VOGONS

DDR-era specs suggestions

Topic actions

First post, by Capybara

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Hey Vogonites. It's me, again.

This time me and the fiance are looking to build what we call the 'work PC'. Basically, a PC that we have loaded up with as much and as many drives, ports, and connectors as we can. Why? Data recovery. He is going to (re)start his "I come to you" computer repair business, and we want to be able to offer data recovery for older formats into newer ones as we have a large population of elderly in the area who may not have documents or photos on a newer format. We're sticking to DDR-era due to our spec requirements (see below)

However, we've hit a snag. Our current board does not support a 1.2 and a 1.44 floppy on the same channel, and only has one port. I'm looking for MB suggestions based on these requirements:

Minimum 4GB RAM
Support for 5.25" 1.2MB Floppy and 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy (ideally on one port, but 2 if present is fine)
Minimum of 1 IDE port (2 would be ideal)
At least 3 PCI slots. The more the merrier
Minimum 2 5.25" bays and 1 3.5" bay at front (more appreciated)

Additional optional specs:
as many USB ports as possible
Firewire (if present)
Serial/Parallel built in (if possible)

Reply 1 of 3, by cyclone3d

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

Why serial and parallel?

Why do you need IDE onboard? USB to IDE should cover that just fine.

You can also get USB 3.5" and even 5.25" (Greaseweazle for 5.25") and use an external enclosure for 5.25" drives.

What is the purpose for PCI slots?

You can also get PCIe firewire cards that have support at least up to Windows 10. I suspect Windows 11 support is also there.

Personally, I would rather use a modern system with modern software for data recovery.

That way, if a part dies, it is much easier to find a useable replacement.

Last edited by cyclone3d on 2026-06-30, 15:03. Edited 1 time in total.

Yamaha modified setupds and drivers
Yamaha XG repository
YMF7x4 Guide
Aopen AW744L II SB-LINK

Reply 2 of 3, by Jo22

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

The DDR-era was a bit before my time, I'm afraid.
Back then ordinary users had an AC1 or HC 900/KC 85/KC 87 with an U880 running at about 2 MHz, 2 to 64 KB of RAM..
In the office or factory, the PC 1715 was quite common, I think. Also U880 based. Schools had BIC A 5105 models.
Professional users had an A 7100, A 7150 or EC 1834 with 256 KB of RAM and an K1810WM86 running at about 5 MHz. A popular OS was DCP (besides MUTOS and SCP).

Edit: It was meant as a joke. DDR (RAM)/DDR (country)..

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 3 of 3, by Capybara

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
cyclone3d wrote on 2026-06-30, 14:12:
Why serial and parallel? […]
Show full quote

Why serial and parallel?

Why do you need IDE onboard? USB to IDE should cover that just fine.

You can also get USB 3.5" and even 5.25" (Greaseweazle for 5.25") and use an external enclosure for 5.25" drives.

What is the purpose for PCI slots?

You can also get PCIe firewire cards that have support at least up to Windows 10. I suspect Windows 11 support is also there.

Personally, I would rather use a modern system with modern software for data recovery.

That way, if a part dies, it is much easier to find a useable replacement.

Parts are not a concern except for the 1.2mb floppy. With modern systems, you have one major issue: translation of formats are not as good as you might think. Sure, you can bring that file forward, but it's going to break on a modern computer at some point. Whereas with our setup, we can literally use XP to translate older file formats into something like .doc and then port those forward with Linux into a .docx format without losing the file integrity.

Go to top of page Go to top of page
Back to General Old Hardware
Close window
Close window