I already have way too many motherboards, but I have very few Socket 7 boards, and I happened to really like the layout of this one. I also only buy ATX boards, to give myself some boundaries.

What are other people's thoughts? It's an ASUS TX97-X v2.05.

I also picked up another SB16 at a good price, a CT2770. It's hard to have too many SB16s with a genuine OPL3. I would have preferred if it had a wavetable header, but it's not strictly necessary to have a good time.

Kahenraz wrote on 2023-10-14, 04:15:

I already have way too many motherboards, but I have very few Socket 7 boards, and I happened to really like the layout of this […]
Show full quote

I already have way too many motherboards, but I have very few Socket 7 boards, and I happened to really like the layout of this one. I also only buy ATX boards, to give myself some boundaries.

What are other people's thoughts? It's an ASUS TX97-X v2.05.

I also picked up another SB16 at a good price, a CT2770. It's hard to have too many SB16s with a genuine OPL3. I would have preferred if it had a wavetable header, but it's not strictly necessary to have a good time.

20231014_000800.jpg

20231014_000855.jpg

And they form a good base for a late DOS system together.
I'm currently playing with a Socket 7 pentium MMX system. Duke3d, Doom, Monkey Island (cache disabling required). Tomb Raider and Screamer (With Voodoo).
I really like socket 7 (but I have a love/hate relationship with SS7. Mostly in the hate side recently)
I always prefer ATX over AT because everything is much simpler. Cases are easier to find. Cable management is less painful. I have some AT boards too, but not my first pick when I have the choice.

Not sure if wavetable header is really usable with midi bugs.
I replaced my SB16 by an ES1868 when i got an sc-55. No midi bugs and the FM synthesis sounds close to an OPL3.

My frenzy for subnotebooks strikes again.

Bought an HP Omnibook 800CT with full gear of accessory (external floppy and cdrom) and original boxes from original owner.

All for 30€ because the laptop shows only a white screen. But it actually boots, because Windows sounds can be heard. So I'm hoping it is just a dodgy cable inside.

Seller photos.

gmaverick2k wrote on 2023-10-13, 20:54:

An AX1200i for 55 free shipping and another socket 939, this time an ABIT with K8T800 Pro VIA chipset finally. I have 2 939's which are nforce3 pain in the backside for win98.

look like its this one
https://soggi.org/motherboards/abit/AV8-3rd-Eye.htm

gmaverick2k wrote on 2023-10-13, 20:54:

An AX1200i for 55 free shipping and another socket 939, this time an ABIT with K8T800 Pro VIA chipset finally. I have 2 939's which are nforce3 pain in the backside for win98.

I would be wary of that AX1200i, I had two of them die on me from the well known fault they have with their OCP circuit, One was my original unit that lasted 8 months and then started tripping while in use, it took it another month to fully die from it before I sent it in for RMA. The second unit lasted 12 months before it too failed due to the very same fault, I never bothered RMAing that second unit and just trashed it and replaced it with a Seasonic 1000 Titanium Prime. Shame honestly as I do like Corsair PSUs but this model must have had a bad component from the factory.

There were a good number of users on their forums with the same issue with this particular model, whats telling is that they no longer make it and took it off the market very quickly once they acknowledged the issue.

Not saying to not use it, just be aware the AX1200i does have an issue with the OCP failing and it wouldn't be a reliable 24/7 PSU.

Trashbytes wrote on 2023-10-14, 08:15:

I would be wary of that AX1200i, I had two of them die on me from the well known fault they have with their OCP circuit, One was […]
Show full quote

gmaverick2k wrote on 2023-10-13, 20:54:

An AX1200i for 55 free shipping and another socket 939, this time an ABIT with K8T800 Pro VIA chipset finally. I have 2 939's which are nforce3 pain in the backside for win98.

I would be wary of that AX1200i, I had two of them die on me from the well known fault they have with their OCP circuit, One was my original unit that lasted 8 months and then started tripping while in use, it took it another month to fully die from it before I sent it in for RMA. The second unit lasted 12 months before it too failed due to the very same fault, I never bothered RMAing that second unit and just trashed it and replaced it with a Seasonic 1000 Titanium Prime. Shame honestly as I do like Corsair PSUs but this model must have had a bad component from the factory.

There were a good number of users on their forums with the same issue with this particular model, whats telling is that they no longer make it and took it off the market very quickly once they acknowledged the issue.

