best cheap/free scores 1.1

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Fire up a Linux live CD or whatever, install the gnome-disk-utility package, open the program labeled Disks, select the drive in question, ^S, there ya go.

I'll prolly do one better, stick it in a Acer 6930G running 10 Home, and check it with HD Sentinel. That laptop has dual HDD bays so it's a great machine for HDD work (like cloning and such)

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Managed to check the SMART section that gives failure - 541 bad sectors.

Nevertheless, I have a similar 320GB black with same health (0%, according to HD Sentinel) in a Dell Latitude E6400 and neither that one has any problems with it.

[TechGeek]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Managed to check the SMART section that gives failure - 541 bad sectors.

Nevertheless, I have a similar 320GB black with same health (0%, according to HD Sentinel) in a Dell Latitude E6400 and neither that one has any problems with it.

Ouch, I wouldn't trust it with anything critical.


Fill it totally full of data by writing /dev/urandom to it. (dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sdX bs=4096). Check SMART.



Then do 2 full reads and writes (dd if=/dev/sdX of=/dev/sdX) where X is the drive in question. At the end of the 1st dd, check SMART again. Check it again after the 2nd dd. If the number goes up after both attempts, junk it, it's failing fast.

[stj]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

bs=4096??
i dont think a 320gig drive is using 4k sectors - more likely bs=512

[Curious.George]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sdX bs=4096

bs=4096??
i dont think a 320gig drive is using 4k sectors - more likely bs=512

The bs parameter has nothing to do with the native size of blocks on the drive.
Rather, it indicates how big the "write()"s to the device should be. Larger blocks reduce the number of system calls that have to be made.

It also makes it easier to see the final size of the device as it will be reported in units of that block size.

E.g., I usually use bs=1024K as it lets me see megabyte sized units.

Regardless, the driver will dice (or pack!) the requests into the native block size required by the device. So, my bs=1024K will actually transfer 2048 512B DISK blocks to the drive and report them to me as one 1024K block.

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1 - HIS Radeon HD4670 AGP

I want to give a huge THANKS to Mr. Per Hansson here for sending me this:



It's a rare HIS Radeon HD4670 AGP video card with 1 GB DDR3 VRAM that he mentioned is not working... and indeed when I installed it in my GPU test PC, it wasn't. Or wasn't it?

Turns out my video card test PC was having some issues that I actually caused myself (corroded pins in the CPU socket from flux... long story. ) After sorting those out, the HD4670 AGP detected and seemed to work just fine - or at least for the brief testing I did with it.


Only thing that seems to need work with that card is an IO bracket (original is missing and VGA connector has its outer metal case gone.) Also, the card had a severe bend in one corner (not sure if from shipping or before that), but luckily it was in an area with no important components, so I straightened that out. Only thing that took slight damage from that bend was one of the two Teapo SZ 16V caps for the GPU VRM high side - nothing that I mind, since I will likely be changing these anyways.

Probably the biggest item that needs work is the bridge chip. Like all of the latest/last ATI AGP vidoe cards, this one uses a bridge chip between the GPU and AGP connector, which runs hotter than anything else on the card. So that's why I didn't really do any extensive stress-testing. Just power-up, detected, and then afterwards I put a small heatsink over the bridge chip core (hence the white thermal compound still on it there in the pictures), which was OK enough for the brief tests I did, but not attached securely in any way (and I didn't want it falling off and shorting out something.)

Anyways, I'm already working on the IO bracket, so that should be done soon. The bridge chip HS might wait until I test some prototypes on a few lower-tier ATI AGP cards, to see how well (or not?) my design works.

So again, thank you Per!

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I have a X1650 Pro with that bridge chip and I flat out superglued a nForce 2 southbridge heatsink to it lol

It's been running fine ever since. I also have a HD3450 AGP done in the same way.

