I've kind of built up a bit of a collection of VIA EPIA ITX boards, so when I saw this for sale online really quite cheaply, I couldn't resist.

This is an EPIA N1000 Nano-ITX board. It has a "Luke" SoC (based on Nehemiah) at 1Ghz with integrated CN400 DDR UniChrome Pro chipset and 8237 south bridge. It came with a single 128Mb DDR SODIMM, and the power adapter cable and PS/2 header cables.

It has 1 x 40 pin IDE, 1 X 44-pin IDE, and 1 x SATA, and a miniPCI slot (not much use?). The 8237 south bridge should at least give good SBEMU compatibility!

Looking around online it seems there was a fair bit of anticipation for this form factor of EPIA, but to be honest it doesn't seem to have any advantage over the various older SBC form factors ... Still, fun to have!

giantenemycat wrote on 2026-02-21, 21:38:

Have done a lucky dip on an "untested" mystery box. Bets on what's going to be in this one?

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I'll take a stab:

Socket 7 motherboard (let's say SiS chipset?)
AMD K6, K6-2 (sub 333Mhz) or Cyrix 686
Trident TGUI-9680 Video
Opti 82C930 or 82C931 Sound
~1.2GB WD Caviar or Quantum hard drive (not the removable one)

... that's all I've got. Let us know. 😁

MORE to arrive:
- ASUS A7V880
- Gigabyte 7VT880
- Radeon X800GTO 512MB DDR2 PCI-E
- GB EP45-DS3 + C2Q
- EPOX EP-9NDA3I + Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 939
- Quadro FX 3450 PCI-E
- 19x TwinMOS DDR400 sticks
- ASUS A7N8X-X

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2026-02-22, 00:59:

I'll take a stab: […]
Show full quote

I'll take a stab:

Socket 7 motherboard (let's say SiS chipset?)
AMD K6, K6-2 (sub 333Mhz) or Cyrix 686
Trident TGUI-9680 Video
Opti 82C930 or 82C931 Sound
~1.2GB WD Caviar or Quantum hard drive (not the removable one)

I'm guessing:

- Socket7
- P233MMX
- S3 Video card
- ESS AudioDrive

That's what seemed to be in most of the mystery AT towers I've come across!

badmojo wrote on 2026-02-22, 07:07:

I'm guessing: […]
Show full quote

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2026-02-22, 00:59:

I'll take a stab: […]
Show full quote

I'll take a stab:

Socket 7 motherboard (let's say SiS chipset?)
AMD K6, K6-2 (sub 333Mhz) or Cyrix 686
Trident TGUI-9680 Video
Opti 82C930 or 82C931 Sound
~1.2GB WD Caviar or Quantum hard drive (not the removable one)

I'm guessing:

- Socket7
- P233MMX
- S3 Video card
- ESS AudioDrive

That's what seemed to be in most of the mystery AT towers I've come across!

This was exactly my first thought because they are the most likely\common, but I figured I'd wing it with something different for each one. 😁

giantenemycat wrote on 2026-02-21, 21:38:

Have done a lucky dip on an "untested" mystery box. Bets on what's going to be in this one?

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The gradients between caddy, CDROM, and FDD are different - so I don't think the 32X CDROM is original.

• Pentium 150
• Intel 430VX
• 32MB EDO RAM
• SB Vibra 16
• S3 Trio64V 1Mb

I hope you won a VGA upgrade though 😉

Ooh great minds think alike. I say Pentium 90, 16MB EDO, SB16, S3 Trio64 1MB. The lack of PS/2 makes me place it slightly closer to 486 era.

If we also have to guess the "mom and dad" bit: this could go four ways:

-Really tedious and unnecessary household bookkeeping, made in Lotus.
-Nerdy stuff, like notes on Myst puzzles.
-You know the third one.
-Wedding media. Not the third one kind of media.

giantenemycat wrote on 2026-02-21, 21:38:

Have done a lucky dip on an "untested" mystery box. Bets on what's going to be in this one?

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I'm thinking everything IO integrated pcchips mainboard using a celeron 333 and a 40G hdd.

weedeewee wrote on 2026-02-22, 18:00:

giantenemycat wrote on 2026-02-21, 21:38:

Have done a lucky dip on an "untested" mystery box. Bets on what's going to be in this one?

I'm thinking everything IO integrated pcchips mainboard using a celeron 333 and a 40G hdd.

It looks older than that to me. It has an AT board with a VGA card and what looks like an ISA sound card.

The 32x CD-ROM stands out to me, so I'm thinking it was a fairly late AT low-budget build from ~1998-1999 that someone used an AT case + motherboard for (hence the generic\cheaper parts I guessed) or it is older than that and the CD drive is a replacement from that time period.

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2026-02-22, 18:37:

It looks older than that to me. It has an AT board with a VGA card and what looks like an ISA sound card.
...

Lookup Pcchips M726 .

Bought "PCI Video Card VGA S-Video Passive Heatsink Desktop Graphics Card Green PCB" off eBay today for $28.

I *believe* its a GeForce 4 MX440

That's the remains of an EVGA label on the back, and I don't think they made GeForce2 MXs in 64MB capacity. I mostly want this to compare all 3 versions of the MX440 (Integrated nForce2, PCI, and AGP) out of curiosity. Supposedly tested and working though that bracket makes me think otherwise and that bent over capacitor gives me some concern. That being said MX400 cards are dead simple and very reliable, so it shouldn't be hard to get it working if its not.

