Improve Technologies Make-It 486
with Cyrix Cx486SLC/e-33MP upgrade for PLC-based 286 systems

Sold today for $375 + $6 shipping

https://www.ebay.com/itm/144403982858

Bottom of the unit is empty, except for the PLC connector. I guess it was FPU-less?

Heh... you might want to sit down for this one then...
Cyrix Cx486DRu2-20/40GP+
Sold for $511
Not even in great condition. Few bent pins and a few obviously soldered back on pins.

The Cyrix Cx486DRu2's are pretty rare these days. They have this neat little cache flush interposer with them. To maintain pin integrity of those soldered pins, I hope the buyer inserts the pins into another PGA-132 socket.

I have one of these cache flush interposer boards which came with a PGA-132 SXL2-50 installed, but not the one in the photos you provided.

Voodoo2 for 162€:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/265511824952
Can somebody explain this? A week earlier I won the same card for less than 80€.
Double the price just because it has the cables? For that price I can get a boxed one.

Someone is impatient and probably has more spare money for their hobby to just throw into monitor. Or he/she can make profit on youtube, so 162 euro is not a concern.

feipoa wrote on 2022-02-15, 03:21:

The Cyrix Cx486DRu2's are pretty rare these days. They have this neat little cache flush interposer with them. To maintain pin integrity of those soldered pins, I hope the buyer inserts the pins into another PGA-132 socket.

I have one of these cache flush interposer boards which came with a PGA-132 SXL2-50 installed, but not the one in the photos you provided.

Aren't the Cx486DRx2 CPUs integrating all the interposer logic inside the chip itself?

I just saw the newest episode from RMC - The Cave on youtube, and it certainly looks like boxed games on PC games are rising in prices. When it comes to boxed copies. Which is scary, but I had a feeling all along. It would go that way.

WolverineDK wrote on 2022-02-17, 15:17:

I just saw the newest episode from RMC - The Cave on youtube, and it certainly looks like boxed games on PC games are rising in prices. When it comes to boxed copies. Which is scary, but I had a feeling all along. It would go that way.

That's why I started to pick up all the games for the Xbox 360 and PS3 I had digitally. I don't think we are too far from their servers getting shut down. Sony tried to kill the PSN store last year. I expect that if digital games become unavailable, physical prices will go up.

For PC games, more than it is for consoles, it depends on whether you want an active or passive collection. For active collection (you buy to play) bargin bin versions and gaming magazine or hardware freebies are always an option far below the market price. For a passive collection (you buy to show off) you will have to pay extra for early or CE versions.

Looks like the same seller had another one of those Improve-It SLC33 upgrade kits. This time it sold for $405
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144412718599

This surprised me - a Pentium Overdrive 83 sold for $122.50.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144412594829

Cyrix DRx2-25/50GP sold for $152.50 USD.

I somehow thought it would sell for more, but maybe only the 33/66 variant is worth top dollar.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144413926199

EDIT:
A chipped DRx2-33/66GP sold for $256
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144425727735

EDIT:
DRx2-20/40GP sold for $62.25
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144435579667

feipoa wrote on 2022-02-20, 04:53:

Cyrix DRx2-25/50GP sold for $152.50 USD.

I somehow thought it would sell for more, but maybe only the 33/66 variant is worth top dollar.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144413926199

My humble collection actually now is worth a pretty penny?
Kwool!

Here's some recent thoughts after selling some things on e-bay recently.

I think the BIN values are seriously over-inflated and nobody is truly buying that stuff for that price. As someone here mentiioned before, they made an offer on one of those insane BINs and got the item for considerably less (a laptop IIRC, don't know what make and model).

I also kind of think the window is shifting forward from DOS at this point more towards mid-era Windows 9x/NT hardware at this point. Most of the 486 and older stuff you see posted is insanely priced - BUT - not all of it.

Currently, the NEC Versa stuff I like - there's now FIVE on E-bay with low BINs - a V/75, and 4 50Es (yep, the PC-450 model I've not seen there till now) - I'm trying my darnedest to resist the urge to buy any of them (I already have tons of parts, some I had to scrap due to being unfixable), even if just to flip as a working unit. Meanwhile there was a P/75 asking for over $250 and a M/75 up there that was around $155 that must have sold (!!!). I'm still eyeballing the AT&T versions that were up there, someone bought the AT&T version of the 50E which was $75, but the other one, a Ultralite Versa (NCR Safari 3180) is still there for $99.99 + 9-something shipping.

