Show off your old and retro computer parts

[NoCarrier]

On 4/9/2019 at 10:10 PM, Boarder said:

Ah, here's the video I made. That thing is slow and why not, only 512 megs of memory. 

 

 

 

 

So..  about 8000x as much as a commodore 64.  which did all kinds of stuff.  that's progress!

[rebel63]

Anything worth doing? Is worth overdoing!

I am a used computer nutter.

Just got my latest mad scientist project going.

 

Dell PowerEdge R905 4x AMD Opteron 8356 2.3GHz Quad Core 48GB RAM 533

Nice deal on a NO budget!

Mem i can do up to 256 GB Ram.

CPU's ? Maybe?

 

Want to use it a workstation/server for games, game mods, and all other gaming stuff I can come up with.

 

One big question? The fans? Sounds like a jet taking off when it starts up.

I cuts down when it starts up. But is still loud as hell.

 

Next! Graphics Cards and GPU's.

Only have PCIx - 8

HHD is in order. 2 TB and a 146gb to be a backup drive.

 

The test was Linux mint in memory. No hard drives yet.

 

Any thoughts fora old school geek?

                                              Thx

 

[SpookyCitrus]

The good old days when GPU designs were a lot more.... frisky.

[Crunchy Dragon]

2 hours ago, SpookyCitrus said:

The good old days when GPU designs were a lot more.... frisky.

Ah, I love the red ATI cards.

 

I've got a similarly styled HD 4850.

[DamonK]

 

Here is something for CAD workers and Gamers. Also used by those with disabilities. The legendary Logitech Trackman Marble FX T-CJ12 Trackball. A trackball that can be manipulated with precision between thumb and fingers, and with a finger flip move anywhere on the screen. Great for repetitive motions as your arm from the wrist to shoulder need not move in normal use.

 

 

 I have been hoarding these for decades. Yes sir found a stock of new OEM balls also. The balls are durable but can get dimpled and scratched.

.

 

New units come with: a sealed software packet shipped folded inside the users guide which is itself factory sealed; an instructional hang-tag on the P/S2 to serial adapter, a loose warranty card, usually a quick start card, and occasional a separate brochure.

 

 

These work as "Plug and Play" [no extra software required] three button devices under all modern OS with a PS/2 serial port. Port is typically added with a USB dongle.

 

OR

 

I have converted several internally to USB by adding the necessary hardware inside the trackball's case. Below is the one I am using now.

 

 

When you find these today most are wore out from twenty years of use.  I have many new and used T-CJ12s. With experience it is easy to know how used they are. I have a form I use to rate them, before packing and storing them.

 

Keeping it simple:

Is it in its original box? = the ball and buttons are very susceptible to damage in handling and storage,

Check the logo - logo worn away = unit worn out,

Check the color and texture - the duckbill is originally textured = it gets dingy, yellowed and/or worn smooth from years of use, 

Check that the bottom sticker is not pierced or peeled by the serial number [hidden case screw] = attempted repairs most often mean trouble,

Check that all buttons click properly and audibly; test two larger buttons at all corners. = buttons do wear out.

Check the ball carefully - if a dimple or scratch on the ball catches a sharp pencil point = the ball is bad and possibly the bearings,

Check the bearing cups for ware and damage = any damage renders the device trash,

Check the the IR window is intact - missing IR cover = abuse,

Check the four bottom pads - soiled, worn, missing = how hard has its life been,

. . .

I have similar points that I use when verifying that trackballs are new. Many I acquired new, but others were NOS open boxes. Some units where represented as new but on inspection were actually used.  I have many points I check to rate them. Of course if the cord is loose or the software open a trackball may be nearly new, but can never be new. The teal swoosh and red mark in the logo are solid, inspecting the logo under magnification will quickly show a units use as the decal initially wears quickly [leaving gaps, spots] until its worn smooth then it takes years of heavy use to disappear entirely.

