I swapped the front bezel on the IBM PC Portable 5155 since idiot me cut a hole the size of Connecticut for the Quad-Flop external floppy drive track display and tried to fix the damn Epson SD-800 drive, which is broken again and either I need to replace the drive or try to fix the damn data lines for the 10th time.

MattRocks wrote on 2026-08-29, 16:11:

RetroLizard wrote on 2026-08-29, 13:23:

MattRocks wrote on 2026-08-29, 06:06:

Voodoo2 was designed for Socket 7, but I'd hesitate on assuming 2xV2 > V3.

Either is an aftermarket upgrade but what feels slightly off is the cost proportions. Users who could afford 2xV2 tended to have Slot 1 systems.

PCI cards seem to be hard to find when it comes to ATI or Nvidia.

I'm hoping I can use the 366mhz K6-2 I have.

I'd hope so too - that would be a very good late upgrade on the i430TX.

Personally, I'd look for a S3 Savage3D or Savage4 to pair with 3Dfx Voodoo because then you have Glide, MeTaL, S3TC, OpenGL and D3D.

I'll try to keep my eye out for an S3 Savage4/Savage3D, but they seem hard to find in PCI.

The cutoff date for games would be December 31 1999.

So any games between January 1st 1990-December 31st 1999 will be put on the Socket 7 machine.

RetroLizard wrote on 2026-08-30, 04:49:

I'll try to keep my eye out for an S3 Savage4/Savage3D, but they seem hard to find in PCI. […]
Show full quote

MattRocks wrote on 2026-08-29, 16:11:

RetroLizard wrote on 2026-08-29, 13:23:

PCI cards seem to be hard to find when it comes to ATI or Nvidia.

I'm hoping I can use the 366mhz K6-2 I have.

I'd hope so too - that would be a very good late upgrade on the i430TX.

Personally, I'd look for a S3 Savage3D or Savage4 to pair with 3Dfx Voodoo because then you have Glide, MeTaL, S3TC, OpenGL and D3D.

I'll try to keep my eye out for an S3 Savage4/Savage3D, but they seem hard to find in PCI.

The cutoff date for games would be December 31 1999.

So any games between January 1st 1990-December 31st 1999 will be put on the Socket 7 machine.

I did suggest one earlier for you to look at.

Trashbytes wrote on 2026-08-30, 05:01:

RetroLizard wrote on 2026-08-30, 04:49:

I'll try to keep my eye out for an S3 Savage4/Savage3D, but they seem hard to find in PCI. […]
Show full quote

MattRocks wrote on 2026-08-29, 16:11:

I'd hope so too - that would be a very good late upgrade on the i430TX.

Personally, I'd look for a S3 Savage3D or Savage4 to pair with 3Dfx Voodoo because then you have Glide, MeTaL, S3TC, OpenGL and D3D.

I'll try to keep my eye out for an S3 Savage4/Savage3D, but they seem hard to find in PCI.

The cutoff date for games would be December 31 1999.

So any games between January 1st 1990-December 31st 1999 will be put on the Socket 7 machine.

I did suggest one earlier for you to look at.

You did. It's closer to $100 with shipping, so I'll think about it.

RetroLizard wrote on 2026-08-30, 05:12:

Trashbytes wrote on 2026-08-30, 05:01:

RetroLizard wrote on 2026-08-30, 04:49:

I'll try to keep my eye out for an S3 Savage4/Savage3D, but they seem hard to find in PCI.

The cutoff date for games would be December 31 1999.

So any games between January 1st 1990-December 31st 1999 will be put on the Socket 7 machine.

I did suggest one earlier for you to look at.

You did. It's closer to $100 with shipping, so I'll think about it.

I've seen worse especially for PCI GPUs from the Win98 Era.

RetroLizard wrote on 2026-08-30, 04:49:

I'll try to keep my eye out for an S3 Savage4/Savage3D, but they seem hard to find in PCI. […]
Show full quote

MattRocks wrote on 2026-08-29, 16:11:

RetroLizard wrote on 2026-08-29, 13:23:

PCI cards seem to be hard to find when it comes to ATI or Nvidia.

I'm hoping I can use the 366mhz K6-2 I have.

I'd hope so too - that would be a very good late upgrade on the i430TX.

Personally, I'd look for a S3 Savage3D or Savage4 to pair with 3Dfx Voodoo because then you have Glide, MeTaL, S3TC, OpenGL and D3D.

I'll try to keep my eye out for an S3 Savage4/Savage3D, but they seem hard to find in PCI.

The cutoff date for games would be December 31 1999.

So any games between January 1st 1990-December 31st 1999 will be put on the Socket 7 machine.

One that came online today, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/198609917757

BitWrangler wrote on 2026-08-18, 12:15:

How thirsty is the CPU in that? If it's 65W or lower you could try one of these, https://www.cablesalesusa.com/product/magic-c … […]
Show full quote

Alesia wrote on 2026-08-18, 04:49:

Shopped around for a CPU cooler for that PC too but it's really hard to find something with a fancy shroud and colored plastics/clear colored plastics/UV reactive anything on ebay. I never really noticed how depressing CPU coolers look in general.

How thirsty is the CPU in that? If it's 65W or lower you could try one of these, https://www.cablesalesusa.com/product/magic-c … 3-pin-evercool/

Which in theory should go on an AM2, if it goes on a 939. Might have to mix and match mounting hardware with something else though.

