100. Luckybob thinks it might have to do with the older motherboard chipset/FSB which is running at 33MHz.

Yes, the 5x86-133 on the turbo chip and the 486DX-33 that was likely originally fitted both have an internal x87 FPU, but in certain applications the Weitek FPU is faster than x87. The fact that most software doesn't support the Weitek (which is why is doesn't usually show up in most benchmarks) is not a problem for the kind of customer the would have bought this system new. Microway would supply compilers to port your software - which could have been originally written in FORTRAN for a VAX mainframe - to run on the Weitek or the 860 coprocessor card they sold.

The 64MB of RAM is likely to be original to the machine - even in 1991. The supplied SCSI card has more ram on it than I had in my PC back in 1992. The optional 860 coprocessor cards came with at least 8MB and up to 32MB of onboard RAM each. When compared to the HP/DEC/Sun workstations these were sold as an alternative to the specification and prices aren't that far out there. It just seems out there compared to the more typical 486 PC of the day.

Yes. Fortran is most definitely on the HDD. There was a missing card and card backplate in the system where it looked like a card had been installed. I wonder if they removed that 860 card you speak of? Unfortunately, the Micropolis 1624 completely failed. I tried to revive the seized motor and actually got it to spin a few times after dozens of tries, but no honey for me. The DPT SCSI card would not see it after many, many attempts. Luckily the Fujitsu HDD booted up after getting the DOS 5.0 sys files back on it and I backed that drive up immediately as it had all the DOS drivers and config utilities for the hardware. The DPT PM2012B/90 SCSI controller hated my 4GB SCSI-2 50-pin Seagte drives, but adored my Seagate 2GB SCSI-2 drives so got to experience some of it's BIOS limitations. Great looking card though and will be using all the original parts in this machine minus replacing the Micropolis. Luckybob did some research on it and apparently there was an upgrade BIOS for it so it could detect larger drives properly. The fact I can't even find much about the card to begin with I doubt I'll find an image of that upgraded BIOS anytime soon. This is fine as I will be using this machine primarily for floppy disk imaging. This is my first Mirconics motherboard and it has been an interesting machine to explore. Even though I have been fiddling with computers since 1983 I have missed many pieces of hardware over the years and this is no exception since this machine was way out of my league financially when it was released.

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

There is no such thing as the best keyboard, IMO it is personal preference.

True that... What I was trying to say, when explaining what I like. 😉

Predator99 wrote:

Received some "challanges" […]
Show full quote

Received some "challanges"

486 with VLB and PCI:

IMG_0628r.jpg

Think they will get a bath first...

There's some on ebay right now that appear to be NOS (seller has 5 of them) if you need one as a reference for any missing parts. Model is FIC 486-VIP-IO

SEGamer wrote:

Predator99 wrote:

Received some "challanges" […]
Show full quote

Received some "challanges"

486 with VLB and PCI:

IMG_0628r.jpg

Think they will get a bath first...

There's some on ebay right now that appear to be NOS (seller has 5 of them) if you need one as a reference for any missing parts. Model is FIC 486-VIP-IO

Not a terrible price. Shipping isn't terrible either coming from the Ukraine. Tempting.

liqmat wrote:

Not a terrible price. Shipping isn't terrible either coming from the Ukraine. Tempting.

Yep, I bought one last week to replace a PC Chips M919 board since it's really picky with detecting the M919 cache stick. I think I need to get fast page RAM for it but all I have is EDO at the moment.

Good stuff those FIC boards, rock solid stable and refreshingly few 'old shit quirks'. This 486-VIP-IO must have been almost contemporary with their PA-2001 Socket 5 board...

Acquired a Radeon 9800XT 256MB for a future project.

detritus olentus wrote:

Acquired a Radeon 9800XT 256MB for a future project.

Nice, how worn is the fan?

brostenen wrote:

dionb wrote:

The rubber dome board has completely different switches, only the tops of the keys are the same. Under them it has more in common with a EUR 5 Logitech than with any other Model M. However the sculpting and geometry of the M is one of the reasons it's so great, so it's still a vast improvement on the flat chicklet things we get there by default 😒

I still swear by the type of keyboards, that has a membrane and has a spring.

My first Mac (bought in 2003) also had such a keyboard (USB), and indeed they're great. Much better than the crap (ultra-)flat Apple keyboards that came afterwards. Unfortunately, AFAIK they only work on Macs...

SEGamer wrote:

Predator99 wrote:

Received some "challanges" […]
Show full quote

Received some "challanges"

486 with VLB and PCI:

IMG_0628r.jpg

Think they will get a bath first...

There's some on ebay right now that appear to be NOS (seller has 5 of them) if you need one as a reference for any missing parts. Model is FIC 486-VIP-IO

Indeed, thats interesting. Price is also very good. But I dont like to spend that money on it without having a really use.

Mine seems to be dead. Corrosion is left even after cleaning. After turning on, the Clock-LED is blinking on the POST-card. No idea...

This Orchid ET-4000 card. I threw an offer at 27 euro, and it was accepted. I did not expect that.
I know the Orchid Voodoo1 are great (I have one), though how good are these Orchid ProDesigner-II cards?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Orchid-prodesigner-I … 5.m43663.l10137

Got 2 profi cards and and same amount of questions for you 🤣
One is SPEA Graphiti FGA 4/HE - TIGA card from german SPEA. Strange is that card looks exactly the same as http://vgamuseum.info/index.php/component/k2/ … aphiti-fga-1-he SPEA Graphiti FGA 1/HE. Why they been selling 2 models? Maybe different amount of memory? Do anyone here have some info about these cards?

2nd is something called Videograph on PCB - bigger photos are at http://vgamuseum.info/index.php/help-identify … /947-videograph. I guess that this one is from 1987, it have profi Hitachi chip usually used on CAD accelerators. And is missing bios chip, so it was addon accelerator or build in part of some profi setup. Sadly google knows nothing even similar. Only thing i found was article about Videograph system for Apple III computers from company called Xiphias. But its from 1981. So this one is some later model or something unrelated.
Article is here - https://books.google.cz/books?id=pD0EAAAAMBAJ … 20apple&f=false

vlask wrote:

Got 2 profi cards and and same amount of questions for you 🤣

Nice cards! I'm afraid I can't answer any of your questions but I have one for you 😀 - How do you take pictures of your cards? They're very good quality! It looks like you scan them somehow? I've tried on my flatbed scanner but the results are very poor. So I default to taking pictures with my DSLR and an external flash - however I'd like to get results closer to yours where the light is a more even and there aren't any perspective issues.