best cheap/free scores 1.1

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

the slot is called "SIMLC"....and the card that goes in it is some kind of remote management controller (IPMI). This is what apparently goes in it: https://cdn.badcaps-static.com/pdfs/...e0881f0305.pdf

I couldn't find a raid card that interfaces with it.

That sucks. Looks like PCIe #3 is for RAID then.

[momaka]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

I got two mismatched Sony bookshelf speakers that were sitting in a box on a nearby street. I thought they were the same model, because they looked nearly identical, but they weren't. One is a SS-MC3AV and the other is a SS-MC1. Difference appears to be about 1" or so in the depth of the cabinets (the MC3AV is deeper) and also the woofers: both use 6" woofers, but the SS-MC3AV has a "quick edge" woofer, which is stiffer, uses polypropylene cone rather than paper, and looks more suited towards low-end notes.

That said, both speakers must have come from the same Sony MHC-MC1 or MHC-MC3AV "Mini Hi-Fi Component System", at least according to the manual. The MC3AV speakers are used for the front while the MC1 are used for the rear. So essentially, I got a front and a rear speaker. But they sound about the same, with the MC3AV only having a better bass response. Though, I should note that both have surprisingly good bass response - dare I say even better than my bigger Sony floor speakers that have 8" woofers. I think this is due to the fact that Sony did a decent job here with the design. Rather than making a big speaker with big woofer driven by a small magnet, looks like the woofers in these speakers have fairly large magnets for their size. On top of that, the voice-coil appears to be 1". While a 1" voicecoil is not so good news when it comes to power-handling, it does allow for greater magnetic field density in the motor's gap, thus allowing the speaker to drive the cone with more ease (which typically results in better bass response).

Now Sony does rate the MHC-MC1/MHC-MC3AV system as capable of 80 Watts RMS per channel. But I find that a little suspicious, to say the least. A 6" woofer driven at 80 Watts RMS is going to have some serious excursion/travel. And I think my suspicion is not unfounded, as the system is rated at those power levels with 10% THD, which is garbage. That said, they do also rate the system at 40 Watts RMS with 0.09 % THD. Now that sounds a bit more plausible... though I am still not convinced those speakers can take 40 Watts RMS. I think 20 Watts RMS on a good day is the best they will do before their 1" voice-coils burn out.

If I have time and patience some day, I will try to open one of these speakers and take pics of the woofers. Maybe they are better built than I think.

[Hondaman]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

Today I grabbed a cheap 6-inch bench grinder from someone's trash (I did ask permission). It is broken, and can't really be repaired. It is only $39 or $49 for a brand new one, so I'll throw it out. I don't think parts are available for something this cheap.

That same person was also throwing away an HP S1931A, 19 inch "9 by 16" LCD monitor. It has both VGA and DVI inputs. I only tested the DVI input. Works fine, all pixels work, backlighting works. It has a green plug for "sound in from sound card" so it must have speakers, but I did not test them.

I don't really NEED this monitor, but my other spare units are either heavy tube monitors or "4 by 3" LCDs. I seldom get any "great dumpster finds" like most people here, but that's okay. That makes this find special.

[momaka]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

Today I grabbed a cheap 6-inch bench grinder from someone's trash (I did ask permission). It is broken, and can't really be repaired. It is only $39 or $49 for a brand new one, so I'll throw it out. I don't think parts are available for something this cheap.

Interesting to know what is wrong, though. Might also have useful parts inside (I doubt it, but you never know until you tear it apart).

... or "4 by 3" LCDs.

You mean 5:4? (i.e. 1280x1024)

I'll take a 19" 5:4 any day over a wide screen 19". Or, if you really have 4:3 LCDs, those are even more valuable, as that is rare aspect ratio for LCD. The ones I know that have it are 21" with 1600x1200 (but also 15" and 17" with 1024x768 resolution ).

[Behemot]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

Think it's 20.1. Eizo has some dirty expensive 1:1 though.

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Lite-on SHM-165H6S: Kickass DVD Burner w/ lightscribe. Appears to be one of the best IDE DVD drives ever made based on speeds (48x/24x/16x Speeds). Found at Goodwill for $5.

I have a rig this is perfect for...

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Scored this for basically the shipping. Dolby DP600 "program Optimizer"....whatever the hell that is.... All the drives were missing....but inside lay a Supermicro X7DAL, in working order. The interesting part is the cute little 7" touchscreen display on the front, also in working order. The CPU's are e5450's (3GHz, 1333FSB).

Cute toy anyway..... If the trays can be found, it could make a pretty cool NAS....waste of power though, I'd put a lesser motherboard in it and relegate this one to some heftier duties most likely.

Anyway...











Till the next time...

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

^WTF?

Killer score man... Stock SM BIOS too?