 

I should note that having had the opportunity to use multiple newer vintage trackballs in the last several years that the smoothness and fluidity of ball movement and the responsiveness of clicks improves through the first few hundred hours of use for trackballs that have sat unused for 15+ years. I believe the bearing get smoother and the clicks more responsive with use. 

 

I have a T-CJ12 that I bought from a man who received it from Logitech back in the day, he reviewed it for a few days, then stored it for 12 years until I bought it. I rated it at 95%. 80-90% is a good used device, these are the ones I convert to USB; very nice but used enough that I do not feel too bad about piercing the label to install the conversion.

 

There is a learning curve with this device, many people set them aside rather than allowing themselves enough time to adapt. I often have kept a second traditional mouse connected to shared computers.

 

[Ross Siggers]

Are you selling those? I've never seen so many, what a glorious wall...

Also I feel like custom trackballs would be epic on something like this  

[SpookyCitrus]

10 hours ago, campy said:

Lets not forget who the true king of "mildly sexual GPUs" is

By far one of the best... if not the best one out there. What a beautiful card. Why can't we get cards that are "mildly sexual" again, especially with vertical GPU mounts and tempered glass side panels they would be perfect.

[KainiaKaria]

Intel Pentium III 450 Mhz SL35D (Katmai S1)

Introduction Date: Feb 26, 1999

Price at Introduction: $496

 

Intel Pentium III 500 Mhz SL35E (Katmai S1)

Introduction Date: Feb 26,1999

Price at Introduction: $696

 

Intel Celeron 500 MHz SL3FY (Mendocino S370)

Introduction Date: I would say around Febuary of 1999

 

Intel Pentium III 550 Mhz SL3F7 (Katmai S1)

Introduction Date: May 17, 1999

Price at introduction: $700

 

Intel Celeron 733 MHz SL4P6 (Coppermine S370)

Introduction Date: Nov 13, 2000

Price at Introduction: $112

 

Intel Pentium III 700 Mhz SL3XX (Coppermine S370)

Introduction Date: Oct 25, 1999

Price at Introduction: $754

 

Intel Pentium III 1.13 Ghz SL5GQ (Tualatin S370)

[KainiaKaria]

[emosun]

i think you may have wanted the build log section rather than general

[Ienien77]

On 4/12/2019 at 12:43 AM, rebel63 said:

Anything worth doing? Is worth overdoing!

I am a used computer nutter.

Just got my latest mad scientist project going.

 

Dell PowerEdge R905 4x AMD Opteron 8356 2.3GHz Quad Core 48GB RAM 533

Nice deal on a NO budget!

Mem i can do up to 256 GB Ram.

CPU's ? Maybe?

 

Want to use it a workstation/server for games, game mods, and all other gaming stuff I can come up with.

 

One big question? The fans? Sounds like a jet taking off when it starts up.

I cuts down when it starts up. But is still loud as hell.

 

Next! Graphics Cards and GPU's.

Only have PCIx - 8

HHD is in order. 2 TB and a 146gb to be a backup drive.

 

The test was Linux mint in memory. No hard drives yet.

 

Any thoughts fora old school geek?

                                              Thx

 

For fans you can buy silent ones and your jet engine will be quiet 

[RollinLower]

On 4/12/2019 at 1:53 PM, DamonK said:

 

 -snipperinho-

Never have I ever seen someone with such a collection of new old stock trackball devices. I bet it's a hobby that's rather hard to explain to new people you meet

[Dimitrios Shizas]

Oh shit, i started liking this topic

[Breadpudding]

Unfortunately I just got rid of a lot of old PC equipment but this is what I still have. I have a 200MB HDD somewhere but I can't seem to find it in the box of old HDDs I have.

Spoiler

 

 

[Breadpudding]

This is something I forgot to post when I made my earlier post but I also have a 5.25" floppy drive I salvaged from the same computer I got the 8088-2. I would be interested in using this in my PC so I could read the pile of old disks. However I am having issues finding a converter for this to either IDE or SATA(preferably). If I must, I'll convert IDE to SATA.

