E-Waste Pentium II 450 Full Restoration (Part 1)

Let's complete a full teardown and restoration of one of the amazing E-Waste finds in our last video! This system is chalk full of goodies - Pentium II 450, Matrox Millennium 2d/3d graphics card and a beloved Diamond Monster 3Dfx Voodoo 2 Video Card!! Not only do we use these goodies, we add some more!! #retropc #nostalgia #vintage #pentium #3dfx #voodoo #matrox #ewaste

[@3dfxvoodoocards6]

Like! This is a 1998 DREAM PC. The P2 450 mhz is the fastest Pentium 2 ever released and the Voodoo 2 is the fastest graphics card released in 1998.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Awesome!!!!! It sounds like Windows 98SE should be the OS installation of choice!!

[@rapideye85]

This system will do Doom 2 and Quake 3 arena in medium detail at 800x600 or low res widescreen, which and runs looks fantastic on an old LCD or CRT monitor. The voodoo 2 was an awesome card but only if the texture quality is set to low or medium max.

[@walterlegere1403]

I had this exact same case that went through several generations of CPUs and boards and ended up with a BIOSTAR P4-M80-M4 mobo, a Pentium 4 3.6GHz CPU, a Visiontek ATI Radeon HD2400 Pro 512MB AGP graphics card, a Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live 5.0 ISA sound card, 2GB RAM and 2- 250GB HDDs. I used that system all the way up until 2005. It played any game we loaded on it and my kids used that computer all the time for gaming and after connecting a 56K modem they were even using it to play on-line via AOL! These older systems were durable and lasted forever.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Absolutely. That sounds like an awesome system that stood the test of time.

[@oldschooldude8370]

Such a gem. I saw p2 450 & had to click. Great find. 98 SE is perfect. Dual boot xp as well gives you options.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks!!! Hopefully you are subbed for more :).

[@letthetunesflow]

I have said it before, but I’m going to say it again… I absolutely love the videos of you picking up mystery PC’s, that you have managed to rescue from their imminent and unfortunate demise that far too many PC’s have been lost to… Far too many PC’s have been lost to the evil vintage chip devourer, the Grim Reaper of rare and discarded vintage electronics facing certain death, torn apart chip by chip, destroyed for their precious metals euphemistically know as “recycling”… It’s just such a fun surprise every time you open up one of those mystery PC’s for the first time! Keep on killing it! With such awesome videos, all you are needing is for the KZbin gods to recommend us all your channel like it did for me a few days ago. It’s a travesty that I had only recently been recommended your channel! All those interested in vintage/retro computer repair, or just vintage/retro computers in general, need to be made aware of your channel! It’s a travesty that so many people are completely unaware of your amazing channel! I’ll be sure to share your channel with every retro computer obsessed friend I know! Just keep having fun, we all look forward to seeing your next video, and thank you for sharing your sincere passion for retro computers with the world!

[@TheRetroRecall]

I am absolutely floored by this comment. Comments like this and viewers like you make this whole process all worth while. Thank you so much for your kind words and support of both myself and the channel. A lot of work goes in behind the scenes from choosing a topic, filming, editing, re-filming (LOL), publishing, etc. When I read comments such as yours - it drives me to continue making and sharing content with everyone! Thanks so much for being an amazing supporter and I hope you enjoy the future projects!

[@user-wj9xq7ig2v]

Tickle trunk😊 your Canadian is showing. Rip Ernie Combs. Great memories

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha yes so true :)

[@technologyLife20203]

Very good video. I enjoyed watching your channel. I have about 10-15 vintage machines from Dell/Gateway/Micron that I'll be featuring and restoring as well.

[@TheRetroRecall]

That's awesome and thanks for the support! I will be sure to check out your channel as well... Always great to share the love of retro computing with like minded enthusiasts!

[@arthurmann578]

Nice video! Very relaxing to watch. Be back for part 2! 👍👍

[@TheRetroRecall]

Arthur, as always, thanks and love having you! Stay tuned!