[Per Hansson]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1 - HIS Radeon HD4670 AGP

Only thing that seems to need work with that card is an IO bracket (original is missing and VGA connector has its outer metal case gone.) Also, the card had a severe bend in one corner (not sure if from shipping or before that), but luckily it was in an area with no important components, so I straightened that out. Only thing that took slight damage from that bend was one of the two Teapo SZ 16V caps for the GPU VRM high side - nothing that I mind, since I will likely be changing these anyways.
<snip>
Anyways, I'm already working on the IO bracket, so that should be done soon. The bridge chip HS might wait until I test some prototypes on a few lower-tier ATI AGP cards, to see how well (or not?) my design works.

So again, thank you Per!

This is how the card arrived for me from eBay, the seller actually had a generic render of the card in his ad, not an actual picture showing the missing bracket and no mention of it in the ad itself.
So I was quite disappointed at that and asked for a partial refund over that and the severe bending of the PCB.

After sorting those out, the HD4670 AGP detected and seemed to work just fine - or at least for the brief testing I did with it.

The issue I had with this card (sorry for not telling you) is that it would crash when I installed the drivers, i.e. only worked fine in basic VGA mode without drivers.
But as can be seen in your photos it has drivers so maybe it was repaired by sitting in a box at my place for close to 8 years and then being mishandled some more by our respective countries postal services

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1 - HIS Radeon HD4670 AGP

I have a X1650 Pro with that bridge chip and I flat out superglued a nForce 2 southbridge heatsink to it lol

It's been running fine ever since. I also have a HD3450 AGP done in the same way.

Good to know.

I actually bought Arctic Silver thermal epoxy for this (and similar tasks) a while back, but just haven't determined what size of heatsink would be appropriate on the bridge chip to keep it cool enough.

This is how the card arrived for me from eBay, the seller actually had a generic render of the card in his ad, not an actual picture showing the missing bracket and no mention of it in the ad itself.
So I was quite disappointed at that and asked for a partial refund over that and the severe bending of the PCB.

Well, the card is no longer missing an IO bracket anymore
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...&postcount=526
Not the best looking jobbie, but should do OK.

And yeah, I've seen eBay sellers eBay use a generic picture and then ship a slightly different item without mentioning anything about that. I actually got a BFG GeForce 7300 GT AGP that was pictured as a blue card with the slightly better cooler. Instead, I got the one below with the crappier U-bracket cooler:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...0&postcount=27
But the card worked and was still the same card in terms of specs, so I couldn't complain. Not to mention I got it shamefully cheap already.

The issue I had with this card (sorry for not telling you) is that it would crash when I installed the drivers, i.e. only worked fine in basic VGA mode without drivers.
But as can be seen in your photos it has drivers so maybe it was repaired by sitting in a box at my place for close to 8 years and then being mishandled some more by our respective countries postal services

LOL
Could be!
I did "fix" a GeForce 6150 MCP on an ECS motherboard once by whacking it hard.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Per is an awesome guy!

Make sure to keep them boxes safe, especially that of the VooDoo. Some people pay a good chunk of money even just for that, lol.
Though I must admit, the boxes of VooDoo 3 and VooDoo 5 looks pretty cool, actually.

I have several mint condition 3DFX boxes (some I bought new, some gifted, found, etc). This one will be a nice addendum. I only cut the film enough to get the flap open....so even the shrinkwrap is relatively intact. I display them in my office, they make nice top-shelf conversation pieces.....but if someone wanted to buy them, I'd certainly listen. I have a neat box collection of hardware and software I own (or once owned), going back to the early 90s....far too many to display, so the majority of them are packed away. I'd never go out looking for boxes....but I guess some do! What boggles my mind even more than those deliberately *looking* for boxes is why I even kept them in the first place.....my wife tells me I'm a hoarder.....I couldn't possibly believe that!

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1 - HIS Radeon HD4670 AGP

I want to give a huge THANKS to Mr. Per Hansson here for sending me this:



It's a rare HIS Radeon HD4670 AGP video card with 1 GB DDR3 VRAM that he mentioned is not working... and indeed when I installed it in my GPU test PC, it wasn't. Or wasn't it?

Turns out my video card test PC was having some issues that I actually caused myself (corroded pins in the CPU socket from flux... long story. ) After sorting those out, the HD4670 AGP detected and seemed to work just fine - or at least for the brief testing I did with it.


