dionb wrote:

Oh, and evidence that people are actually looking for these G3 rip-offs:
Help Identifying Computer Case from CompUSA

Oh my fucking god, I actually have that EXACT same case that was shown in that thread! I don't care what you haters think, I actually like those apple-colored cases and electronics of that era and I know some people who agree with me.

MCGA wrote:

Beige goes well with BEIGE and black IMO, not squirt-gun plastic. 😀 I recall walking through Frys and just being annoyed at the craze. And at that time, our work computers were being upgraded to Smurfintoshes( Blue & Whites ). I really like the later clear plastic designs though, my Quicksiver DP G4 looks fancy.

I have to disagree with that. I'd rather match beige drives/peripherals with a colored case than match them with a black one. To each their own, but at least most of those colored cases were designed to match beige devices, black cases on the other hand.

To the moderators who've noticed me editing: I'm sorry for having to edit this post a few times, it's just that this is one of those posts that I made when I was in a bad mood so there's always going to be a time where I feel disappointed in myself for even making such a post in the first place.

luckybob wrote:

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/173/576/Wat8.jpg […]
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dionb wrote:

"YKINMKBYKIOK" 😉

"Your kink is not my kink, but your kink is okay."

Bought some random lots on ebay because they contained some items I don't have in my collection:

9 AGP/PCI video cards including a Millenium2 and a Riva128

6 PCI sound cards including 2 ESS Solo-1 and an ALS4000 (the boxed ones are another Solo-1 and another CMI8738)

They are "untested"... supposedly came from someone else's collection. We'll see; but I paid overall including shipping a little over $2 per card.

Almost bought an ATI AIW 9600 which I found cheap... but then I realized it needs a weird output cable which is not included with the card on sale, and which also is not available separately anywhere else. Chances of finding this cable at a reasonable price being very slim, I passed.

Been a pretty good (and somewhat expensive) month finding boxed video cards I don't have. I'm currently working on a Win98/XP rig and want to see the compatibility/performance for these cards.

And a couple of 90's cards I didn't have boxed:

Great stuff!

That Matrox box brings back some memories!

Got two 22" HP1230 CRTs with a manufacturing date of 2005. Picture is very nice - the 320x200 mode looks really delicious. Only strange thing is that they do not have a BNC "connector".

SEGamer wrote:

boxes of awesome

If it's not too much trouble, would you mind checking the Matrox driver disk that came with that Mystique for this video?
This is apparently an interlaced video that runs at 60 fields per second and I've been looking for it for a while now, because it's a nice showcase for video playback on early Pentiums 😀.

wow, that video is the living embodiment of 1997 computer hardware.

stamasd wrote:

Bought some random lots on ebay because they contained some items I don't have in my collection:

9 AGP/PCI video cards including a Millenium2 and a Riva128

I wonder what were they THINKING by gluing down that tiny TO-220 heatsink on a Riva 128 chip, I mean, it did cost some extra cents to add it, but it helps little to none.

F2bnp wrote:

If it's not too much trouble, would you mind checking the Matrox driver disk that came with that Mystique for this video?
This is apparently an interlaced video that runs at 60 fields per second and I've been looking for it for a while now, because it's a nice showcase for video playback on early Pentiums 😀.

I put all of the videos in an archive here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9wtovyp43ygra0f/Mat … ique%20Promo.7z

Should be 5 total, each are the same except for the text effects are in different languages. Now you can enjoy this video around the world!

SSTV2 wrote:

stamasd wrote:

Bought some random lots on ebay because they contained some items I don't have in my collection:

9 AGP/PCI video cards including a Millenium2 and a Riva128

I wonder what were they THINKING by gluing down that tiny TO-220 heatsink on a Riva 128 chip, I mean, it did cost some extra cents to add it, but it helps little to none.

Meh, it probably doesn't do any harm. Probably.
Most of the cards are as expected TNT2M64; the red one is a Radeon 9250, the Millenium2 is somewhat unusual for having memory chips on the backside of the card as well (total 8MB, model Mil2/8P/HP), and the only one with fan is a GF2MX400 - sadly a model that was factory underclocked to 175MHz.

SEGamer wrote:

F2bnp wrote:

If it's not too much trouble, would you mind checking the Matrox driver disk that came with that Mystique for this video?
This is apparently an interlaced video that runs at 60 fields per second and I've been looking for it for a while now, because it's a nice showcase for video playback on early Pentiums 😀.

I put all of the videos in an archive here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9wtovyp43ygra0f/Mat … ique%20Promo.7z

Should be 5 total, each are the same except for the text effects are in different languages. Now you can enjoy this video around the world!

You rock! Many thanks for this!

SEGamer wrote:

F2bnp wrote:

If it's not too much trouble, would you mind checking the Matrox driver disk that came with that Mystique for this video?
This is apparently an interlaced video that runs at 60 fields per second and I've been looking for it for a while now, because it's a nice showcase for video playback on early Pentiums 😀.

