SoundBlaster Vibra XV based card for my 486Dx-66 Build... (eBay seller's photo)

I think it's a Sound Blaster 16 WavEffects/Sound Blaster 16 Value PnP? It's actually 18 months too new, but hopefully close enough.

It's a CT4170. Creative's marketing could always come up with the most creative customer-facing names, which commonly weren't unique to a specific card.

NeilKnows wrote on 2026-01-12, 11:36:

SoundBlaster Vibra XV based card for my 486Dx-66 Build... (eBay seller's photo)

I think it's a Sound Blaster 16 WavEffects/Sound Blaster 16 Value PnP? It's actually 18 months too new, but hopefully close enough.

It's the Sound Blaster 16 Value PnP, we bought one retail for the family PC back in the day - where I learned I do not like CQM FM audio 😀

I got this cool VGA + multi IO VLB card, the MVGA-AVGA4VL+ which combines a CL-GD5428 graphics chip with a MERVIN (MIL) GT9000 VLB IDE chip (???) and UMC82C863F floppy & UMC82C865F ports chips. Here's the VGA BIOS from the card which is all scrambled because Cirrus Logic changed the order of the pins from standard JEDEC rom pinouts.

I have yet to plug it in but the card's immaculate, finding the IDE driver should be interesting.

PD2JK wrote on 2026-01-09, 09:55:

Thinkpad and Walkmans 👍 the good stuff

Here is my latest acquisition, an AMI Enterprise III. Only some bend pins and an empty Dallas, so it needs some work.

The attachment 20260109_095827442.JPG is no longer available

Wow, it looks like it's in excellent condition, though I can see the AMI Enterprise IV is tiny by comparison: Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Are you gonna be able to find a case to fit that? I expect it'd need one of those full tower AT cases 😀

Hacket wrote on 2026-01-08, 16:09:

Bought some quite big haul 2 computers 486 and s7, 7 laptops from 286 to athlon xp and 3 walkmans. Pcs are working laptops mostly needs work walkmans i already fixed (belt change and cleanup and calibration)

Woah, some cool finds there especially for a single lot? Love the screen on that T3400CT, it's a 7.8" TFT right?
I wonder what a Unisys PowerPort is, haven't seen one of those before.

Cool VLB board, must admit I'd love to find something like that. Not that I really need one.

IDE drivers? Are you thinking DMA mode drivers or large HDD overlay or fudge? Pre pentium DMA IDE is often a real flake fest and frequently gets you filesystem corruption, so I wouldn't strain yourself much over that. There was about one DMA chipset that actually worked semi-good on VLB, but I am blanking right now if it was adaptec or promise.

Bought a MSI MS-6905 Master slotket off Vinted.

Rev2.1 - came with a dummy CPU (Celeron 633 with a smashed die). Tossed the 633 as it was really useless at that point, slammed my fresh SL5QW and it runs great. Haven't tested a 133FSB chip as I don't have any on hand anymore.

I'm still researching on the specific version here since I also plan on ordering some Tualatin adapters to use on it.

IIRC the 2.1 is one that is easily modded to Tualatin. Think the details are on "The Lunchbox" page if you can dig that out.

Thermalwrong wrote on 2026-01-13, 14:35:

Woah, some cool finds there especially for a single lot? Love the screen on that T3400CT, it's a 7.8" TFT right?
I wonder what a Unisys PowerPort is, haven't seen one of those before.

One guy was selling out his collection it was a bit pricey and i have a mixed bag feelings about these laptops every unit needs some love and work on it and sadly this little tosh 3400 has a corruption on screen. I hope i can fix that but whole screen is filled with spinning EEEEEEEEE letters ;/. About powerport it's unisys nb40 looks like 386 or maybe 286 machine sadly do not came with power supply and it doesn’t have a proper dc plug so my universal charger doesnt fit. But i'm most annoyed about these thinkpads they are 760el and xd but both has a hexagonal power plug which is hard to find. I will look on every unit and work on em for next few months i guess. But for now i'm working on this Miditower with black door to restore it to original configuration. It should have 486 66mhz i have every part. And next gonna be that 486 on left it's working but need replace barrel battery and clean mess from old one.

Thermalwrong wrote on 2026-01-13, 14:35:

Wow, it looks like it's in excellent condition, though I can see the AMI Enterprise IV is tiny by comparison: Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Are you gonna be able to find a case to fit that? I expect it'd need one of those full tower AT cases 😀

That is indeed the biggest challenge, I have two AT big towers, but it won't fit. I read that some ATX cases have AT holes or space for such boards?

Hacket wrote on Yesterday, 10:08:

Thermalwrong wrote on 2026-01-13, 14:35:

Woah, some cool finds there especially for a single lot? Love the screen on that T3400CT, it's a 7.8" TFT right?
I wonder what a Unisys PowerPort is, haven't seen one of those before.

