What retro things have you done today?
- Thread starter Duke
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Dug out the USB Microscope to double-check what I thought I could see with the nakey eye on the Digital Equipment Corp 486 (socket 2) board.
Looks like a damaged trace to me that goes between ping G3 on the CPU, through a via and into a bus transceiver.
Not going to be working if the CPU can't talk properly on the data bus!
Looks like a damaged trace to me that goes between ping G3 on the CPU, through a via and into a bus transceiver.
Not going to be working if the CPU can't talk properly on the data bus!
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- 8 Jul 2003
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I've been tinkering with some Socket A stuff... Probably not old enough I know, but it's where I started my PC journey:
Now to sort through this DDR (mainly BH-5 sticks!) and see which pair will give me the highest FSB!
I'm going to be doing some Socket A and Socket 939 benching over the next few weeks... See how many additions I can add to HWBOT
Now to sort through this DDR (mainly BH-5 sticks!) and see which pair will give me the highest FSB!
I'm going to be doing some Socket A and Socket 939 benching over the next few weeks... See how many additions I can add to HWBOT
So I made the decision to modify my Biostar M5ATA to take the k6-3 400mhz.
On paper it was made to sound easy but if you see the jumpers for scale this was a tiny chip and an even smaller leg. I first used some desoldering braid to try and loosen the leg followed by sliding a tiny blade under it while tapping the soldering iron on the leg. I managed to loosen it off but coudnt tell if it was still making a connection or in some cases even touching the pins either side. I figured I had already done enough damage so made sure to clear the pin from bridging the others and then just cut the trace instead...
Now to power it on, I powered it on with no add in cards at first just in case things got sparky, all seemed good tho so time to connect some VGA and see what the bios thinks about it (if it even posts)
Big success! a post! and the worlds slowest MMX! I wasnt concerned about that as the guide said the bios would not know what it was dealing with but would work anyway.
Windows knows what is up!
The only benchmark that I could get my hands on in a hurry.
From comparing a few other results online it seems to be in the right ballpark!
Cant wait to put this system together now using the new case. Going to do a fresh install of windows and fit a bigger CF card as 1gb is limiting for a 400mhz system.
On paper it was made to sound easy but if you see the jumpers for scale this was a tiny chip and an even smaller leg. I first used some desoldering braid to try and loosen the leg followed by sliding a tiny blade under it while tapping the soldering iron on the leg. I managed to loosen it off but coudnt tell if it was still making a connection or in some cases even touching the pins either side. I figured I had already done enough damage so made sure to clear the pin from bridging the others and then just cut the trace instead...
Now to power it on, I powered it on with no add in cards at first just in case things got sparky, all seemed good tho so time to connect some VGA and see what the bios thinks about it (if it even posts)
Big success! a post! and the worlds slowest MMX! I wasnt concerned about that as the guide said the bios would not know what it was dealing with but would work anyway.
Windows knows what is up!
The only benchmark that I could get my hands on in a hurry.
From comparing a few other results online it seems to be in the right ballpark!
Cant wait to put this system together now using the new case. Going to do a fresh install of windows and fit a bigger CF card as 1gb is limiting for a 400mhz system.
Nice work, good to see that something has gone in your favour for once!
My K6-3 450 is now safely homed in the Dell case, I’ll get some pics up later but essentially it was a cut ‘n’ shut job on the back panel to get enough clearance for the AGP card, and drill/tapping for some standoffs for the Baby AT board layout. Not 100% finished yet as I still need a latching power button (ATX case so had a momentary), and I want to add some case fans (at the moment there is only the CPU fan and PSU fan) as well as 5v or 7v mod the CPU fan as my god it’s loud!
Edit: Oh and the I/O shield needs blanking off.
My K6-3 450 is now safely homed in the Dell case, I’ll get some pics up later but essentially it was a cut ‘n’ shut job on the back panel to get enough clearance for the AGP card, and drill/tapping for some standoffs for the Baby AT board layout. Not 100% finished yet as I still need a latching power button (ATX case so had a momentary), and I want to add some case fans (at the moment there is only the CPU fan and PSU fan) as well as 5v or 7v mod the CPU fan as my god it’s loud!
Edit: Oh and the I/O shield needs blanking off.
Thats looking good mate. Solid bit of work on the case mod.
I wonder how much difference there is between your 450 and my 400. Am I right in thinking it should be 100mhz bus? (Mine is 66x6)
Cracking on with my build now. So far so good! Managed to swap the switch to a toggle one as internally they were exactly the same fitment so thats a result!
Now im getting used to the idea of this PC im thinking I kind of have to get a voodoo dont I?
I wonder how much difference there is between your 450 and my 400. Am I right in thinking it should be 100mhz bus? (Mine is 66x6)
Cracking on with my build now. So far so good! Managed to swap the switch to a toggle one as internally they were exactly the same fitment so thats a result!
Now im getting used to the idea of this PC im thinking I kind of have to get a voodoo dont I?
As nice as a V5500 would be they're just too damn pricey and flaky these days, and what they can do can be matched via nglide or other period cards, V3 imo is still king or a V4. I like to keep V2 SLI around for cool factor though, and the V5 100% has that along with the Rage Fury Maxx.
I got a pair of voodoo 2 12mb and SLI cable for £10 last year. Ended up having to sell them before my interest really kicked off
I've been messing about with this Asus P5PE-VM over the past day. My intentions are to run a Dual Boot Win98/XP setup with it. It has a Xeon X3220 installed (Microcode added to Bios), 2 GiG Corsair 3500LL Ram and I'm running a Radeon 850XT PE card.
