Pio's new (lol) projects

[ArchStanton]

10 hours ago, pioneerisloud said:

Ordered 20+4 pin extensions from them on ebay, and they sent me regular 24pin extensions. -_- 

 When things like that happen to me, I always imagine myself morphing in "Jules Winnfield" and asking the negligent party "English mother fucker, do you speak it?".

[pio]

Pulled the trigger on yet another set of extensions.  These ones are ugly sphagetti colored, but according to the listing and pictures they'll work.  Only ones I can seem to find that are actually 20pin or 20+4.  Soooooo oh well.

 

Also, curiosity got the better of me and I purchased a full K6-II 500MHz build from ebay.  Of course I'm not going to be happy with it as is, but it should be a functional rig according to the listing.  Has 64MB RAM, a 9GB HDD, unknown video (TNT2 I think it was?).  Of course I'm going to want a different GPU in there, possibly sound card, it lacks a LAN card so it'll need one of those, and it has zero USB so I'll need to add that too.  I have optical drives for it, so I'll need another small first gen SSD for it.  I'll also need a ZIP 250 drive for it.  But.....I can at least inspect it and make sure its solid before buying the rest of the stuff.....it MIGHT need caps.  PSU might need done too, as its an old AT style unit.

 

So, now I should just need whatever to fix the K6 build, and I still need to get that Chieftec Dragon case fixed up for the Athlon 1100.  And then I should be done with all of these.  Hopefully I'll have these all done just before or after my birthday in April.

[pio]

Good news today, and I guess an update kinda sorta.  The first Socket 939 rig is now 100% complete!

Specs:

• Asus A8N SLI
• Opteron 180 @ 3.0GHz / 1.0GHz HT Link, 1.52v
• 4x1GB Corsair XMS DDR400 @ 200MHz, 2.5-3-3-6-2T, 2.85v
• *(939 controller only allows 333 and lower dividers with 4 sticks)*
• Sapphire HD5870
• eVGA 600BQ
• Zalman CNPS 9500
• Lamptron 6ch fan controller (new addition)
• Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music (new addition)
• TP Link Archer T4 Wifi Card
• ZIP 250 drive
• Floppy drive
• DVDRW + Lightscribe (SATA)
• 64GB HP SSD
• 2TB Seagate 2.5"
• Custom painted and windowed Rosewill Challenger case
• Generic RGB LED strips set to green
• Yate Loon DS12H intakes, DS12L exhausts
• Thermaltake 12v cig lighter / ashtray (or cup holder)

 

Made a couple new additions.  Swore at it a lot because of the stupid molex pins falling out causing a short.  Went through 3 sound cards trying to find one that worked.  Finally, I'm happy with this build!  Biggest difference between last time I said it was done and now is the sound card and fan controller.  

 

Due to the extensions problems I've been facing, next build is going to be the second 939 build with G92 SLI and 8GB RAM in it.  Part of why I changed fan controllers in this one, these Lamptron controllers stick out too far to fit behind the door in the G7 case I have for the second build.  So I had to use this "slider" style fan controller there.  I might, MIGHT attempt to build it tonight after kiddo goes to bed, we'll see how I'm feeling.  I'm just glad this one's 100% now.  So now it can be added to my shelf with the Phenom, Thuban, and FX rigs.  I still want to add sound cards to those rigs, but meh.....the older rigs REALLY needed sound cards because onboard sucks.  At least with the later ones the onboard sound is tolerable.  Anyway, onto finished pictures!

 

 

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[ArchStanton]

I recognize those latching LED push buttons on the front case IO panel.  They are handy little dudes. I've used those (and some relays) to add custom flood lights to a lot of zero turn mowers. 

[pio]

*Grumbles loudly about USPS*

This was in my mailbox today.  It was empty.  SUPPOSED to have my DIN5 to PS2 adapter in there for the K6 rig that's due to arrive in a few days.  *grumbles louder*

 

 

In other news, I FINALLY receieved a pair of 24 pin to 20+4 pin PSU extensions, so I should be able to get the Socket A rigs functional very soon.  That was the only piece missing (and the case that needs repaired).  I also have a second Socket 939 rig to build still, everything's here for that.  Also have another rig to build for my kiddo for school, that needs to be finalized and built.  Just ugh.  On TOP of all my little projects, kiddo is now being homeschooled by yours truly for 5-6 hours a day.

I'm losing my mind over here guys! 

It's worth it though, or so they say.  I'll have updates soon, but due to recent schedule changes because of the schooling, things will take me a little longer to get put together since I'm (mostly) limited to weekends now.

