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Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

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  • RetroComputingGrotto
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Nice to see a proper full-size tower case - you don't see many like that any more!

    Amongst many other projects I've started (and yet to complete) I have a P100 desktop mini-tower PC that I'm refurbishing so it's great to see I'm not the only one around here still tinkering around with old tech

    Leave a comment:


  • Topcat
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Originally posted by Per Hansson View Post
    That's very nice of you, I'm like TechGeek though: no case to put it in.
    But for sure if it's going to end up as e-waste let me know beforehand!
    No worries, I'd never send something like this to the recycler.... I bagged up the entire config since it's known/confirmed working and stored it away. Eventually I'll find a home for it.

    Originally posted by momaka View Post
    Awesome build once again!

    Man, you keep churning them out like those custom car shows on TV.
    Pretty cool and unique stuff.
    I haven't done one in a while actually.....but I do have a really crazy one on the horizon....a hint: research shows the enclosure to be used was made around 1977.

    Originally posted by momaka View Post
    Hopefully someone new to retro PCs doesn't think this is what we had as standard back in the days.
    That just made me LOL!!

    Originally posted by momaka View Post
    Same.
    No disrespect for 486, though - it was just before my time. Heck even the first Pentium was. I mean, I was only a little kid around that era and barely remember anything about the machines back then or using them. It wasn't until we got the aformentioned PII above that I got "better" with computers... and really not until early 2000's until I got my skt 462 PC that I started messing with them on my own (and Windows XP!)
    The 486 was in its infancy when I first became interested in computer....maybe 1992? When the Pentium came out and then the first 3DFX card, it was a love / infatuation that I should have been committed to the Betty Ford Clinic for treatment....

    Originally posted by momaka View Post
    Good save.
    There are a few beige cases that I got many years ago off of Craigslist and similar and then wondered why did I even pick up such old junk back then. Now I look back and think, why didn't I look harder and pickup more.
    I am always looking for retro stuff....sometimes it comes to me, sometimes I have to go beat the bushes a little to find it.....but scrap bins for anything beige isn't an option unless its just destroyed.

    Originally posted by momaka View Post
    Reminds me of the "Sniper" skt 7 mobo I got from an old HP Pavilion ages ago - I never removed the CMOS battery when I found it and it just kept the time all these years in storage until I randomly decided to power it one day. Not only did it hold all of the settings, but battery was spot-on at 3V too.
    I think this one holds the record for longevity in anything I've seen. It's been sitting here for years and I was told it sat in a garage for years before I got it....

    Originally posted by momaka View Post
    Not surprised.
    Given the small heatsinks on old hardware, 30 Watts of total system power used seems pretty legit.
    It's neat seeing this kind of data though.... Zero regrets in all the effort of developing 'the oven'.

    Originally posted by momaka View Post
    Looks a bit "lousy" for a 300 -Watter. Those 330 uF caps certainly won't help it get there. Because of them, I'd say 150W would be a more realistic rating. Maybe 200, tops. Otherwise, the main traffo looks OK for 200-250W, and the BJTs on the primary certainly won't have any issues with that. The output side also looks a bit weak, though - not too many filtering caps. Probably fine with no or light load like you tested it, but I don't think it can do 30 Amps on the 5V rail with ripple staying in spec.
    I thought that too.....it really did seem a bit shoddy.....but it seems to be holding.... If it ever died, it wouldn't be hard to fabricate something else to fit in that housing. It's mount points seem pretty universal.

    Originally posted by momaka View Post
    Hey, that could run Carmageddon under Windows!
    That's another one I have to LOL at....that game....and every time you bring it up.... I remember it at a LANfest many decades ago.....playing that.....very intoxicated.....fond memories!!

    Originally posted by momaka View Post
    That feeling when a bunch of random parts come together to make a perfect fit.
    This one did come together nicely and didn't require a whole lot of butchery. It almost went too easy compared to some of the past!

    Originally posted by momaka View Post

    Actually, it's a pretty decent card even for 3D. Maybe not up to nVidia and ATI level (and certainly not VooDoo's), but good.
    This should make a stellar mid-90's workstation and DOS gaming machine.
    I had a normal G200 when it was flagship, it was great at the time, paired with a voodoo2 in a BP6 with a pair of 300A's @ 450/100. Seems like yesterday that was my 'daily driver' system and browsing the interwebs with netscape navigator on NT4.