[@clintthompson4100]

My Mother had the same exact case as well and it was bought from a company called the 168 Club. Her machine had a Epox Super Socket 7 Motherboard with a AMD K6-2 400 Mhz CPU (I have now) and I later upgraded her to a Socket A Athlon XP 3200+ Motherboard and a Gforce 6200 card for her. She rarely used it and now I have the board and case as well. Thanks for the upload. Loving your vintage computer videos. Have a good one.

[@TheRetroRecall]

This is an amazing story, thank you so much for sharing! Your comment is exactly the reason why I am doing this. Thanks again for your support. Stay tuned for some more amazing retro journeys together!

[@clintthompson4100]

Your welcome. Have a good one.

[@precisionxt]

I agree, Magic erasers work amazing on metal cases! I’ve been able to get off some really bad scuff marks with that. Semi unrelated, but if you find a tower with melted rubber feet marks on the case (like a warehouse find where machines were stacked together or some other sticky substance), what I’ve found to work is oven cleaner. Soaking the area for 5 minutes, scrapping off with a paint scrapper and rinsing clean. Just make sure not to scrub too hard and keep away from badges/stickers as it will remove the ink.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Awesome advice, thank you!

[@plainsabertooth7828]

I contacted my e waste center and asked if they had any pentium 2 or pentium 3 Era of computers and they didn't have any but they told me that they would keep an eye out for me. I thanked them for that.

[@TheRetroRecall]

That's awesome!! I really hope you are able to get your hands on a couple of them :). That said, if they say they have any other vintage computers, be sure to take a look... You never know what you will find!

[@plainsabertooth7828]

@TheRetroRecall I will :3 I tried ebay which was his first response but I said they charge way to much there.

[@TheRetroRecall]

For sure. Patience is definitely important when looking for retro hardware!

[@plainsabertooth7828]

@@TheRetroRecall true.

[@TheVanillatech]

Nice case! I had a huge DAN tower that housed a Dual P2 400Mhz server board way back in the day. Had onboard SCSI as well as a SCSI controller card, to run the SIX SCSI hard drives inside. It had a Diamond Viper V770 (TNT 2 Ultra) installed, and I added a VooDoo 2 back then. The thing weighed an absolute ton. Carrying it from my friends house to my Dads took forever, had to put it down so many times to get the feeling back into my arms, my hands were bleeding from the case cutting my skin, but I made it back! And kept that machine as my main rig for well over a year. Got it for free too! That was back in 1999. Wish I still had it - especially the case. So hard to find those huge, steel cases anymore. Lovely things to mod and customize.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Wow.. What a share - such an awesome memory. I mean that build would have been perfect and to put this all in a giant case with SCSI!!! Now, I'm floored you actually moved it from place to place....you are much braver than I would have been. Technology was a race at the time it was so awesome seeing what the next best thing was and teying to figure out what you had to tweak on your own system to get it working! Thanks again for this and thanks for sharing!!

[@TheVanillatech]

@@TheRetroRecall My friend basically said to leave it at his place, until I could find someone with a car to help me move it. But I was 18, pretty strong and wiry, and there was NO WAY that computer wasn't coming home with me that day! It was only about 1.2 miles, but I underestimated the weight of it, and because of its size, my arms were basically full extension to hold on. That was the problem. Must have looked strange, seeing a skinny teenage kid carrying a huge computer down the streets, sweat pouring off him ... lol. I didn't care. I knew the machine was worth well over two thousand pound, and I had a K6-2 300Mhz at home, with a VooDoo 1 and Matrox Mystique. I NEEDED THIS COMPUTER! XD Incidentally, I sold four of the SCSI HD's in the classifieds. Some local guy bought them, an old fella who had retired and had gotten into PC's just recently. I sold them for £120 each, which netted me £480 pure profit, and he even gave me a lift home in his van cos he'd felt sorry I'd had to walk to his place, which had been miles. When he dropped me off, I ran inside and gave him the SCSI controller card and the cables, cos I didn't need them anymore afterall. That £480 paid for the VooDoo 2 and a 17" NEC Mitsubishi screen.

