MattRocks wrote on 2025-12-01, 11:07:

Where do you guys find your goldmines?

Fleamarkets, but you have to go there constantly, you'll probably need to dig through a lot of dirt to find some gold, just like in real life.
Recycle centers, if you have access, can be HUGE goldmines, depending on their sizes.
Thrifts shops, if you have them around.
Garage sales, again, if you have such things.
Friends, if you spread the word that you are interested in old computers.

6 Teac CD-532S 32x SCSI CDROMs
2 Teac CDR-58S 24x/8x SCSI CD burner
HD50 SCSI cable male-to-female
lots of micro screwdrivers (total ~ 100)
crimping pliers RG58
and a short RG58 cable with 2 BNC connectors

Samsung SyncMaster 750s CRT.

Didn't play well with Windows 11, though, probably a refresh rate issue. But really nice picture in W7. Looking forward to getting room for it in my office cave to set it up properly with a Matrox card and Win98

Got this old puppy with up to 2 ISA and integrated Solo 1 sound:
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/chaintech-ct-6esa2

BitWrangler wrote on 2025-12-01, 22:29:

It's been feeling like exponential decay with a half life of 2 years to me... (availability halving every 2 years) ... very little turning up in thrifts, yard sales, fleamarkets etc of late.

Of course the supply isn't infinite. Even there, newer stuff replaces the older hardware. But you still gotta keep looking. Sometimes you could even find good stuff even in the most unlikely places.

RaverX wrote on 2025-12-03, 09:56:

Fleamarkets, but you have to go there constantly, you'll probably need to dig through a lot of dirt to find some gold, just like […]
Show full quote

Fleamarkets, but you have to go there constantly, you'll probably need to dig through a lot of dirt to find some gold, just like in real life.
Recycle centers, if you have access, can be HUGE goldmines, depending on their sizes.
Thrifts shops, if you have them around.
Garage sales, again, if you have such things.
Friends, if you spread the word that you are interested in old computers.

THIS. Keep looking. Even if you don't find anything worthwhile once, the next time could even be some really rare gems.

EDIT: Huh, I said 'even' a lot in this post, and didn't realise. Eh, so be it.

Bought this broken AUVA TXM10-II motherboard for spare parts to my LOGI XT one.
Actually it looks better than seller described it. This one can be repaired too I suppose. It was waved and you can see the warping on a photo, PPI and DMA controller were broken but they are cheap, will see.

Two broken chips... how that happen ?

I posted last week about a mystery PC I bought from eBay cheap; £17 for a beige PC with unknown specs.

It’s a 2000 OEM built by Time Computers who were big in the UK at the turn of the century. Leonard Nimoy was in their TV advert!

…and I’m rather pleased with what I have; quick peek inside shows a Slot A board, Athlon 600 and Vanta TNT2 M64, there’s a 27.5GB Fujitsu HDD and a single 128MB dimm.

Nothing is tested yet, will update!

pete8475 wrote on 2025-11-28, 00:03:

I think those are stickers saying what the ports are or what should be plugged into them.

is the correct answer!

Susanin79 wrote on 2025-12-05, 13:20:

Bought this broken AUVA TXM10-II motherboard for spare parts to my LOGI XT one.

Seen this one on auction, it looked really bad so I skipped on it. I'm really curious if a board can survive this so I'm looking forward to your post about replacing the damaged parts and putting it back in action.

Dan386DX wrote on 2025-12-05, 16:59:

I posted last week about a mystery PC I bought from eBay cheap; £17 for a beige PC with unknown specs. […]
Show full quote

I posted last week about a mystery PC I bought from eBay cheap; £17 for a beige PC with unknown specs.

It’s a 2000 OEM built by Time Computers who were big in the UK at the turn of the century. Leonard Nimoy was in their TV advert!

…and I’m rather pleased with what I have; quick peek inside shows a Slot A board, Athlon 600 and Vanta TNT2 M64, there’s a 27.5GB Fujitsu HDD and a single 128MB dimm.

Nothing is tested yet, will update!

pete8475 wrote on 2025-11-28, 00:03:

I think those are stickers saying what the ports are or what should be plugged into them.

is the correct answer!

That TIME logo is great. The SpaceTIME server is waiting for your connection.

liqmat wrote on 2025-12-05, 18:06:

Dan386DX wrote on 2025-12-05, 16:59:

I posted last week about a mystery PC I bought from eBay cheap; £17 for a beige PC with unknown specs. […]
Show full quote

I posted last week about a mystery PC I bought from eBay cheap; £17 for a beige PC with unknown specs.