One guy was selling out his collection it was a bit pricey and i have a mixed bag feelings about these laptops every unit needs some love and work on it and sadly this little tosh 3400 has a corruption on screen. I hope i can fix that but whole screen is filled with spinning EEEEEEEEE letters ;/. About powerport it's unisys nb40 looks like 386 or maybe 286 machine sadly do not came with power supply and it doesn’t have a proper dc plug so my universal charger doesnt fit. But i'm most annoyed about these thinkpads they are 760el and xd but both has a hexagonal power plug which is hard to find. I will look on every unit and work on em for next few months i guess. But for now i'm working on this Miditower with black door to restore it to original configuration. It should have 486 66mhz i have every part. And next gonna be that 486 on left it's working but need replace barrel battery and clean mess from old one.

Heh, yeah, I keep picking up laptops that only need $200 worth of parts to make them worth $100 in great shape. One thing that can work for getting life out of them, is clipping battery voltage from an adjustable supply directly to battery +/- contacts in the battery bay with batt removed.

Not sure what you mean about the 760EL power plug, this is what I am seeing that it needs...

With 16V on it.

Unless you mean the plug into the adapter, which looks like it's going to be a standard "kettle cord" like is used on desktops.

Man... I think I got hosed on this one.

I waited over three weeks for a seller to ship these, and I thought I was getting a good deal on a couple of little Hipath industrial boards that would have K6-III+ processors in them. He kept saying he'd ship it in a few days, over and over... but after a another whole week of silence I reported to ebay that I had not received them, and a day or two later the package was finally shipped out.

The boards arrived today and not only are the heatsinks adhered to the processors, I don't think there's any way that these are anything but plain old Socket 7 Pentiums. The listing didn't exactly give the impression that they knew what they were talking about, but it did say AMD K6 III+ 400 processors... sooo... yeah.

Anyone have any input or experience with these things? They are completely worthless to me if the processors are not what the listing said they would be. I don't think there's any way that these heatsinks could be shaped in such a way to hide the heat spreader on a K6-III+, and I highly doubt the chips are delidded with a cutout in the heatsink for the die. These are just flat ceramic socket 7 processors... and I can't think of any of those that would be worth anywhere near what I paid. 🙁

I'm ready to try to contact the seller, but I figured I'd ask for some input first.

Thanks guys.

Ozzuneoj wrote on Yesterday, 21:49:

Man... I think I got hosed on this one. […]
Show full quote

Man... I think I got hosed on this one.

I waited over three weeks for a seller to ship these, and I thought I was getting a good deal on a couple of little Hipath industrial boards that would have K6-III+ processors in them. He kept saying he'd ship it in a few days, over and over... but after a another whole week of silence I reported to ebay that I had not received them, and a day or two later the package was finally shipped out.

The boards arrived today and not only are the heatsinks adhered to the processors, I don't think there's any way that these are anything but plain old Socket 7 Pentiums. The listing didn't exactly give the impression that they knew what they were talking about, but it did say AMD K6 III+ 400 processors... sooo... yeah.

Anyone have any input or experience with these things? They are completely worthless to me if the processors are not what the listing said they would be. I don't think there's any way that these heatsinks could be shaped in such a way to hide the heat spreader on a K6-III+, and I highly doubt the chips are delidded with a cutout in the heatsink for the die. These are just flat ceramic socket 7 processors... and I can't think of any of those that would be worth anywhere near what I paid. 🙁

I'm ready to try to contact the seller, but I figured I'd ask for some input first.

Thanks guys.

Yeah, those are just plain Pentium 1 CPUs from the looks of it.

cyclone3d wrote on Yesterday, 22:19:

Ozzuneoj wrote on Yesterday, 21:49:

Man... I think I got hosed on this one. […]
Show full quote

Man... I think I got hosed on this one.

I waited over three weeks for a seller to ship these, and I thought I was getting a good deal on a couple of little Hipath industrial boards that would have K6-III+ processors in them. He kept saying he'd ship it in a few days, over and over... but after a another whole week of silence I reported to ebay that I had not received them, and a day or two later the package was finally shipped out.

The boards arrived today and not only are the heatsinks adhered to the processors, I don't think there's any way that these are anything but plain old Socket 7 Pentiums. The listing didn't exactly give the impression that they knew what they were talking about, but it did say AMD K6 III+ 400 processors... sooo... yeah.

Anyone have any input or experience with these things? They are completely worthless to me if the processors are not what the listing said they would be. I don't think there's any way that these heatsinks could be shaped in such a way to hide the heat spreader on a K6-III+, and I highly doubt the chips are delidded with a cutout in the heatsink for the die. These are just flat ceramic socket 7 processors... and I can't think of any of those that would be worth anywhere near what I paid. 🙁

I'm ready to try to contact the seller, but I figured I'd ask for some input first.

Thanks guys.

Yeah, those are just plain Pentium 1 CPUs from the looks of it.

I agree. I just basically confirmed it by putting a Pentium next to a K6. I never realized how much thinner the ceramic is on K6 processors... but it's a dead giveaway, this is a Pentium. I just hope the seller doesn't fight me over it.

I'll come to terms with it being a complete waste of time dealing with this for a month and then having to ship them right back, but I would really rather not pay a cent for them if they don't even match the description.

