brand new chenbro workstation case for my pentium 4 + 6800gt build.

I've been watching for quite a while for a 486 SBC with PCI. And I have specifically been watching this Advantech PCA-6149 SBC. Price finally dropped enough for me to pick it up.

Chipset is SIS 496/497

Officially supports the AMD 5x86 and Pentium OD chips.
Max officially supported FSB is 40Mhz but there are a few undocumented jumper positions.

It has onboard PCI Tseng ET4000 W32P for the video that can be upgraded to 2MB.
It has onboard VLB IDE
It has PS/2 mouse and keyboard support.
Supports up to 256MB RAM.
Comes with 256KB L2 cache which can be upgraded to 512KB.

Seller's pics.

blurks wrote:

No wonder you are so upset. Looking at your website I kinda understand this was most likely a missed opportunity for you to buy cheap and flip for the upmost profit. It's not the original owners asking for high prices that ruin the hobby, it's businesses like yours which desperately try to squeeze into the c2c market without offering any extra value.

I am not upset, nor jealous or envious for having missed an opportunity to potentially buy something cheaply. Every day new deals cross my screen. This was just one of the many. I only go after the ones that are exceptionally good value. A loose item hardly classifies for that criterium.

It’s interesting that you tell me that I don’t offer any extra value compared to private sellers. My customers are overall very satisfied (take a look at Trustpilot) and even you showed interest in one of my Diamond graphics cards a while ago, do you remember? 😉

If people start to sweat because they get a critical comment, then they should not participate at fora in the first place. We are here to discuss. I give my honest opinion, I’m not here to please everyone.

@wirerogue

That magnificent case deserves a dual-cpu monster. Like an Asus NCCH-DL.

Found this local seller (on national 'craigslist'), who has a lot of old crap which he apparantly unloads at 5 eur per item... 😀
I asked for what he had in specific item categories, and got a hit on several.

So, I eventually received some (working!) slot1 mobos (Abit BH6,MSI6168 with integrated!! voodoo3 and Soundblaster ,ASUS P5A), some vga cards S3 PCI, agp voodoo 3000, riva128ZX agp, cpu P75 and some ibm/cyrix pentium class ones, etc etc... --- for 5 eur each that is... 😲

He also had a slotA mobo with a 750mhz AMD cpu, as well as a socket 4 mobo with a P60 cpu (Dallas battery though). Which I passed on. Not sure if they are rare or worthwile now, but I felt I did not need those, so...

And also same place, today I bought an Asus GTX770 for 10 euro(is this cheap?), working according the housecleaning seller.

I believe this is the best time to stock up on powerful winXP graphics cards, 900-series not accounted for (apparantly work, but not officially supported).

And also got 4x 512mb ram, corsair 3200 but pro version with cl2, for 10 euro.

....hmm, seems like I have given up ebay for retro hardware, local sources are so much cheaper and better, heh...
I even passed on several good/modern(!) 17-19 CRT monitors due to space constraints and existing stock. But still wish I'd bought them, as they will be impossible to find later...
(19'' Viewsonic trinitron with detachable! vga cable, manuf.2004, 40euro)

luckybob wrote:

@wirerogue

That magnificent case deserves a dual-cpu monster. Like an Asus NCCH-DL.

a dually is a pretty good idea for that case. i don't think i will build one right now but, i might pick up another case just to be safe. 😈

SpectriaForce wrote:

It’s interesting that you tell me that I don’t offer any extra value compared to private sellers. My customers are overall very satisfied (take a look at Trustpilot) and even you showed interest in one of my Diamond graphics cards a while ago, do you remember? 😉

Oh yes of course, I offered a realistic sum compared to the asking price and had an exceptional grin on my face when I realized for how much all those nice Pentium Overdrives and the Diamond card sold on eBay in the end. Hope you liked it too. 😀

blurks wrote:

SpectriaForce wrote:

It’s interesting that you tell me that I don’t offer any extra value compared to private sellers. My customers are overall very satisfied (take a look at Trustpilot) and even you showed interest in one of my Diamond graphics cards a while ago, do you remember? 😉

Yes, I offered a realistic sum compared to the asking price and had an exceptional grin on my face when I realized for how much all those nice Pentium Overdrives and the Diamond card sold on eBay. Hope you liked it too. 😀