    Originally posted by momaka View Post
    Those Plextor drives are neat too. If selling this computer, you should include a spindle of good CD-Rs too. Would be a shame to see such drives not be used much.
    I didn't even test the write abilities....odds are it works, it read just fine... I had no buyer in mind....it just went to the back room where there are shelves full of these silly builds.... Yes, I know....I have a problem!!

    Originally posted by momaka View Post
    I still burn music CD-R's for my car and wherenot. Occasionally, drivers and utilities for older / retro PCs too. Never warmed up to burning or using DVDs too much. Only do it if I have to. CDs seem more reliable long term too.
    As do I.... I occasionally do a vinyl to digital media conversion and will make an audio CD of that....and of course write driver media for retro stuff....like back in the days when OS's didn't have embedded network drivers.....so it wasn't as easy as just moving it across the LAN.

    Leave a comment:


  • eccerr0r
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    I came across a few 1980s Fuhjyyu's, prior to the formula change. Unlike the newer Fuhjyyus like in Antec PSUs, these seem to still be working. In fact I used the few old ones I pulled into newer PSUs that had blown caps and they're still holding up just fine.

    Leave a comment:


  • momaka
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Awesome build once again!

    Man, you keep churning them out like those custom car shows on TV.
    Pretty cool and unique stuff.

    Hopefully someone new to retro PCs doesn't think this is what we had as standard back in the days.

    In '99, my family bought a 400 MHz PII, which was still considered pretty good back then. I remember a number of my classmates (and myself) drooling when we got this computer. Sure may not have been the fastest thing around... but for a year at least, it was considered plenty fast. Don't think I even knew dual CPU systems existed back then.

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    I was never a 486 enthusiast, I had no intentions of doing a build with it....
    Same.
    No disrespect for 486, though - it was just before my time. Heck even the first Pentium was. I mean, I was only a little kid around that era and barely remember anything about the machines back then or using them. It wasn't until we got the aformentioned PII above that I got "better" with computers... and really not until early 2000's until I got my skt 462 PC that I started messing with them on my own (and Windows XP!)

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    I only kept it for the case....which someone dropped off for recycling years ago.
    Good save.
    There are a few beige cases that I got many years ago off of Craigslist and similar and then wondered why did I even pick up such old junk back then. Now I look back and think, why didn't I look harder and pickup more.

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    It POST's and in the BIOS. No, I did not set the date/time!! It was only off by a few hours....the RTC chip/battery is still good!

    https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1679799171
    Reminds me of the "Sniper" skt 7 mobo I got from an old HP Pavilion ages ago - I never removed the CMOS battery when I found it and it just kept the time all these years in storage until I randomly decided to power it one day. Not only did it hold all of the settings, but battery was spot-on at 3V too.

    Now those are some good CMOS chips! These days, you'd be lucky to get a few years out of them if the mobo is kept unplugged. And some OEM boards from Dell and HP from a few years back are known to have CMOS "power hog" chips - they'll drain in a year or less.

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    It's only drawing from the +5V rail. Idled around ~3A. Loaded 'troubleshooter', and under testing never went above 6A. Apparently these aren't power hogs.
    Not surprised.
    Given the small heatsinks on old hardware, 30 Watts of total system power used seems pretty legit.

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    I don't remove the case badges anymore like I used to....they add a charm & elegance that's long gone these days.

    https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1679799171


    In my case, I just couldn't care enough to remove them... so probably a good thing and how some of my beige cases got to preserve their "personality".

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    I couldnt believe that filter cleaned up and not just disintegrate in my hands as I cleaned it in hot water with simple green. The water looked like chocolate milk!!
    That's pretty amazing.
    Foam is not known as a long-lasting material at all. Usually 15 years is enough for it to start degrading, if not fall apart already.
    Whatever "formula" they used for the foam in this case, it certainly is superior. And maybe that combined with optimal storage conditions, of course.

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    Now for the power supply. It's a 'topower' rated at 300W...

    https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1679799171

    QC sticker says it was manufactured in September of 1986! Wowza! Makes me wonder if this 486 wasn't the first system in this case; as that is dated ~1992 according to the BIOS and other data suggests 1993 as well.... A mystery that will never be solved perhaps....

    https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1679799171

    PSU inside.... The way this is laid out, any normal AT or even ATX PCB could be mounted in here....good to know if the PSU ever dies and I can't fix it.... It is loaded with 'Fuhjyyu' caps, which of course is a big red flag!!

    https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1679799171
    Looks a bit "lousy" for a 300 -Watter. Those 330 uF caps certainly won't help it get there. Because of them, I'd say 150W would be a more realistic rating. Maybe 200, tops. Otherwise, the main traffo looks OK for 200-250W, and the BJTs on the primary certainly won't have any issues with that. The output side also looks a bit weak, though - not too many filtering caps. Probably fine with no or light load like you tested it, but I don't think it can do 30 Amps on the 5V rail with ripple staying in spec.

