best cheap/free scores 1.1

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Scored more free stuff:

- HP DV7-1080ES - no CPU, RAM, HSF and HDD, but the rest of the laptop is full. Got 4GB of DDR2 and T6600 for it.
- HP DV6-2125SO - Turion II, 4GB DDR2, 500GB Seagate Momentus 7200 (!) - didn't POST at first. Reflowed both HD4530 and the separate IGP chipset, and it works. Replaced the cracked panel, and so far it works fine.

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

My latest score... Radeon HD4670 PCI-E for $5 to my door. I really like these older mid-range low-power PCI-E video cards from AMD. They have enough power for some older games and don't need any extra power connections. Also, HD3k and newer have audio over HDMI and DVI-D with DVI-D to HDMI adapter - good for driving a TV!

We have one of those on this forum....but I won't mention names.

Yes, it's me.

IDK, RD, I think he could have meant that comment for me as well.

I still haven't put that SM board TC sent me to good use. Feed bad when I think about it. I will build a PC with it... eventually, though.

Some years ago, member Pentium4 here sent me 2 motherboards that he / the place where he worked were getting rid of. One was an Intel with a blown MOSFET that it took me a long time to fix (and I still don't know if I have done it properly, but it was a fun repair I leaned a lot from.) The other is an ASUS motherboard that I fully recapped and then put on the shelf for 2-3 years. Felt bad about not using that one too... but then my parents' PC needed an upgrade a few years back, and so I built a new PC for them with that. It's been in service ever since and still is. Now I'm considering to upgrade my parents' PC to something better and take that one in my next "main" PC.

The SM from TC is pretty awesome, to say the least... and that's why I don't know if I want to build a retro gaming PC with it or a "main" PC.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

IDK, RD, I think he could have meant that comment for me as well.

The difference is that Voodoo3 he's got is new in box in shrinkwrap....which is just absolute blasphemy that such a beautiful piece of tech goes unused. I will hound him till he sells it to me or uses it in one of his rigs....all I care about is this card being used & enjoyed!

As for that old X5DAL, it got abused good when I had it....so take your time....I have faith you'll abuse it some more!

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

The SM from TC is pretty awesome, to say the least... and that's why I don't know if I want to build a retro gaming PC with it or a "main" PC.

...meanwhile, I have two of them (X5DAL) sitting. Although I did power up big mama (Main Rig V2.x)... and after having to go through the "pull half the RAM and re-enter all the BIOS settings" game I have to do half the time (both boards do it even on good batteries), it fired right up. Didn't run it long though because historically it keeps corrupting the windows install; I should probably look into USB imaging it so the next time it pukes its guts, I can just dump an image.

Still works well for web surfing... but even as maxed out as it is (newest AGP card ever made, fastest CPUs that will run, and maxed out with 8GB of DDR2), I don't know how long that will hold. As for the other one (which has slightly slower CPUs and a less agressive GPU), haven't powered it up in over a year... never had a reason to. Maybe one of these days...

Due to the quirks (at least from my experience), they're better suited these days for retro use. I ran one as a main system, and while it did run well at times, I've found newer SM boards to be less fickle and picky.

The difference is that Voodoo3 he's got is new in box in shrinkwrap....which is just absolute blasphemy that such a beautiful piece of tech goes unused. I will hound him till he sells it to me or uses it in one of his rigs....all I care about is this card being used & enjoyed!

It's a meh PCI Voodoo 2000... not a cream of the crop voodoo 3!

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

It's a meh PCI Voodoo 2000... not a cream of the crop voodoo 3!

It's the best voodoo3 I could possibly get for my P-Pro build though (dual socket 8 w/ 2x overdrive 333's in it). No AGP p-pro board was ever made, and the Voodoo3 2000 was the highest PCI they made. Everything thereafter was AGP. Ironic, I thought that card was AGP all the while until your last visit here when you told me it was PCI....but I've still got a build for it.

[BigTroll]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

...meanwhile, I have two of them (X5DAL) sitting. Although I did power up big mama (Main Rig V2.x)... and after having to go through the "pull half the RAM and re-enter all the BIOS settings" game I have to do half the time (both boards do it even on good batteries), it fired right up. Didn't run it long though because historically it keeps corrupting the windows install; I should probably look into USB imaging it so the next time it pukes its guts, I can just dump an image.

Still works well for web surfing... but even as maxed out as it is (newest AGP card ever made, fastest CPUs that will run, and maxed out with 8GB of DDR2), I don't know how long that will hold. As for the other one (which has slightly slower CPUs and a less agressive GPU), haven't powered it up in over a year... never had a reason to. Maybe one of these days...

Due to the quirks (at least from my experience), they're better suited these days for retro use. I ran one as a main system, and while it did run well at times, I've found newer SM boards to be less fickle and picky.



It's a meh PCI Voodoo 2000... not a cream of the crop voodoo 3!

You can pass it on to your future kid one days and do a father/son/daughter retro build with it.

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

More epic free scores!

- Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H + Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz @ 3.60GHz + EKL-AG cooler
- Hoco E36 BT headphone
- ADATA SU650 120GB SATA3 6.0GB/s SSD
- Gigabyte Geforce GTX650 OC 1GB GDDR5
- Arctic MX4 Thermal Compound

Coming next month : Note 4 N910F, full box!

