Tomorrow I'll start a thread as I have found a solution to my problem.
The plastic cap pops off and you find a VIA VT82885N chip with a battery soldered to the VCC pins.

Didn't really need one of these, but it was cheap. And beige.

I thought I might use it to switch between my 98SE and XP HDDs for my Athlon XP/KT133A build. But probably a lot easier to open the case and just move the IDE cable and Molex power connectors.

boxpressed wrote on 2020-04-21, 02:45:

Didn't really need one of these, but it was cheap. And beige.

I thought I might use it to switch between my 98SE and XP HDDs for my Athlon XP/KT133A build. But probably a lot easier to open the case and just move the IDE cable and Molex power connectors.

IMG_9241.jpg

I tried drive docks back in the day. When they work they are fine but they tend to be super flaky.

bjwil1991 wrote on 2020-04-21, 00:05:

Cirrus Logic CL-GD5429-86QC QFP video chip for my Packard Bell (upgrading from the 5428 for better DOS performance),

What kind of gain do you expect from that ?
It's on a PB450 ?
Because mine is abysmal, even with a DX4-100 OD it's basically just above a standard DX2-66 performance 🙁

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-04-21, 04:15:

boxpressed wrote on 2020-04-21, 02:45:

Didn't really need one of these, but it was cheap. And beige.

I thought I might use it to switch between my 98SE and XP HDDs for my Athlon XP/KT133A build. But probably a lot easier to open the case and just move the IDE cable and Molex power connectors.

IMG_9241.jpg

I tried drive docks back in the day. When they work they are fine but they tend to be super flaky.

I used them a lot in the early days and never had any issues ^^

Got two Goldstar Prime ISA I/O cards, paid €5 for each. One's a Prime 2C, the other just a P2. The P2C has the jumper settings silkscreened on the back, but the P2 does not. All the pictures I can find of this P2 (AIO-200G) have them unpopulated, and I can't find any resources about them. I figure I might need to experiment with this card and figure out what jumper does what. Most I really care about is the ability to turn off the Gameport, in case I put it in a system with a Gameport-equipped soundcard. I mainly bought them for my upcoming 386DX40 build, one for the system and one as a spare (that I might use in a different system, maybe if I ever dabble with a 286), so the P2C is likely going in the 386.

I also gave the P2C some fresh caps. Why? Well, I had three Panasonic 25V, 10uF caps spare from a Mouser order (polarized despite the lack of a clear marking on the cap itself), and this one had two 16V, 10uF caps. Yeah, it's completely pointless, but it's a few-minutes job with my desolder station, and hey, fresh caps make me happy, so there's that 😜

imi wrote on 2020-04-20, 17:06:

don't think this needs any words :3

hardware38_13.jpg

I was watching this auction as well... initially the card was listed with the "Buy now" option enabled for only 30€, I was tempted to buy it but didn't do it because I didn't have any real use for the card... 😄

why'd you have to tell me this x3 I'd have bought it straight away... it's a pity the ebay alert system isn't useful at all, I often get emails about new things a day after I've already found them myself x3

edit: 🤣... just after I posted this I got an email from ebay about a new listing... with buy it now...

I now finally have a Vortex 2 😁

Just a single card today - but an interesting one. Top in this picture is the AudioExcel AV310 I already had, below the new acquisition.

CMI8330 cards are always welcome - I like their SBPro2+SB16 support and bug-free MIDI (and can forgive iffy FM). But take a look under the MIDI/gameport connector. Every other AV310 I know has those pads unpopulated. This one has stuff there with "3D Surround" silkscreened on it. Interesting 😀

dionb wrote on 2020-04-21, 22:09:

Just a single card today - but an interesting one. Top in this picture is the AudioExcel AV310 I already had, below the new acquisition.
15875065682960.jpg

CMI8330 cards are always welcome - I like their SBPro2+SB16 support and bug-free MIDI (and can forgive iffy FM). But take a look under the MIDI/gameport connector. Every other AV310 I know has those pads unpopulated. This one has stuff there with "3D Surround" silkscreened on it. Interesting 😀

I also happen to have one of these cards (Zoltrix Audio Plus 6400 3D PnP V.5 AV310 - quite a mouthful indeed), but I never thought much of it because its OPL3 Synth is considered to be particularly subpar. I should certainly try it out sometime!

