Pio's new (lol) projects

[pio]

So outside of some USPS gore, I have an update.  Absolutely HUGE shoutout to @tictoc, whom otherwise this update wouldn't have been possible.  I paid for the stuff, just letting everyone know.   But seriously, holy wow, extra surprises in the box, and with the USPS gore going on......so very happy he packaged it super super well!  I'll spare the gore pics, but here's what arrived today!

 

 

We have here, two Radeon Vega 64's (64's I think, right tictoc?).  I'm so excited I can't even take 5 seconds to look at the model numbers....   One of these is destined for "kiddo's" rig.  The other one is likely going to be dumped into my Ryzen 1400 build, or whatever other build I end up putting on my 4k TV in my bedroom.  I asked him if I could buy both because, well...just in case.  I've always loved the Vegas and always wanted one.  Not pictured, was an added bonus kit of DDR4, not sure what they are yet, but was BADLY needed to finish kiddo's build back up after the fiascos it recently suffered.  I don't even care what they are really, if they work, then it gets his rig back up and running.  The Vega absolutely is the PERFECT GPU to be paired with his rig (for the collection of course).  Ryzen 2600x / Vega 64, just like what I always wanted to be a part of the collection.  The second one honestly was because, well.....I wanted a spare and he offered to sell both.  And since my 5700XT is on the living room TV, this means I can pop one of these in my bedroom TV in whatever rig.  

 

Sorry for the rave, I'm just so excited they lived after seeing the mess from USPS.  Okay fine, I'll share a little bit of the USPS gore.   Not really sure WHAT liquid got spilled all over the box in shipment, but its red, still damp, and smells rancid. -_-  I'm so happy for the superb packaging inside.  Not a DROP got on any of the parts.  

 

Edited August 25, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[Avacado]

3 hours ago, pioneerisloud said:

So outside of some USPS gore, I have an update.  Absolutely HUGE shoutout to @tictoc, whom otherwise this update wouldn't have been possible.  I paid for the stuff, just letting everyone know.   But seriously, holy wow, extra surprises in the box, and with the USPS gore going on......so very happy he packaged it super super well!  I'll spare the gore pics, but here's what arrived today!

 

 

We have here, two Radeon Vega 64's (64's I think, right tictoc?).  I'm so excited I can't even take 5 seconds to look at the model numbers....   One of these is destined for "kiddo's" rig.  The other one is likely going to be dumped into my Ryzen 1400 build, or whatever other build I end up putting on my 4k TV in my bedroom.  I asked him if I could buy both because, well...just in case.  I've always loved the Vegas and always wanted one.  Not pictured, was an added bonus kit of DDR4, not sure what they are yet, but was BADLY needed to finish kiddo's build back up after the fiascos it recently suffered.  I don't even care what they are really, if they work, then it gets his rig back up and running.  The Vega absolutely is the PERFECT GPU to be paired with his rig (for the collection of course).  Ryzen 2600x / Vega 64, just like what I always wanted to be a part of the collection.  The second one honestly was because, well.....I wanted a spare and he offered to sell both.  And since my 5700XT is on the living room TV, this means I can pop one of these in my bedroom TV in whatever rig.  

 

Sorry for the rave, I'm just so excited they lived after seeing the mess from USPS.  Okay fine, I'll share a little bit of the USPS gore.   Not really sure WHAT liquid got spilled all over the box in shipment, but its red, still damp, and smells rancid. -_-  I'm so happy for the superb packaging inside.  Not a DROP got on any of the parts.  

 

Shmexy cards! I'm jelly

[Sir Beregond]

Finally got those Vega's....nice! Beautiful cards.

[pio]

51 minutes ago, Avacado said:

Shmexy cards! I'm jelly

 

39 minutes ago, Sir Beregond said:

Finally got those Vega's....nice! Beautiful cards.

Thanks guys.  Been wanting one of these for a LONG time.  Just got done playing SpiderMan Remastered on his rig, 1440p / 60Hz, absolutely maxed out (no RT since Vega).  Game played absolutely beautifully on the Powercolor card, 60 FPS pegged (framerate cap on in drivers).  He's going to have absolutely zero problems MTFO'ing all of his games (and mine lol).  This is super promising because I'll be perfectly content with 1440p on my TV in the bedroom, even 1080p really if I HAD to.  Sit far enough back, it looks fine.  On my TV, I'm going to be playing simple controller games, racing, RDR2, and emulators anyway.  Easy stuff for the Vega I'm sure.  