Not saying to not use it, just be aware the AX1200i does have an issue with the OCP failing and it wouldn't be a reliable 24/7 PSU.

hmmm, i see. I've recieved the HX1200i and have it in my system at the moment. 9800 pro is not powering on but the cx430 allows it to on kt266. I'm giving it the beneift of the doubt atm. The voltages on the board look tighter on the motherboard readings compared to the cx430. i looked for alternative and ax1200i, was able to haggle the price down. thought it would be better built than hx1200i. If its a lemon, ebay is good at throwing it back to the seller on their dime. I dont have much tolerance for faulty components if its not listed as parts. thanks for the heads up

just a quick question, how did you load it? what was your setup. I'm only thinking of keeping it an AMD retro system for the 30A on the 5v rail. If its overcurrent protection on the 12v rail, not bothered

acl wrote on 2023-10-13, 17:34:

Locutus wrote on 2023-10-12, 23:49:

Hi ! Yes - I've tested it - works fine - no bad sectors ! It is 105MB capacity Quantum drive (firmware says LP52S). If you wan […]
Show full quote

acl wrote on 2023-10-12, 21:39:

Oh an "Hard Card".
http://dosdays.co.uk/topics/hard_disks.php
Have you tested it yet ? How much capacity?

Hi !
Yes - I've tested it - works fine - no bad sectors !
It is 105MB capacity Quantum drive (firmware says LP52S).
If you wanna write to it..... it requires atdosxl.sys driver loaded :]

Oh great !
I which type of system do you want to use it ?

Due to the driver's limitations, I'm probably doomed to DOS/Win 3.11

Locutus wrote on 2023-10-12, 23:49:

What a monster... Looks like it has a WD1002A-WX1 MFM controller and rebranded Tandon TM262 drive. "Seek" should sound fantasti […]
Show full quote

acl wrote on 2023-10-12, 21:39:

I recently got one too in a very big lot. Not tested since I got it in July.
IMG_20230718_221444_1.jpg

What a monster...
Looks like it has a WD1002A-WX1 MFM controller and rebranded Tandon TM262 drive.
"Seek" should sound fantastic....

acl wrote on 2023-10-13, 17:34:

I really hope it works.

Let's hope so ! ! !

Tandon drive I recently acquired, unfortunately, turned out to be damaged 🙁

Today's flea market finds...

Athlon 1200 + 2 copper fittings/plates. I bougth these because I never seen this kind of copper plates...

STMicroelectronics KYRO II 64MB

Roland MPU-401AT + cables + manual!

And a Game port to MIDI cable, not in the pictures... all for 20 Euros! Is this luck, or what?

While I was ordering a new PC case I had a rummage through the dark corners of the online store I was using and found some random clearance goodies. A Belkin USB 2.0 card that will go into my Pentium III machine, and an eSATA card and enclosure (for IDE disks) which I really have no idea what I'll do with, but the whole lot was 7.50. Guess I can grab an eSATA bracket for my modern PC and use it for file transfer.

bearking wrote on 2023-10-14, 12:24:

all for 20 Euros! Is this luck, or what?

Amazing luck, that's 2 unicorns in one hunt the Roland and the Kyro.... not that a higher speed Thunderbird Athlon isn't nice to have too.

WildW wrote on 2023-10-14, 14:26:

While I was ordering a new PC case I had a rummage through the dark corners of the online store I was using and found some random clearance goodies. A Belkin USB 2.0 card that will go into my Pentium III machine, and an eSATA card and enclosure (for IDE disks) which I really have no idea what I'll do with, but the whole lot was 7.50. Guess I can grab an eSATA bracket for my modern PC and use it for file transfer.

I only have native eSATA on one 2011 laptop and a nForce 570 SLI s775 board, so I guess it peaked between ~2008-2013, but yeah you can make it useful if you can buy external brackets for machines to swap it between.

Today I got this Abit KT7A (KT133A) in beautiful condition. It was sold on ebay in a lot of untested hardware as "computer parts for tinkerers", but the seller seemed trustworthy. It was a "best offer" auction, I bid 33€, did not expect to win it at that price so I feel lucky. I saw this board posted on local classifieds sites a few times for around 20€, made an offer but each time it was already gone within 5 minutes.

BitWrangler wrote on 2023-10-14, 14:28:

bearking wrote on 2023-10-14, 12:24:

all for 20 Euros! Is this luck, or what?

Amazing luck, that's 2 unicorns in one hunt the Roland and the Kyro.... not that a higher speed Thunderbird Athlon isn't nice to have too.

And Kyro II from manufacturers other than Hercules are less common.

I also bought this lot of cards from ebay over a month ago, only now I could get to test the cards. I paid 26€, it looked interesting because there was a VLB graphics card in it that I wanted to use for my 486 build. And there were some other interesting cards (Sound Blaster 16, S3 Savage4), so I figured if most of it works, it's a fairly good deal.

The good news: It's all working. The bad news: ... except the VLB card, which is what I actually needed. It was in very bad shape, with half of the graphics chip pins lifted from the PCB, and several broken solder joints. I was able to re-solder everything, but it's still dead. I'm not that mad about it though, it's a fairly generic and not particularly good looking card anyway.

(seller's pics)

bearking wrote on 2023-10-14, 12:24:

Today's flea market finds... […]
Show full quote

Today's flea market finds...

20231014_123143.jpg
Athlon 1200 + 2 copper fittings/plates. I both these because I never seen this king of copper plates...
20231014_123644.jpg
STMicroelectronics KYRO II 64MB
20231014_123528.jpg
Roland MPU-401AT + cables + manual!