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

It had a 'dolby' splash at POST, but otherwise appeared stock. It's moot now anyway, I flashed it with the latest off SM's site...the splash is now gone and its a stock SM bios.

[diif]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Nice score. For faster than real time Dolby encoding, decoding and conversion. I bet it came with a hefty price tag when new. I do like that screen on the front.

[Hondaman]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

A quick search suggests this equipment provides "loudness normalization" and "metadata correction". You can use it in your workflow when producing programming, and also in broadcasting.

You can also use it to encode/decode Dolby. Years ago, some classical music stations transmitted in Dolby B (I don't know if they still do this). This equipment appears to provide this capability. Only high-end home tuners could decode the signal *_properly_*. (You could also have used a stereo cassette deck to record the classical music [without Dolby] and then hit the "Dolby B" button on playback to hear it the way it was intended.)

I suspect the actual encoding/decoding would be done by very specialized PCI sound boards (are they present?). (I'm too lazy to look at the online manual. Also I need to clean my house right now.)

EDIT: Beware of drive size limitations, IDE-only chipsets, etc. Also I recommend citrus-based "goo-gone" to remove that label on the right front of the unit. Your fingers and skin oils could remove the adhesive, but that would take longer.

[Hondaman]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

Interesting to know what is wrong, though.

The left side of the motor housing was broken in two (all 360 degrees around), as if the unit had been dropped. Maybe I could have removed the broken part and all the safety guards on the left side and used it (if the motor and bearings were okay). But that's not safe. It was a 6-inch bench grinder from Illinois Industrial Tools - isn't that a Harbor Freight brand? I already threw it out - I believe spare parts don't exist, and taking it apart does not appeal to me at all.

Right now, the best economic use of my time involves working 50 hours a week (for three-quarters of the calendar year, actually) and replacing worn-out front suspension components on my car. (I do have another car for my daily driving.)

And yes, I meant to say "5 by 4" LCDs (not "4 by 3" LCDs). Sorry about that.

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Absolutely strange package left near my door. I have NO idea who left these.

-Mercury MAV-230W PSU - bad caps
-Allied AL-8400BTX PSU - bad caps
-PCChips M811 - near pristine condition, came in a "ASUS K8N" box
-ECS K7VZA - bad CPU caps - replaced caps - board will not POST with RAM but will beep if RAM is not present
-Gigabyte GA-7VAX - burnt mosfet and peeled of pads, caps donor

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

My latest scores:

- Power Man IP-S400CQ2-0 400W PSU (free; working; no visible bad caps)
- BioStar a770 A2+ motherboard (full of bad caps, not tested yet, condition unknown) + 1 GB stick of DDR2 RAM (untested yet) + PowerColor Radeon HD4850 512 MB (works!)... all for $15 shipped to me (from eBay).
- XFX GeForce 6800 XT AGP with 256 MB RAM - got it for $16 shipped, so not exactly a cheap score... but it's an AGP card, and the high-end ones are getting more rare these days. This card is the same thing as my PCI-E XFX GF 6800 XT, just with slightly newer core (NV42). Was full of badcaps - every single Evercon was several Ohms ESR. Re-capped it temporarily with used Chemicon KZG caps for testing, and it worked. Needs new thermal compound and/or heatsink, as it is sitting at 56°C idle.

Scored this for basically the shipping. Dolby DP600 "program Optimizer"....whatever the hell that is.... All the drives were missing....but inside lay a Supermicro X7DAL, in working order. The interesting part is the cute little 7" touchscreen display on the front, also in working order. The CPU's are e5450's (3GHz, 1333FSB).

That is awesome!

Could take out the board from there and put something less powerful. Then use the 7" touchscreen to make some kind of a machine/controller/server/jukebox?

BTW, I like the CPU heatsinks on those Xeons. Are those really full-copper or just copper-plated aluminum?

Absolutely strange package left near my door. I have NO idea who left these.

Early presents from Santa Claus?

Though, if he left Deer/Allied/L&C PSUs for you, that means you must have misbehaved this the year.

-ECS K7VZA - bad CPU caps - replaced caps - board will not POST with RAM but will beep if RAM is not present

I have a K7S5A that does something similar, except mine won't post with DDR RAM but will post with SDR RAM.

I suspect your board probably has more bad caps that are just not showing it.
Have a POST card? See where it gets stuck.

-Gigabyte GA-7VAX - burnt mosfet and peeled of pads, caps donor

That might actually be easier to repair than the ECS above.

Lite-on SHM-165H6S: Kickass DVD Burner w/ lightscribe. Appears to be one of the best IDE DVD drives ever made based on speeds (48x/24x/16x Speeds). Found at Goodwill for $5.

Nice!

I like IDE optical drives.

