The Retro PC Thread

[Ziggy]

Nice post, Anapan!

You should get a cheap EPROM programmer. The "Willem" programmers start around $30 USD. USB programmers are more, but I'm sure you have a PC with a working parallel port.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-KEE-Willem ... Swmg9Z39Cw

Don't be fooled, the parallel Willem programmers use USB only for power. USB programmers are more convenient (use on new PCs, no jumpers to set, faster) but start at around $50 for a generic (no-name from China) and go up from there. If you wanted a USB programmer, MCU Mall is in Canada I believe. I got the GQ-4X (plus a hand full of adapter) from there some years back and have always been happy with it.

http://www.mcumall.com/comersus/store/c ... cIndex.asp

https://www.ebay.com/usr/mcumall_electr ... 7675.l2559

Anyway, they can come in handy.

[Tanooki]

On and maybe off the previous posts topic, but how is the market these days for second hand old PC cards? Mainly PCI, AGP, and even ISA stuff? I came across an old box of stuff.

I dug out these things: 3DFX Voodoo 3 Voodoo3 3000 VGA PCI 16 MB, Creative Sound Blaster SB16 Value CT2770 Sound Card ISA, Diamond Multimedia Viper V770 ATX 2x16 VGA AGP 4X 32MB NVIDIA Riva TNT2, Netgear FA311 Rev-B1 PCI 10/100 Ethernet Card, DIAMOND SupraMax PCI Pro 56K Modem, Hawking Technology PN102TX 10/100 PNP PCI Network Adapter, and a USROBOTICS INTERNAL MODEM 8 BIT ISA card.

I would think the first three should be interesting but the rest wouldn't surprise me as $5 throw aways or literal throw aways.

[samsonlonghair]

The market for graphics cards was flipped upsidedown this year with the boom in crypto-currency mining. This rippled across the secondhand market too. Sellers were charging outrageous prices for used graphics cards, even graphics cards that had no use in mining crypto-currency.

Any reasonable person should be able to see that an old 3dfx card voodoo card has no realistic application in the realm of mining crypto-currency. And yet... eBay sellers aren’t on eBay to be exceptionally reasonable; they’re on eBay to make money.

As such, an old 3dfx card voodoo card can vary wildly in price. Sometimes a 64mb card cost as little as $15 or more than $100. I certainly wouldn’t pay that price, but somebody on eBay will. I guess I can’t blame the seller for selling that old junk for big money if there are customers willing and eager to buy it.

[Anapan]

I've got boxes of cards as well. I have to say, if there's a specific card I'm looking for, it's usually very expensive on ebay and totally unreasonable on Amazon. I'd expect most of the first half of that list you posted would be pretty desirable, and fetch a nice price (tho what that price is...?).
I think I have some desirable hardware as well, but I'm completely unsure what to do with it. Usually when I look for stuff I try the usual markets and turning up empty, then I do a google "fs: " etc to see if I can even find a picture of it to know what other numbers I might look up to buy said device or hardware.
I might be a long shot, but what about creating a dedicated forum post here like was done a long time ago with console DC adapters and connectors. I've joined many forums just to contact and buy one piece of hardware from a forum member that was in their market. I'll be happy to make a text list of what retro PC hardware I have available - in most cases I'll send it for cost of shipping just to know it will actually enjoy being powered up once again. If a post is made I'll list it (or if you ask me to I'll try to make).
I'll make another post about the Windows side of my tower, and clarify a bit of the DOS stuff shortly. Time permitting, I'd like to fortify this topic with some specific Utilities and apps I have found invaluable in making my retro PC gaming experience all that I never knew it could be.

[wclem]

When 3DFX was a thing it blew my mind. During the time that they were selling I had just had a child and started a family and all my money went to that, happily. Always wanted one though, just one of those things that held great memories. Seeing Quake run on my friends card blew all our minds. Recently I have gotten the bug to build some retro machines. While we were out this weekend I actually saw A Diamond card sitting on the shelf in a bag for 3 bucks. I could not believe my luck because I am not paying Ebay prices for something like that.

Sadly, when I got home I tested it and everything I tested in, (computers and monitors), gave me a yellowed screen on boot and into Windows. It was detected and otherwise worked, just looked like I had on the worst pair of sunglasses ever LOL. I at least got the thrill of owning one finally after 20+ years. My early 20 's self finally had that dream come true. Even if it does not work I still own one and that is still a heck of a thrill. The hunt will go on, I will see Quake and Unreal running on a 3DFX board someday!!

Funny thing is, I bought the 2 mb S3 card sitting next to it, works fine LOL.

[Anapan]

That's some crying cat meme level stuff!


I do not desire Voodoo or 3DFX, but I'm willing to attempt to debug that card. The tech is old enough that I am confident I can make it good again. If you get it here I'll bring my friends over and we'll do some open-heart surgery. I gotta condone the hundreds of components I've been having regularly shipped here. Please allow 4-8 weeks delivery
Edit:
Hm... I'm mighty drunk. I gotta change things a bit. I'm willing to bet return shipping I can fix it if we combine shipping cost to get it to me here in BC Canada.
That makes more sense I think, and I'm intrigued by the challenge I've just made for myself.
PM me if you're interested.

[isiolia]

Sadly, when I got home I tested it and everything I tested in, (computers and monitors), gave me a yellowed screen on boot and into Windows. It was detected and otherwise worked, just looked like I had on the worst pair of sunglasses ever LOL. I at least got the thrill of owning one finally after 20+ years. My early 20 's self finally had that dream come true. Even if it does not work I still own one and that is still a heck of a thrill. The hunt will go on, I will see Quake and Unreal running on a 3DFX board someday!!

Did you try other cables (or have other ones to try)? Could be as simple as whatever cable you had as the passthrough being bad.

Unless it's a Voodoo3 or higher I guess.

[marurun]

The Voodoo 3 is a fantastic card for anyone interested in early 3D gaming. The Glide API was much better than early Direct 3D. The original Unreal looks much better, for example, on Glide than Direct 3D, even when running in 16-bit graphics mode.

Also, the crypto-currency boom is finally crashing. Nvidia has delayed their latest cards due to a glut of inventory, and prices are sliding back down to rational levels.

[isiolia]

3Dfx stuff was a little limited (low color palette and small max texture sizes, offhand), but yeah. Far, far more functional at the time, compared to things like the early ATI Rage cards. I had a Voodoo2 card at the time, which was a major improvement for Quake engine stuff. Voodoo3 is a nice all-in-one solution to handle both, and I've seen it suggested as a good retro card. The prices on them can reflect that though.

Didn't take too long before nVidia/ATI eclipsed them on non-GLIDE stuff though. Video card tech at that time moved so fast.

[wclem]

I should have mentioned, this card is the grand-daddy of them all. Diamond 4 mb PCI, One of the first versions released, not sure who came first but this was an early one for sure. Imagine how much someone dropped on it back in the day. I bet it was 300 bucks in 96-97 money.

I did not try another cable as it looked like new, no apparent damage, and I was a little disappointed at the time but will double check for sure.

If that does not work and you want to try to fix it man I will certainly take you up on it. Shipping to and fro would be worth the cost of a working card for sure. Who knows, maybe I can make it worth it and buy some stuff from you. I think you sold me something a few years back, maybe? I bought a Super Mario Sunshine from someone on here up in Canada some time ago. Let me set up my test rig and give it another go first.