Well then we have both laughed 😀

Those items came from a huge pc lot from a friend, who sold his collection to me for an affordable price. In the end my friend, I and the winners of the auctions all won 😀

By the way, I am always open for offers, but it depends on some variables whether I accept them.

wirerogue wrote:

brand new chenbro workstation case for my pentium 4 + 6800gt build.
Images unquoted

Very clean, unassuming style. Very classic!

cyclone3d wrote:

I've been watching for quite a while for a 486 SBC with PCI. And I have specifically been watching this Advantech PCA-6149 SBC. […]
Show full quote

I've been watching for quite a while for a 486 SBC with PCI. And I have specifically been watching this Advantech PCA-6149 SBC. Price finally dropped enough for me to pick it up.

Chipset is SIS 496/497

Officially supports the AMD 5x86 and Pentium OD chips.
Max officially supported FSB is 40Mhz but there are a few undocumented jumper positions.

It has onboard PCI Tseng ET4000 W32P for the video that can be upgraded to 2MB.
It has onboard VLB IDE
It has PS/2 mouse and keyboard support.
Supports up to 256MB RAM.
Comes with 256KB L2 cache which can be upgraded to 512KB.

Seller's pics.

Advantech PCA-6149 boxed with acc.jpg

Advantech PCA-6149 left half.jpg

Advantech PCA-6149 right half.jpg

Advantech PCA-6149 back.jpg

Advantech PCA-6149 bracket ports.jpg

That is a nice piece of hardware. I fully see why you wanted it. 😀
I have in my posession, an ET4000w32 PCI card. And I have mixed feelings about it.
Not really a fast PCI card, and it is running really hot compared to other PCI cards (S3-Trio64/Virge325).
Yet the VGA signal is extremely good, compared to other ET4000 cards.

Then I have another ET4000 card, that I really... I mean REALLY like.
It has the same clean and strong VGA signal. Yet I wished it was a VLB version.

These are the card's that I have:

I strongly recommend them, if you are after an ET4000. Just because of the VGA signal.
Absolutely no spaghetti lines or jailbars if you like. Much better than most cards of that era.

cyclone3d wrote:

Chipset is SIS 496/497 […]
Show full quote

Chipset is SIS 496/497

Officially supports the AMD 5x86 and Pentium OD chips.
Max officially supported FSB is 40Mhz but there are a few undocumented jumper positions.

It has onboard PCI Tseng ET4000 W32P for the video that can be upgraded to 2MB.
It has onboard VLB IDE
It has PS/2 mouse and keyboard support.
Supports up to 256MB RAM.
Comes with 256KB L2 cache which can be upgraded to 512KB.

Pretty much an ultimate 486 configuration, congratulations! Come to think of it, if you put it in a small enclosure with a Gotek and a CF-IDE adapter, you get the closest thing to a NES Mini-like experience. I wonder if these things have any compatibility issues with ISA sound cards.

wirerogue wrote:

brand new chenbro workstation case for my pentium 4 + 6800gt build.

Looks so cool! What's the point of that trapdoor on the faceplate though?

bestemor wrote:

So, I eventually received some (working!) slot1 mobos (Abit BH6,MSI6168 with integrated!! voodoo3 and Soundblaster ,ASUS P5A), some vga cards S3 PCI, agp voodoo 3000, riva128ZX agp, cpu P75 and some ibm/cyrix pentium class ones, etc etc... --- for 5 eur each that is... 😲

He also had a slotA mobo with a 750mhz AMD cpu, as well as a socket 4 mobo with a P60 cpu (Dallas battery though). Which I passed on. Not sure if they are rare or worthwile now, but I felt I did not need those, so...

Such an awesome score. The MSI board is especially desireable, but I also feel jealous for your P5A 😀 I've been looking for a cheap SS7 ATX board for a while now.

Personally, I have a soft spot for Socket 4. It's the OG Pentium, weird, pricey (at the time) and somewhat exotic — at least compared to regular Socket 5/7 Pentiums. In practice it doesn't have a lot going for it. Basically 486 DX4 levels of performance without some of the caveats that 486 systems often have. Intel-made Soc4 boards (Batman, Batman Revenge) also have useable Turbo header that gives you something close to mid-386. Some games will actually run better on DX4, though — e.g., Duke Nukem 3D really likes 100 MHz chips.

wirerogue wrote:

brand new chenbro workstation case for my pentium 4 + 6800gt build.