 

The Sapphire either needs a new fan, or needs the fan screwed back in or something.  I'll take it apart when I get the chance and fix it.  It does work just fine, just the fan rubs the shroud.  Either somebody forgot to put screws back in the fan.......   Or it got bounced apart during shipping.    Either one, its fine.  Replacement fans are like $13 and its easy enough to get to.  I did test it (very VERY briefly) while holding the fan up in place, and before it burned my finger because I was slowing the fan down with my finger.......it was doing just fine in 3d tests.  So the card itself is perfectly fine.  Maybe an excuse to look for an aftermarket cooler for a Vega soon ish. 

 

Kiddo's getting his rig back tomorrow!

Edited August 25, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[schuck6566]

7 hours ago, pioneerisloud said:

 

Thanks guys.  Been wanting one of these for a LONG time.  Just got done playing SpiderMan Remastered on his rig, 1440p / 60Hz, absolutely maxed out (no RT since Vega).  Game played absolutely beautifully on the Powercolor card, 60 FPS pegged (framerate cap on in drivers).  He's going to have absolutely zero problems MTFO'ing all of his games (and mine lol).  This is super promising because I'll be perfectly content with 1440p on my TV in the bedroom, even 1080p really if I HAD to.  Sit far enough back, it looks fine.  On my TV, I'm going to be playing simple controller games, racing, RDR2, and emulators anyway.  Easy stuff for the Vega I'm sure.  

 

The Sapphire either needs a new fan, or needs the fan screwed back in or something.  I'll take it apart when I get the chance and fix it.  It does work just fine, just the fan rubs the shroud.  Either somebody forgot to put screws back in the fan.......   Or it got bounced apart during shipping.    Either one, its fine.  Replacement fans are like $13 and its easy enough to get to.  I did test it (very VERY briefly) while holding the fan up in place, and before it burned my finger because I was slowing the fan down with my finger.......it was doing just fine in 3d tests.  So the card itself is perfectly fine.  Maybe an excuse to look for an aftermarket cooler for a Vega soon ish. 

 

Kiddo's getting his rig back tomorrow!

If you're interested,you can get 60+ FPS in 1440 on Destiny 2 with those cards and the 30th anniversary pack is free from epic to celebrate them being on epic now also.

[pio]

4 hours ago, schuck6566 said:

If you're interested,you can get 60+ FPS in 1440 on Destiny 2 with those cards and the 30th anniversary pack is free from epic to celebrate them being on epic now also.

Oh yeah it is Thursday isn't it?! Yup I'll be adding that to my pages and pages of free epic games I've scored too!

[pio]

Update:

 

So I got a few packages in the mail today.  Honestly I don't even remember what all I've posted and not.  Pretty sure I showed off my last Chieftec Dragon build, the Socket 939 one with HD5770's.  Well....now I have a board that can HOPEFULLY do HD5000 crossfire on Socket 939.  I do need to locate a better CPU for it, my CCBWE Opteron 165 @ 2.70GHz isn't cutting it, and the x2 3800+ Manchester definitely won't cut it.  There's been a few really good stepping Opterons on ebay lately, so I'll be picking one of those up eventually (hopefully lol).

But here's the haul from today!:  Special shoutout to LabRat810, had he not specifically bought this same board a few weeks ago out from underneath of me JUST to mine for salt from me.......  I don't think I'd have this exact combo...    Still mad at you for that BTW dude.   But TY!    We arranged a trade, I happened to have some old junk (to me) networking gear, and a couple old Intel builds just sitting collecting dust.  He wanted the CPU and cooler out of this setup for his own that he mined salt from.  I have spare CPU's, I care but don't care about losing this one....so fine, deal.

What we see:

• Asus A8R32 MVP Deluxe CFX motherboard
• 4x1GB Corsair XMS DDR400 CAS2
• AMD FX-60
• Zalman CNPS 9500 (I already have one anyway)
• And a Sapphire Radeon X1900, which I was actually MISSING from my collection!!!!

