Had my Compaq MV920 plugged into the wall during a thunderstorm that ended up being close enough I saw and heard arcing within it so I just right now went to plug it into a Dell Inspiron 9400 I picked up a while back for $15 to make sure, since it had been kinda wobbly with a StarTech DisplayPort to VGA adapter when maxed out at 1600x1200, but the native VGA out at 1600x1200 seems perfectly fine so it's probably the adapter itself, or maybe some weird combination of any of the adapter, refresh rate, X11 possibly not liking adapters (may switch to KDE Plasma to test Wayland), and maybe something going on with the RX 570 itself. Either way the laptop went through 3DMark99 no problem at 800x600 (would have done 1600x1200 but it didn't give me the option), with a 17327 score (49661 CPU) with its X1400 and T7200. I don't know if it's the benchmark or the card itself but there was some pretty noticeable rounding errors in models I saw that I've never really noticed before. Need for Speed 3 also ran at good speed at 1600x1200 32-bit, but weirdly even though the geometry adjustment is perfectly fine on the desktop, there's a ton of overscan in NfS3 at the same resolution and refresh rate so I had to drop the vertical size down a lot.

Either way, good to know I don't have to worry about the monitor.

zuldan wrote on 2025-09-20, 02:33:

Made some 30 pin SIMM memory chips for my 386 boards. Here is a power house beauty with 16MB installed with a Cyrix 486DLC-40GP.
Re: Let's make some memories (SIMMs)

The attachment IMG_9059.jpg is no longer available

Months ago, I restored a similar motherboard, which was very badly damaged due to the battery. Also using a 486DLC. But I only have 4 MB for it, so I'm thinking about making some too. Where I live, it's difficult to impossible to find them, and I only have six 1 MB sticks. I need at least two more to install them (or 4MB for each 386 I have). Although, maybe, if I find the chips, I'll make some bigger ones.

Boxes!

Had to put everything into some proper containers for a long time now.. Done..

tehsiggi wrote on 2025-09-22, 09:23:

Boxes!

Had to put everything into some proper containers for a long time now.. Done..

To avoid slipping and for ease of use (taking them out), I put them in cardboard boxes, inside the plastic containers.
A few are shoe boxes, others wine boxes (sturdier) cut to measure..

Mind one thing, some cards have exposed caps and other SMDs (front and back) that can come off by hitting each other. I found loose caps in my boxes and can't get from where to this day... 🤣
I used light cardboard sheets inbetween to avoid such issues. Heatsink vs caps = XXX

My 2 cents.

Nexxen wrote on 2025-09-22, 11:02:

To avoid slipping and for ease of use (taking them out), I put them in cardboard boxes, inside the plastic containers. A few are […]
Show full quote

tehsiggi wrote on 2025-09-22, 09:23:

Boxes!

Had to put everything into some proper containers for a long time now.. Done..

To avoid slipping and for ease of use (taking them out), I put them in cardboard boxes, inside the plastic containers.
A few are shoe boxes, others wine boxes (sturdier) cut to measure..

Mind one thing, some cards have exposed caps and other SMDs (front and back) that can come off by hitting each other. I found loose caps in my boxes and can't get from where to this day... 🤣
I used light cardboard sheets inbetween to avoid such issues. Heatsink vs caps = XXX

My 2 cents.

Yeah, they rarely move, so I'm not "too" concerned. That's at least now far better than stacking them onto a pile. I have a couple dozen of ESD bags laying around in which I'll wrap them in the upcoming days. That'll help a bit with the sharp edges. Building some cardboard "studs" for the bottom might be a good idea though. I'll see when I'm in the mood to get the scissors out!

tehsiggi wrote on 2025-09-22, 11:44:

Nexxen wrote on 2025-09-22, 11:02:

To avoid slipping and for ease of use (taking them out), I put them in cardboard boxes, inside the plastic containers. A few are […]
Show full quote

tehsiggi wrote on 2025-09-22, 09:23:

Boxes!

Had to put everything into some proper containers for a long time now.. Done..

To avoid slipping and for ease of use (taking them out), I put them in cardboard boxes, inside the plastic containers.
A few are shoe boxes, others wine boxes (sturdier) cut to measure..

