First post, by BeginnerGuy
- Rank
- Oldbie
Update 10/27 - I bought the rest of the parts I needed, but it won't post. See latest post.
SHORT VERSION IF YOU HATE READING: I'm looking for cheap/affordably priced ebay links for an IDE controller card that can handle a 1.8GB drive + IDE CD-ROM + 3.5" floppy. ISA or VLB graphics. ISA networking (ethernet)card that would work with DOS 6.22. I'm just looking for things you would be happy to use, but not the top of the line collectors items if that makes sense.
Long version for people who like me 😊 :
I'd like a few links to some US based ebay (or other retailers) auctions if that's alright, and just a couple of questions. I'm building a machine for testing early builds of my game out and playing DOOM / making DOOM maps (just an old hobby), doesn't need to be a benchmark king. I'm not confident in my ability to select parts for this era of PC and have been putting this off for months now because of it, so humor me. I would like to keep it as cheap as possible, prices on many of these things seem absolutely ludicrous to me for old untested hardware. All I care is that it can run DOOM comfortably, which it should with relative ease running the 133mhz am586.
What I have
Board + CPU: I just received a DX-6900 motherboard (Amptron?) with an AM5x86 133 CPU, I hope it works. This is a VLB board, I specifically did not want PCI on this system. It has 128k l2 cache installed and a fresh CR2032 battery. Looks absolutely brand new, even got it in its original box with the manual.
Case + PSU: I'm looking into purchasing any working baby AT case with a working pentium in it (since these seem to go for much less than 486 machines).. I'll sell the socket 7 guts to get some money back towards other parts and keep the case and AT psu. I shouldn't need help here.
What I need
1. HDD controller card. I have a 1.8GB IDE Western Digital Caviar drive. I'd like to run on it along with a 3.5" floppy and IDE creative CD-ROM 8x. Possibly a 5.25" floppy later, nothing more. What I can't decide on is if I should bother finding a VLB card, or will a regular 16 bit ISA controller do fine? This isn't for benchmarking or heavy data crunching, just playing games and working on my own project. If it can run DOOM I & II well (specifically), I'll be happy with it.
2. Graphics. I'd like VLB considering it's a VLB board. I've seen a few Trident VLB cards for prices I'm willing to pay but I've read they are trash on this forum. The cards that ARE recommended on this forum i.e. Tseng ET4000 are either very elusive or the sellers are asking for insane amounts of money. If I have to get something cheap now and hunt for a bargain later, that's fine. I just need the machine up and running ASAP. Anything good out there in ebay land?
3. Networking. Game assets and executable builds are constantly being updated on a windows 98 machine, I need easy access to those files. I'm guessing any basic ISA Networking card with DOS drivers would let me use "net use" command to mount those files locally?
4. Mouse. Would it be cheaper and more reliable to look for a ps/2 to serial connector and just use a newer ps/2 mouse or is that problematic vs just finding a serial mouse? Same applies to keyboard, but I think a ps/2 to AT connector would be more than fine.
**EDIT**: Heatsink. The CPU I have doesn't have the "Heatsink required" marking on it, so I'm assuming it is one of the later mobile versions, but I'd like to cool it anyway. Will a socket 7 heatsink fit socket 3? I have a few boxed away, otherwise I'll need to buy one.
Another question: Would this board have post error codes like we see on later systems so I can track down the culprit if it doesn't post? I'm not sure I saw anything like that in the book.
Sup. I like computers. Are you a computer?