The motherboard DESPERATELY needs a proper re-cap done.  Not sure if I want to try to find somebody that can do it, or if I'm going to attempt it myself just yet.  But it WILL be done soon-ish.  Not a setup I NEEDED, but one I really wanted to 110% properly finalize that "daily driver" retro rig.

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[pio]

More update:

E....what's up with the 535 kB max picture limit???   

 

And this setup ALSO arrived today.  Huge shoutout to one of our "frenemies" on another forum, because classic builds.  I kinda can't do ALL of these super old builds myself, I definitely need outside assistance at times still.  Remember, its been how many years since Windows 98SE or even XP was ran daily by some of us?  I switched to Vista in 2007......

 

With that said, the guy did me an absolute solid and hooked me up with this Gigabyte GA-5AX Super Socket 7 motherboard that has PS2 and USB on it, ATX, for a very reasonable price.  So its not going to be NEARLY as difficult trying to find compatible PSU's and cases to build the K6 rig.  There's also some 256MB SD-RAM sticks there, so I can use those for Windows 98 / 2000.  And a K6-2 450MHz CPU installed ready to go!  This board is in absolutely mint condition, so its ready to be plugged in and used once I find suitable PSU, case, and a few other odds and ends I'm missing still.  He also tested it prior to sending and showed me it working and overclocked to 600MHz.   

 

 

I still have my EPox board from Russia with a K6-2 500 in it, but it needs a recap and its all AT.  I might give it a go with recapping when I do the A8R32 above, and save that board for Windows 95 since its fully AT and buy a K5 CPU for it maybe.  It'd be more suiting than a K6 500.

[Avacado]

6 hours ago, pioneerisloud said:

More update:

E....what's up with the 535 kB max picture limit???   

It's because you do not have a premium subscription to the site. The limits and privilege's can be found HERE.

 

Speaking of that, I am at 31% of my attachment limit. I suspect I'll no longer be able to attach images in 1-2 years. 

 

Edited November 2, 2022 by Avacado

[pio]

On 02/11/2022 at 07:33, Avacado said:

It's because you do not have a premium subscription to the site. The limits and privilege's can be found HERE.

 

Speaking of that, I am at 31% of my attachment limit. I suspect I'll no longer be able to attach images in 1-2 years. 

 

Ahh that explains it.  Yeah, looks like I'm done uploading pictures for a while.   74 kB left now apparently.

 

Why not finish the job..... 

 

There's another 32 kB gone. 

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[pio]

Update without pictures:

 

I have some good news on the way.  So I already had 2x1GB of OCZ Platinum DDR400, 2-3-2-5 sticks on hand.  My particular sample is capable of DDR-540 speeds.  Scored another set of the same stuff for a matching 4x1GB.   Didn't "need", but hey, you never know when you need a 4GB kit of DDR when doing what I'm doing.

I also absolutely SCORED on ebay just now.  Two Opteron 175's are on their way for torturing and testing with LCB9E stepping, and very VERY late date codes on them.  Fingers crossed for another 3.1GHz+ overclocker!

[Avacado]

11 minutes ago, pioneerisloud said:

Update without pictures:

 

I have some good news on the way.  So I already had 2x1GB of OCZ Platinum DDR400, 2-3-2-5 sticks on hand.  My particular sample is capable of DDR-540 speeds.  Scored another set of the same stuff for a matching 4x1GB.   Didn't "need", but hey, you never know when you need a 4GB kit of DDR when doing what I'm doing.

I also absolutely SCORED on ebay just now.  Two Opteron 175's are on their way for torturing and testing with LCB9E stepping, and very VERY late date codes on them.  Fingers crossed for another 3.1GHz+ overclocker!

And this whole time I thought you weren't sending the AGP cards for certain reasons.... You could have told me you had other priorities and I would have understood

Edited November 15, 2022 by Avacado

[pio]

Just now, Avacado said:

And this whole time I thought you weren't sending the AGP cards for certain reasons.... You could have told me you had other priorities and I would have understood

Paypal credit. -_-  I can't pay shipping with paypal credit line.  But I can sadly spend myself into oblivion with it.

[pio]

Okay so tested the Opteron 175's in my A8N32-SLI Deluxe.