[@TheRetroRecall]

That is crazy! Also showed huge dedication and determination from you haha. This story and many like it is exactly the reason I started this channel. I love sharing content which stirs up old memories which people share - so great :). Thanks again for this... It is a story I won't forget that's for sure!

[@johnrx9243]

New subscriber here. Great channel! I recently picked up a Dell XPS D300 P-2 system, bone stock with the DVD reader and cinemaster decoder card, Riva 128 AGP. Having fun getting it back working. Keep up the great content!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Welcome and thank you!!! So cool to hear the different stories shared in the comments and how these videos bring back memories. Stay tuned, more to come! Thanks for watching!

[@ToniHiltunen1980]

Hi, good to see you have there very good retro system. I have the same motherboard you have there in my second PII platform, first PII system i built on 1998 is still in my use and it has Abit AB-BX6 2.0 motherboard with Voodoo 3 3000. Thank you of your video.

[@TheRetroRecall]

No problem and thank you for watching! I think it is a pretty decent board, it seems to work quite well so far! Lots of expansion and compatibility.

[@aliullah1014]

I had that case back in 1998. I wish I could find it again along with a QDI socket 7 motherboard.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Awesome!!!

[@paramcomputers007]

That powersupply 😱 cover the beauty of motherboard 😱

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yes, I thought the same thing. Maybe in the future we can get a different one that's smaller!

[@gentuxable]

440BX based boards like yours were the most stable and versatile boards ever made. I wanted one so badly that I have 3 of them now, an Asus P2B, Shuttle HOT-661 which work and an Intel one that was inside a Nokia firewall that no other collectors seem to know contains just a regular Pentium 2 that I need to test next.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice. Be interest in how you make out. I am aware that the 440bx chipset was favored due to its stability, so that's a win for sure.

[@gentuxable]

@@TheRetroRecall well in the case of the Nokia IP440 it was because it looked like it had a standard CD-ROM and floppy drive and beneath that a normal ATX-like design just towards the front not back and the I/O with the first ATX boards was always 2xPS/2, 2xUSB, 2xCOM with 1xLPT on top, without onboard audio, must be almost Pentium II,, so i dug deeper and found all the info about the mainboard and that it's a standard Intel board. The only thing that was odd is that the VGA port was so far down, turns out, even though the board had an AGP-Slot, Nokia used an ISA graphics card instead guess to have a simpler driver. So now I even have an ISA graphics card if I happen to find a 486, Pentium, K6 as I don't have any PCI graphics cards left.

[@TheRetroRecall]

This sounds so interesting. I am going to take a look into this system...

[@gentuxable]

@@TheRetroRecall Absolutely recommend it for the case alone, it has two thumbscrews up front, turn them and the whole computer slides just out like a drawer so you can exchange drives, cards and memory in seconds, if you don't have a rack you can just unscrew the side angles and lay it flat works well like that and I think you could fit even newer motherboards in there.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Now that's pretty cool.

[@ellienore]

I had this exact same machine. Tower, motherboard, CPU, peripherals back in 2004.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice!!!! Such a great system..

[@LinuxLoader1287]

Nice video 👍

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks! One of my older ones haha.

[@maxtornogood]

I have a dual slot Pentium II mainboard I bought off eBay so I could have 2 Pentium II's in if I wanted to. I remember our college computers were initially Pentium II 333Mhz Windows 95 machines, later upgraded to Acers with Windows ME.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Don't those dual slot p2s take celerons as well?

[@DuneRunnerEnterprises]

Oh,i'm using them wipes,as well. The tip here is to go for anti-static ones

[@TheRetroRecall]

Love it. I'll get some - makes sense and they work so well!

[@d4r1pp43]

That PC has to be very expensive back in the days. This PC is HighEnd in 1998. I built my Win98 machine with a P2 450, Riva 128ZX and 2x Voodoo2 in SLI. But in a modern Case with green illumination ^^.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Ohhh that would have looked pretty slick! Yes this system was probably off limits to some due to cost. So neat seeing it alive again today!