I tried selling the used RAM cards from my Versas (they all are topped out at 20/40MB depending on model), but the problem with that is nobody wants the smaller cards (4/8MB cards, the 4MB especially). Which is hilarious because if I can't sell verified, tested, working pulls at $0.99 starting bid, then who is going to buy the ones that are going for $39.99.

And I'm still laughing at the guy with the rusty, face-plate-less XT Clone that's $150 and looks like it was pulled from a Urbex Factory somewhere, 🤣.

In case anyone here bought those PLC 286-to-486 upgrade adapters from Improve-It, it may be possible to outfit them with an FPU. Look at this image from CPUShack of the same unit: https://www.cpushack.com/2014/08/30/improve-t … 86-286-upgrade/

In his photo, you see the 87SLC under the the PLC socket! So it is very likely that for the two units in these eBay listings, that if you removed the PLC socket, you might find solder pads for an FPU.

creepingnet wrote on 2022-02-23, 20:21:

Here's some recent thoughts after selling some things on e-bay recently.

I think the BIN values are seriously over-inflated and nobody is truly buying that stuff for that price. As someone here mentiioned before, they made an offer on one of those insane BINs and got the item for considerably less (a laptop IIRC, don't know what make and model).

You can vary easily search the sold listings on ebay and find out if people are paying those prices or not, there is no need to speculate

maxtherabbit wrote on 2022-02-26, 14:56:

creepingnet wrote on 2022-02-23, 20:21:

Here's some recent thoughts after selling some things on e-bay recently.

I think the BIN values are seriously over-inflated and nobody is truly buying that stuff for that price. As someone here mentiioned before, they made an offer on one of those insane BINs and got the item for considerably less (a laptop IIRC, don't know what make and model).

You can vary easily search the sold listings on ebay and find out if people are paying those prices or not, there is no need to speculate

Not entirely speculation, did exactly what you said to come to that conclusion. However, I think I got an answer on this in another thread without saying anything - seems some of the desirability has worn off due to the rubberized coating turning gooey, sort of like why the NEC Versa laptops stay super cheap because of the notorious cracking plastic problems.

I only buy off ebay once or twice per year. But when I do, it's always BIN. There are many reasons why. They all boil down to: it's the best (and sometimes only) way to efficiently and reliably get what I need from there, to me on the other side of the world.

I'm not using BIN because I'm an idiot. It's because, once all factors are considered, it's the smartest option for my situation.

People who live in the midst of big populations with endless retro gear sources and cheap instant shipping, will never understand how that is.

Shreddoc wrote on 2022-02-26, 20:36:

I only buy off ebay once or twice per year. But when I do, it's always BIN. There are many reasons why. They all boil down to: it's the best (and sometimes only) way to efficiently and reliably get what I need from there, to me on the other side of the world.

I'm not using BIN because I'm an idiot. It's because, once all factors are considered, it's the smartest option for my situation.

People who live in the midst of big populations with endless retro gear sources and cheap instant shipping, will never understand how that is.

I live in one of these "big populations" but retro/vintage gear is not really available locally.

And the parts I am generally looking for now very rarely, if ever" pop up on eBay or any other site.

I had been looking for an ATI Mach64 VLB and an AWE64D / AWE64 PCI for a few years. The Mach64 VLB would pop up every once in a while on eBay bit the prices are always absurd. Finally found one that was included with a computer and ended up bidding and winning that auction for 1/3 to 1/2 of what the card itself normally goes for. Kicker is that the system is in an XT style case which I have been wanting as well.

Sorta the same for the AWE64D. It was in a "scrap lot" auction with some other good stuff. Paid a pretty penny for that auction but I contacted the seller and asked if he could package stuff to avoid damage in shipping. Might keep one or two other items from that lot, but hoping to make back most / all of the cost by selling stuff off separately from that lot.

The lower priced stuff that is available in the US eBay is generally lower end stuff that I have no need for. Sure there is lots of it, but it is of no use to me.

I've got around 100 saved searches on eBay and the pickings of good parts that aren't extremely overpriced is becoming very slim.

RaiderOfLostVoodoo wrote on 2022-02-15, 09:33:

Voodoo2 for 162€: https://www.ebay.de/itm/265511824952 Can somebody explain this? A week earlier I won the same card for less th […]
Show full quote

Voodoo2 for 162€:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/265511824952
Can somebody explain this? A week earlier I won the same card for less than 80€.
Double the price just because it has the cables? For that price I can get a boxed one.

Short answer: It's a Voodoo, logic does not apply any more.