    Then again, it's all a moot point, considering the 486 board it came with doesn't go much above 30 Watts / 6 Amps on the 5V rail. I imagine even the dual PII 300 MHz CPUs won't be power-hungry enough to draw anything more than 70-80 Watts max, if even that.

    So this old AT PSU is probably fine for just about any AT system out there.
    Good to see you recapped it. Despite not looking like a top-end unit, it's still worth saving, IMO. I imagine you could make a few $$ selling it online to someone who needs and AT PSU for an old AT system.

    Also, I don't know if we can say that Fuhjyyu was better at making caps back then... but at least they didn't fail by themselves just from sitting all these years. A lot of cheap garbage brands can't do even that. So a short moment of applause for those old Fuhjyyu caps.
    Might have been interesting to save them and put them in a newer (but junk) PSU that needs caps to see how long they'd last. I imagine they'd still beat Chang/ChongX and CapXon.

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    I knew there was a reason I didn't miss dealing with AT cases....those silly plastic standoffs they all used!!
    Ah, so it wasn't just my PII's case being cheap then. I guess it was somewhat common practice to use plastic standoffs back then?
    In any case, I'm not a fan of them either. My preferred mounting method is always brass standoffs.

    Originally posted by lti View Post
    I didn't know Fuhjyyu had been around that long, and it's surprising to see a 300W power supply that's that old.
    Agreed.
    I always thought those older AT PSUs only went up to 200 Watts max, if even that. Goes to show how little I know about AT stuff.
    Like I said, I was too little back then and wasn't quite into messing with PCs yet (and they were expensive back then too, so I couldn't have even if I wanted to.)

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    That 486 system has 4x 4mb 70NS FPM RAM....yea, anyone remember that?!? ...but a total of 16mb RAM was a big deal back in its day!
    Hey, that could run Carmageddon under Windows!

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    That feeling when a bunch of random parts come together to make a perfect fit.

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    Now for something old, worthless, cool, and new!! A Matrox G200 G4 quad display GPU. I got it for peanuts on fleabay, new old stock. These were fabulous 2D cards back in the era of this motherboard.

    https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1679883720

    Shiny & new.....even if it is ~25yrs old!

    https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1679883720

    Actually, it's a pretty decent card even for 3D. Maybe not up to nVidia and ATI level (and certainly not VooDoo's), but good.
    This should make a stellar mid-90's workstation and DOS gaming machine.

    Originally posted by Per Hansson View Post
    That board is in such nice condition, would make for a very nice 486 build!
    And with a 30 year old still working RTC module, that is just begging to be rebuilt!
    I second this notion.

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    This is where all that ribbon mess would have been. I did install a USB header since it's running Win2k....although USB1 and Win2k are pretty useless for anything besides say a keyboard or mouse.
    Meh, it's not *that* bad.
    My PIII laptop that I used in university (early 2010's) only had USB 1.1... and yeah, big file transfers were long and boring. But for word documents, small PDFs, and similar, it was quite OK.
    I still used it frequently to transfer music/MP3s and sometimes CD ISOs. But those were start the copy/paste process and leave the computer do its 'thing' for a few minutes while doing something else.

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    Specs are as follows:

    Supermicro P6DKF Motherboard
    2x Pentium II 300MHz 66FSB Klamath CPU's
    512mb EDO RAM @ 50NS
    Matrox G200 x4 32mb
    Adaptec AHA2940U/UW SCSI Controller
    Creative SB16
    Realtek 10/100 LAN
    Plextor UltraPlex 12x SCSI
    Plextor PlexWriter 4x SCSI


    Those Plextor drives are neat too. If selling this computer, you should include a spindle of good CD-Rs too. Would be a shame to see such drives not be used much.

    I still burn music CD-R's for my car and wherenot. Occasionally, drivers and utilities for older / retro PCs too. Never warmed up to burning or using DVDs too much. Only do it if I have to. CDs seem more reliable long term too.

    Leave a comment:


  • Per Hansson
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    I'm not above sending it to Sweden if you want to take a crack at it.
    That's very nice of you, I'm like TechGeek though: no case to put it in.
    But for sure if it's going to end up as e-waste let me know beforehand!