Mind one thing, some cards have exposed caps and other SMDs (front and back) that can come off by hitting each other. I found loose caps in my boxes and can't get from where to this day... 🤣
I used light cardboard sheets inbetween to avoid such issues. Heatsink vs caps = XXX

My 2 cents.

Yeah, they rarely move, so I'm not "too" concerned. That's at least now far better than stacking them onto a pile. I have a couple dozen of ESD bags laying around in which I'll wrap them in the upcoming days. That'll help a bit with the sharp edges. Building some cardboard "studs" for the bottom might be a good idea though. I'll see when I'm in the mood to get the scissors out!

Bags should do fine. I used to stack cards like a poker deck, odds are never in your favour 😀

I'm not a fan of Schadenfreude and broken equipment. Stuff is getting pricey and every saved item is precious some way.
Sometimes it costs nothing helping to avoid "unecessary extra pain" (Fallout).

tehsiggi wrote on 2025-09-22, 11:44:

I'll see when I'm in the mood to get the scissors out!

Finally appreciating that kindergarten teacher and the skills you learnt back then 😉

Nexxen wrote on 2025-09-22, 12:48:

Bags should do fine. I used to stack cards like a poker deck, odds are never in your favour :) […]
Show full quote

tehsiggi wrote on 2025-09-22, 11:44:

Nexxen wrote on 2025-09-22, 11:02:

To avoid slipping and for ease of use (taking them out), I put them in cardboard boxes, inside the plastic containers. A few are […]
Show full quote

To avoid slipping and for ease of use (taking them out), I put them in cardboard boxes, inside the plastic containers.
A few are shoe boxes, others wine boxes (sturdier) cut to measure..

Mind one thing, some cards have exposed caps and other SMDs (front and back) that can come off by hitting each other. I found loose caps in my boxes and can't get from where to this day... 🤣
I used light cardboard sheets inbetween to avoid such issues. Heatsink vs caps = XXX

My 2 cents.

Yeah, they rarely move, so I'm not "too" concerned. That's at least now far better than stacking them onto a pile. I have a couple dozen of ESD bags laying around in which I'll wrap them in the upcoming days. That'll help a bit with the sharp edges. Building some cardboard "studs" for the bottom might be a good idea though. I'll see when I'm in the mood to get the scissors out!

Bags should do fine. I used to stack cards like a poker deck, odds are never in your favour 😀

I'm not a fan of Schadenfreude and broken equipment. Stuff is getting pricey and every saved item is precious some way.
Sometimes it costs nothing helping to avoid "unecessary extra pain" (Fallout).

I used to use cardboard separators for storing my boards in plastic bins. Last year I bought a bunch of ESD bags off Amazon and took all the cardboard out. I found it to just be "cleaner". It obviously also provides a bit more protection to the cards. The downside, I can't identify them edge-on that way. So, I put a list of what boards are in the bins, and their order, in with them. 😜

I'd use the antistatic bags and bag them all. Firstly rules out ESD, secondly protects from scratches etc.

Been busy today. Colleague of mine suggested we should have Bubble Bobble for the next department drinks. I already have a little retro machine (486SLC-25) in the office so I decided to go down that route, he wanted to MAME on a Raspberry Pi. The original 1988 Bubble Bobble appears very CPU speed sensitive - ironically, the faster your system, the slower it runs. In DOSBox it worked fine when reducing cycles, but it was an unplayable slideshow on my K6-2 300 (which I used to test whether my Gotek-formatted USB stick did what I wanted). Fortunately it works perfectly on the target system, blaring out PC Speaker at first (actually pretty good considering its limitations), then when I found the r switch set it to AdLib which was so much better. I'd say the graphics are the best EGA I've ever seen, with creative palette use making it look better than many early VGA titles and at least on par with the arcade graphics via MAME.
Only outstanding issue is that no joysticks seem to work. I tried Gravis Gamepads and an old Suzo Arcade Pro via a digital-analog converter. I suspect something on the Aztech Sound Galaxy BX II isn't set right - it has a jumper, but the very low-profile case is a total pain to work on (or rather: to close after working on it). Still, will have a shot next week and take a PicoGUS as a backup as it supports USB controllers (and I have Atari-USB converters).

