These two set me back about as much as a lunch so I thought why not..

Bought a couple Cooler Master fan speed controllers for my "Ultimate Windows 98 builds"
These are going into Lian Li Silver Aluminum cases to control the case fans, CPU fan, and Voodoo-3 video card fan.
They are going to look Awsome !
These display the temperature and fan RPM's.

Just pulled the trigger on an ASRock 775 Dual VSTA!

https://asrock.com/mb/VIA/775Dual-VSTA/index. … p#Specification

It supports Core2Duo processors and AGP at 1066mhz! To my knowledge, this is the fastest motherboard with an AGP slot.

I am going to pair it with a intel 6500k, which is a pentium dual core with an unlocked multiplier! Because I am going crazy, might as well try for a 4.0ghz overclock too. Why not.

I have a 256mb 7800gtx and a Quadro FX 2000. I'll be using the Quadro, but it will be fun to try some benchmarks with the 7800gtx and DDR2 memory.

Sometime next week I will receive this power supply. This is going to be another component for a retro rig I'm working on.

liqmat wrote:

arncht wrote:

What is the chipset of the paradise? Ark2000?

So yes, it is detected as an ARK2000PV chipset. It only has 1MB (exp. to 2MB), but man, in benchmarks this thing is only a hair slower than the 4MB Matrox Millennium which is one of my best DOS PCI performers. Both of them outpace the 32MB Savage 4 in DRHARD benchmarks.

The millennium is slower than the et6000 or the riva128. I measured it is on similar level than the s3 in socket 7, and slighly slower in socket 5.

arncht wrote:

liqmat wrote:

arncht wrote:

What is the chipset of the paradise? Ark2000?

So yes, it is detected as an ARK2000PV chipset. It only has 1MB (exp. to 2MB), but man, in benchmarks this thing is only a hair slower than the 4MB Matrox Millennium which is one of my best DOS PCI performers. Both of them outpace the 32MB Savage 4 in DRHARD benchmarks.

The millennium is slower than the et6000 or the riva128. I measured it is on similar level than the s3 in socket 7, and slighly slower in socket 5.

I guess my point is I was surprised that little Paradise card performed as well as it did. I was expecting more Trident level results. It will certainly do just fine for 2D games. It has been a couple of decades so I had forgotten just how bad many of the Trident cards perform.

I have an ARK1000 and it is also an amazing DOS performer as well.

appiah4 wrote:

I have an ARK1000 and it is also an amazing DOS performer as well.

True. I benchmarked ARK1000 against several other PCI 2D cards and nothing came even close in my tests.

What improvements does the ARK2000 have over the 1000? MPEG decoder perhaps? Does anyone know? Never did find any spec sheets for either chip.

appiah4 wrote:

What improvements does the ARK2000 have over the 1000? MPEG decoder perhaps? Does anyone know? Never did find any spec sheets for either chip.

2000pv - 64bit
2000mt - mpeg acceleration

with a 233mmx under dos

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eXksI … MVZU/edit#gid=0

My actual PCI card ranking:
94,44% Diamond Stealth 64 Video 2001 2M PCI S3 Trio64V+
94,81% Hercules Terminator 3D/DX 4M PCI S3 ViRGE/DX
95,40% Matrox Millenium 4M PCI
99,33% Hercules Dynamite 128 4M PCI Tseng ET6000
99,45% Hercules Dynamite 128 2M PCI Tseng ET6000
100,00% Asus 3DP-V3000 4M PCI NVIDIA Riva128

I guess 64-bit and MPEG Acceleration could be useful for Socket 5 or thereabouts but for 486SX/DX/DX2 I'd bet they are essentially useless..

arncht wrote:

2000pv - 64bit 2000mt - mpeg acceleration […]
Show full quote

appiah4 wrote:

What improvements does the ARK2000 have over the 1000? MPEG decoder perhaps? Does anyone know? Never did find any spec sheets for either chip.

2000pv - 64bit
2000mt - mpeg acceleration

with a 233mmx under dos

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eXksI … MVZU/edit#gid=0

My actual PCI card ranking:
94,44% Diamond Stealth 64 Video 2001 2M PCI S3 Trio64V+
94,81% Hercules Terminator 3D/DX 4M PCI S3 ViRGE/DX
95,40% Matrox Millenium 4M PCI
99,33% Hercules Dynamite 128 4M PCI Tseng ET6000
99,45% Hercules Dynamite 128 2M PCI Tseng ET6000
100,00% Asus 3DP-V3000 4M PCI NVIDIA Riva128

You are much more organized than I. Although, I don't collect and just try to find homes for my orphans. I will admit I am rather shallow. I really go for physical appearance rather than performance when it comes to video cards as I am rarely going to use any of them. That recent ET6000 you picked up is just beautiful to look at. If I didn't move around so much I would probably have some framed and on a wall.

One of my favorite cards with good looks that I have acquired is the Number Nine Imagine 128 Pro. This card has since gone to Merovign's collection since I just can't keep this stuff.

yeah, they are really nice. i just hope, the quality is better, than the hercules cards 😁

liqmat wrote:

<snip>

One of my favorite cards with good looks that I have acquired is the Number Nine Imagine 128 Pro. This card has since gone to Merovign's collection since I just can't keep this stuff.

Number Nine Imagine 128 Pro.jpg

My god it's perfect.

arncht wrote:

yeah, they are really nice. i just hope, the quality is better, than the hercules cards 😁

Yeah, like so many "Pro" cards of the time it had horrendous DOS performance, but was really good at specific software packages like CAD.

mpe wrote:

The early ceramic P60 has cost me an arm and a leg but at least my Socket 4 collection is growing.

FDIV! 😎

Snagged an ABIT KA7 for peanuts.
Obviously the caps are all OK, as seen on the pic 😉
Tho I'm fairly sure theres a few other issues with it, can you find them ? =)

As someone who has recapped KA7 in the past. This board is HIGHLY sensitive to bad caps. The missing atx connector is a bit odd.

if you do recap it, make sure you get the lowest ESR you can.

luckybob wrote:

As someone who has recapped KA7 in the past. This board is HIGHLY sensitive to bad caps. The missing atx connector is a bit odd.

if you do recap it, make sure you get the lowest ESR you can.

Presumably someone has used it for spares once the caps got bad enough to stop POST.
Apart from the ATX connector I also spot the missing battery holder.
Once I get it I'm gonna do a thorough check over before I spend any real time or components on it =)

mothergoose729 wrote:

Just pulled the trigger on an ASRock 775 Dual VSTA!

https://asrock.com/mb/VIA/775Dual-VSTA/index. … p#Specification

It supports Core2Duo processors and AGP at 1066mhz! To my knowledge, this is the fastest motherboard with an AGP slot.

I like these boards, they're very versatile. I have the S478 version because I couldn't afford to replace my Radeon 8500 at the time, so the PCIe gave me the option. It's a nice middle ground between legacy PIII/P4 hardware like IDE, DDR2, AGP and later tech such as PCIe, SATA and dual channel RAM. They last forever and the range of components you can hook up to it is as long as your arm, as they say.