Only thing that seems to need work with that card is an IO bracket (original is missing and VGA connector has its outer metal case gone.) Also, the card had a severe bend in one corner (not sure if from shipping or before that), but luckily it was in an area with no important components, so I straightened that out. Only thing that took slight damage from that bend was one of the two Teapo SZ 16V caps for the GPU VRM high side - nothing that I mind, since I will likely be changing these anyways.

Probably the biggest item that needs work is the bridge chip. Like all of the latest/last ATI AGP vidoe cards, this one uses a bridge chip between the GPU and AGP connector, which runs hotter than anything else on the card. So that's why I didn't really do any extensive stress-testing. Just power-up, detected, and then afterwards I put a small heatsink over the bridge chip core (hence the white thermal compound still on it there in the pictures), which was OK enough for the brief tests I did, but not attached securely in any way (and I didn't want it falling off and shorting out something.)

Anyways, I'm already working on the IO bracket, so that should be done soon. The bridge chip HS might wait until I test some prototypes on a few lower-tier ATI AGP cards, to see how well (or not?) my design works.

So again, thank you Per!

I have this exact card on the faster of my two X5DAL builds. Great card, just be sure you use HIS's drivers if you're on windows. Generic drivers didn't work for me. If they're not available, I have them on my server.

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Scored another Sammy laptop, this time it's a NP300E5C-A05IT. Replaced the Celeron B810 with a i3-2330M, and added a 320GB Seagate Momentus Thin. Flies with Windows 8.1, especially because UEFI.


Also finally got the R610 to work - had to reflow both the PM45 and the 9200M GS (just as a preventive measure, though G98s usually don't fail that easy on me, have one running just great in a Dell E6400) at 350*C, and using a automotive heatgun. It's strange though that the PM45 needed reflow, as it would've been usually just the nVidia GPU at culprit, but maybe the PCB is just crappy? Anyways, only things left to do now is swap in a better WiFi card (the current Intel 5100 gives a Code 10 error) and replace the dead keyboard.

[stj]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Scored another Sammy laptop, this time it's a NP300E5C-A05IT. Replaced the Celeron B810 with a i3-2330M,

really?
i thought all mobile iShit cpu's were soldered down?

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

really?
i thought all mobile iShit cpu's were soldered down?

Not until after generation 4. Gen 4 and older are rPGA sockets usually.

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I'd never go out looking for boxes....but I guess some do! What boggles my mind even more than those deliberately *looking* for boxes is why I even kept them in the first place.....

me three! but i am fine also with pictures and images of the boxes in lieu of having the actual box. takes up less space that way. i just print out the pictures of the boxes with a printer and stick them on my bedroom wall. very similar effect to having the actual box to look at tho some may disagree and prefer to having the actual box.

Generic drivers didn't work for me.

the amd drivers dont have the device ids for some of the agp cards in the inf file. u have to edit and hack the inf file manually and add the device ids for the agp cards. or just force manual installation of the driver using the device which is the closest match for the one u have.

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I'd never go out looking for boxes....

Same.

But if something does come in its original box, I always find that a plus.

And to keep the boxes from taking up space for nothing, I usually use them to store driver CDs, manuals, cables, and other computer-related stuff. That way, I can maximize space for my pack-rat / hoarding habits.

my wife tells me I'm a hoarder.....

Can't say she's wrong.
I think all of us techies are like that to some degree. We work with "things", so we tend to keep a "reserve" of stuff to use (or to play around with when bored. )

I have this exact card on the faster of my two X5DAL builds. Great card, just be sure you use HIS's drivers if you're on windows. Generic drivers didn't work for me. If they're not available, I have them on my server.

Thanks for the heads up.

Well, I was able to make the card work with ATI's own drivers. But IIRC, the version I had on my test system didn't pickup the card at first, even though it's the same version I've been using for anything from the Radeon R300 GPU series to the HD 6k series (including other HD46x0 cards.) I probably should have restarted the PC, as that usually lets the drivers pickup the GPU the second time around, but I was impatient, so I force-installed an older version (that also didn't detect the card if I remember.)