[rebel63]

On 4/14/2019 at 5:44 AM, Ienien77 said:

For fans you can buy silent ones and your jet engine will be quiet 

Where to find them? Is the question?

[Bitter]

I'm fairly sure floppy used it's own cabling, not the same IDE as hard drives, or that was always the case for me, even the dual 5.25/3.5 drive in a computer we used to have wasn't an IDE cable or IDE device.

[Rendawg87]

I now introduce you to the PCI SOUND BLASTER XFI EXTREME AUDIO EDITION!!!

IF I remember correctly it boasted to have the processing power of a Pentium 4 when processing audio. I can remember running a 3.8MB MP3 into this music enhancer program. If you cranked it the whole way up it made the music file 500+MB in size. 

 

 

If anyone likes this I'll make another post with better photos. 

[Rendawg87]

6 minutes ago, Schnoz said:

more noods pls

4YOUREYZONLY

 

*J.J. Jameson Laugh*

[Jorrdanna]

I just pulled my computer from 2015 out.  Only 120 important updates and 6 optional ones on windows update.  It says the last time updates were installed was december 13th 2014. This may take a while. lol

[Jorrdanna]

Dumb question.  This pc has an asus p5n-d motherboard with a core 2 quad q6700 and 8 gigs of ram.  what would be a good gfx card that doesn't bottleneck that cpu?  OH, and if anyone has ddr2 they want to get rid of, this is running windows 7 Ultimate and I'd like to up the ram.

[Bitter]

Just now, Jorrdanna said:

Dumb question.  This pc has an asus p5n-d motherboard with a core 2 quad q6700 and 8 gigs of ram.  what would be a good gfx card that doesn't bottleneck that cpu?  OH, and if anyone has ddr2 they want to get rid of, this is running windows 7 Ultimate and I'd like to up the ram.

8 may be the max in that board, double check before you buy more. Do you want something era appropriate or just something? I mean a GTX 650 would pair just fine and be cheap, or a 750 if it's easier to find. If you want era appropriate I'd say something like 9800GX2 perhaps would be an appropriate pairing, released in 2008 around the same time as the Q6700 it would have been the top line card of the 9xxx series.

[Jorrdanna]

16 minutes ago, Bitter said:

8 may be the max in that board, double check before you buy more. Do you want something era appropriate or just something? I mean a GTX 650 would pair just fine and be cheap, or a 750 if it's easier to find. If you want era appropriate I'd say something like 9800GX2 perhaps would be an appropriate pairing, released in 2008 around the same time as the Q6700 it would have been the top line card of the 9xxx series.

     I used to have a 9800 but it ate itself  just prior to it going in the closet. It currently has a 550ti that i had lying around at the time, then I started travel nursing and switched to a laptop. I'm guessing something like a gtx 980 would be overkill?  You're right about the ram btw. Asus says 8 is max.  It is so weird to see 4 rams slots full and still only have 8 gigs. lol 

 

     I have to say, It is fun to play with this again. I hear mechanical sounds from the hdd whirring away, It's in a big case I can put my feet up on and relax too. lol.  And it works surprisingly well. I haven't tried a game yet since windows update is still only about halfway done.

[Jorrdanna]

 

[Bitter]

5 hours ago, Jorrdanna said:

*snip*

That is a very nice case, very nice. The CPU cooler leaves a bit to be desired but is probably fine if it's not overclocked, but the Core2 is so easy to overclock it's like...you just have to. Except probably not with that board, I see zero VRM cooling so pushing more power through the CPU could certainly cause long term damage to the board. Something like a Nvidia Nforce 780sli or 680sli based board would be the cream of the crop for OC'ing a Core2 series CPU

 

A 980 would be seriously underutilized by that computer, a 550ti is probably fine. I guess the main issue would be the older driver support for modern games, but if you're only playing older titles it'll be a non issue, that CPU is a little skimpy these days anyway.