    Leave a comment:


  • ratdude747
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Originally posted by ChaosLegionnaire View Post
    yeah if anyone bothers to notice, intel always releases an earlier and latter (improved) version of a cpu line or family they make. this was called their "tick tock" strategy. the klamath was the 'tick' pentium 2; deschutes was the 'tock' pentium 2. ditto with the core 2 line. conroe was the 'tick' core 2; penryn was the 'tock' core 2. there are many other cpu lines and families that do this too but i wont mention them for brevity's sake.
    That wasn't a thing until right before Core2 (Cedar Mill P4)... before that, the strategy was "do whatever works"... If it was something they could do to improve things, they'd do it. It was with core2 that they "officially" adopted the tick-tock strategy (alternating new microarchitectures with die/process shrinks).

    Not to mention that they abandoned it a few years ago due to the slowing pace of die shrinks (due to the fact they they don't make miniature atoms )... now it's a three stage process with an optimization stage between the architecture and the shrink.
    Last edited by ratdude747; 04-04-2023, 06:48 AM. Reason: Historical inexactitude

    Leave a comment:


  • Topcat
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Originally posted by lti View Post
    What was the Pentium Pro bug?
    https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-indus...ntium-pro-bug/

    Leave a comment:


  • lti
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    What was the Pentium Pro bug?

    Leave a comment:


  • Topcat
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Originally posted by ChaosLegionnaire View Post
    so to settle this, it means supermicro basically screwed up when they wrote the manual or they were given misinformation by intel. intel never intended to release a 66 mhz fsb p2 chip with a x6 multiplier to get 400 mhz. i ass-u-med it was because their internal testing showed that the 66 mhz fsb bottlenecked the 400 mhz cpu and it was better to have the 400 mhz cpu with a 100 mhz fsb for performance and marketing reasons.
    Actually, they can both own a little of it. Any retro PC enthusiast (the nature of the site) would know that the FX chipset never supported anything above 66FSB; thus only EDO SIMM slots (no SDRAM). The FX chipset was molded around the Pentium Pro; and the Klamath P2 was basically a P-Pro with 'the bug' fixed and the chip on a SECC cartridge instead of a ZIF socket. I didn't have to read the manual to know that anything Deschutes would not run in this board...or atleast 'run right'.... Supermicro wrote the manual ASSuming Intel would release faster Klamath CPU's; thus had jumper settings for the higher multipliers...but of course Intel did no such thing....so there were jumper settings for CPU's that didn't exist.

    The rest of your analysis, you are correct for the most part (the 'tick-tock' thing)....but there's definitely a few lapses in it..

    Leave a comment:


  • ChaosLegionnaire
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Originally posted by eccerr0r View Post
    3 is a weird number for computers yet it comes up now and again.

    (Now why there are so many boards out there with only 3 SDRAM slots, why...)
    from what i can gather, i think its probably a mem controller design limitation. the 815 series of chipsets were designed to handle 6 mem banks max so its either 2 double sided modules or 3 single sided modules. not sure about the earlier 430 and 440 series chipsets for pentium 1 and 2 that support sdram. do those have 3 ram slots also?

    then there's also the via chipsets as well. those also have 3 ram slots as well. it could also be a signalling issue. more ram sticks/slots could also mean more noise from more modules so more filtering could be needed on the mobo ram slots and nb chipset. this also increases cost of manufacturing of the motherboard so it looks like a cost vs benefit issue as well.
    Originally posted by Per Hansson View Post
    Don't blame the site: the original Supermicro manual mentions the 400MHz speed aswell.
    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    The inaccuracies were the FX chipset supporting 100FSB. I could see how they made the mistake, based on the manual saying '400MHz'; as there was no other way to to get there other than a Descutes 400/100 CPU....but yea...knowing the FX chipset, at no point was there ever 100FSB support there, so I knew that was just plain wrong.
    so to settle this, it means supermicro basically screwed up when they wrote the manual or they were given misinformation by intel. intel never intended to release a 66 mhz fsb p2 chip with a x6 multiplier to get 400 mhz. i ass-u-med it was because their internal testing showed that the 66 mhz fsb bottlenecked the 400 mhz cpu and it was better to have the 400 mhz cpu with a 100 mhz fsb for performance and marketing reasons.
    Originally posted by ratdude747 View Post
    Yeah the later chip was a lot better performed. But that's why later chips are made
    yeah if anyone bothers to notice, intel always releases an earlier and latter (improved) version of a cpu line or family they make. this was called their "tick tock" strategy. the klamath was the 'tick' pentium 2; deschutes was the 'tock' pentium 2. ditto with the core 2 line. conroe was the 'tick' core 2; penryn was the 'tock' core 2. there are many other cpu lines and families that do this too but i wont mention them for brevity's sake.

