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    "Netburst Mercedes" - a rather simple yet "exotic" build

    Figured I should make a own thread so as not to hijack Topcat's thread.

    Just as the title says, this machine is basically a "Netburst Mercedes". From the case, all the way to the innards, IMO.

    First, let's take a look at the specs:

    Mobo: Gigabyte GA-8IG1000 Pro w/ FGx BIOS (special BIOS revision made by AGFA for their dlab.1 MPU machine.)
    CPU: Pentium 4 HT 3.00GHz Prescott - will probably replace it with a Northwood HT as this Prescott is literally HELL incarnate. Wish I'd be joking, but it's absolutely true.
    PSU: revamped Deer/L&C LC-B400ATX (strong heatsinks, 35 size main trafo, complete main filtering, recapped with good caps, and sleeved wires out of a totally busted Thermaltake.)
    RAM: 4x512MB, nothing special
    ODD: some random Lite-On that is literally not even reading discs
    GPU: Sapphire Radeon X1650 Pro 512MB DDR2 AGP8x
    HDDs: 80GB Hitachi Deskstar as OS drive, 74GB WD Raptor as storage.
    Soundcard: Sound Blaster Audigy SE SB0570 PCI
    Other: Pinnacle PCI TV Tuner that I have no idea of its model number.

    To do:

    - replace the absolute Prescott furnace with a 2.8GHz Northwood HT. Cooler operation and doesn't murder the PSU as much as the Prescott currently does (not really, it's just running hot and loud - Deer's thermal controller works surprisingly well so no wonder the fan is loud.)
    - replace the ODD with either an LG or Samsung

    Finally, I'll leave some pics.







    Attached Files
    Main rig:
    Gigabyte B75M-D3H
    Core i5-3470 3.60GHz
    Gigabyte Geforce GTX650 1GB GDDR5
    16GB DDR3-1600
    Samsung SH-224AB DVD-RW
    FSP Bluestorm II 500W (recapped)
    120GB ADATA + 2x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB
    Delux MG760 case

    #2
    Re: "Netburst Mercedes" - a rather simple yet "exotic" build

    Should I be happy, I don't have any more (stable) P4's. I have one preshott 3.4GHz (775, i915; machine crashes randomly) and a HT 3.0GHz Northwood (478, i865; machine crashes under load reporting overheating)...

    Comment


      #3
      Re: "Netburst Mercedes" - a rather simple yet "exotic" build

      I have a similar build going on now!! Welcome to the party!
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        #4
        Re: "Netburst Mercedes" - a rather simple yet "exotic" build

        Looking back at the original post, I now realize I forgot mentioning the mysterious Mercedes styled case! It's a Linkworld 3210 (yes, Stinkworld) case I was given for free, that had been in rather rough shape.

        It's ever so slightly rusted, but in much better condition than when I got it nevertheless - I had matched it with parts from another Linkworld case of the same construction (a 313G I think) that was rather ugly but had same kind of chassis. Same goes for the drive covers - they came from that scrapped case, despite not being fully compatible.

        I also modified the front LEDs so that they match my main PC's configuration - thus, there are two green power LEDs put together, along with two amber (which will probably be replaced with red and white-based green LEDs) HDD leds.

        Left to do to the case is also glue some rubber standoffs - the case only has some slight pits that act as standoffs and you can imagine how bad the case would drift on wood. Surprisingly cheap yet good case, otherwise.
        Main rig:
        Gigabyte B75M-D3H
        Core i5-3470 3.60GHz
        Gigabyte Geforce GTX650 1GB GDDR5
        16GB DDR3-1600
        Samsung SH-224AB DVD-RW
        FSP Bluestorm II 500W (recapped)
        120GB ADATA + 2x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB
        Delux MG760 case

        Comment


          #5
          Re: "Netburst Mercedes" - a rather simple yet "exotic" build

          Also sorry for double post. Replaced DVD drive with some older Liteon unit dated ~2003. It's white, but it seems to still read discs like new.

