Munx wrote:

[...]

Just noticed that one of the cases is just like the one I found recently - contained a UMC PCI/VLB motherboard with an AMD DX100. Shame it doesn't have an LED display for the Turbo speed.

Are you sure it doesn't? Can't look right now as there is a pile of other systems on top of this one (FWP 😜 ) but I have the distinct feeling there's one behind that black panel above turbo & reset.

spiroyster wrote:

[...]

This has to be the single most interesting bit of hardware I think I have seen on here. Perspex case is one thing... windows (no punn intended) on the components themselves are another entirely! Congrats.

Apparently this was used as an eye-catcher at computer fairs. It's entirely possible I might even have seen it in action, as there are some materials dating to 1998 which was around when I started to become a regular, and I certainly remember similar things. That date would also explain the very low prices on labels attached to some of the systems, the equivalent of EUR 20 for a 386DX40. Any earlier and it would have been worth more, any later and no one would be interested at any price - which I suppose is how these things ended up in that attic.

That 5150 clone case... does it have a recess for a badge? All those style cases I have seen all have the same sized recess for the badge, which does not fit the I----B----M badge on there. I've not seen the IBM logo strecthed like that, but given the 'perspex' item this guy had, maybe it is some form of prototype itself? who knows.

It has a recess for a badge - exactly the size of the "I B M" logo, so much wider than regular IBM badges.

Are those PS/2's MCA?

The Model 55 SX is MCA, the Model 30 286 is ISA.

Talking of that stuff, here's the software/documentation:

Nothing too spectacular. Sealed MSDOS 5, MSDOS 6 Upgrade & Central Point Backup 7. system manuals for Philips PC and Vendex Headstart systems, Targed-branded DR-DOS 6 manual + install media, a nice Spinrite 2.0 manual + media set, and various manuals & driver disks. If I have time I'll see if there's anything urgently needing uploading.

dionb wrote:

Are you sure it doesn't? Can't look right now as there is a pile of other systems on top of this one (FWP 😜 ) but I have the distinct feeling there's one behind that black panel above turbo & reset.

I havent got anything inside it yet so I cannot show it on, but there are LED lights behind the dark panel which should light up the words "high speed" and "low speed". No number panel sadly, however that should make things 700% more easy after a CPU change 🤣

Bit on this a couple days ago but waited to post until I had shipping confirmation due to the flakey sellers I have dealt with as of late. No idea of the actual internals. Anybody want to take a guess?

Listing said 133Mhz CPU and 8 ISA slots. So if that is true, it either has to be an AMD 5x86 or Cyrix 5x86.

Seller''s pics

Also received this yesterday - seller's pic

To go along with this, which is still on it's way - seller's pic

It is the 16-bit card which has MPU-401 compatibility but since it is pretty rare there isn't much actual testing data available to see exactly how well the intelligent mode works.

I have trouble using it with KQ4, but I want to test it with a S7 motherboard in case ACPI is causing issues.

I think that MOTU was a serious card to really do serious work but it has so much going on it will conflict with games that expect "simpler" things... I am interested to hear how it behaves though!!!

It's a stunningly beautiful card in any event. If it doesn't deliver the gaming goods, frame it and display it 😉

YMF724 with spdif and sblink. Only one I have come across!

cyclone3d wrote:

Bit on this a couple days ago but waited to post until I had shipping confirmation due to the flakey sellers I have dealt with a […]
Show full quote

Bit on this a couple days ago but waited to post until I had shipping confirmation due to the flakey sellers I have dealt with as of late. No idea of the actual internals. Anybody want to take a guess?

Listing said 133Mhz CPU and 8 ISA slots. So if that is true, it either has to be an AMD 5x86 or Cyrix 5x86.

Seller''s pics

front.jpg

back.jpg

My guess is that this is some Pentium box - P133 probably.

kixs wrote:

cyclone3d wrote:

Bit on this a couple days ago but waited to post until I had shipping confirmation due to the flakey sellers I have dealt with a […]
Show full quote

Bit on this a couple days ago but waited to post until I had shipping confirmation due to the flakey sellers I have dealt with as of late. No idea of the actual internals. Anybody want to take a guess?

Listing said 133Mhz CPU and 8 ISA slots. So if that is true, it either has to be an AMD 5x86 or Cyrix 5x86.

Seller''s pics

front.jpg

back.jpg

My guess is that this is some Pentium box - P133 probably.

Could be, but then it wouldn't have 8 ISA slots.

Once I receive it, I'll see what's in it and then post back here.

