Well, not to be *THAT* guy... its a 16-bit memory expansion card on a system with a 32-bit buss. It probably worked, and it was better than using hard disk as virtual-ram... but its at minimum 100% slower than the on-motherboard stuff.

hmm yes, you're right, i forgot the 80 is a 32 bit machine...

luckybob wrote on 2022-08-21, 04:47:

Well, not to be *THAT* guy... its a 16-bit memory expansion card on a system with a 32-bit buss. It probably worked, and it was better than using hard disk as virtual-ram... but its at minimum 100% slower than the on-motherboard stuff.

50% slower. 100% slower would be inactive 😀

I saw these for 5 bucks a piece and grabbed them.. The 130MB with a 91 date code sounds like it's a good fit for my upcoming 286 build as soon as I can source a 5.25" floppy drive. The 210MB, I'm not as sure. I may replace the CF-IDE in my U5S-33 build with it, as it sounds fairly period correct with a 94 date code.

appiah4 wrote on 2022-08-22, 10:32:

I saw these for 5 bucks a piece and grabbed them.. The 130MB with a 91 date code sounds like it's a good fit for my upcoming 286 build as soon as I can source a 5.25" floppy drive. The 210MB, I'm not as sure. I may replace the CF-IDE in my U5S-33 build with it, as it sounds fairly period correct with a 94 date code.

My family's first PC had a 3600 RPM Quantum Prodrive LPS52AT back in the day (1992 to 1994). It was whisper quiet when running with only a slight chirping sound when seeking . Boy was I disappointed when I realized thst HDDs could neuch louder, especially faster spinning ones and/or those with aging pre-FDB era bearings.

Not a fan of period correctness in most cases, but if I did want to go with a drive of that vintage, a Quantum would be drawing me in .

The ProDrive Series was fast back in the days. BUT: the internal rubber buffers have undergone a metamorphosis to chewing gum over the last 30 years, making the Disk-Drive unusable without major and risky intervention. I had three of them and any model had the same behavior/issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLpkNURdf3Q

The Seagate is a nice and reliable drive with a nice sound. My Favorite drives from early 90th are the Conner CFA Sieries from 1994.

appiah4 wrote on 2022-08-22, 10:32:

I saw these for 5 bucks a piece and grabbed them.. The 130MB with a 91 date code sounds like it's a good fit for my upcoming 286 build as soon as I can source a 5.25" floppy drive. The 210MB, I'm not as sure. I may replace the CF-IDE in my U5S-33 build with it, as it sounds fairly period correct with a 94 date code.

Them Seagate drives are wonderfully expensive here in Australia .. not sure why.

PC-Engineer wrote on 2022-08-22, 11:41:

The ProDrive Series was fast back in the days. BUT: the internal rubber buffers have undergone a metamorphosis to chewing gum over the last 30 years, making the Disk-Drive unusable without major and risky intervention. I had three of them and any model had the same behavior/issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLpkNURdf3Q

The Seagate is a nice and reliable drive with a nice sound. My Favorite drives from early 90th are the Conner CFA Sieries from 1994.

Oh, so YOU are Retrospector then, nice to meet you! This specimen is still working fine, interestingly enough 🤣

EDIT: I just checked your video and your drive is a ProDrive ELS mine is a ProDrive LPS. LPS seems to be an older model than the ELS, yet a faster model with more cache. ELS apparently was geared more towards the budget segment? Maybe they have different mechanisms..

appiah4 wrote on 2022-08-22, 11:45:

PC-Engineer wrote on 2022-08-22, 11:41:

The ProDrive Series was fast back in the days. BUT: the internal rubber buffers have undergone a metamorphosis to chewing gum over the last 30 years, making the Disk-Drive unusable without major and risky intervention. I had three of them and any model had the same behavior/issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLpkNURdf3Q

The Seagate is a nice and reliable drive with a nice sound. My Favorite drives from early 90th are the Conner CFA Sieries from 1994.