It’s a 2000 OEM built by Time Computers who were big in the UK at the turn of the century. Leonard Nimoy was in their TV advert!

…and I’m rather pleased with what I have; quick peek inside shows a Slot A board, Athlon 600 and Vanta TNT2 M64, there’s a 27.5GB Fujitsu HDD and a single 128MB dimm.

Nothing is tested yet, will update!

pete8475 wrote on 2025-11-28, 00:03:

I think those are stickers saying what the ports are or what should be plugged into them.

is the correct answer!

That TIME logo is great. The SpaceTIME server is waiting for your connection.

The attachment TIME Server.jpg is no longer available

That is gorgeous, thanks for sharing!

Dan386DX wrote on 2025-12-05, 18:11:

That is gorgeous, thanks for sharing!

Now if we could only get a 3D printer that would replicate what A.I. image generators create with a push of a button. Right? ;-)

liqmat wrote on 2025-12-05, 18:14:

Dan386DX wrote on 2025-12-05, 18:11:

That is gorgeous, thanks for sharing!

Now if we could only get a 3D printer that would replicate what A.I. image generators create with a push of a button. Right? 😉

Dammit! That’s a convincing one too, but if I had zoomed in, the garbled text would have given it away.

nuno14272 wrote on 2025-12-05, 14:04:

Two broken chips... how that happen ?

we will never know this. The textolite looks not broken, but all traces should be checked and examine.

Dan386DX wrote on 2025-12-05, 16:59:

I posted last week about a mystery PC I bought from eBay cheap; £17 for a beige PC with unknown specs. […]
Show full quote

I posted last week about a mystery PC I bought from eBay cheap; £17 for a beige PC with unknown specs.

It’s a 2000 OEM built by Time Computers who were big in the UK at the turn of the century. Leonard Nimoy was in their TV advert!

…and I’m rather pleased with what I have; quick peek inside shows a Slot A board, Athlon 600 and Vanta TNT2 M64, there’s a 27.5GB Fujitsu HDD and a single 128MB dimm.

Nothing is tested yet, will update!

pete8475 wrote on 2025-11-28, 00:03:

I think those are stickers saying what the ports are or what should be plugged into them.

is the correct answer!

Considering they were UK-based I also wonder if there a small ELO influence hehe.

Electric Light Orchestra - Yours Truly, 2095

"I met someone who looks a lot like you, she does the things you do but she is an IBM..."

Dan386DX wrote on 2025-12-05, 16:59:

I posted last week about a mystery PC I bought from eBay cheap; £17 for a beige PC with unknown specs. […]
Show full quote

I posted last week about a mystery PC I bought from eBay cheap; £17 for a beige PC with unknown specs.

It’s a 2000 OEM built by Time Computers who were big in the UK at the turn of the century. Leonard Nimoy was in their TV advert!

…and I’m rather pleased with what I have; quick peek inside shows a Slot A board, Athlon 600 and Vanta TNT2 M64, there’s a 27.5GB Fujitsu HDD and a single 128MB dimm.

Nothing is tested yet, will update!

pete8475 wrote on 2025-11-28, 00:03:

I think those are stickers saying what the ports are or what should be plugged into them.

is the correct answer!

Cool! I hope it works, have fun.

Last batch of motherboards bought in 2025, I am particularly interested in the ASUS K8U-X, an SKT 754 with Sempron 3000, I think it has a good chance of working again, after replacing the swollen electrolytic capacitors.
Another ASUS is an M2V-TVM/V M2V890/DP, I already have something similar among those in my collection, I don't think I have the same.
Finally an Intel D845GEBV2, a Socket 478 with CPU (I don't know which one), it looks very dirty, I hope 🤞 it's not problematic to clean it.

Got a noname Taiwanosium VGA monitor dated 1991. Picture is still pretty bright but it has some purity issues I have to address, maybe the rings will fix it.
My oldest VGA so far, had to replace a bunch of leaky caps before they blew.
I actually like these distorted colors in some games, looks like this red Chevrolet got a new cool paintjob. 😁

Got today some nice midi tower pc with super socket 7 amd k6 533mhz cpu and Savage 4 agp gpu plus double sandwitched ati radeon 4870 x2 both working

Hacket wrote on 2025-12-07, 17:52:

Got today some nice midi tower pc with super socket 7 amd k6 533mhz cpu and Savage 4 agp gpu plus double sandwitched ati radeon 4870 x2 both working

Somehow I am guessing that GPU isn't going into that case 😀