          Also replaced the SATA cable as I had issues with the old one.
          Last edited by Dan81; 03-08-2022, 03:30 PM.
          Main rig:
          Gigabyte B75M-D3H
          Core i5-3470 3.60GHz
          Gigabyte Geforce GTX650 1GB GDDR5
          16GB DDR3-1600
          Samsung SH-224AB DVD-RW
          FSP Bluestorm II 500W (recapped)
          120GB ADATA + 2x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB
          Delux MG760 case

          Comment


            #6
            Re: "Netburst Mercedes" - a rather simple yet "exotic" build

            Originally posted by Dan81 View Post
            Also replaced the SATA cable as I had issues with the old one.
            Funny, I don't think I've ever seen a bad SATA cable!
            <--- Badcaps.net Founder

            Badcaps.net Services:

            Motherboard Repair Services

            ----------------------------------------------
            Badcaps.net Forum Members Folding Team
            http://folding.stanford.edu/
            Team : 49813
            Join in!!
            Team Stats

            Comment


              #7
              Re: "Netburst Mercedes" - a rather simple yet "exotic" build

              I've had quite a few. Their ends are a bit longer than usual and they have horrible plastics. I had a spare cable left (dunno where it was from though) and installed it.

              Still dunno why XP would give me a "Error loading operating system" on restart when trying to install it on the Raptor. Installed fine on the Deskstar though, so didn't poke it too much.
              Main rig:
              Gigabyte B75M-D3H
              Core i5-3470 3.60GHz
              Gigabyte Geforce GTX650 1GB GDDR5
              16GB DDR3-1600
              Samsung SH-224AB DVD-RW
              FSP Bluestorm II 500W (recapped)
              120GB ADATA + 2x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB
              Delux MG760 case

              Comment


                #8
                Re: "Netburst Mercedes" - a rather simple yet "exotic" build

                Originally posted by Dan81 View Post
                Just as the title says, this machine is basically a "Netburst Mercedes". From the case, all the way to the innards, IMO.
                HA! You weren't kidding with that tittle.
                I figured when you said "Mercedes", you just meant a cool P4 build... but I see it now - the case IS actually very much like a Mercedes front.
                That's actually really cool.

                I've seen the same "BMW" cases with the carry handle on top and whatnot. Always thought they looked tacky and yet cool/unique for that era at the same time. In any case (pun intended here), I still find these a lot more interesting than the modern cases with RGB LED fans on the front and boring glass window on the side.

                Originally posted by Dan81 View Post
                CPU: Pentium 4 HT 3.00GHz Prescott - will probably replace it with a Northwood HT as this Prescott is literally HELL incarnate. Wish I'd be joking, but it's absolutely true.
                Well, good sir, you are running a stock "low-TDP" Willamate/Northwood CPU cooler in that build... so no surprise your Prescott is running hot. Even the 2.8 Northy might run a bit hot with that. The proper heatsink for 2.6 GHz Northwoods and up has slightly more fins. And the Prescotts usually run all copper or Alu-heatsinks with copper inserts. I've seen only a handful of stock all-aluminum heatsinks for Prescott and they were... THIC.

                Do you have a stock s775 "full-height" cooler with copper insert? If yes, those will do for the Prescotts. AMD's 89W TDP heatsinks from the AM2/AM3 era would also be suitable. But of course, this would require ghetto-modding.

                As for it being worthwhile - maybe. Depends what you're going to use the system for. If just for retro games, the Northwood will probably do just fine. But if some browsing or video-related stuff will be done, the Prescott is actually considerably better due to extra cache and SSE3.

                Originally posted by Dan81 View Post
                GPU: Sapphire Radeon X1650 Pro 512MB DDR2 AGP8x
                ...
                https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1646761495
                Nice!
                Did you add that heatsink on the bridge yourself or did the video card come with it?
                Either way, this is THE ONLY way those cards should be used. Otherwise, the bridge chip is a common failure for these cards, rendering many of them broken after some years of use.

                Really glad to see yours has it.

                Originally posted by Dan81
                Looking back at the original post, I now realize I forgot mentioning the mysterious Mercedes styled case! It's a Linkworld 3210 (yes, Stinkworld) case I was given for free, that had been in rather rough shape.
                Stinkworld PSUs were never that great... but their cases - not bad!

                Do you have the side for that case? If so, consider adding a rear exhaust fan. Pentium 4 systems do need them. PSU fan likely won't be enough.

                Originally posted by eccerr0r View Post
                Should I be happy, I don't have any more (stable) P4's.
                Maybe?

                I used to not care for P4 CPUs, but now do appreciate them - not just for "retro" PCs, but how much useful system life they can provide. FWIW, P4 CPUs are the only ones from that mid-2000's era (particularly the HT Prescotts and Northwoods) that can still be used on the web today. Yes, they are very very slow... but they'll get you from point A to B eventually. Athlon XP - nope, can't use any more due to lack of SSE2. Athlon 64 in socket 754 variant? - kinda weak for web use, and especially YT/video. Same goes for 939.