[ArchStanton]

At the business where I work, we refuse to ship anything USPS unless the purchaser signs a waiver, basically stating that once it leaves our facility we are no longer liable for it.  I personally have ordered several items off Amazon that arrived in that same "lighter than it should be" condition.  Sorry man.

[Avacado]

9 hours ago, pioneerisloud said:

*Grumbles loudly about USPS*

This was in my mailbox today.  It was empty.  SUPPOSED to have my DIN5 to PS2 adapter in there for the K6 rig that's due to arrive in a few days.  *grumbles louder*

 

 

In other news, I FINALLY receieved a pair of 24 pin to 20+4 pin PSU extensions, so I should be able to get the Socket A rigs functional very soon.  That was the only piece missing (and the case that needs repaired).  I also have a second Socket 939 rig to build still, everything's here for that.  Also have another rig to build for my kiddo for school, that needs to be finalized and built.  Just ugh.  On TOP of all my little projects, kiddo is now being homeschooled by yours truly for 5-6 hours a day.

I'm losing my mind over here guys! 

It's worth it though, or so they say.  I'll have updates soon, but due to recent schedule changes because of the schooling, things will take me a little longer to get put together since I'm (mostly) limited to weekends now.

I worked at the Post office as a mail clerk sorting packages and first class mail a few years back. It was the worst job I have ever had. Sadly, that looks like the mechanical sorting machine ate it. They don't have them at local offices, so you part is underneath a conveyor belt at some major regional sorting hub. Sorry man. 

[pio]

So the K6 rig arrived.  The case was nothing at all like I thought it'd be....its completely broken.  Huge dent in the bottom, and the front faceplate has all the little plastic knubs broken off (and not in the box either), so the faceplate just falls off.

Good news though, flat caps on the motherboard!!!!  There was also a Diamond Stealth 64 PCI GPU in there, and an ISA Creative Sound Blaster in there, CT2502 I think model number.  Looks like a Creative Soundblaster 16?  I also ordered a newer CT4700 PCI sound card for it already, an Adaptec Ultra DMA 133 card, and a Radeon 8500 for it.  I do still need to check caps in the PSU, if they're swollen....I'll have to recap since I'm not going to hunt for a "new" AT style PSU.

 

So looks like I'll be in the market for another case, and maybe a few other small bits and bobs.

Oh, that DIN5 to PS2 adapter.....the seller immediately responded and offered to ship a replacement.  So yay, +1 to ebay finally!  Sometimes you find a decent seller that understands things happen outside of your control.

[pio]

Oh yeah, forgot to upload a picture earlier.  Here's the latest addition to my ATI / AMD GPU collection!  ATI Radeon 8500LE.  From what I can find, the only difference between the LE and non LE variants was clock speed.  The LE is clocked at 250 / 250, and the non LE is 275 / 275.  So close enough to highest end DX8.1 card I could find anyway, I wasn't paying $300 for a 25 year old GPU.

 

[Bones]

That looks exactly like my 9600 Pro except it's a PCI slotted card. Was a good clocking card too but eventually cooked the card's VRAM so it now has artifacts all over the place when I use it.

I'm really looking foward to seeing how the work I did will do once you get those setup and tested.

[pio]

22 minutes ago, Bones said:

That looks exactly like my 9600 Pro except it's a PCI slotted card. Was a good clocking card too but eventually cooked the card's VRAM so it now has artifacts all over the place when I use it.

I'm really looking foward to seeing how the work I did will do once you get those setup and tested.

I know I am too!  Just need enough time to throw a couple builds together.  Still have 6 more hours of school to do with kiddo this week, going to try to get it done this evening so I have the weekend to build.

[Diffident]

On 11/02/2022 at 07:39, pioneerisloud said:

Oh yeah, forgot to upload a picture earlier.  Here's the latest addition to my ATI / AMD GPU collection!  ATI Radeon 8500LE.  From what I can find, the only difference between the LE and non LE variants was clock speed.  The LE is clocked at 250 / 250, and the non LE is 275 / 275.  So close enough to highest end DX8.1 card I could find anyway, I wasn't paying $300 for a 25 year old GPU.

 

I used to have one of those, I think it was $199 new, I replaced it with a 9700Pro.  Don't have the 8500LE anymore, but I still have the 9700Pro.

[pio]

Okay so.......

 

Time is obviously not my friend right now with home schooling kiddo..... -_-

 

I have the "newest" Socket A rig out again and I've been trying my hardest to get it to turn on and work, and I'm just not having any luck.  I think, THINK its these molex Y splitters I'm using, I think one or two of the molex leads just popped the pins out or something when I hooked them up.  Sometimes it POST's, sometimes it doesn't.  When it DOES POST, only the ZIP250 drive is showing up in BIOS.....but I have a total of 4 IDE drives connected.  So something is clearly wrong here.

