questions regarding legacy computer assembly

[Turbonium]

I'm thinking of bringing an old Pentium 166 back to life. I already have legacy RAM and a legacy hard drive, as well as ribbon cables and a floppy drive etc., so all I need is a motherboard and PSU (so I should be able to pull this off fairly cheaply).

• What kind of power supply do I need to run an AT/Baby AT motherboard? Can I use an ATX PSU? Or do I have to stick to AT?
• Do AT/Baby AT motherboards fit into ATX cases?

Newb questions, I know...

 

[crashtech]

Wow, I got rid of AT stuff over a decade ago. If you get a baby AT board, you need to find an old AT case with a power supply, it's a totally different connecter (connectors, actually) than ATX. Seems like P166 was already in the ATX era though, gosh, it's been so long I've forgotten.

 

[crashtech]

Just looked at some socket 7 stuff on ebay and it's ATX. So you should not have to worry about AT.

It bugs me that I couldn't remember...

 

[Turbonium]

Thing is, I found a brand new AT board that supports 72-pin EDO RAM (which is all I got). I'm buying new (at a huge premium) to help ensure longevity.

About ATX: chances are I can't find an ATX board that is not only brand new, but has 4 SIMM slots (they usually are limited to only 2 along with DIMM slots). I'll try looking, though.

Also: AT motherboards are a major throwback, so it's part of the novelty.

 

[crashtech]

Brand new??? That's a twist. Are you expecting to find a new AT case and PSU as well?

What's this for?

 

[Turbonium]

Brand new??? That's a twist. Are you expecting to find a new AT case and PSU as well?

What's this for?

Already have on that front.

It's for fun, really. I don't want to spend more than 100 bucks total, though. The motherboard I found is 100 bucks alone, however.

EDIT: I'm just going to keep searching eBay over the next few weeks for a new (or very good condition) Socket 7 motherboard that is ATX and that also happens to have 4 SIMM slots.

 

[crashtech]

I'll be damned if there isn't a new AT case with PSU on ebay, item #160982138764.

I might think you are a bit of a nut for doing this, but it does sound kind of fun!

 

[Turbonium]

Nice find, but it looks positively gross.

I'm actually kinda picky with what I'm doing here (like with basically everything I do).

I'm going to get a modern looking black, steel case (like a cheap Antec), throw in a 20/24 pin ATX PSU I already have, all the components, and we'll have ourselves a sheep in wolf's clothing. It'll be hilariously awesome.

Hell, I might even put flame decals on the side of the case and stuff.

 

[Turbonium]

I found this super weird business website, check it out.

They sell golf/sporting goods... and old hardware, at super high prices.

So weird. My gut tells me it's a scam or something.

 

[Torn Mind]

Hmm... they did make a Facebook page too...
http://www.interloper.com/aboutus.php
Interloper, Inc.

Dallas, Texas, USA

Incorporated in 2004, our focus has been on industrial computers, specialty computers, parts and kits. If your needs cannot be met by an off the shelf computer, then we may be the type of company that can help you. We can customize a computer that meets your requirements, whether it is a super de duper rackmount with redundant power supplies or a legacy computer with legacy ISA slots, we can handle it just fine.

Another area of strength for us is hard to find legacy parts like motherboards with ISA slots, IDE and SCSI hard drives, multi bay drive enclosures and removable trays.

Our motherboard search engine / configurator is very popular with our customers.

We also have a consulting / outsourcing unit - if you need help with programming, system administration, graphics design, SEO and data entry, contact us. We can certainly help you and save you money in the process.

Our golf business is also quite active and we have thousands of satisfied customers enjoying their game just a little more playing with our customized golf clubs.

Thank You for visiting. Looking forward to doing business with you.

 

[Raincity]

I looked into this a couple months ago on the idea of building a slot 1 or socket 370 retro gaming machine. Even buying parts used from Ebay and Compuvest, it seemed to much of a gamble and waste of money and scrapped the whole idea.

 

[Steltek]

I found this super weird business website, check it out.

They sell golf/sporting goods... and old hardware, at super high prices.

So weird. My gut tells me it's a scam or something.

If their focus is industrial computers, that probably explains the high prices. There are a lot of older legacy systems out there that need obsolete parts that aren't being manufactured any more to keep running (like MFM or RLL hard drives, ancient RAM, old motherboards, power supplies, etc). When you need an old MFM hard drive to keep your $25000 machine running, you pay what the market will bear.

 

[Turbonium]

I looked into this a couple months ago on the idea of building a slot 1 or socket 370 retro gaming machine. Even buying parts used from Ebay and Compuvest, it seemed to much of a gamble and waste of money and scrapped the whole idea.

How much were you going to spend, maximum?

Honestly, I think I'm going to try it. I'm also really curious to see how well a Pentium 166 with 92MB of RAM can run Windows XP.

 

[Torn Mind]

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/
http://vogons.zetafleet.com/

For vintage computing, these fora might have more in-depth info for your needs.

 

[Turbonium]

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/
http://vogons.zetafleet.com/

For vintage computing, these fora might have more in-depth info for your needs.

I was actually going to register on that first forum last night, but decided to hold off (for now). Thanks though.

 

[Turbonium]

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcf...6-WTB-Intel-430HX-Triton-II-based-motherboard

It's a bit of a longshot, but it might work. :awe:

 

[crashtech]

Integrated graphics and sound? LOL

 

[Turbonium]

Integrated graphics and sound? LOL

A lot of them have integrated VGA and sound. I checked.

 

[crashtech]

Maybe I ought not laugh, but I don't ever remember seeing a board with SIMMs and integrated sound & video. Will you post a picture of one when you find it?

 

[Turbonium]

Maybe I ought not laugh, but I don't ever remember seeing a board with SIMMs and integrated sound & video. Will you post a picture of one when you find it?

Don't forget that the boards with SIMMs also have DIMMs, and DIMM boards (to my knowledge) can have integrated VGA and sound.

I'll post a picture if I find one. In the meantime, I edited that post to greatly increase the odds of me finding an appropriate board.

 

[Torn Mind]

Maybe I ought not laugh, but I don't ever remember seeing a board with SIMMs and integrated sound & video. Will you post a picture of one when you find it?

I have an old Pentium II system with case, and I don't recall any room for an integrated sound port and VGA port on the case.

 

[Turbonium]

This seems to be a server board with SIMMs and integrated video (or are those serial ports? I think they may be):

I definitely don't see any sound jacks though. I'm beginning to think what I'm looking for doesn't exist.

No big deal though. It just means I'll have to acquire a PCI video card at the very least. I was hoping to not have to.

 

[MichaelD]

Wow, ISA slots! Haven't seen those in years. I remember getting a MB with "those fancy new PCI slots" and being thrilled!

ps
Those are serial ports. It's a male socket. VGA is a female socket and blue colored, usually.

 

[Turbonium]

Those are serial ports. It's a male socket. VGA is a female socket and blue colored, usually.

Yea, I figured. You can see the sheen of the pins.

Also: I doubt it'd have dual VGA outputs, lol.

 

[Turbonium]

http://www.motherboards.org/mobot/motherboards_d/ASUS/P%7CI-P55SP3AV/

Has integrated sound and video (uses system memory for video memory though). Also: I think it's AT.