I put all of the videos in an archive here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9wtovyp43ygra0f/Mat … ique%20Promo.7z

Should be 5 total, each are the same except for the text effects are in different languages. Now you can enjoy this video around the world!

Could you possibly share a full image of the driver cd?

dionb wrote:

You're going to be disgusted with me now - but I've solved my dilemma by finding someone selling those cases NOS for almost nothing and ordering three more. Of which at least two are going to be instantly cannibalized for the tray, as will the ugly painted Frankencase. Number three of the new ones might just be kept as a testament to tacky crappiness (or sold on to someone who actually likes this stuff for the same price I paid).

Ahh, you’ve found one of my gold mines 😒

You should visit him sometime, he still has quite a lot of new cases and new ~2003-2007ish motherboards. I’ve been at his storage facility a couple times and have bought a lot of the good old (early 00’s) stuff. Unfortunately all his 90’s hardware was already gone, even last year.

By the way, the HQ08 that he has on stock is white with blue/purple, not the white with aqua blue variant. It’s a very ugly case, but the power supplies in them are excellent for old motherboards. Indeed, they also have the removable motherboard chassis.

SpectriaForce wrote:

Ahh, you’ve found one of my gold mines 😒

You should visit him sometime,

And I will, because shipping significant numbers of NIB ATX bigtowers isn't cheap or practical 😉

he still has quite a lot of new cases and new ~2003-2007ish motherboards. I’ve been at his storage facility a couple times and have bought a lot of the good old (early 00’s) stuff. Unfortunately all his 90’s hardware was already gone, even last year.

By the way, the HQ08 that he has on stock is white with blue/purple, not the white with aqua blue variant. It’s a very ugly case, but the power supplies in them are excellent for old motherboards. Indeed, they also have the removable motherboard chassis.

They even include the PSU? Then it's an even better deal - I am a big FSP/AOpen fan for my old systems 😀

Don't care about the looks, and I have that one aqua/blue already. Next stop Ikea for that set of drawers I want to mount those motherboard plates in...

SSTV2 wrote:

stamasd wrote:

Bought some random lots on ebay because they contained some items I don't have in my collection:

9 AGP/PCI video cards including a Millenium2 and a Riva128

I wonder what were they THINKING by gluing down that tiny TO-220 heatsink on a Riva 128 chip, I mean, it did cost some extra cents to add it, but it helps little to none.

They think in terms of life time that is relevant to the(ir) market... a few years max. and then it may go extinct. This thinking was even more aggressive back then with small home computers - according to Herd(who has lots of videos on youtube) they designed the machines and expected them to run for just a few months... at least they endured the Christmas season... anything else didn't matter.

All Riva128s and GeForce2MXs(both PCI) I have do not have a heatsink or fan, except for one ASUS based model, so I hardly have them running.

dionb wrote:

And I will, because shipping significant numbers of NIB ATX bigtowers isn't cheap or practical 😉

If you're looking for 2003-2007 period hardware, then he's the man to go to (don't know anyone else in NL who has such inventory), but you'd better be quick because he's scrapping a lot (for scrap metal) lately. What you're not going to find are AGP graphics cards ( 😊 ) and I can't remember that he has any sound cards. But you might be able to find NOS AOpen, Foxconn, Asrock, OEM Dell S478, S775, S754, S939 and perhaps the very last S462 motherboards. Last time he also had new hard drives, DVD-RW's, power supplies, RAM, CPU's, controllers, networking crap etc. It's also the place to buy new accessories like VGA and KVM cables. You'd better take a mortgage and hire a truck haha 😁

Found an SC-55MkII locally for 65 USD.. I already have an SD-35 that has me covered for GM (equivalent to SC-50 and therefore SC-55 for GM..) but it's still tempting. How good is SC-55MkII's MT-32 mode? Is the module worth it for that?

nah if you want mt-32 sounds then get a mt-32...

SpectriaForce wrote:

[...]

If you're looking for 2003-2007 period hardware, then he's the man to go to (don't know anyone else in NL who has such inventory), but you'd better be quick because he's scrapping a lot (for scrap metal) lately. What you're not going to find are AGP graphics cards ( 😊 ) and I can't remember that he has any sound cards. But you might be able to find NOS AOpen, Foxconn, Asrock, OEM Dell S478, S775, S754, S939 and perhaps the very last S462 motherboards. Last time he also had new hard drives, DVD-RW's, power supplies, RAM, CPU's, controllers, networking crap etc. It's also the place to buy new accessories like VGA and KVM cables. You'd better take a mortgage and hire a truck haha 😁

Fortunately for my wallet, my car and my storage (and my relationship 😉 ), my interest is firmly prior to 2000, so unless I see something very unusual I'll be passing on all those board. That said, a lot of Asrock stuff is firmly in the "very unusual" category, and I do have something of a fetish for ULI chipsets.

keropi wrote:

nah if you want mt-32 sounds then get a mt-32...

Or one of the other Roland devices with the same LA-32 synthesis, which can sometimes be easier/cheaper to find, particularly the MT-100.