Ozzuneoj wrote on Yesterday, 21:49:

Man... I think I got hosed on this one. […]
Show full quote

Man... I think I got hosed on this one.

I waited over three weeks for a seller to ship these, and I thought I was getting a good deal on a couple of little Hipath industrial boards that would have K6-III+ processors in them. He kept saying he'd ship it in a few days, over and over... but after a another whole week of silence I reported to ebay that I had not received them, and a day or two later the package was finally shipped out.

The boards arrived today and not only are the heatsinks adhered to the processors, I don't think there's any way that these are anything but plain old Socket 7 Pentiums. The listing didn't exactly give the impression that they knew what they were talking about, but it did say AMD K6 III+ 400 processors... sooo... yeah.

Anyone have any input or experience with these things? They are completely worthless to me if the processors are not what the listing said they would be. I don't think there's any way that these heatsinks could be shaped in such a way to hide the heat spreader on a K6-III+, and I highly doubt the chips are delidded with a cutout in the heatsink for the die. These are just flat ceramic socket 7 processors... and I can't think of any of those that would be worth anywhere near what I paid. 🙁

I'm ready to try to contact the seller, but I figured I'd ask for some input first.

Thanks guys.

I can't read the chipset clearly enough on the pics, but outside chance it's not a socket 7, true it's not gonna be a K6-3, it might be a Via C3 though. Siemens PBX board several vendors with a visual match saying a "586 at 400mhz"

Ozzuneoj wrote on Yesterday, 21:49:

Man... I think I got hosed on this one. […]
Show full quote

Man... I think I got hosed on this one.

I waited over three weeks for a seller to ship these, and I thought I was getting a good deal on a couple of little Hipath industrial boards that would have K6-III+ processors in them. He kept saying he'd ship it in a few days, over and over... but after a another whole week of silence I reported to ebay that I had not received them, and a day or two later the package was finally shipped out.

The boards arrived today and not only are the heatsinks adhered to the processors, I don't think there's any way that these are anything but plain old Socket 7 Pentiums. The listing didn't exactly give the impression that they knew what they were talking about, but it did say AMD K6 III+ 400 processors... sooo... yeah.

Anyone have any input or experience with these things? They are completely worthless to me if the processors are not what the listing said they would be. I don't think there's any way that these heatsinks could be shaped in such a way to hide the heat spreader on a K6-III+, and I highly doubt the chips are delidded with a cutout in the heatsink for the die. These are just flat ceramic socket 7 processors... and I can't think of any of those that would be worth anywhere near what I paid. 🙁

I'm ready to try to contact the seller, but I figured I'd ask for some input first.

Thanks guys.

I can't imagine how even on a delided K6-III a cooler could be installed as tightly as in the photos - both core and smd parts would prevent this.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/130561288@N04/a … ith/48076163903

Ydee wrote on Today, 11:05:

Ozzuneoj wrote on Yesterday, 21:49:

Man... I think I got hosed on this one. […]
Show full quote

Man... I think I got hosed on this one.

I waited over three weeks for a seller to ship these, and I thought I was getting a good deal on a couple of little Hipath industrial boards that would have K6-III+ processors in them. He kept saying he'd ship it in a few days, over and over... but after a another whole week of silence I reported to ebay that I had not received them, and a day or two later the package was finally shipped out.

The boards arrived today and not only are the heatsinks adhered to the processors, I don't think there's any way that these are anything but plain old Socket 7 Pentiums. The listing didn't exactly give the impression that they knew what they were talking about, but it did say AMD K6 III+ 400 processors... sooo... yeah.

Anyone have any input or experience with these things? They are completely worthless to me if the processors are not what the listing said they would be. I don't think there's any way that these heatsinks could be shaped in such a way to hide the heat spreader on a K6-III+, and I highly doubt the chips are delidded with a cutout in the heatsink for the die. These are just flat ceramic socket 7 processors... and I can't think of any of those that would be worth anywhere near what I paid. 🙁

I'm ready to try to contact the seller, but I figured I'd ask for some input first.

Thanks guys.

I can't imagine how even on a delided K6-III a cooler could be installed as tightly as in the photos - both core and smd parts would prevent this.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/130561288@N04/a … ith/48076163903

Speaking of delidded K6s, would a Athlon copper shim work on those? They seem close in design.

Maybe, but I don't know the exact dimensions, they would have to be measured.

Ydee wrote on Today, 11:57:

Maybe, but I don't know the exact dimensions, they would have to be measured.

They're these ones specifically. I've seen them used on several socket A CPUs, from time to time. Maybe the K6s use the same die and part arrangement?

Ozzuneoj wrote on Yesterday, 21:49:

Man... I think I got hosed on this one.

Why don't you just take the CPUs out and actually see what you have there?

Bought two IBM ThinkPad laptops (a 560e and a 560) in good cosmetic condition. The 560e works well, but its DSTN display is intermittent. The second one, the ThinkPad 560, does not boot and has a non-working TFT display. I’ll take a closer look - maybe I’ll be able to fix them.

FINALLY a working 286 Octek board with PLCC socket and no acid damage.