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

My latest scores:

That is awesome!

Could take out the board from there and put something less powerful. Then use the 7" touchscreen to make some kind of a machine/controller/server/jukebox?

BTW, I like the CPU heatsinks on those Xeons. Are those really full-copper or just copper-plated aluminum?

Probably solid copper. Those beasts get toasty.

I like IDE optical drives.

I've been collecting up lightscribe drives like that... my goal is for every main rig I build to have one. I was one short, and this one, especially what it is, is slick and perfect for what I need (X5DAL rig #2, still haven't finished it).

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Early presents from Santa Claus?

Though, if he left Deer/Allied/L&C PSUs for you, that means you must have misbehaved this the year.

This is the 2nd Allied AL-8400BTX, so I wouldn't care doing the same things I did to the other one. It has a ERL28 transformer for god's sake!

By the way, the Mercury proved to be some VERY VERY VERY
old Sun Pro design, evidenced by their logo printed on the PCB. Of course bulging JEE caps, and a ERL28 transformer, although it was square instead of round like on the Allied.

I have a K7S5A that does something similar, except mine won't post with DDR RAM but will post with SDR RAM.

I suspect your board probably has more bad caps that are just not showing it.
Have a POST card? See where it gets stuck.

I already recapped it with Rubycon MBZ and OST RLX (that checked fine - I surprisingly had good luck in using OSTs so they're not that crap I guess?) on both CPU low and high side and around the RAM. In fact, most of the G-Luxons were replaced on this board. Only some small audio filtering G-Luxons survive since these I didn't have a problem with.

As for POST card, I don't have any. The only things I can notice are:

-removing RAM will give the usual long beeps.
-installing a stick of RAM will give no beep, even without GPU.

I'd say it hangs around the C1 code though? C1 usually points to RAM.

That might actually be easier to repair than the ECS above.

I assure you, it isn't. Even the PCB compound under the burnt mosfet was pitch black, and there was another component blown next to it, both being near the ATX power connector.

Not a big loss though, other than the Realtek RTL8100 NIC onboard there wasn't really anything special over a normal GA-7VA for instance, other than the huge board size.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

That is awesome!

Could take out the board from there and put something less powerful. Then use the 7" touchscreen to make some kind of a machine/controller/server/jukebox?

This machine is beyond coolness!! The sinks are supermicro branded, solid copper...they weigh a ton.

I threw S2K12 R2 on it (which plays really nice with touchscreens). It would make a beyond awesome NAS. No software came with this, so for its dolby functions, its useless....but there was a USB thumb drive in it, which is likely an activation key for their software (if I ever come across it).... The case is very well built. It looks to be some kind of Lian Li full aluminum construction....but I can't confirm that, but that's what it reminds me of. Setting the fan controller to 'quiet mode', its virtually silent.

The challenge now is to find the drive rails for the SAS bay in front.

I would also have to do a few custom mods. It has no power button, if it has line power, its always on. Disabling it on the motherboard was simply a a jumper setting.....but when its on, the backlight is always on, even if you put the GPU to sleep. It just gets +12v from the PSU, so its a matter of rigging a simple switch for when its not in use.

[mikay786]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Bought about 35 Xbox 360, PSP, Wii games for not a lot like 50p a game.

Most notable purchase was NAD Series 20 3020 Amplifier for £7.50

Condition on outside is decent, is side look really dirty and can visually see through grill some leaky caps. Depending how easy its to work on might restore or just flip. But at £7.50 think it a decent score.

Also got a Bush 320GB HD Freeview box, no remote for £3

[harispap]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

A desktop with a Pentium G620 processor, 2GB RAM, a foxconn motherboard, a low quality 450w power supply, a nvidia gt210 and a 160gb hard disk from western digital

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Today was American Pickers, Ratdude edition.

My wife's friend is a Computer tech in Indy, and had a collection of stuff saved from the recycle bin that he wanted thinned out.

Here's what I received:

• Two Supermicro Blade severs (1u, single HDD bay) with P4SCE boards. No HDD, one is missing the RAM and PCI riser
• A HL Lightscribe Burner (SATA)
• A large passive heatsink (almost looked like it was for an Itanium board or something, large screw pattern)
• A stock intel 775 cooler (thick copper core, PWM delta fan)
• A Utra 320 Scsi drive, 18.2 GB 15K (in HP tray)

In exchange for recapping a late 2000's HP system (With a phenom 4 and a buttload of RAM) that was "the only thing in the pile that's worth something, aside from that old Mac Mini".

Not sure what I'll do with the blades... I wonder if I could swap in a newer board with a PCIe slot and use a PCIe riser and an SAS RAID card with external Port and hook it to an external SAS backplane box. Just a thought... Either way, not junk IMHO.