My SixyClone board arrived the other day. It took me some time to take a decent picture, as my camera does not like the board for some reason. I must say that I am impressed. High quality and feel like better quality than the original. And it looks so sweet with the black and gold and white letters. I am deeply impressed by this board, and I think it is well worth the money. As I have done my 500-Desktop machine already (I really thought it would take me a whole year), then this will be my new 2020 project. To make a complete and as new as possible Commodore64. Ready for the next 30 to 40 years of use.

appiah4 wrote on 2020-04-22, 08:57:

I also happen to have one of these cards (Zoltrix Audio Plus 6400 3D PnP V.5 AV310 - quite a mouthful indeed), but I never thoug […]
Show full quote

dionb wrote on 2020-04-21, 22:09:

Just a single card today - but an interesting one. Top in this picture is the AudioExcel AV310 I already had, below the new acquisition.
15875065682960.jpg

CMI8330 cards are always welcome - I like their SBPro2+SB16 support and bug-free MIDI (and can forgive iffy FM). But take a look under the MIDI/gameport connector. Every other AV310 I know has those pads unpopulated. This one has stuff there with "3D Surround" silkscreened on it. Interesting 😀

I also happen to have one of these cards (Zoltrix Audio Plus 6400 3D PnP V.5 AV310 - quite a mouthful indeed), but I never thought much of it because its OPL3 Synth is considered to be particularly subpar. I should certainly try it out sometime!

OPL isn't great, but it's far from the worst, I'd say closer to CQM than AD/OPTi nastiness.

OPL aside I really like this though - good SB16 compatiblity (no, no ADPCM, but unless you're a Duke Nukem 2 fan, that's not too relevant), SBPro2 compatibility, but also WSS support and bug-free MPU401 MIDI. Oh, and digital in/out.

Haven't got anything new lately but I have reorganized all my computer stuff. Glad I did it because now it is far far easier to locate stuff when I want it.

Bought finally genuine 12ns SRAM chips for my experiments. Just 8kx8, but still -12 😀

One of my system will get 64k L2 cache....

nice :3
these sure are hard to find.

Nothing exciting, but something very helpful.

I am slowly trying to convert all of my retro PCs to have CF on these PCI brackets as the easy access to transfer files is a gamechanger.

i've been playing musical cases lately with my p4 3.0, 5950 ultra build.
first, i had it in an antec slk1600 but, cooling wasn't very good and i needed a home for my p4 1.9, geforce4 ti4600 build.
then i moved it to an antec slk2650 which has a little better cooling due to 120mm case fan but, the case was black and still a little on the small side for this much heat.

i think this will be it's new permanent home.
nos antec sx1000ii in oem packaging.

wirerogue wrote on 2020-04-22, 19:16:

i think this will be it's new permanent home.
nos antec sx1000ii in oem packaging.

The attachment antec.sx1000ii.iso.jpg is no longer available

mmmmmm purty

LewisRaz wrote on 2020-04-22, 14:08:

Nothing exciting, but something very helpful.

I am slowly trying to convert all of my retro PCs to have CF on these PCI brackets as the easy access to transfer files is a gamechanger.

I have been doing the same thing. I'm using one of these things to easily transfer files from my main machine:

https://www.photechcomputers.com.au/photech-p … sd-hc-sdxc.html

Also, front loading CF drive bays are actually a great option as well:

https://www.startech.com/HDD/Card-Readers/Int … ure~35BAYCF2IDE

hiding them in IDE mobile racks is also a possibility 😉