The better of the two will do 2.90GHz stable in THAT board.  In the board I put it into to stay though, I could only get it up to 2.87GHz, but it has 8GB RAM.  It replaced a 2.70GHz Opteron 165, so I guess its an upgrade?  Was REALLY hoping for 3GHz+.  Oh well......

 

I got to thinking, I can use the other 175 in the A8R32-MVP Deluxe once I get it fixed.  The second chip won't do 2.90 stable in my "bench" board, but it definitely should do 2.8-2.9 somewhere in that range.  So they should clock pretty darn closely.  And that setup with crossfire can go in my Lian Li PC-60 I'm refurbishing.   Then I can put SLI in the Chieftec Dragon with the other 175.  It works!    I absolutely NEVER meant to fully build up 3x Socket 939 rigs (and have a 4th for benching).  But whatever, it was my favorite socket.  So I'll end up with an "ultimate" single GPU Socket 939 setup, an "ultimate" SLI setup, and an "ultimate" crossfire setup.  Sigh.  Ebay is going to love me after the holidays........

 

Either way, progress is being made.  Can't share pictures due to attachment limit on site. -_-  Still have to figure that out still.

[pio]

Working on a couple of deals right now to score some Opteron 180's.....  Why am I stopped at 939 and obsessed and getting 3x 3GHz chips? -_-

Meh, the older rigs are going to get worked on after Christmas.  Hopefully I'll have the AGP GPU's fixed by then.

[Sir Beregond]

I just like how these are called "lol projects". 

[pio]

Just now, Sir Beregond said:

I just like how these are called "lol projects". 

Of course.  This is why I'm obsessing over building all these......for the lol's. 

[pio]

Alright, so I really need to start taking some pictures.  I didn't realize I had this much done already.  Here's a slight update, although nothing physical yet.  Just been going through "finished" rigs to make sure they're actually finished.......  The following list is 100% done rigs, fully installed with their "correct" OS's, imaged for easy re-installation, and ready for me to play with.  The rest of my originally stated project list, is going to get hopefully finished after Christmas.  AGP GPU's are still with a buddy being "repaired" (re-greased / re-padded / stripped screws fixed), so I'm not counting any AGP builds as "done".  With that said, I do have the ONE AGP build "done" so far, but not really since missing GPU and "wrong" OS on it.  So whatever........  Anyway, enough rambling.  Here's what's "DONE":

 

Done rigs:
Ryzen 5800x / RX 6900XT / Windows 11
Ryzen 3600 / RX 5700XT / Windows 10
Ryzen 2600 / Vega 64 / Windows 10 (not imaged since kiddo's rig right now, but done)
Ryzen 1400 / Fury X / Windows 10
FX 8350 / R9 290x / Windows 8.1
Phenom II 1100T / HD7970 / Windows 7
Phenom 9850 / HD6970 / Windows Vista
Opteron 180 / HD5870 / Windows XP x64
 

Still have to finish (* denotes needs lots of work, otherwise noted):
*Opteron 180 / HD5770 CFX / Windows 7
*Opteron 180 / GTS 250 SLI / Windows 7
*Athlon64 3200+ / X1950 / Windows XP SP3 x86
*AthlonXP 3200+ / X850 / Windows XP x86
Athlon T Bird 1100 / Radeon 9800XT / Windows 2000 (done except GPU)
*K6 II 600? / Radeon 9000 or 7500? / Windows 98SE
*K5 or K6 underclocked? / Radeon 7500 or Rage 128? / Windows 95

 

I still have quite a bit left obviously, however MOST of the missing equipment is just drives and peripheral expansion cards and stuff like that.  I do have 2 cases I need to finish refurbishing, but can't do that till it warms up a little.  Board that needs to be recapped, just the one though.  Idk, things are moving along.  Just wanted to share the "kind of" update, that I've started installing the "proper" OS's on things and getting things imaged, making sure compatibility is all there, stuff like that.  The ones listed as "done" are absolutely, 100% done unless something breaks.

[pio]

 

[pio]

Excuse my horrible note taking..... 

Managed to get the Socket 754 rig preliminarily built this evening. I'll try firing it up tomorrow. I am getting a POST beep, so it seems to be working. I'm about 90% with it. It's missing its X1950 PRO so I have some S3 PCI card in it right now. Missing its ZIP drive, but I have a beige one in it for now. Also missing its optical drive, so I have a dead one in it right now. Will see about getting display working and installing some form of OS on it tomorrow to make sure everything works so far (it should).