    Leave a comment:


  • ratdude747
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Originally posted by Uranium-235 View Post
    which is why you use 100fsb
    Which wasn't a thing when this board was made. 100FSB wasn't until Deschutes came out.

    Yeah the later chip was a lot better performed. But that's why later chips are made

    Leave a comment:


  • Uranium-235
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    @ 66FSB, sdram isn't really any better....I mean gee, what were you expecting here!!
    which is why you use 100fsb

    Leave a comment:


  • Topcat
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Originally posted by Uranium-235 View Post
    simms on a pentium 2? eww
    @ 66FSB, sdram isn't really any better....I mean gee, what were you expecting here!!

    Leave a comment:


  • Uranium-235
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    simms on a pentium 2? eww

    Leave a comment:


  • TechGeek
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Originally posted by Per Hansson View Post
    *snip*

    I also was never a 486 enthusiast, but I'm starting to have the itch after seeing that board
    I'd've asked for it, but I don't have any worthwhile cases to put it in.

    Leave a comment:


  • Topcat
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Originally posted by Per Hansson View Post
    Don't blame the site: the original Supermicro manual mentions the 400MHz speed aswell.
    I linked it mainly because it is a great resource for old boards and it needs more exposure
    The inaccuracies were the FX chipset supporting 100FSB. I could see how they made the mistake, based on the manual saying '400MHz'; as there was no other way to to get there other than a Descutes 400/100 CPU....but yea...knowing the FX chipset, at no point was there ever 100FSB support there, so I knew that was just plain wrong.

    I looked around there, I liked it too. As a matter of fact, I think the picture of the board they used on their site is actually my board in this build....they stole the pic from ebay! I don't mind....heck, they're welcome to come here and bilk some better ones if they want. I like what they're doing over there.

    Originally posted by Per Hansson View Post
    All in all a very nice build you made here, I like it!
    Thanks. I wish I had a loftier purpose for all of these weird old builds besides conversation pieces....but it's heartbreaking to ever see something like this in a gaylord at a recycling center....so I will continue to rescue & build them.

    Originally posted by Per Hansson View Post
    I also was never a 486 enthusiast, but I'm starting to have the itch after seeing that board
    I'm not above sending it to Sweden if you want to take a crack at it.

    Leave a comment:


  • Per Hansson
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Originally posted by Per Hansson View Post
    It should support 400MHz according to the manual:
    https://theretroweb.com/motherboards...cro-p6dkf#cpus
    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    That site is inaccurate. For one, the FX chipset never supported 100FSB... If it did, it wouldn't be utilizing EDO RAM...and there was no 400MHz Klamath; the only CPU this board supports.
    Don't blame the site: the original Supermicro manual mentions the 400MHz speed aswell.
    I linked it mainly because it is a great resource for old boards and it needs more exposure
    All in all a very nice build you made here, I like it!

    I also was never a 486 enthusiast, but I'm starting to have the itch after seeing that board

    Leave a comment:


  • Topcat
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Time to assemble this, I want it off my bench....I have some paying work coming in....so this needs to be wrapped up. I was still facing the drive rail debacle...and I figured out a solution. This build is just running a single drive; SCSI 10,000RPM 9.1gb Cheetah 3.5" full height (yes, these sound amazing spinning up). I used some random 5.25 to 3.5" drive rails along with the spare drive rails I had in my parts stash.





    Test fitted in the case. This can work! ...but there's a couple problems...



    The next problem; the latches on the rails lock in the front and prevent forward movement....but aft movement is still free....so I took some rear expansion bay covers and made some latches for the aft ends and simply screwed them down to the rail/drive....easy peasy and the drive doesn't move at all now.







    Problem on tap next is that these drives require some type of cooling. They don't need anything extreme....just some air moving around them will do it....but if they aren't cooled, they will sit there and cook themselves to death.....so here we go:

    90mm fan. Where the 2 black dots are needs to be slightly filed with a round file to create a small trough for a couple screws to perch in.



    Like so....



    Next is taking one of the 5.25 metal bay covers that were once over the original HDD case (now removed) and making an upper bracket for the fan.



    Again, like so....