Then also, you could experiment with highlighter pens on random plastics to see how well they coat on it and react. The oldschool glowy trick in early watercooling days was to use some "highlighter juice" in the clear tube watercooling loop coolant fill with UV.

But you can also buy clear plastic fans independently and swap the fan out on a sink that uses standard 80mm.

Edit: Hmmm think you mentioned Phenom elsewhere, not too many of those around 65W, apart from a sprinkle of low end X4s, X3s and the Regor core X2s, which are a logical pick for single and maybe dual core in XP gaming.

EditII: It'll be a comfort zone thing about how hot you like your CPU, this sink seems to do about 0.38 Centigrade per Watt, so assuming 30C case ambients, will run mid 40s on a 65W, around 50C on an 80W and mid 50s to just below 60 on a 95W.

It's a AMD Phenom II X2 550 so 80W tdp. IIRC it was the best my motherboard could take that I could actually afford, some of the more higher end stuff the board could take was overly expensive for whatever reason, I also didn't want to get something TOO capable because I have an AMD FX windows vista pc I didn't want to step on the toes of. Gigabyte GA-MA78G-DS3HP motherboard w/4gb of 800mhz DDR2.

I didn't consider dying clear fans myself, but that is an interesting idea I'd forgotten about from back in the day, I jumped right on those new fangled LED things that fan makers were putting in. I did see there were lots of the Modware Heat Guzzler CPU coolers hanging around ebay and those have a 89w tbp (at least if it really supports the Athlon 64 3800.) Those have blue UV reactive fans on them and definitely look period accurate 🤣.

With how easy it is to find old UV reactive fans vs coolers with fancy shrouds, I'll probably end up getting something solid that kinda looks the part, like something from OCZ, Thermaltake, XIGMATECH, Scythe, ect, and then slap a new fan on it. I kind of wish I had a resin 3d printer so I could do custom shroud work with transparent resins/plastics to get the exact looks I want.

MattRocks wrote on Yesterday, 12:54:

RetroLizard wrote on 2026-08-30, 04:49:

I'll try to keep my eye out for an S3 Savage4/Savage3D, but they seem hard to find in PCI. […]
Show full quote

MattRocks wrote on 2026-08-29, 16:11:

I'd hope so too - that would be a very good late upgrade on the i430TX.

Personally, I'd look for a S3 Savage3D or Savage4 to pair with 3Dfx Voodoo because then you have Glide, MeTaL, S3TC, OpenGL and D3D.

I'll try to keep my eye out for an S3 Savage4/Savage3D, but they seem hard to find in PCI.

The cutoff date for games would be December 31 1999.

So any games between January 1st 1990-December 31st 1999 will be put on the Socket 7 machine.

One that came online today, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/198609917757

That one looks nice.

Edit: and it can't be shipped to the US. Welp.

RetroLizard wrote on Yesterday, 13:58:

MattRocks wrote on Yesterday, 12:54:

RetroLizard wrote on 2026-08-30, 04:49:

I'll try to keep my eye out for an S3 Savage4/Savage3D, but they seem hard to find in PCI.

The cutoff date for games would be December 31 1999.

So any games between January 1st 1990-December 31st 1999 will be put on the Socket 7 machine.

One that came online today, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/198609917757

That one looks nice.

Edit: and it can't be shipped to the US. Welp.

Try this link?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/198609917757

MattRocks wrote on Yesterday, 20:16:

RetroLizard wrote on Yesterday, 13:58:

MattRocks wrote on Yesterday, 12:54:

One that came online today, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/198609917757

That one looks nice.

Edit: and it can't be shipped to the US. Welp.

Try this link?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/198609917757

I messaged the seller, who said he wouldn't ship to the US. So there's that.

Something I actually did today: tried to image my Star Wars Jedi Knight Dark Forces II for my personal archives and I actually ran into some Q Sub Channel CRC Errors - not something I've seen before but the disks were rougher then I anticipated. Might need a second go through the disk polishing machine for both disks, lots of scratches over the music tracks. Probably just going to give it a go in my Win98 (slot 1, RAGE 128) PC tonight and see what happens, then worry about figuring out the archiving later.

Alesia wrote on Today, 03:40:

Something I actually did today: tried to image my Star Wars Jedi Knight Dark Forces II for my personal archives and I actually ran into some Q Sub Channel CRC Errors - not something I've seen before but the disks were rougher then I anticipated. Might need a second go through the disk polishing machine for both disks, lots of scratches over the music tracks. Probably just going to give it a go in my Win98 (slot 1, RAGE 128) PC tonight and see what happens, then worry about figuring out the archiving later.

What program are you using for making backups?

RetroLizard wrote on Today, 03:49:

Alesia wrote on Today, 03:40:

Something I actually did today: tried to image my Star Wars Jedi Knight Dark Forces II for my personal archives and I actually ran into some Q Sub Channel CRC Errors - not something I've seen before but the disks were rougher then I anticipated. Might need a second go through the disk polishing machine for both disks, lots of scratches over the music tracks. Probably just going to give it a go in my Win98 (slot 1, RAGE 128) PC tonight and see what happens, then worry about figuring out the archiving later.

What program are you using for making backups?

I tried both CDRDAO in terminal and K3B. K3B just complained about not being able to read the disk and then copied anyway with a clone copy, I'm guessing it's skipping the CD audio sections. CDRDAO threw the Q Sub Channel errors.

Used --speed, --raw read and such and it didn't change the # of errors in CDRDAO.

I'd recommend ImgBurn. It's pretty compatible, and works with Windows 95. (Or whatever os you use)