First post, by XCVG
- Rank
- Newbie
I'm not really sure how this project came about. I kind of stumbled across retro hardware videos (LGR, Philscomputerlab, and others) while trawling YouTube a few months back and at some point I realized that a) this stuff is pretty cool and b) I still have a few bits left. I haven't done hardware in a long time and I think this is a cool project for both nostalgia and curiosity. I'd like to try , because I don't remember any of it very well.
I think I'm pretty young for this forum. The computer I'm (re)building is a Pentium 133, Socket 7 system. I still have the original CPU, motherboard, RAM, video card, sound card, and a few miscellaneous bits. The CPU still works despite being knocked around quite a bit and displayed on a wall for many years. The motherboard is in terrible physical condition and at one point was used in a middle-school art project. The RAM and video card seem to be okay, but the sound card is missing bits. I've picked up some new and spare pieces locally and online.
The final system is not going to be exactly the same as what I had. I've set some hard limits for myself: it must be Socket 7 (not Super Socket 7), must use and Intel processor, and must use the original motherboard if at all possible. However, there are some upgrades I want to try. I've already ordered a Voodoo accelerator to go with the original 2D-only Mach64, and I have a Pentium MMX 233 to play with. I'm also using a Kingspec disk on module (DOM) and a modern power supply, because I only have bad memories of those parts.
I'm going to be doing a YouTube series with accompanying writeups on my website. I consider those a significant part of the project and not just an afterthought; documenting my experiences and sharing them is going to be a big part of this.
I posted the first video and writeup a few days ago, which talks about the project in general terms and lists out the parts I'm planning on using.
I've actually made some progress since then. My power supply adapter showed up, along with my spare/substitute motherboard and a few other bits. I was able to test both motherboards and they seem to work, though not entirely without issues. My original motherboard has a dead Dallas RTC and doesn't seem to want to boot from floppy (though my floppy drive might be dead). It also doesn't like the 233MMX much, but that's hardly surprising. My substitute board fared better despite being terribly packed for its trip halfway across the world.
I also had to hack up my DOM because they'd wired the key pin to +5V which resulted in a dead short with my motherboard. Fortunately, my absurdly overkill power supply shut down safely instead of blowing traces off the board.
In any case... well, actually I'm waiting for a case. When I have time I'll try to hack up the Dallas module and see if I can get it to at least boot DOS.