So essentially...

or just force manual installation of the driver using the device which is the closest match for the one u have.

^ this is what I did for that HIS HD4670 - just went into device manager and pointed Windows to the folder where I had the older ATI driver extracted (note: many newer ATI drivers don't extract the drivers fully, so you can't do a manual install, but the older one I used above did.)

That said, I still do have to verify if this method will work on a "virgin" system. The PC I use for testing video cards has had over 100 GPUs go through it. And I don't even want to imagine what kind of mess it's like in the Windows drivers folder, as I've installed, uninstalled, and reinstalled drivers on that system more times than I can remember.

[Hondaman]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

For $2 US, I just got a cakebox of Memorex DVD +R DUAL LAYER. 42 remain out of the original 50.

(For a few dollars more, I got a cakebox with around 22 Sony DVD +RW. I did not know [or I forgot] that DVDs ever existed in the "re-writable" variety. I never got more than about 3 uses out of the CD-RWs that I have tried, so I don't expect these DVD re-writables to perform well.)

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

the amd drivers dont have the device ids for some of the agp cards in the inf file. u have to edit and hack the inf file manually and add the device ids for the agp cards. or just force manual installation of the driver using the device which is the closest match for the one u have.

That may also be the same kind of problem the Nvidia drivers have, after version 182.08, IIRC.

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

More scores:

ASUS K8V-X SE - no CPU, one broken RAM clip, no bad caps tho
Pinnacle AnyTV PCI TV Tuner - uses a S-Video plug for video - anyone know a pinout? It's 4 pin.
Maxtor 4.3GB HDD - untested
WD Caviar 2GB HDD - untested, came out of a Compaq it seems
Radeon X800XT PCI-E GPU - untested

Acer Aspire 5520G - bad nVidia chipset, managed to salvage the 8400M G and currently resides in my G70S with a ghetto HSF from an ABIT NF7-S mobo - momaka might like this lol
HP DV6670EL - bad GPU, might reflow it just for fun, since it has a fingerprint reader I see

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

ASUS K8V-X SE - no CPU, one broken RAM clip, no bad caps tho

Nice s754 board with classic yellow ASUS color! I wish my K8V-SE Deluxe came in that color instead of dark brown.

Acer Aspire 5520G - bad nVidia chipset, managed to salvage the 8400M G and currently resides in my G70S with a ghetto HSF from an ABIT NF7-S mobo - momaka might like this lol

Yup, I do.
Stamped with seal of total approval!

RE the Abit NF7-S: it's an nVidia nForce mobo, so maybe worth a shot at reflowing the bridge chips? I know NF2 generally was a lot more reliable than NF3 and later, but they aren't as bullet-proof as VIA and SiS from that era.

For $2 US, I just got a cakebox of Memorex DVD +R DUAL LAYER. 42 remain out of the original 50.

(For a few dollars more, I got a cakebox with around 22 Sony DVD +RW. I did not know [or I forgot] that DVDs ever existed in the "re-writable" variety. I never got more than about 3 uses out of the CD-RWs that I have tried, so I don't expect these DVD re-writables to perform well.)

Good score on the DVD+R's.
Most people have moved to flash storage now (or some kind of portable USB storage anyways.) However, I still do like (and use) optical media a little better for long-term storage. When kept well, it's very reliable - especially CDs. I still have stuff that I burned 15+ years ago, and those CDs work perfectly. Saved me on my Windows 98SE system experiment that I did recently when I needed some old versions of software.

As for the DVD+RW's: as long as they are not scratched, they should be OK. Same goes for CD-RW's. Once scratched, re-writing may not work well and you start getting read/write errors... though the optical drive you use can also affect that quite a bit too. For DVD+RWs, I suggest using newer SATA DVD drives, as I find they have more optimized firmware and actually produce more reliable writes. In particular, I did an experiment with some extremely cheap Windata DVD+R DL discs, and old IDE drives either couldn't recognized them or produced some random write errors. Then tried the same discs on a late model desktop SATA optical drive, and had no problems whatsoever.