Niiiiiiiice.

I like it! Looking forward to seeing it completed and humming along smoothly 😀

Good start. But imo it's way too early to present this rig as a completed one. Your PSU could perhaps use a little cleaning up though (just look at the exhaust fan 😜).

Your AT case looks really nice btw! And I like the parts that you picked (so far) 😀

Do you have any of the front bezel faceplates of the case? With one optical drive and one floppy drive you'll still be left with 2 holes if you don't cover them up otherwise 😜

I don't mind the Celeron sticker on the front of the case though, it's still Intel. I wonder what was originally in there? AT Slot 1 or s370 motherboards were never really plentiful.

Oh it's certainly not over, I thought of this thread as kind of a build blog as I move forward with it.. I actually opened up and cleaned the PSU, this is after cleaning it, the dust was incredibly dense. I did not however remove and clean the fan, I am planning on completely replacing it with a new one. The case also has space for an 80mm intake fan at the front, but I doubt this PC would ever need that kind of ventilation..

Thanks for the kind words on the choice of parts. I half went with what I had at hand, but I think it's coming together really nicely.

All faceplates are missing and need to be replaced. I will add one floppy and one 3.5" USB card reader so that covers the 3.5" bays, but I plan on adding a single CDROM so I need at least two for the 5.25". No idea where to find these though 🙁 I may end up making my own from plasticard and spray painting them.

I believe the case is from a Celeron 300-500MHz typical business machine of the era from '98-'99. I might replace the sticker with a Pentium MMX sticker if I find one, or keep it for authenticity 😀

Ah I see. Looking forward to your build blog 😁

Since you intend to use a Voodoo 2, you might want to reconsider adding that front 80mm fan. These fans should be very cheap and case ventilation in AT cases is pretty poor compared to even older beige ATX cases and you will probably want to help keep your Voodoo 2 a little bit extra cool 😀

I like the way you used what you had available for your build. It reminds me of how I used to build them back when I still had very few parts to choose from. It does teach one to be resourceful 😀

When it comes to the faceplates of AT cases, I noticed that most AT cases came with their own faceplates and using faceplates from other sources (usually other AT cases) will usually not be a perfect fit. I did manage to kinda press these mismatching faceplates into position, but either the faceplates are a bit too small or too wide and often these plastic latches don't line up with the insides of the case and they kidna kept falling out 🤣
In the end I resorted to using (dead) unplugged 5.25 drives or 3.5in floppy drives when I couldn't find a faceplate that wouldn't stick 🤣 (I used ordinary stickers with "Not connected!" or similar on the front of non-connected filler drives so I can see which ones are not connected). Yes I know it's crummy, but at least it works and is a quick and cheap fix and it does close off the case from the outside better then leaving these large openings as is.

About the Celeron sticker, I'd say just do as you wish, but keep the Celeron sticker on there till you find a better replacement (they kinda loose a bit of their stickyness after being removed and reapplied a couple times).

Tetrium wrote:

Ah I see. Looking forward to your build blog :D […]
Show full quote

Ah I see. Looking forward to your build blog 😁

Since you intend to use a Voodoo 2, you might want to reconsider adding that front 80mm fan. These fans should be very cheap and case ventilation in AT cases is pretty poor compared to even older beige ATX cases and you will probably want to help keep your Voodoo 2 a little bit extra cool 😀

I like the way you used what you had available for your build. It reminds me of how I used to build them back when I still had very few parts to choose from. It does teach one to be resourceful 😀

When it comes to the faceplates of AT cases, I noticed that most AT cases came with their own faceplates and using faceplates from other sources (usually other AT cases) will usually not be a perfect fit. I did manage to kinda press these mismatching faceplates into position, but either the faceplates are a bit too small or too wide and often these plastic latches don't line up with the insides of the case and they kidna kept falling out 🤣
In the end I resorted to using (dead) unplugged 5.25 drives or 3.5in floppy drives when I couldn't find a faceplate that wouldn't stick 🤣 (I used ordinary stickers with "Not connected!" or similar on the front of non-connected filler drives so I can see which ones are not connected). Yes I know it's crummy, but at least it works and is a quick and cheap fix and it does close off the case from the outside better then leaving these large openings as is.

About the Celeron sticker, I'd say just do as you wish, but keep the Celeron sticker on there till you find a better replacement (they kinda loose a bit of their stickyness after being removed and reapplied a couple times).

do remember that even though the case itself is prepped for a intake fan, the front plate is not. I had the same problem with my AT case however I cut a piece from the bottom of the front panel (invisible to the eye) so I could accomadate my 120MM fan (this should fit in this AT case), a bigger fan means bigger air displacement but also less noise due lower RPM (the Enermax vega comes in at 90 CFM with only 14 Db for just €10). Add a dust filter and your build will be free of 99% dust. and finally I suggest removing the PCI slot cover just below and above your Voodoo for maximum airflow, the PSU fan will take care of the rest.

