Ancient socket 7 pentium based tower

[MadEye2]

I found a huge PC tower someone had thrown out a while back, stripped of more most of it components, just the CPU, PSU, Soundblaster AWE32 and a worn out FFD remained

Does anyone reckon will work if I buy some RAM for it? It was sat there for probably only a couple of days, but it had rained, though inside it was very dusty. The floppy drive looks a bit manky and dusty, but it may work, but the PSU wasn't protected from the rain, can't see any signs of rust or water marks on it though.
As far as I can gather it's a 7502 mobo, according to the pdfs i've downloaded, but it's got a fair few revisions - none of which have 4 ISA slots, only 3, so I'm kinda stuck there. Assuming the jumper settings for all of them are the same there then I'm confused as to what memory it takes.
It has 2 sets of slots for 72pin SIMMs and 168pin DIMMS - According to one of the manuals it's says SDRAM DIMM @3.3vs and EDO DRAM/Fast Page DRAM DIMM @ 5V. Is this all the information I need? Will it accept PC100, 125 and 133? I've also got a 16MB SIMM from my Amiga, I don't think it's EDO and I think it's non-par. I'm not sure, can anyone help?

 

[Peter007]

I don't see why not;

I rebuild alot of system people found in the trash;
I take on the project becaue I'm curious.
However, the project is neither cost effective nor productive.

By the time you add a USB CARD, NIC, Sound, Video and Memory;
you might as well buy a new computer.

 

[MadEye2]

Fortunately I already have a spare USB2 card, USB NIC, PCI Voodoo 3 3000, SBAWE32 (assuming it works - was found in the PC), and a 16MB 72pin SIMM, assuming it'll work too on this (it's from my Amgia 1200 which I don't use now anyway). It's one of those odd mobos that can use either 72 pin SIMMs or 168 DIMMs and i'm not sure if it'll accept any type - EDO etc.

 

[Avalon]

That's pretty cool. Let us know if you do get it working.

 

[MadEye2]

Will do! I hope it does, but I'm completely clueless about the RAM. I may just risk nuking the mobo, assuming it isn't dead already, with the RAM that's in my Amiga.

Also, are socket 7 and super socket 7 the same thing? I was thinking of putting a K6-2 in there. Oh yes, feel the power.

 

[stevty2889]

super 7 is a bit differant than a just plain socket 7. Intel abandoned the socket 7 after the 233mhz pentium, while AMD continued using it, with a higher FSB used by the K6-2 and called it super 7, so a plain socket 7 board, wouldn't work with a k6-2. I believe EDO ram had to be installed in pairs, but some pc100 or pc133 SDRAM should work fine since it has the 168pin slots.

 

[MadEye2]

Thanks. I remember PCs have to have SIMMs installed in pairs, so I've just been looking for them on ebay.
What's the best generic socket 7 CPU available? Is it the 233Mhz Pentium? Currently, the one installed appears to be a P1 200. It had a pretty decent copper heatsink too - at least compared to the one that came with my K6 based PC.
According to the 7502 manuals the maximum FSB is 66, but these manuals show the board as having 3 ISA slots and 4 PCIs, where as mine has 4 ISAs and 3 PCIs, everything else appears to be identical though

Cheers.

 

[Spikesoldier]

FPM/EDO (SIMMS) need to be installed in pairs, preferably matched pairs.

i say strip all cards except a video card, throw a SDR DIMM in there, clear CMOS. if it doesnt boot then ditch it.

id say it was thrown away for a reason, not all people throw away the system because they bought a new dell or whatever, but its probably broke

you may be able to scrap parts from it then, but dont invest anything you dont readily have already into it.