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

See how easy it was to remove that shrinkwrap and let the beauty out of the box??

[Uranium-235]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I have a working Voodoo 5 5500 in storage

[BigTroll]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

See how easy it was to remove that shrinkwrap and let the beauty out of the box??

beautiful card topcat! did it have any special voodoo smell to it?

[BigTroll]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I have a working Voodoo 5 5500 in storage

damn now thats a sweet card.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I have a working Voodoo 5 5500 in storage

I've got one as well, its not rotting in storage, it's in a system. If you want to part with yours since it's not in use, let me know.

beautiful card topcat! did it have any special voodoo smell to it?

As a matter of fact it did. That new packaged/air tight electronics smell.

[Uranium-235]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I've got one as well, its not rotting in storage, it's in a system. If you want to part with yours since it's not in use, let me know.

I might recap it (from age, no bloated caps). Sell it. I mean, have you seen the prices on ebay of those cards used?

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I might recap it (from age, no bloated caps). Sell it. I mean, have you seen the prices on ebay of those cards used?

~$350 give or take....which is retarded....but supply & demand, the American way I suppose. Something tells me I could come up with some tradebait and/or I'd get a better deal.... If you don't want to sell it, no harm no foul....but for the love of humanity and old games, put it back to use!

[dmill89]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

~$350 give or take....which is retarded....but supply & demand, the American way I suppose.

Yep, and sadly I remember tossing a bunch of them in the mid 2000s after 3dfx went belly up and they were basically worthless due to lack of updated drivers. If only I knew what they would be worth one day. That was likely the fate of many of these cards (and they never sold in the numbers many of the nVidia and Ati cards did to begin with) leading to the tight supply and ridiculous prices now that "retro" systems have gained popularity.

[Hondaman]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Tonight, I got a Polaroid TDA-03211C from someone's trash (garbage collection in much/most/all of USA won't take electronics). 32 inch LCD TV, 16 by 9 aspect ratio, 720P, ATSC tuner, 2 HDMI ports, one 15-pin VGA port and lots of RCA jacks, and a built-in DVD player. Just as I was getting out of my car and putting it into my trunk (boot), another neighborhood junk collector pulled up in his truck. I think he saw it as well, and he was going to take it right then. I was going to wait until after dinner at a restaurant to get it, but I'm glad I decided to turn the car around and grab it immediately, or it would have been gone!

"Polaroid", of course, is just a name that can be licensed. You don't know who actually made this generic unit. But it was free, and it might be an easy fix. Everyone here always gets such wonderful "free scores", and I never seem to get any good stuff. Well, this time, I got something nice. We'll see if it is an easy fix.

There was strong rain in my area today, so I'm going to have to let it dry out for some time (I'm quite busy right now, so this is not a problem). I will put further updates on the repairs in the appropriate section here at badcaps (some will be needed, trust me).

[Uranium-235]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

~$350 give or take....which is retarded....but supply & demand, the American way I suppose. Something tells me I could come up with some tradebait and/or I'd get a better deal.... If you don't want to sell it, no harm no foul....but for the love of humanity and old games, put it back to use!

Tribes is about the only game i've ever played with GLide support. It's not really that great a technology, but at the time it did beat gl/d3d because everyone thought glide/3dfx would be the future. I still remember the commercial from ~1995, at the time not knowing what 3dfx really was, as my family was lower-middle class and I didn't have anything above a 386

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooLO2xeyJZA

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Tonight, I got a Polaroid TDA-03211C from someone's trash (garbage collection in much/most/all of USA won't take electronics). 32 inch LCD TV, 16 by 9 aspect ratio, 720P, ATSC tuner, 2 HDMI ports, one 15-pin VGA port and lots of RCA jacks, and a built-in DVD player. Just as I was getting out of my car and putting it into my trunk (boot), another neighborhood junk collector pulled up in his truck. I think he saw it as well, and he was going to take it right then. I was going to wait until after dinner at a restaurant to get it, but I'm glad I decided to turn the car around and grab it immediately, or it would have been gone!

"Polaroid", of course, is just a name that can be licensed. You don't know who actually made this generic unit. But it was free, and it might be an easy fix. Everyone here always gets such wonderful "free scores", and I never seem to get any good stuff. Well, this time, I got something nice. We'll see if it is an easy fix.

There was strong rain in my area today, so I'm going to have to let it dry out for some time (I'm quite busy right now, so this is not a problem). I will put further updates on the repairs in the appropriate section here at badcaps (some will be needed, trust me).

About 5 years ago I curbsided a nearly identical (identical?) unit. About the same size, 720P polaroid with two HDMI's and a DVD player. Bad panel cables (lines on screen), so it's still a boat anchor in my parents basement. If you want a 2nd unit for parts, it's yours.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Tribes is about the only game i've ever played with GLide support.

Just keep me in mind if you decide to part with it....I do have a befitting build in my 'keeper pile' that could benefit from a 5500. A very period-specific Tualatin build.

[Uranium-235]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Just keep me in mind if you decide to part with it....I do have a befitting build in my 'keeper pile' that could benefit from a 5500. A very period-specific Tualatin build.

I might actually do something similar. I have a 1u server with dual TT 1.4's and somewhere I have an ATX motherboard with dual 370 sockets. Probably put win2k on it