By contrast, the 1996 re-release is an utter PITA. I had hoped it might (just) run on the system at work, but it has an awful, buggy installer and seems completely CD dependent and I've only been able to get it to work on DOSBox. Bare metal it refused to run on the other systems (tried it on a K6-2 300, Via Epia and a MediaGX 300) with messed-up paths and after manually fixing them hanging with display corruption. Not sure if that's a compatibility thing, issues from using SUBST instead of real CD (despite that working on DOSBox) or something else... can't really be bothered as the 1988 version works so well.

dionb wrote on 2025-09-22, 16:38:

The original 1988 Bubble Bobble appears very CPU speed sensitive - ironically, the faster your system, the slower it runs. In DOSBox it worked fine when reducing cycles, but it was an unplayable slideshow on my K6-2 300

It is, there is a point somewhere around an average 486 beyond which it messes its speed calculations and becomes the slideshow you saw. Fun fact, if you reduce speed to XT levels the game reduces the number of enemies on screen!

Hehe cool, like a difficulty switch.

StriderTR wrote on 2025-09-22, 16:37:

Nexxen wrote on 2025-09-22, 12:48:

Bags should do fine. I used to stack cards like a poker deck, odds are never in your favour :) […]
Show full quote

tehsiggi wrote on 2025-09-22, 11:44:

Yeah, they rarely move, so I'm not "too" concerned. That's at least now far better than stacking them onto a pile. I have a couple dozen of ESD bags laying around in which I'll wrap them in the upcoming days. That'll help a bit with the sharp edges. Building some cardboard "studs" for the bottom might be a good idea though. I'll see when I'm in the mood to get the scissors out!

Bags should do fine. I used to stack cards like a poker deck, odds are never in your favour 😀

I'm not a fan of Schadenfreude and broken equipment. Stuff is getting pricey and every saved item is precious some way.
Sometimes it costs nothing helping to avoid "unecessary extra pain" (Fallout).

I used to use cardboard separators for storing my boards in plastic bins. Last year I bought a bunch of ESD bags off Amazon and took all the cardboard out. I found it to just be "cleaner". It obviously also provides a bit more protection to the cards. The downside, I can't identify them edge-on that way. So, I put a list of what boards are in the bins, and their order, in with them. 😜

I print adhesive stickers and put them in strategic places, easy to read.
I also have this issue with motherbaords, but front and back of the open side is enough for now (they sit on a shelf).

Got my label printer primed and ready to go for that as well. Must have!

StriderTR wrote on 2025-09-22, 16:37:

Nexxen wrote on 2025-09-22, 12:48:

Bags should do fine. I used to stack cards like a poker deck, odds are never in your favour :) […]
Show full quote

tehsiggi wrote on 2025-09-22, 11:44:

Yeah, they rarely move, so I'm not "too" concerned. That's at least now far better than stacking them onto a pile. I have a couple dozen of ESD bags laying around in which I'll wrap them in the upcoming days. That'll help a bit with the sharp edges. Building some cardboard "studs" for the bottom might be a good idea though. I'll see when I'm in the mood to get the scissors out!

Bags should do fine. I used to stack cards like a poker deck, odds are never in your favour 😀

I'm not a fan of Schadenfreude and broken equipment. Stuff is getting pricey and every saved item is precious some way.
Sometimes it costs nothing helping to avoid "unecessary extra pain" (Fallout).

I used to use cardboard separators for storing my boards in plastic bins. Last year I bought a bunch of ESD bags off Amazon and took all the cardboard out. I found it to just be "cleaner". It obviously also provides a bit more protection to the cards. The downside, I can't identify them edge-on that way. So, I put a list of what boards are in the bins, and their order, in with them. 😜

Can I grab that Amazon link? Been wanting to get a heap for motherboard storage.

zuldan wrote on 2025-09-22, 20:52:

StriderTR wrote on 2025-09-22, 16:37:

Nexxen wrote on 2025-09-22, 12:48:

Bags should do fine. I used to stack cards like a poker deck, odds are never in your favour 😀

I'm not a fan of Schadenfreude and broken equipment. Stuff is getting pricey and every saved item is precious some way.
Sometimes it costs nothing helping to avoid "unecessary extra pain" (Fallout).