 

I think this evening I'll take the rear side panel back off and wiggle the molex Y splitters around a bit and see if I can get more life out of it.  It's built.  It's ready to install.....if only it'd find all of its stupid drives, and POST reliably. -_-

 

Just figured I'd let you guys know I haven't stopped, just slowed waaaaaaay down because of the influx in home schooling needs for my kiddo.

 

EDIT:
Aaaaaaaand its put back up on the shelf.  Still cannot get it to POST reliably, nor recognize the drives connected to it. -_-

Edited March 14, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[pio]

Little update for those still following along.....

 

I STILL cannot get either of these Socket A motherboards to work.  One refuses to boot (hangs), and the other just won't even POST.  So those are still hanging me up because I don't want to start dropping money on AT accessories for the K6 if I can't get the K7's working right.  So the "museum" pieces are kind of on hold until I figure out what to do about neither of those boards working.  I have quite literally ALL of my planned multi core builds done and functional.  Software maybe not, but they turn on and work.  So far, to date, I have absolutely ZERO single core rigs functional though and that's what's starting to really tick me off.

 

However, I did pull the trigger on the most expensive part of my "museum" collection.......the "newest" rig.  I have a 5800x, 6900XT, B550 board, DDR4-4000 RAM, and some other goodies on the way.  I'll still need to sort out storage drives for it, but everything else is on its way here.  That will be my "last" build for this collection (hopefully ).  Parts list can be seen in my sig rigs, under the rig titled "AMDwheee".

Edited April 19, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[schuck6566]

10 hours ago, pioneerisloud said:

Little update for those still following along.....

 

I STILL cannot get either of these Socket A motherboards to work.  One refuses to boot (hangs), and the other just won't even POST.  So those are still hanging me up because I don't want to start dropping money on AT accessories for the K6 if I can't get the K7's working right.  So the "museum" pieces are kind of on hold until I figure out what to do about neither of those boards working.  I have quite literally ALL of my planned multi core builds done and functional.  Software maybe not, but they turn on and work.  So far, to date, I have absolutely ZERO single core rigs functional though and that's what's starting to really tick me off.

 

However, I did pull the trigger on the most expensive part of my "museum" collection.......the "newest" rig.  I have a 5800x, 6900XT, B550 board, DDR4-4000 RAM, and some other goodies on the way.  I'll still need to sort out storage drives for it, but everything else is on its way here.  That will be my "last" build for this collection (hopefully ).  Parts list can be seen in my sig rigs, under the rig titled "AMDwheee".

I'm not sure if you've tried this, but I was reading on the socket A's and ran across a piece about how they were out for a while and some of the earlier boards didn't support later cpu's because of the bus differences. maybe pick up a bottom end cpu to test the boards with, with a minimum of drives,ect?

[pio]

8 hours ago, schuck6566 said:

I'm not sure if you've tried this, but I was reading on the socket A's and ran across a piece about how they were out for a while and some of the earlier boards didn't support later cpu's because of the bus differences. maybe pick up a bottom end cpu to test the boards with, with a minimum of drives,ect?

Yeah I have an Athlon xp 2000+ and a pair of 2500+ chips. I do have a much older t-bird 1100mhz chip I could try. I have tried having only the one drive connected, the problem being it doesn't recognize the drive.....and hangs on boot.  The other board just won't post. 

 

I'm pretty sure I have 2 busted boards. My ecs board works, but it only works with older athlons, it won't take the faster xp chips. I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled for another good socket a board most likely. 

 

I could build the 1100mhz setup, but I haven't taken the case down to the body shop yet for repair lol. Was trying to get the newer one done first while I saved up for body shop money lol. I'll get these all going..... One way or another. This is a goal that I am determined to finish even if it still takes a long time. 

[Bones]

On 19/04/2022 at 18:54, pioneerisloud said:

Yeah I have an Athlon xp 2000+ and a pair of 2500+ chips. I do have a much older t-bird 1100mhz chip I could try. I have tried having only the one drive connected, the problem being it doesn't recognize the drive.....and hangs on boot.  The other board just won't post. 

 

I'm pretty sure I have 2 busted boards. My ecs board works, but it only works with older athlons, it won't take the faster xp chips. I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled for another good socket a board most likely. 

 

I could build the 1100mhz setup, but I haven't taken the case down to the body shop yet for repair lol. Was trying to get the newer one done first while I saved up for body shop money lol. I'll get these all going..... One way or another. This is a goal that I am determined to finish even if it still takes a long time. 