                I have the fastest single-core 939 CPU - the FX-57, running at a "blistering" 2.8 GHz. How does it compare to my 2.8 GHz P4 Prescott HT? - It's much faster in games and when processing website scripts online. But give it video encoding/decoding, and it chokes badly, especially on YT - can't even do 480p without dropping frames... which is funny, because it otherwise loads the YT page (and it's terrible scripts/comments) about 3-5 times faster than the 2.8 GHz Prescott HT. But once the video starts, it's a PowerPoint presentation. In contrast, the 2.8 GHz P4 Prescott HT takes much longer to process through the scripts on the page (tested with the same video, browser, and video acceleration settings - or lackthereof)... but once those load, I can even watch 720p if the bitrate is low enough. 480p is generally OK without dropping frames if I don't task the CPU with doing anything else in the background.

                So yeah... as bad as we think those P4's are, they are the only "old" CPUs from that era that can still be used online today.

                Originally posted by Topcat View Post
                Funny, I don't think I've ever seen a bad SATA cable!
                Same.
                ... except for a few user-damaged ones, where the top part above the contact pins was literally broken off from excessive force.
                Last edited by momaka; 03-10-2022, 05:09 AM.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: "Netburst Mercedes" - a rather simple yet "exotic" build

                  Originally posted by momaka View Post
                  Well, good sir, you are running a stock "low-TDP" Willamate/Northwood CPU cooler in that build... so no surprise your Prescott is running hot. Even the 2.8 Northy might run a bit hot with that. The proper heatsink for 2.6 GHz Northwoods and up has slightly more fins. And the Prescotts usually run all copper or Alu-heatsinks with copper inserts. I've seen only a handful of stock all-aluminum heatsinks for Prescott and they were... THIC.

                  Do you have a stock s775 "full-height" cooler with copper insert? If yes, those will do for the Prescotts. AMD's 89W TDP heatsinks from the AM2/AM3 era would also be suitable. But of course, this would require ghetto-modding.
                  You mean the C91249-002 shown like in the photo? If so, I remember having tons of these, and they do have the copper base. I'll check to see how those fare against the stock Willy/early Northwood heatsink.



                  As for AM2 heatsinks, not really doable, unless I use ASRock's funny rentention bracket from the 754/939 era, which is basically a 2-in-1 contraption of the 478 and 754/939 retention systems. I think I have some of these too.

                  Originally posted by momaka View Post
                  As for it being worthwhile - maybe. Depends what you're going to use the system for. If just for retro games, the Northwood will probably do just fine. But if some browsing or video-related stuff will be done, the Prescott is actually considerably better due to extra cache and SSE3.
                  Guess the Prescott will stay then! I would want to have browsing capabilities and video related features so I guess the Prescott's SSE would come in helpful.

                  Originally posted by momaka View Post
                  Nice!
                  Did you add that heatsink on the bridge yourself or did the video card come with it?
                  Either way, this is THE ONLY way those cards should be used. Otherwise, the bridge chip is a common failure for these cards, rendering many of them broken after some years of use.

                  Really glad to see yours has it.
                  Yes, it's superglued in there. I had artefacts before glue-ing it in there, along with a X1300 exhibiting the same symptoms. Speaking of which, I think I should bring that one up to snuff as well.


                  Originally posted by momaka View Post
                  Stinkworld PSUs were never that great... but their cases - not bad!

                  Do you have the side for that case? If so, consider adding a rear exhaust fan. Pentium 4 systems do need them. PSU fan likely won't be enough.
                  The side panel isn't really anyhting special, though I figure a 92mm (or at least that's what I think the case fan size is.) will probably help.

                  As for PSUs... I think I still have some "Stinkworld" PSUs I could patch up - these were actually among the few that you could fix and have a semi-decent 250W unit. If you don't count the absolutely dumpster-fire half-sized units, that is. Their standard full-sized units were okay-ish though (bar the abysmal cap choice, that is.) once recapped.
                  Main rig:
                  Gigabyte B75M-D3H
                  Core i5-3470 3.60GHz
                  Gigabyte Geforce GTX650 1GB GDDR5
                  16GB DDR3-1600
                  Samsung SH-224AB DVD-RW
                  FSP Bluestorm II 500W (recapped)
                  120GB ADATA + 2x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB
                  Delux MG760 case

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: "Netburst Mercedes" - a rather simple yet "exotic" build

                    Northwood P4's are all 32 bit right? BTW that heatsink/fan looks like the one I have on my Northwood...stock hs/f for S478.