Seller might not know the difference between slots. I once bought a PC in a similar case. Seller told it's 486. I opened the case and there was an AT mobo with Pentium II inside 🤣

kixs wrote:

Seller might not know the difference between slots. I once bought a PC in a similar case. Seller told it's 486. I opened the case and there was an AT mobo with Pentium II inside 🤣

True, it could be something different entirely, but the same seller had/has a bunch of other old computers and also lists the slots in them, such as AGP, PCI, and ISA... so I tend to think they know what the different slots look like.

I think it's a Cyrix 586 133mhz, just to make you happy 😎 🤣

Really would be nice.

meljor wrote:

I think it's a Cyrix 586 133mhz, just to make you happy 😎 🤣

Really would be nice.

HAHA.. in my dreams! If it is, I just might have a heart attack.

cyclone3d wrote:

meljor wrote:

I think it's a Cyrix 586 133mhz, just to make you happy 😎 🤣

Really would be nice.

HAHA.. in my dreams! If it is, I just might have a heart attack.

Maybe just a NexGen Nx586-P133 with NxVL board 🤣

^I'm leaning towards some sort of upgrade chip (Evergreen, TurboChip, or something; I guess those are still AMD/Cyrix 5x86 chips at heart, though). 133MHz Socket 3 chips are usually paired with PCI-supporting MBs; 8 ISA slots + 133MHz comes off to me like something was upgraded. Then again, the seller might just be confused.

Also going to put a wild guess here and posit that the sound card is some model of SB16.

EDIT: I noticed that the VGA port is "upside down", suggesting a PCI video card. Now I'm leaning toward it being just a bog-standard Pentium.

Got this Slot 1 machine for 20 bucks. The seller assured me there is a 1GHz Pentium 3 inside, but all I found was a 500 MHz. Anyways, there is a lot about this rig that made me excited:

1) The case

I generally prefer desktop cases, but I really liked this tower. Sort of a PowerMac rip-off, but clearly period-correct, non-generic (unlike the InWin cases I use), pretty well-made, and to me this Energy sticker is awesome. I did, however, had to spend good 10 minutes before I figured out the way to open it — it simply didn't have any visible screws. Turned out, you have to remove the front cover to reveal the screws. Weird, but okay:

2) The motherboard

There is another issue with this case: it has a wide and short layout (sort of like InWin A500), so the PSU hovers around the whole CPU area of the motherboard. So I had to remove the PSU to make this shot. A removable motherboard tray would be really useful here.

It's a Supermicro P6SBA. I really like Supermicro stuff — gives you a bit of a "workstation" feel (they mostly make server hardware even though this particular board doesn’t have any high-end features). But also because it uses the awesome and ridiculous AMI WinBIOS. I think they are one of the few companies that sticked to it past the 486 times:

3) The videocard

It's a 3DLabs Permedia 2. As far as I understand, this was 3Dlabs' attempt to make their workstation cards more gamer-friendly. Doesn't look too serious (not a full-length card with weird design), but still nice. Also, one of the first somewhat rare videocards in my collection.

It does, however, fail to display WinBIOS menu for some reason, so I had to swap with Riva TNT2 for the time being:

4) The extras

Now this is where things get truly awesome for me. You can see there is an AT faceplate for ATX cases, an early ATX faceplate (both fairly rare) and port stickers for everything.

Also notice the CD-ROM faceplate. Unfortunately, I don't have the original CD-ROM, so I'll have to find something that aligns with the cutouts from this faceplate. I also think I'll have to attempt retrobrite on this case.

All in all, it sucks that I didn't get a 1GHz Slot 1. However, I did get a pretty awesome early 440BX motherboard with 3 ISA slots. I'm thinking this gives me an excuse to make a roughly 1998 build that will show the transition from DOS to Windows. It will have both Voodoo 2 SLI and a nice selection of DOS sound stuff like a SoundBlaster 16 with true OPL3, a Roland SC-55 and maybe even my Yamaha SW60XG.

jheronimus wrote:

You can see there is an AT faceplate for ATX cases, an early ATX faceplate (both fairly rare) and port stickers for everything.

Actually...

Part of that Pentium Pro haul.

Are those early ATX backplates on sale anywhere? Need one for my K6 🙁

I could really use a few of the AT keyboard faceplates .. Making my own from blanks after waiting 6 weeks for shipping from china is a right pain. But I may end up having to do that!

There are blank ones. I sure as heck wish I can find one for an ATX case for a sleeper build for either a 486 or Pentium MMX builds.