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1997 period correct retro PC build

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Reply 60 of 61, by ux-3

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I have many parts for a similar build on the table. I am not going to build by date. (Atm I am still busy finalizing my older 486 project.)

Reading through this thread was kind of deja vu, because of "been there, done that".
I am owning a µATX NEC board for SS7. It comes with an AGP SIS 530 and an ESS Solo-1 pci onboard. Both can be disabled, but there is no AGP slot.
It has 2x USB, 2x pci and 1x pci/ISA. While it isn't ideal, I like it.

I have kept one PCI card, a Diamond Viper 330 (Riva 128). The onboard VGA chip does deliver a good image and it works in 1280x1024@60Hz with several Dos games I tested. So perhaps I may not need the Riva.
The board does run one or two Voodoo cards. Using the third pci for graphics will kill the SB32AWE sound options. So maximum is either SIS+Voodoo2 SLI or Riva+Voodoo2.

For cpu, I can use a P233mmx, which can be run at 300 MHz. I also have two K6-2, at 300 and 500 MHz.

I also have a Yamaha sound card (719), but I doubt I will want to use it in this build. I probably will try something SB16/AWE32 compatible. The onboard Solo-1 is actually a pretty decent SBpro clone in Dos. Maybe I can use both.

As far as storage is concerned, I will ignore the period. I am using 32GB SSDs in a swap bay. Add some CF cards and a DVD drive.

Retro PC warning: The things you own end up owning you.

Reply 61 of 61, by drone16

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I just fixed Matrox Millenium 😀
I saw vertical stripes in some games, it was not pretty. I long thought it to be some software thing, but stumbled on advice to press memory chips with fingers while running.
Stripes were more visible at low, 640x480 256 colours desktop resolution.
Sure enough, squeezing a couple of chips made stripes disappear. So some of chip's legs had solder cracks. That prompted me to upgrade my mini home lab with hot ait station, a cheapie $40 noname 868D from Amazon.
It worked 😀)
Steps:
- Apply flux using brush to all sides of the chip. Flux is magic stuff that makes everything work.
- Fire up hot air station to 350 degC, mid flow settings.
- Work each side of the chip for ~10sec. Let the chip cool after each side. Keep board horizontal(!) and don't press on chips.
- Clean using IPA and some cloth.

1997 period correct retro PC build