And a Game port to MIDI cable, not in the pictures... all for 20 Euros! Is this luck, or what?

Very nice to see a Kyro II, especially with DVI!

gmaverick2k wrote on 2023-10-14, 08:38:

Trashbytes wrote on 2023-10-14, 08:15:

I would be wary of that AX1200i, I had two of them die on me from the well known fault they have with their OCP circuit, One was […]
Show full quote

gmaverick2k wrote on 2023-10-13, 20:54:

An AX1200i for 55 free shipping and another socket 939, this time an ABIT with K8T800 Pro VIA chipset finally. I have 2 939's which are nforce3 pain in the backside for win98.

I would be wary of that AX1200i, I had two of them die on me from the well known fault they have with their OCP circuit, One was my original unit that lasted 8 months and then started tripping while in use, it took it another month to fully die from it before I sent it in for RMA. The second unit lasted 12 months before it too failed due to the very same fault, I never bothered RMAing that second unit and just trashed it and replaced it with a Seasonic 1000 Titanium Prime. Shame honestly as I do like Corsair PSUs but this model must have had a bad component from the factory.

There were a good number of users on their forums with the same issue with this particular model, whats telling is that they no longer make it and took it off the market very quickly once they acknowledged the issue.

Not saying to not use it, just be aware the AX1200i does have an issue with the OCP failing and it wouldn't be a reliable 24/7 PSU.

hmmm, i see. I've recieved the HX1200i and have it in my system at the moment. 9800 pro is not powering on but the cx430 allows it to on kt266. I'm giving it the beneift of the doubt atm. The voltages on the board look tighter on the motherboard readings compared to the cx430. i looked for alternative and ax1200i, was able to haggle the price down. thought it would be better built than hx1200i. If its a lemon, ebay is good at throwing it back to the seller on their dime. I dont have much tolerance for faulty components if its not listed as parts. thanks for the heads up

just a quick question, how did you load it? what was your setup. I'm only thinking of keeping it an AMD retro system for the 30A on the 5v rail. If its overcurrent protection on the 12v rail, not bothered

It was in my HEDT system, a Threadripper 2950X build with a 2080ti at the time, so it was being used at about 70 - 80% of its rated capacity which is perfectly normal, the symptoms of the OCP issue are it simply switching the entire system off when it trips the OCP, you then have to disconnect it from the wall and wait till it resets the circuit before it'll power up again. Note you dont even have to be using it heavily for the trip to occur, most times I was sitting at the desktop when it happened. (Other than one SSD drive there was nothing using the peripheral connectors, actually only had the one cable connected to that section on the PSU, no idea if the 5v and 12v are handled by the same OCP circuit controller)

Eventually it wont even reset as the circuit completely fails, no idea if its the IC that controls it that fails or if its heat related but we never got an explanation from Corsair about it, they simply took the model off the market and replaced all further RMAs with the HX model.

I should imagine it will be ok for a retro build that isnt under heavy or 24/7 use or even close to stressing the components of the PSU. Also there was zero damage to the PC and that system is still in use to this day.

asdf53 wrote on 2023-10-14, 15:56:

I also bought this lot of cards from ebay over a month ago, only now I could get to test the cards. I paid 26€, it looked interesting because there was a VLB graphics card in it that I wanted to use for my 486 build. And there were some other interesting cards (Sound Blaster 16, S3 Savage4), so I figured if most of it works, it's a fairly good deal.

The good news: It's all working. The bad news: ... except the VLB card, which is what I actually needed. It was in very bad shape, with half of the graphics chip pins lifted from the PCB, and several broken solder joints. I was able to re-solder everything, but it's still dead. I'm not that mad about it though, it's a fairly generic and not particularly good looking card anyway.

(seller's pics)

Nice deal, shame about the VLB card, I guess I'd keep trying with it too since the VLB S3s are not quite so easily found. I guess you can be getting some VGA happening with that Trident though. I have come to appreciate their qualities, they won't give you the best high end 486 experience, but they do go backwards very well, for everything pre 93 they're very compatible, doing a decent job of older standards. The middle bottom sound card in the first pic is quite useful also, those Analog Devices ASICs do several sound standards.

Found this at a local thrift shop yesterday. Still shrink wrapped and everything.

I got these two in return for a trade where I gave away a high end Socket 754 PC and a 3dfx video card. I think it was a fair trade, and I hope to have a dual Socket 8 motherboard for these some day. Currently I own only a single single socket Socket 8 motherboard, which is a shame. I'd love to try NT 4.0 with these.

appiah4 wrote on 2023-10-14, 19:29:

I got these two in return for a trade where I gave away a high end Socket 754 PC and a 3dfx video card. I think it was a fair trade, and I hope to have a dual Socket 8 motherboard for these some day. Currently I own only a single single socket Socket 8 motherboard, which is a shame. I'd love to try NT 4.0 with these.

A dual Pentium Pro running NT 4.0 sounds like a lot of fun. Keep us updated.