Parts list I'm missing:

Quote

socket 939 #3: pci wifi, ssd (maybe, check NVME in 1100T), sata optical, zip, cf reader, fans, black floppy, drive bay covers for pc-60

socket 754... ide optical, zip, pci wifi

socket a... ide optical, zip, power supply with 20 pin, lan card, pci wifi, ide controller?

socket 7.... optical x2, HD, cooler, fans, lan, sound card, Radeon 9000/9200

socket 7a... zip drive, 3.5-5.25, HD, optical x2, IDE card, LAN card, kb and mouse, at psu?

dont forget extra sata, ide, power splitters!!!!!!!!

 

[pio]

Non picture update:

 

Socket 754 rig is nearly complete.  Waiting on my AGP GPU's to return back from @Avacado, kind of being held up on my end by finances at this point.  Whatever.  The cards are in good hands.   Socket 754 rig is fully assembled with a PCI S3 2MB video card installed for now.  Windows 7 at 800x600, 256 colors never looked so cool.  Everything in it works!  So yay!  It's literally just short its X1950PRO that's supposed to be going into it.

Second 939 rig (the SLI one), I decided to run a single card because of SLI problems I was running into.  Currently it has a GTX 460 SE in it, I was trying for a regular GTX 460 1GB, ended up with an SE.  I think I'm also going to swap SSD's in this one at some point.  So.....its kind of on hold at the moment till I figure out the GPU and SSD thing out on it, which direction I want to go.  I still have the "crossfire" (will be a single 5770 now) 939 build to go too, board needs repaired.  So BOTH of the remaining 939 rigs will still be not 100% for a while.

 

Ummmm, lots of parts have arrived.  Some dead, some not.  Once I get everything here that's missing, which its all been ordered with the exception of keyboard and mouse for the AT build, pretty sure that's all that's missing.......then I'll start having pictures ready to share.  

 

I want to see ALL of these rigs at 100%, imaged to my NAS so easy to restore, and absolutely ready to play on by my birthday this year.  So April.  That's my timeframe I'm giving myself, and I'm 99.99% sure I can reach it this time.

[pio]

Socket 754 rig is complete, and working 110% now. Was just playing Portal on it at 1080p, that X1950 PRO does an amazing job!

I need moar zip ties before I take pictures. It's a mess of cables right now. One thing I didn't buy was more zip ties. -_- I'll get some next week, and I should have even more updates by then anyway. The early Socket A - 1100MHz T-Bird with a Radeon 9800XT is also now 100% done. I haven't fired it up yet, but the card should be fine (it was fine before). It's up next on the bench. Also desperately need zip ties (again) for that one to get them molexes pulled up higher.

After these tonight, I have the later PS2 / ATX era K6 to build, everything's here and tested good. And hopefully by the time that one's done, I'll have figured out an acceptable PSU solution for the Athlon-XP build. These should all be 100% and ready to photograph and play with by end of February it looks like. Still short one 939 rig and the early k6 for Windows 95 due to cases still. But the rest should be about wrapping up now.  

[Storm-Chaser]

Id like to see what you can do with a 775 build...

[schuck6566]

5 hours ago, Storm-Chaser said:

Id like to see what you can do with a 775 build...

Didn't want to hijack pio's thread, but here's something I played around with a while back and still keep updated.

 

[pio]

16 hours ago, Storm-Chaser said:

Id like to see what you can do with a 775 build...

Well.......

 

This was one I put together in.........2014 it looks like.  Was a Xeon X5470 @ 4.2GHz, 8GB DDR2 that I'm 99% sure that kit would do 1200+, and  a 7970.  All water cooled, in a Silverstone HTPC case.

 

I'm not JUST an AMD guy, I just chose all AMD because easier to make a collection if I stick to one brand lol.

 

 

EDIT:  I do actually have, in storage, about 150 miles away......a Q9550 build, 8GB RAM, 750Ti......in a SFF HP case, overclocked with BSEL mod to 400 FSB.  It's been in storage since 2019 though, and I have no ways to get it out being its so far away right now.  I don't even know if my buddy thinks its his or if its still mine by now either..... 

Edited February 2, 2023 by pioneerisloud