    Perfect fit....and the bracket fits the original holes on the case frame.



    ...and I can just leave the original 5.25" covers on the front bezel. It's all open behind there, plenty of room for air inlet, will keep the drive plenty cool. Win!

    Starting to button things up. Rear all closed up. I did not install the 2x Serial and 1x Parallel port headers. I do have them.....but they aren't ports I use for a toy like this, so I left them out just to spare the case some ribbon clutter. They can always be installed later if needed.



    This is where all that ribbon mess would have been. I did install a USB header since it's running Win2k....although USB1 and Win2k are pretty useless for anything besides say a keyboard or mouse.



    Now it's time to start tying things up. That's one thing that sucks about old world builds with fat ribbons, cable management is a pain....but I did ok on this one.



    Now to route power to all these extra fans.



    A pair of 3-pin fan connector splitters.



    Now to get power to them...as the motherboard only had 2 headers, and the CPU fans used them both. I just made one from a molex plug that I cut off the original 90mm front fan that was bad. I then pulled a 3-pin header from a junk board.



    Yea, I'm sure you figured what was next....



    ...and done...



    All tied up.



    Button panel & LED's reinstalled & connected.





    Probably my all-time favorite M$ operating system! I opted for Win2k over NT in spite of a slight performance hit because of hardware support & USB. The only drivers I had to install were for the graphics card. Windows had an embedded driver for it, but it sucked. I liked Matrox's driver much better. Everything else in the system is pretty basic stuff.



    Now that looks sexy!!





    ...and done!!!



    Screen grab....The browser is Firefox 3.6.28



    I may still tinker around with some CPU config tests....but unless I've really missed something extremely silly, I think I've taken it about as far as I can.....but if anyone sees anything I've overlooked, don't hesitate to make me aware of it!!

    Not a very valuable build, but it was a neat rescue of a rather unusual board....and definitely made for a cool retro build! If I come across a Voodoo1 or 2, this would be a great quake player.....

    Specs are as follows:

    Supermicro P6DKF Motherboard
    2x Pentium II 300MHz 66FSB Klamath CPU's
    512mb EDO RAM @ 50NS
    Matrox G200 x4 32mb
    Adaptec AHA2940U/UW SCSI Controller
    Creative SB16
    Realtek 10/100 LAN
    Plextor UltraPlex 12x SCSI
    Plextor PlexWriter 4x SCSI
    Attached Files

    Leave a comment:


  • Topcat
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Originally posted by Topcat View Post
    That site is inaccurate. For one, the FX chipset never supported 100FSB... If it did, it wouldn't be utilizing EDO RAM...and there was no 400MHz Klamath; the only CPU this board supports.

    *edit*
    I did try it with a pair of Deschutes P2 333/66 CPU's. It would POST ~50% of the time but would never successfully boot when it did. It would freeze at random places during POST or hang loading the OS. Looking through the manual, it does say up to 400MHz; perhaps the manual was written before the Deschutes came out and added multiplier settings up that speed; intended for future 'Klamath' chips....but there's no bus speed setting. Not sure where they're getting their information from, but it's not correct.
    Here's a little more on it:

    http://www.motherboard.cz/mb/supermi...ER%20P6DKF.htm

    https://stason.org/TULARC/pc/motherb...-II-P6DKF.html

    The 'unidentified' jumper settings perhaps could be bus speed or vcore settings....but I couldn't dig up any information on those....but given the chipset and its limitations, I don't have a lot of optimism. I also attached the manual.

    https://cdn.badcaps-static.com/pdfs/...6edf469558.pdf

    Leave a comment:


  • Topcat
    replied
    Re: Rebirth of a Pentium II - P6DKF Retro Build

    Originally posted by Per Hansson View Post
    It should support 400MHz according to the manual:
    https://theretroweb.com/motherboards...cro-p6dkf#cpus
    That site is inaccurate. For one, the FX chipset never supported 100FSB... If it did, it wouldn't be utilizing EDO RAM...and there was no 400MHz Klamath; the only CPU this board supports.

    *edit*
    I did try it with a pair of Deschutes P2 333/66 CPU's. It would POST ~50% of the time but would never successfully boot when it did. It would freeze at random places during POST or hang loading the OS. Looking through the manual, it does say up to 400MHz; perhaps the manual was written before the Deschutes came out and added multiplier settings up that speed; intended for future 'Klamath' chips....but there's no bus speed setting. Not sure where they're getting their information from, but it's not correct.

    Leave a comment:

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