I don't understand why PCI graphics cards are getting so expensive. Especially period correct ones from the early 3D days. I'm looking for a RIVA 128 or TNT PCI for a Pentium 200 machine I have and they are going for between $80 and $120 USD. You could almost buy a period correct motherboard with AGP and the AGP versions for that price, and get far superior performance. I'm guessing just normies that watched a retro computing YouTube video, then picked up some random PCI only Celeron machine locally that don't want to (or don't know how) to build a machine with AGP?

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote on 2026-02-22, 19:33:

I don't understand why PCI graphics cards are getting so expensive. Especially period correct ones from the early 3D days.

Sounds like a normal consequence of the nostalgia cycle, and supply and demand. Nostalgia runs on a 20-30 year cycle, so things from the late 90s to mid-2000s are likely hitting their peak demand by now.

weedeewee wrote on 2026-02-22, 19:04:

Lookup Pcchips M726 .

I have one of those and the position of the expansion cards does match what you would find in such a board, assuming the graphics card is AGP, but the sound card bracket is not exactly the same as the one I have.

Just to add some more variety I'm going to say K5 100MHz (even though a Pentium is more likely) on some 430FX motherboard, and of course an S3 Virge.

I have some basic PCI graphics cards. You're saying I should hold onto them? Literally bought it from a pile at a flea market last year. I am running AGP, PCIe and VLB in my builds though.

weedeewee wrote on 2026-02-22, 19:04:

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2026-02-22, 18:37:

It looks older than that to me. It has an AT board with a VGA card and what looks like an ISA sound card.
...

Lookup Pcchips M726 .

Oh, I thought you were saying that everything was integrated (sound, video, etc.).

It could definitely be an AT Slot 1 board like that though, yes. 😁

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2026-02-22, 20:09:

weedeewee wrote on 2026-02-22, 19:04:

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2026-02-22, 18:37:

It looks older than that to me. It has an AT board with a VGA card and what looks like an ISA sound card.
...

Lookup Pcchips M726 .

Oh, I thought you were saying that everything was integrated (sound, video, etc.).

It could definitely be an AT Slot 1 board like that though, yes. 😁

Everything is integrated, except the connectors.

weedeewee wrote on 2026-02-22, 20:30:

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2026-02-22, 20:09:

weedeewee wrote on 2026-02-22, 19:04:

Lookup Pcchips M726 .

Oh, I thought you were saying that everything was integrated (sound, video, etc.).

It could definitely be an AT Slot 1 board like that though, yes. 😁

Everything is integrated, except the connectors.

The M726 does have integrated sound, but it doesn't have integrated video.

Could be an M717 though maybe?
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/pcchips-m717

Either way, you are right that these boards are from the right time period to be in this system, so it is very possible.

I just thought based on the placement of the ports on the back it looked more like separate cards. It seems like builders often put the connectors for onboard video and sound in the top slots to leave room for expansion cards in all of the other slots, but absolutely anything is possible.

Watch, it will surprise us all and be some ridiculous assortment of mismatched collectable parts that "Mom and Dad" inexplicably ended up with. Maybe a 440BX AT board with a Powerleap Tualatin adapter, Jazz Multimedia Bonnie and Clyde AGP\PCI Rendition V2200 and a Gravis Ultrasound Extreme*.

Turns out it was Anand Shimpi's Mom and Dad... 🤣

*yes, I know the ports are in the wrong order for this.

It's been a while but lets see,

I killed my early XP gaming computer with a bad bios update and rebuilt it with more 2005-2008 parts, which matched the era of games I was playing on it more accurately. It's very borderline on the "retro" definition, but it is to me, I wanted these parts so bad at the time.
Gigabyte motherboard AM2/3, 9600GT, phenom processor, 4 gigs of ram, runs like a dream.

Picked up a whole slew of AGP gpus from the early 2000s to keep my AGP slot computers running in case there are any issues from the local tech recycler.

IDK what year, but picked up an extron VGA switch which greatly simplified my cable situation at my vintage PC desk

Also got a 533mhz Powermac G4 Digital Audio.

Haven't bought to many things over-all since last update as I'm still hunting for a Voodoo 1/2/Banshee for my PCI bus only win 95 computer and I'm still looking for a CRT for my whole computer desk setup.

giantenemycat wrote on 2026-02-21, 21:38:

Have done a lucky dip on an "untested" mystery box. Bets on what's going to be in this one?

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I'd bet on a late Socket 3 or very early Pentium class machine. Non-MMX P75-100, K5, or even a P60. But I'd tend more to a 486.
The black VGA port, ISA soundcard as well as male & female serial connectors weren't a big thing any more in later Pentium times afaik (except ISA sound maybe).
I don't know when 32x CD drives were common but that could be a later replacement or add-on.
Also, PSUs with input and output I strongly associate with 486 times.
Just my guess... 😉

ChrisK wrote on 2026-02-23, 07:08:

I don't know when 32x CD drives were common but that could be a later replacement or add-on.

My 200MMX came with a 24X CDROM, so I'd say 32X is more P2 era.