Richo wrote:

Tetrium wrote:

Ah I see. Looking forward to your build blog :D […]
Show full quote

Ah I see. Looking forward to your build blog 😁

Since you intend to use a Voodoo 2, you might want to reconsider adding that front 80mm fan. These fans should be very cheap and case ventilation in AT cases is pretty poor compared to even older beige ATX cases and you will probably want to help keep your Voodoo 2 a little bit extra cool 😀

I like the way you used what you had available for your build. It reminds me of how I used to build them back when I still had very few parts to choose from. It does teach one to be resourceful 😀

When it comes to the faceplates of AT cases, I noticed that most AT cases came with their own faceplates and using faceplates from other sources (usually other AT cases) will usually not be a perfect fit. I did manage to kinda press these mismatching faceplates into position, but either the faceplates are a bit too small or too wide and often these plastic latches don't line up with the insides of the case and they kidna kept falling out 🤣
In the end I resorted to using (dead) unplugged 5.25 drives or 3.5in floppy drives when I couldn't find a faceplate that wouldn't stick 🤣 (I used ordinary stickers with "Not connected!" or similar on the front of non-connected filler drives so I can see which ones are not connected). Yes I know it's crummy, but at least it works and is a quick and cheap fix and it does close off the case from the outside better then leaving these large openings as is.

About the Celeron sticker, I'd say just do as you wish, but keep the Celeron sticker on there till you find a better replacement (they kinda loose a bit of their stickyness after being removed and reapplied a couple times).

do remember that even though the case itself is prepped for a intake fan, the front plate is not. I had the same problem with my AT case however I cut a piece from the bottom of the front panel (invisible to the eye) so I could accomadate my 120MM fan (this should fit in this AT case), a bigger fan means bigger air displacement but also less noise due lower RPM (the Enermax vega comes in at 90 CFM with only 14 Db for just €10). Add a dust filter and your build will be free of 99% dust. and finally I suggest removing the PCI slot cover just below and above your Voodoo for maximum airflow, the PSU fan will take care of the rest.

You bring up a good point. But most AT cases had at least some sort of opening somewhere at the bottom of the front bezel (though most of them were kinda crappy 😜).

Also good point on the 12cm fan vs the 8cm fan. The air displacement a 12cm fan can muster vs the noise level (and maybe also audible resonating noises) is very significant.

And a good tip on the removing of some of the back slot covers for increased airflow. I tend to remove the ones beneath the AGP card most of the time actually, but forgot to mention this. Thanks for bringing this up 😀

Many AT PSUs had pretty good airflow actually, mostly because they tended to run at 100% maximum fan speed all the time due to them not slowing down the PSU fan when the air inside the PSU is cold enough to do so.

Another easy way to prevent most of the dust buildup inside a PC rig is to simply put the PC somewhere elevated 😀 (like on another PC case that is not being used 🤣)
I tend to not use any dust filters as these need to be cleaned and can clog up after a while if left unattended while being used.

I wouldn't be massively worried about cooling. Your using period correct parts, and if it was good enough for back then.
You have even replaced the HDD for a much cooler running CF card. That said a bit of extra air flow is never a bad thing!
Jealous of your LCD display!

chinny22 wrote:

I wouldn't be massively worried about cooling. Your using period correct parts, and if it was good enough for back then.
You have even replaced the HDD for a much cooler running CF card. That said a bit of extra air flow is never a bad thing!
Jealous of your LCD display!

Try touching a voodoor 1 or 2 after a session of intensive gaming ans tell me they do not require atleast passive cooling (my SLI has a dedicated 80 mm for cooling and a intake fan). All my retro rigs have overkill cooling, however most common parts that break down is due overheating or prolonged exposure to too much heat. I rather have my systems running at 30 °C idle then 50°C.

The build is now complete..

It's not perfect, there are minor issues that bug my OCD self, but otherwise I'm very satisfied with it. This will be my main gaming PC for games up to 1998.

Ooooh pretty!

Lovely! Was a nice read to follow through. Nice work

Pure awesome in a box. Brings me back to the good old days, I forgot about having to connect the voodoo with your 2d card with a cable, I always thought that was the ugliest idea ever, but hey, nostalgia now! Games you have ready to go on the desktop are even more awesome 😎

What's the compact flash card you have going? I think I could use one of those too if they make for easy removal

Hi! I'm building an Mmx build like yours...I have the same mb, ct4810, trident agp and voodoo 2... can I ask you something about?

Rollotiz83 wrote on 2021-04-04, 10:54:

Hi! I'm building an Mmx build like yours...I have the same mb, ct4810, trident agp and voodoo 2... can I ask you something about?

Better to create your own thread.