Ebay prices have gone utterly beserk the last few years.
And remember
- Lots of people around who couldn't give a toss about three figures if they want something.
- All it takes on ebay is two of these.

Recent findings on Ebay, auctions:
AWE64 Gold for 100 €+. (I once got one for 3 in a normal auction.)
AMD K6-III+ for 88, they used to be sold NOS for 7.
One rather average 486-66 Desktop for 500.
(That was not a fluke or a fake, I kept a screenshot.)

My personal, utterly unscientific hypothesis, one or a combination of these:
a) The covid crisis driving people into their homes and mancaves, freeing funds from other things like restaurants, travel.
b) A certain generation hitting midlife crisis and getting all nostalgic about their youth.

As someone already mentioned, yes, hit the button for sold items - those inflated BIN listings do get sold. I once sold a "Roland mpu-401 compatible" ISA card for 290, within days. Still ashamed of it, but what can you do?

I myself have made my peace with the notion that certain retro stuff I kinda always wanted, like a voodoo2 SLI rig, will remain unobtainable since I'm not utterly crazy.

cyclone3d wrote on 2022-02-26, 22:05:

I live in one of these "big populations" but retro/vintage gear is not really available locally. […]
Show full quote

Shreddoc wrote on 2022-02-26, 20:36:

I only buy off ebay once or twice per year. But when I do, it's always BIN. There are many reasons why. They all boil down to: it's the best (and sometimes only) way to efficiently and reliably get what I need from there, to me on the other side of the world.

I'm not using BIN because I'm an idiot. It's because, once all factors are considered, it's the smartest option for my situation.

People who live in the midst of big populations with endless retro gear sources and cheap instant shipping, will never understand how that is.

I live in one of these "big populations" but retro/vintage gear is not really available locally.

And the parts I am generally looking for now very rarely, if ever" pop up on eBay or any other site.

I had been looking for an ATI Mach64 VLB and an AWE64D / AWE64 PCI for a few years. The Mach64 VLB would pop up every once in a while on eBay bit the prices are always absurd. Finally found one that was included with a computer and ended up bidding and winning that auction for 1/3 to 1/2 of what the card itself normally goes for. Kicker is that the system is in an XT style case which I have been wanting as well.

Sorta the same for the AWE64D. It was in a "scrap lot" auction with some other good stuff. Paid a pretty penny for that auction but I contacted the seller and asked if he could package stuff to avoid damage in shipping. Might keep one or two other items from that lot, but hoping to make back most / all of the cost by selling stuff off separately from that lot.

The lower priced stuff that is available in the US eBay is generally lower end stuff that I have no need for. Sure there is lots of it, but it is of no use to me.

I've got around 100 saved searches on eBay and the pickings of good parts that aren't extremely overpriced is becoming very slim.

Now imagine that I win a lucky $20 ebay bargain from Backwater Ohio. (*not that I ever can, because I would be competing against people like you, who have comparatively no postal + import costs).

...Then manually message the seller, to muck around figuring out shipping costs to Tinysville New Zealand. Hope they agree, or that I have specially arranged it in advance.

...Then they must packaging it up for international shipping for me, which they were not expecting to do.

...Then they must deal with $40 shipping money for a $20 sale. (side note: with 15% import duties, the final $ cost to me of this "$20 bargain" is now $69....)

...Then seller must going to the Post Office for a special trip, asking for, and filling out, the necessary Customs forms to attach to the box for me.

...And signing declaration, giving all their details, phone number, etc.

It just doesn't work like that. Most sellers aren't willing to do it, with a quick cheap sale. It is an inconvenience for them. And for me, it's a chore to spend my life looking and asking, just for the odd occasional Yes.

Generally, it's only the inflated BIN auctions that have all that taken care of already, and offer it as an option. And that is why, on the rare occasion I buy from ebay, I tend to just save myself an extended headache, and grab a simple BIN which has international shipping all ready and set up to go. It may seem like inflated prices and stupid to use BIN to some people in other circumstances, but fact is, when you're in a niche situation there is no other practical choice. Millions of us around the world live in similar niche situations.

I sell stuff internationally on eBay. The process is very painless.

I already package up stuff very well no matter where it is being shipped to as should all sellers.

I use either eBay standard international shipping or the other option they have for international shipping. I don't have to do anything special at all except one extra page when I purchase postage.

Small things are not usually bad for shipping costs, but larger things are just stupid expensive.

It goes the other way as well. Some stuff I simply cannot find in the US or Canada. Shipping is often as much as or more than the cost of the item I am buying unless the sipping is from China for small odds and ends.