VOGONS


First post, by Wampa

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Hello everyone,
I’d like to share one of my personal retro projects — a complete late‑90s Super Socket 7 system that I used during my youth, now fully restored and tested on an open bench. No case yet: all components are laid out on the desk for diagnostics, cleaning, and hardware verification. I’m documenting every part of the process with photos.

System Overview (Open‑Bench Configuration)
Motherboard: Asus P5A – ALi Aladdin V chipset – BIOS 1.007A
– Stable operation at 100 MHz FSB
– Excellent Super Socket 7 compatibility
– 1 MB external L3 cache (board‑level)
– All PCI/ISA slots tested
– Clean PCB, no corrosion
– Original manual + driver CD available

CPU: AMD K6‑III 400AFX
– 64 KB L1 + 256 KB on‑die L2
– External L3 handled by the motherboard
– Voltage markings: 2.4 V core / 3.3 V I/O
– Fully stable under load (Quake II, Unreal, 3DMark99)

Memory: 128 MB SDRAM PC100
– Tested with MemTest and Windows 98 SE
– No parity errors, stable at 100 MHz

Graphics Subsystem
Primary 2D: Matrox G200 PCI (1998 Rev A)
– Outstanding 2D clarity
– Perfect pairing with 3dfx accelerators
– Clean PCB, connectors in excellent condition

3D Accelerator: Dual 3dfx Voodoo2 12 MB (SLI)
– Card 1: Creative Labs
– Card 2: Trust
– Both cards detected correctly
– SLI cable tested
– Glide demos and games running flawlessly
– No artifacts, no overheating
– Driver package: FastVoodoo2 v4.6, required to ensure full compatibility between mixed‑brand Voodoo2 boards (Creative + Trust).
This driver set enables proper SLI initialization, stable scanline interleave, and correct detection under Windows 98 SE.

Storage & Optical
HDD: ExcelStor 40 GB IDE (IBM technology)
– Ultra DMA/IDE interface (up to UDMA‑100)
– Quiet operation, SMART OK
– Jumper‑configurable modes: Master / Slave / Cable Select
– Includes 32 GB Clip option for older BIOS compatibility
– FAT32 formatted for Windows 98 SE testing

Optical: Yamaha CRW‑F1 IDE
– Fully functional
– Tested reading/writing
– Features DiscT@2 laser‑etching technology
– Known for exceptional build quality and reliability

Operating System & Tests
OS: Windows 98 SE
Benchmarks & Games:
– Quake II (OpenGL + Glide)
– Unreal (Glide)
– Forsaken
– 3DMark99
– Various DOS titles for compatibility checks

All tests completed successfully. The system shows the stability and performance I remember from the late ’90s — a configuration I was very proud of back in the day, now brought back to life piece by piece.

Photos
I’ll be adding photos of:
– The motherboard on the desk (open‑bench)
– CPU markings (2.4 V / 3.3 V)
– Matrox G200 and both Voodoo2 cards (Creative + Trust)
– HDD jumper configuration (including 32 GB Clip)
– Yamaha CRW‑F1 with DiscT@2 label
– Full open‑bench setup during testing

I’ll continue updating this thread as I complete cleaning, documentation, and additional benchmarks.
Happy to share this project with the community — keeping this hardware alive is always a pleasure.

Reply 1 of 1, by marxveix

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In the post you mention Matrox G200 PCI and in pictures it uses clearly SS7 AGP slot.

Nice build, i have same motherboard, but i dont rememeber it had 1mb l3 cache. Matrox has lower power consumption G200A or lightly overclocked G200A (G250). Also K6-III+ takes less heat like G200A.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrox_G200#G200A_&_G250
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_K6-III

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