RetroLizard wrote on Today, 02:56:

For anybody who has a Radeon X850: what is the weird circled connector for? It looks like something you would find on a sound card for things like CD_IN.

On ATI X series cards with VIVO chip, this connector is used to connect composite video input from the front panel on the case, if the PC is equipped with it. You could thus record video from, for example, a camera for further processing in a PC.

This is going to be a dirty day!

I have now lifted the lid on the first PC I ever bought. It started as a P200MMX, 32MB EDO, S3 Trio64v+, ESS AudioDrive. After several upgrades I had enough spare parts to rebuild it as P200MMX, PC66 SDRAM, S3 ViRGE DX, Guillemot Maxi Gamer 3D, Ensoniq PCIAudio. The box was then a hand-me-down to my dad.

Here it is, that very same rebuild - recovered like a barn find and full of insects. It looks like the AT style PSU burned out, which explains why the PC was set aside.

One capacitor has a very strange iridescent colour?!

I'm going to start cleaning it up. As my DIY workbench probably won't be as sophisticated as yours, please scream if you see me making a big mistake..

That cap doesn't look to happy. No harm in checking if the board works with it, in doubt I'd change it.

tehsiggi wrote on Today, 10:07:

That cap doesn't look to happy. No harm in checking if the board works with it, in doubt I'd change it.

Thank you. I was unsure because it's not bulged and that's not what my other leaked caps look like.

I have found another odd thing in the box: Zoom in on the photo to see unexpected green polymer raised up.

Due to the cramped AT layout I needed to remove the SDRAM modules before I could remove the burned out PSU. It turns out the machine had 196Mb PC100 SDRAM, which fits my profile because I used to overclock and maybe PC100 was cheaper than PC66. The 64Mb module in the photo was the module closest to the burned out PSU and touching the IDE cables.

Oddity: The solder mask on the PCB appears to have morphed. I have never seen that happen before! I'm guessing this is vibration from PSU fan rubbing the cables on the PCB for years, but that's a new one on me.

After wiping the SDRAM, I think that's actually IDE cable polymer breaking down and absorbing green die from the PCB. It's still a new observation I hadn't come across before.

It looks I maxed out that P200.

Hello sweetie, you'r not the ViRGE DX I thought you were.. 😁