                    At least Prehotts are all 64-bit capable and were able to boot my 64-bit Linux images. Except now I have a Celeron 430 to do that honor instead of the flaky Preshott motherboard...

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: "Netburst Mercedes" - a rather simple yet "exotic" build

                      IIRC Socket 478 didn't have EM64T except one CPU, SL8JX. Mine is just a normal 3GHz HT, no EM64T.
                      Main rig:
                      Gigabyte B75M-D3H
                      Core i5-3470 3.60GHz
                      Gigabyte Geforce GTX650 1GB GDDR5
                      16GB DDR3-1600
                      Samsung SH-224AB DVD-RW
                      FSP Bluestorm II 500W (recapped)
                      120GB ADATA + 2x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB
                      Delux MG760 case

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: "Netburst Mercedes" - a rather simple yet "exotic" build

                        Originally posted by Dan81 View Post
                        You mean the C91249-002 shown like in the photo? If so, I remember having tons of these, and they do have the copper base. I'll check to see how those fare against the stock Willy/early Northwood heatsink.

                        https://images.prom.ua/1465999940_w6...rotsessora.jpg
                        Heh, I've actually never seen those before... but they do look like they have more fins, so I think they should cool a little better. Give it a try and see.

                        I guess I'm more accustomed to Dell and HP/Compaq (OEM) builds - those always carried some type of copper or heatpipe stuff for the P4 CPUs. So if you do have a source of such old systems in your area, you should be able to find some suitable coolers then.

                        Originally posted by Dan81 View Post
                        As for AM2 heatsinks, not really doable, unless I use ASRock's funny rentention bracket from the 754/939 era, which is basically a 2-in-1 contraption of the 478 and 754/939 retention systems. I think I have some of these too.
                        I think I know which ones you're talking about, as I have two from my 939dual-sata2 boards. Did they actually fit s478 mounting holes? Would be interesting if they did.

                        Originally posted by Dan81 View Post
                        Guess the Prescott will stay then! I would want to have browsing capabilities and video related features so I guess the Prescott's SSE would come in helpful.
                        Well, the difference between the NW and Prescott might not be that great... but still, P4 is long architecture and often constricted by its "small" cache... which is where the extra 0.5 MB on the Prescott helps a little. Otherwise, IIRC, the NW had slightly better IPC than the Prescott - imagine that, lol.

                        Originally posted by Dan81 View Post
                        Yes, it's superglued in there.
                        Nice!
                        Whatever works.
                        But yeah, those bridge heatsinks were necessary. Too bad too many manufacturers cheaped out.

                        Originally posted by Dan81 View Post
                        The side panel isn't really anyhting special, though I figure a 92mm (or at least that's what I think the case fan size is.) will probably help.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: "Netburst Mercedes" - a rather simple yet "exotic" build

                          I was looking at some benchmarks between the 3.4GHz P4 (Preshott, 2M cache) and my Celeron 430 (Conroe? 1.8GHz). For integer operations, IPC wins and the Celeron at 1.8GHz is pretty darn close to a 3.4GHz P4.

                          However, pure floating point operations, ...

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: "Netburst Mercedes" - a rather simple yet "exotic" build

                            Still a WiP at this point as some stuff needs attention or doesn't work. Not the most period correct either but I make do with whatever spares I have for it.



                            AMD K6-2 500 (non-plus)
                            Chaintech 5AGM2 mobo
                            ANS LC-B400ATX PSU (rebuilt)
                            20GB Maxtor 5T020H2 HDD
                            TRENDnet RTL8139D NIC
                            ASUS FX5200 128M GPU
                            Hitachi LG 4167B DVDRW


                            Currently having some issues as I originally wanted a 98SE/NT4 dualboot. Will probably end up with using a server version of 2000 in place of NT4 instead. What isn't working on it is the serial port bracket I'm using. Will have to source an even older one.
                            Attached Files
                            Main rig:
                            Gigabyte B75M-D3H
                            Core i5-3470 3.60GHz
                            Gigabyte Geforce GTX650 1GB GDDR5
                            16GB DDR3-1600
                            Samsung SH-224AB DVD-RW
                            FSP Bluestorm II 500W (recapped)
                            120GB ADATA + 2x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB
                            Delux MG760 case

                            Comment

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