Wow, neat! I think that case deserves a bit of golden spray paint with that layout 😜

jheronimus wrote:

wirerogue wrote:

brand new chenbro workstation case for my pentium 4 + 6800gt build.

Looks so cool! What's the point of that trapdoor on the faceplate though?

that would be a removable drive cage. the green rails are for an additional 92mm fan.

there is also an option for a sas/sata backplane but, that option appears to only come in black. 😒

brostenen wrote:

That is a nice piece of hardware. I fully see why you wanted it. :-) I have in my posession, an ET4000w32 PCI card. And I have m […]
Show full quote

That is a nice piece of hardware. I fully see why you wanted it. 😀
I have in my posession, an ET4000w32 PCI card. And I have mixed feelings about it.
Not really a fast PCI card, and it is running really hot compared to other PCI cards (S3-Trio64/Virge325).
Yet the VGA signal is extremely good, compared to other ET4000 cards.

Then I have another ET4000 card, that I really... I mean REALLY like.
It has the same clean and strong VGA signal. Yet I wished it was a VLB version.

These are the card's that I have:

ET-4000-PCI.jpg

ET4000-ProDesignerII.jpg

I strongly recommend them, if you are after an ET4000. Just because of the VGA signal.
Absolutely no spaghetti lines or jailbars if you like. Much better than most cards of that era.

I actually have quite a few ISA ET4000 cards. I wasn't even trying to get them. Most came in lots that I bought because of other cards in the lots I wanted.

I might have a VLB ET4000 but not sure. I have a VLB card somewhere that needs some traces repaire don the back but not sure what it is.

The card I am using in my VLB setup has a S3 Trio 64v chipset.
I also have a couple VLB ATI MACH32 ccards. One with DRAM, and the other with VRAM.

I have a couple ET6000 PCI cards.

jheronimus wrote:

cyclone3d wrote:

Chipset is SIS 496/497 […]
Show full quote

Chipset is SIS 496/497

Officially supports the AMD 5x86 and Pentium OD chips.
Max officially supported FSB is 40Mhz but there are a few undocumented jumper positions.

It has onboard PCI Tseng ET4000 W32P for the video that can be upgraded to 2MB.
It has onboard VLB IDE
It has PS/2 mouse and keyboard support.
Supports up to 256MB RAM.
Comes with 256KB L2 cache which can be upgraded to 512KB.

Pretty much an ultimate 486 configuration, congratulations! Come to think of it, if you put it in a small enclosure with a Gotek and a CF-IDE adapter, you get the closest thing to a NES Mini-like experience. I wonder if these things have any compatibility issues with ISA sound cards.

They should work with any cards just like a regular 486 board. Was planning on putting it on a backplane with some PCI and a lot of ISA slots in a rackmount enclosure.

There are also half-length ISA only SBCs. I have one with an embedded 386SX-33.... But you can get ones with much faster CPUs as well. One of those would make for an even smaller setup and you could just use a 2 or 3-slot ISA riser with the edge connector cut off to make a mini backplane.

For the ultimate mini retro PC, you could always use a PC-104 setup with an ISA slot expansion. I don't think you can really get any smaller than that.

dionb wrote:

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

I'm as much in favour of an amazing deal as anyone, but only if it's an honest deal where the seller knows what he's selling or makes absolutely clear he doesn't care.

QFT. Really, buying something off people who don't understand its true value is essentially taking advantage of them.

blurks wrote:

dionb wrote:

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

You have my full support here.

And MY AXE!

But what is its true value ? The one you see on ebay that nobody buys ? The one you have in your mind (in mine none of this is that valuable, thus I get my hardware for cheap) which will depend from person to person ? The value decided by the community ?

Deksor wrote:

But what is its true value ? The one you see on ebay that nobody buys ? The one you have in your mind (in mine none of this is that valuable, thus I get my hardware for cheap) which will depend from person to person ? The value decided by the community ?

You know what I mean: buying for pennies something that can easily be sold for tens or hundreds of dollars/euro/pounds. Especially if your goal is to make profit out of it.