Need a good Socket A board? I've got a few here....
Just let me know.

[pio]

1 hour ago, Bones said:

Need a good Socket A board? I've got a few here....
Just let me know.

I might.....

Heck to be honest, I'm not even 110% sure these ones are dead.  I could just be a derp and setting them up wrong or something too.

[pio]

So after scoring a 6900XT for what I thought was a steal on ebay, open box......I kinda went on a splurge with my taxes.  Meet the latest rig of the fleet, "AMDwheee".

 

Specs:
Ryzen 5800x at 4.8GHz all core / 5050MHz single PBO, 1.20v

Infinity Fabric @ 2GHz, SoC volt 1.15v
32GB Mushkin Lumina DDR4-4000 @ 2GHz, 18-22-22-22-42-1T, 1.25v
Asus B550 Rog Strix B550 ITX
MSI RX 6900XT Trio X
Seasonic Focus GX 1000w
Phanteks Eclipse P200A case
EKWB Basic 240mm AIO
Silicon Power 512GB NVME (temp)
WD Black 2.5" 500GB laptop HDD RAID0 (temp)

 

 

 

[Avacado]

9 hours ago, pioneerisloud said:

So after scoring a 6900XT for what I thought was a steal on ebay, open box......I kinda went on a splurge with my taxes.  Meet the latest rig of the fleet, "AMDwheee".

 

Specs:
Ryzen 5800x at 4.8GHz all core / 5050MHz single PBO, 1.20v

Infinity Fabric @ 2GHz, SoC volt 1.15v
32GB Mushkin Lumina DDR4-4000 @ 2GHz, 18-22-22-22-42-1T, 1.25v
Asus B550 Rog Strix B550 ITX
MSI RX 6900XT Trio X
Seasonic Focus GX 1000w
Phanteks Eclipse P200A case
EKWB Basic 240mm AIO
Silicon Power 512GB NVME (temp)
WD Black 2.5" 500GB laptop HDD RAID0 (temp)

 

 

 

[ArchStanton]

What Agesa Pio?

[pio]

3 hours ago, ArchStanton said:

What Agesa Pio?

I dunno.

 

It was on whatever BIOS it shipped with originally.  Was having problems with it, and tried updating BIOS last night, so its now on the latest.  Still having issues, so its either something I set wrong, the junk HDD's I put in there to use temporarily, or my ISP causing the issues.  Or a mixture of all 3.

 

This rig might go on the shelf and I might go back to my 3600 / 5700XT rig as a daily until I get this thing dialed in better.  I know these HDD's are bad, but I don't recall them actually ever causing actual problems before.  There's currently too many variables and unknowns in this particular new system for me to say its rock solid yet.  

[pio]

By the way, I did eventually figure the new rig out.  Wasn't stable at 2GHz IF / RAM, so had to knock it down to 1933Mhz.  Also had to RMA my memory kit, the RGB's in it were stuck on rainbow puke, so traded those in for Redline Blacks, which hopefully will come back next week sometime.

Also, I have good news.  I have a pre-approval letter for my new house now finally!  So next week, I'm going house shopping!

I still have one K8, two K7's, and a K6 to build, and one more Ryzen rig to build (need parts for that one though still).  If I get too terribly bored, I might break those out again to tinker with and try to get working.  But for right now, my "museum" pieces are on hold until I have a little more room.  I'm currently out of storage space in my 2 BR apartment.

[pio]

Update-ish:

 

I got a little squirreley tonight, and decided to try to get the second Socket 939 rig working.  I learned something new.....and I'm EXTREMELY pissed off.  All of the molex Y splitters I bought have one end that's reversed.  THAT is the reason why all of my old machines aren't working correctly.  I really REALLY hope I didn't actually kill the Skt A boards.  If I killed a drive or two, I won't feel so bad, but man oh man do I hope the boards are fine.

 

Right now, I'm sitting here just absolutely shaking I'm so furious at myself for not catching that earlier.  I might have potentially ruined thousands in gear that I bought for this thing.  I just....I don't know what to do at this point. 

 

I'm not going to re-pin over all of these Y splitters, there's too many and I don't have the tools for pinning molex.  I'll have to search around ebay / newegg and pay VERY close attention to the pictures, and place an order for like 50 of these stupid things so I can make sure ALL of the defective ones are 110% removed from all my systems (if I have any left installed).

[Storm-Chaser]

On 01/02/2022 at 20:40, pioneerisloud said:

Of course I'm going to want a different GPU in there,

If you don't already have on picked out, might try the ATi Xpert 2000...