Installed Win98 SE along with the RLOWE (RIP) Memory patch to allow 2 gig. He also has a interesting AHCI patch for Win 98 i'm going to try out.
Installed Win98 SE along with the RLOWE (RIP) Memory patch to allow 2 gig. He also has a interesting AHCI patch for Win 98 i'm going to try out.
Decided this morning to tackle the Voodoo 3's cooling (or lack thereof) before pressing the K6-III machine into service. The original heatsink was passive, small, and clearly fitted haphazardly (as the pictures will show) as it didn't sit flat on the board.
I used my hot-air reflow station to warm the GPU and heatsink up, then carefully prised the heatsink from the chip using a Stanley blade. I have never come across a) so much thermal epoxy used on a heatsink, b) so little of the affected chip actually covered, and c) a harder compound, this stuff is like concrete!
Image 1: Yes, well done 3dfx, that's almost 2/3rds of the chip covered in compound.
Image 2: Sorry, how thick was this applied?
Image 3: Oh, right 2mm, excellent, just throw it on there!
Product of Mexico! Clearly something to be proud of and excellent quality control.
At the moment I'm soaking it in a glue remover, but I don't think it's going to touch it. Usually I'd simply sand the majority then polish the remnants so as to not ruin the print on the chip, but with so much to get rid of I can't start with sanding as it'll take days!
Any ideas for removal? I want to put a bigger, active heatsink on the card (I want to hit/break V3 3500 speeds) but I'm not going to put the new heatsink over that godawful compound, the thermal interface must have been so so poor.
FWIW: The heating process used to remove seemed to break the bond between the heatsink and the compound, but not touch the GPU/compound bond at all, I've tried using a Stanley blade whilst heating and it's making little to no difference compared with just using the blade alone.
I used my hot-air reflow station to warm the GPU and heatsink up, then carefully prised the heatsink from the chip using a Stanley blade. I have never come across a) so much thermal epoxy used on a heatsink, b) so little of the affected chip actually covered, and c) a harder compound, this stuff is like concrete!
Image 1: Yes, well done 3dfx, that's almost 2/3rds of the chip covered in compound.
Image 2: Sorry, how thick was this applied?
Image 3: Oh, right 2mm, excellent, just throw it on there!
Product of Mexico! Clearly something to be proud of and excellent quality control.
At the moment I'm soaking it in a glue remover, but I don't think it's going to touch it. Usually I'd simply sand the majority then polish the remnants so as to not ruin the print on the chip, but with so much to get rid of I can't start with sanding as it'll take days!
Any ideas for removal? I want to put a bigger, active heatsink on the card (I want to hit/break V3 3500 speeds) but I'm not going to put the new heatsink over that godawful compound, the thermal interface must have been so so poor.
FWIW: The heating process used to remove seemed to break the bond between the heatsink and the compound, but not touch the GPU/compound bond at all, I've tried using a Stanley blade whilst heating and it's making little to no difference compared with just using the blade alone.
Wow I am not envious of that task at all!
I swear by 99% IPA for my cleaning but I dont think it would help you there
I ended up staying up till 2am playing transport tycoon on my retro pc. Also tried to play the sims (Im sorry but nostalgia is high for me and I honestly love the series!) but that ran like crap. Guess thats the virge holding me back.
Have quite the issue with the soundcard playing the wrong notes tho when using general midi. Shame because it sounds so much better than my other cards.
I swear by 99% IPA for my cleaning but I dont think it would help you there
I ended up staying up till 2am playing transport tycoon on my retro pc. Also tried to play the sims (Im sorry but nostalgia is high for me and I honestly love the series!) but that ran like crap. Guess thats the virge holding me back.
Have quite the issue with the soundcard playing the wrong notes tho when using general midi. Shame because it sounds so much better than my other cards.
It transpired that the key was both the glue remover (Autobrite "Just the tonic") AND the hot-air station simultaneously (and using the hot air station to do the scraping) was the key. We now have a bare GPU (and all the print intact).
Now to apply a new heatsink/fan combo.
Now to apply a new heatsink/fan combo.
Will be interested to see how you get on with this, looks like they didn't have much quality control on the heatsink application! Active cooling isn't a bad idea either considering they can get quite hot. Let me know if you ever get bored and want to try reflow/fix an iffy V3 2000 
I will always try and fix retro kit where possible. If you want me to give it a shot send me a trust!Will be interested to see how you get on with this, looks like they didn't have much quality control on the heatsink application! Active cooling isn't a bad idea either considering they can get quite hot. Let me know if you ever get bored and want to try reflow/fix an iffy V3 2000
What are it’s symptoms? Also, AGP or PCI?
Do you want me to Chuck the broken s7 board in with the NICs?
It will be going in my scrap collection otherwise which I’ll put on eBay once it gets heavy enough!
It's an AGP card, stops working after a short period of use (VGA signal drops completely). Mentioned it a few pages back and you thought it might be a bad solder joint: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...you-done-today.18845081/page-38#post-33548408
Thing is I'm quite suspicious about the capacitor located near the voltage regulator, which looks like it might have failed/be damaged. If you look on your own board it's C25, mine seems to be indented on the top. Visually the rest of the card is fine that I can see. If you think that's something you can attempt then sure, be glad to let you have a go!