Oh, so YOU are Retrospector then, nice to meet you! This specimen is still working fine, interestingly enough 🤣

Been subbed to that channel for a while now, Wish I had people just give me retro stuff 😁
Its also nice to see so many of the retro community on Youtube here on Vogons.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-22, 11:54:

Wish I had people just give me retro stuff 😁

I am one of the people 😁
You can see my package here https://youtu.be/rDLqgXlbm8g?t=1197
What a small world.

appiah4 wrote on 2022-08-22, 11:45:

Oh, so YOU are Retrospector then, nice to meet you! This specimen is still working fine, interestingly enough 🤣

EDIT: I just checked your video and your drive is a ProDrive ELS mine is a ProDrive LPS. LPS seems to be an older model than the ELS, yet a faster model with more cache. ELS apparently was geared more towards the budget segment? Maybe they have different mechanisms..

🤣 - no i am not, just an example.
I had 540MB ProDrive LPS SCSI versions. Little bit difrent in bumper position, but the issue with chewing gum was the same.

DerBaum wrote on 2022-08-22, 12:03:

I am one of the people :D You can see my package here https://youtu.be/rDLqgXlbm8g?t=1197 What a small world. […]
Show full quote

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-08-22, 11:54:

Wish I had people just give me retro stuff 😁

I am one of the people 😁
You can see my package here https://youtu.be/rDLqgXlbm8g?t=1197
What a small world.

!!

I really love Retrospectors style of videos, they are nicely paced and very easy to binge watch...too easy actually.

It helps the host clearly loves retro hardware, I also watch Necroware who is also here on Vogons IIRC and its hard to not binge watch that channel too.

Truly excellent content.

Necroware is an all around very cool guy. There were a lot of small channels on YT I really got into but they stopped making content for whatever reason, I miss them.

appiah4 wrote on 2022-08-22, 12:52:

Necroware is an all around very cool guy.

Oh yeah. Now you have to be a guy-with-soldering-iron to be a real retro hobbyist.

rkurbatov wrote on 2022-08-22, 12:55:

appiah4 wrote on 2022-08-22, 12:52:

Necroware is an all around very cool guy.

Oh yeah. Now you have to be a guy-with-soldering-iron to be a real retro hobbyist.

Not a „real hobbyist“ just „very cool“ .

Found these sound cards untested today together with two untested AGP video cards (Geforce2 MX400 64MB and a Savage4 Pro 16MB):

1) Avance Logic ALS4000 (date late 1999)
2) AV511 AudioExcel CMI8738/PCI with SPDIF out (date early 2000)
3) HARMONY 3DS724A (should be) XG YMF724F-V chip with the other IC is a STAC9704T (the card with the bigger chip and SPDIF out and a connector JP1) (date late 1998)
4) A411-G70 "XG" Xwave QS3000A and the other IC is a STAC9704T too (date middle 1999)

Any informations about these sound cards are good or not? I thought they were interesting with unusual chips to me beside the usual CMI8738 based card, the others I've never tested them. I've got only a Yamaha ISA sound card on my 386 build but not any PCI version of these. Sorry for the low image quality I was saving battery without flash.. 😁
Bye

That harmony card seems to be very interesting. YMF724F-V with an SB-LINK connector and cable is not a bad thing. I don't know anything about the Xwave (edit, it looks like it's also a decent one), but the other two can't get me hyped. As far as I know they are mediocre. I have a bucketful of those CMI8738 cards.

Ordered an old YM724 card (seems not fake, the chip is square and big, though noname).

Also ordered Geforce Ti 4200 for my S423 build. I have FX5200 already but it's slower and I don't like the color - the PCB is blue while my Mobo is violet and all other cards are black. They used so many PCB colors in early 2000s... Not a period correct card, but let's pretend I did an upgrade 😀

Waiting for a laptop, HP Omnibook XE3. In beautiful shape. Seller says untested for lack of a psu.

RandomStranger wrote on 2022-08-22, 18:11:

That harmony card seems to be very interesting. YMF724F-V with an SB-LINK connector and cable is not a bad thing. I don't know anything about the Xwave (edit, it looks like it's also a decent one), but the other two can't get me hyped. As far as I know they are mediocre. I have a bucketful of those CMI8738 cards.

Here a better image of the card. It has a sticker behind with a generic 3DS724A and built late 1998. The SB-LINK connector what was used for?

About the other cards yes, I imagined they might be a good add-in solution for a simple low end still supported (in linux) sound card. I like they have few capacitors so if they need to be replaced it's easier. 😉