 

[MadEye2]

It was thrown out because the old man who owned it had died - there was a whole heap of other stuff there too, tonnes of cables, a printer, but I couldn't be lugging all those bits too - not with the size of this monstrosity - cooling should not be a problem on this thing lol.
The only thing I'm going to invest in are some SIMMs, and if it works I'll look for a refurbished hard disk and FDD. If I can't use them on the PC I should be able to use them all on my Amiga, though I don't think it can map 32MB without disabling the PCMCIA slot.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I've got 72pin SIMMS if you need it. Free+shipping but you will have to wait for X-MAS to be over before I send it because shipping right now is a hassle. Pay the shipping and I'll send you a Gateway *PCI66 chipset on ATX* board with a 133mhz pentium w/passive cooling, 4x8mb SIMMS, and the COAST module if I can find it. Heck, I'll throw in a PCI S3 Trio as well

 

[MadEye2]

I actually quite like the idea of fixing up an old PC - it should give me some confidence and wisdom for when it comes to more modern setups

 

[MadEye2]

Thanks, Dapunisher, I might take you up on that - I'm in the UK though. I just know I'm going to get shouted at by the people in my house - I'm a terrible horder as it is lol

 

[MadEye2]

Just a thought, are there any forums or communities for refurbishing "antique" PCs? I'd imagine it would be a bit of a cult thing.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: MadEye2
Thanks, Dapunisher, I might take you up on that - I'm in the UK though. I just know I'm going to get shouted at by the people in my house - I'm a terrible horder as it is lol

The pound is strong against the dollar now so that might still workout for you, and I don't mind shipping overseas since I'm not paying for it

 

[MadEye2]

I might mind though lol. How much do you reckon the shipping costs will be?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

calculate it I live in Rockledge. U.S. so just fill in the form with you as the ship to and see how much it'll be. If just the ram it would be probably just 1lb with the box, the board would probably make the whole thing come in around 4lbs which is where it would probably outweigh its worth. If you don't find what you need local just LMK

 

[MadEye2]

Ok this looks totally odd so I must have done something wrong. Apparently it's going to cost me £57 to ship a 1lb package, and £83 for a 4lb one lol. I'm going to look at the USPS site now.

 

[MadEye2]

It looks like it's going to cost me $16 to ship a 1lb item with USPS, which is a bit too steep, sadly.
Thanks for the offer though

 

[DAPUNISHER]

See, I can't even give this old stuff away

 

[MadEye2]

Maybe you can make a sculpture out of it. Something that represents the fleeting value of modernity or something.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

It should make a good firewall box.

 

[MadEye2]

It's a shame really, most of these old PCs can be used for simple things such as websurfing and word processing - near everyone in the world could use the net if there was a market for old hardware. That's if the net can support a few billion users.

 

[MadEye2]

I got the computer to work. I installed 4 8MB SIMMS, but the computer only recognises 16MBs worth - either there's a jumper I need to set or 2 of the SIMMS are defective. I'm going to buy a couple of 64MB SIMMs whenever I can afford to waste more money, a new FDD, a small HD and a keyboard with an old style connector. There doesn't seem to be a connector for a mouse, though.

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Originally posted by: MadEye2
I got the computer to work. I installed 4 8MB SIMMS, but the computer only recognises 16MBs worth - either there's a jumper I need to set or 2 of the SIMMS are defective. I'm going to buy a couple of 64MB SIMMs whenever I can afford to waste more money, a new FDD, a small HD and a keyboard with an old style connector. There doesn't seem to be a connector for a mouse, though.

The original "IBM Compatible" mice were connected to a Serial Port, but there were adapters to/from serial to ps/2 back then. I have a PC here that has no PS/2 mouse port, and the old style large DIN for the keyboard, not a PS/2 keyboard port (it's a P-I/233 Socket 7 job, with three PCI slots, AGP, two ISA slots, and four PC-66/PC-100 168 pin RAM slots). The case it's in has some odd features compared to newer ones, also.

 

[sparkyclarky]

Originally posted by: MadEye2
Maybe you can make a sculpture out of it. Something that represents the fleeting value of modernity or something.

About the only thing it's good for unless you're into retro PC gaming I suppose.