I used to use cardboard separators for storing my boards in plastic bins. Last year I bought a bunch of ESD bags off Amazon and took all the cardboard out. I found it to just be "cleaner". It obviously also provides a bit more protection to the cards. The downside, I can't identify them edge-on that way. So, I put a list of what boards are in the bins, and their order, in with them. 😜

Can I grab that Amazon link? Been wanting to get a heap for motherboard storage.

Absolutely. Might be able to get them cheaper elsewhere, but these are the motherboard ones I bought (8.99 when I got them).

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BZH6PKM4?ref=ppx_ … asin_title&th=1

dionb wrote on 2025-09-22, 16:38:

I'd use the antistatic bags and bag them all. Firstly rules out ESD, secondly protects from scratches etc.

Absolutely. Foil-lined antistatic bags are such a fantastic invention and provide excellent protection to cards. You have to be really rough on a bagged card for it to get damaged.

When I started really getting serious about retro collecting I started buying bags in big lots. If you want to save time and just grab a pack of bags, there are decent options and decent prices on places like Amazon. I have gotten fantastic deals shopping on ebay though. Some times you can find individuals selling boxes of them for less than half the normal price, and a lot of times they are even name brand bags so you know the quality is decent and the measurements are somewhat accurate.

I like to get 6x12 and 6x8 open ended bags for most small to medium sized cards. For really old cards that are full length or newer GPUs with large coolers there are a variety of sizes that work for those.

Also, I bought a cheap bag sealer similar to this so that if I need some really weird sized bag I can cut down large motherboard bags (which I bought like 400 of for around $30 several years ago) and then seal up the edges to make them the size I want. Kind of a pain, which is why I still just buy bags normally, but it's nice to have the option for the one or two full length PC-XT style cards I get per year.

Found a possible memory tester for R200 based cards. Will verify tomorrow and if successful, add the notes on the usage into the repair collection thread. I'll test a 9100, 9000 and 9200. We'll see..

tehsiggi wrote on 2025-09-23, 17:40:

Found a possible memory tester for R200 based cards. Will verify tomorrow and if successful, add the notes on the usage into the repair collection thread. I'll test a 9100, 9000 and 9200. We'll see..

This would be awesome. I think R6MEMID does older cards than the R300.

My quest for a Socket 939 system has reached its ultimate form. it started because I ended up with some 939 CPUs, then I found a local store selling NOS Asus A8V-X. Then I was disappointed in that, so I upgraded the CPU, then the video card. Still disappointed, I got a Gigabyte K8U 939 for cheap, and recapped it, but it was only a little better than the Asus board.

I bought a parts lot of 939 boards and CPUs over a year ago and mostly let them sit. Inspired by another member's thread on building a 939 system, I finally dusted off the A8N SLI Premium, and used the Opteron 180 and memory from my AGP 939 system, and combined it with a GTX 260 (for some reason my GTS 250 will not work on this board). After tweaking and overclocking it, I have a system that performs better than any of my previous 939 combos, and much better than the 939 system I had from 2005 to 2008.

A little trick for those antistatic bags with zipper (is that called so?) used for closing them up airtight is leaving just a little bit of air in the bag before closing.
That way you have a little air bumper around the cards which helps in preventing damage to them when put to storage next to each other.
The perfectionist would also put some of those little air dryer bags inside...
And of course label each one with a label printer 😉

zuldan wrote on 2025-09-23, 19:16:

tehsiggi wrote on 2025-09-23, 17:40:

Found a possible memory tester for R200 based cards. Will verify tomorrow and if successful, add the notes on the usage into the repair collection thread. I'll test a 9100, 9000 and 9200. We'll see..

This would be awesome. I think R6MEMID does older cards than the R300.

It in fact does. I just collected some info and did some testing on it:

Re: VGA Repair report collection

So if anyone needs to memory test R200/RV250/RV280 cards, there is a good way to do it.