[@mikespikeey4625]

The capacitor plague was a problem related to a higher-than-expected failure rate of non-solid aluminium electrolytic capacitors between 1999 and 2007, ..

[@TheRetroRecall]

For sure. I've learned to check them all now. I have a few systems needing a recap now which I'm saving for a video.

[@PhaQ2]

I always thought the slot design of the CPU was better than the socket design. Considering where Intel puts their contact pins now, it seems like we went backwards.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I agree and I personally loved the slot design. The fact it was short lived makes it that much more unique :)

[@youtubasoarus]

Capacitors plague was something like 2001-2006. AFAIK. Basically early 2000's from what I remember. I like the front panel of that case.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for this... I wasn't completely sure when it was. I have recapped a few boards for sure. Agreed, there is just something about it that screams late 90s!! It was also nice to work on with the back panel coming out... Always loved that feature! Thanks for watching :)

[@youtubasoarus]

@@TheRetroRecall Removable motherboard trays were awesome! Long time since then yeah. Did a few recap jobs myself. Easy peasy heh.

[@TheRetroRecall]

@@youtubasoarus yes for sure... When you make sure you have the right caps lol!

[@timmooney7528]

I concur. My 1999 era PII 450 is still in god shape, however the Athlon 1800xp I replaced it with in 2001 suffered from swollen caps. 2001-2006 is the period in which I've run into the bad capacitors. I salvaged an NEC 20" LCD that was discarded due to a bad capacitor on the power board.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I wonder how many were truly 'tossed' when most were repairable! :*(

[@justsumguy2u]

That turned out great, nice job! Personally, I'd go with Win 98 and avoid the Mistake Edition lol And Win 98 will accept up to 512 mb of memory, not sure what the cap is for ME. You're going to have a great gaming machine when it's all said and done

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha, Mistake Edition! It's been a long while since I've heard it called that lol. Windows 98 it is, stay tuned for Saturdays video release :) also, thanks for letting me know about the ram. I think 256 Mb is probably fine for this system running Windows 98. Good to know I can expand to 512 if needed though. Thanks for watching!

[@paveljelinek772]

@@TheRetroRecall you can actually go up to 2 gigs with ram patch..

[@TheRetroRecall]

@@paveljelinek772 I'd like to know more about this ram patch!

[@PatientXero607]

@@paveljelinek772 The 440BX can't cache anymore than 512MB, so it would be a moot point. Might be more beneficial on the i815 or VIA 694 series chipsets.

[@DuneRunnerEnterprises]

The side with the iC's called Component Side,or CS,and the other side - Print Side,or PS.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for this info!

[@DuneRunnerEnterprises]

@@TheRetroRecall You welcome!!! Been around the electronics manufacturing for a long time!!!! Btw,i'm now looking to assemble my own retro pc,and looking for some descent AGP video card. Maybe, you have some spare to sell???

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha, I have a few AGP cards for sure, however I tend to keep them close as I need them for my future builds. Hoping you can find some at your local thrift stores or recycling areas?? :)

[@DuneRunnerEnterprises]

@@TheRetroRecall Aghm. We don't have 'em where i live..... That's the main trouble.

[@TheRetroRecall]

@@DuneRunnerEnterprises that's unfortunate. Hopefully you can find some low priced ones on eBay or something like that.

[@BRBTechTalk]

5:31 I used to have a case like that. I really like how the motherboard tray is removable. They sure made some good cases back in that era. Have you ever sold a car then years later wish you kept it? I am kind of feeling that way after seeing this tear down. 8:44 OMG! I had one of those too, I remember making a deal with someone that did not know what they had ... I used to do lots of computer work for small business and would take old computers as partial payment for my labour and one machine I ended up getting in trade had one of those cards in it. 31:06 I use a plastic putty knife meant for doing wall repair to remove old stickers, you can find them at Home Depot. 52:33 Bad video RAM will do that. I hope it is the Matrox card and not the Voodoo card. This may sound asinine but I have also stopped weird video glitches by undoing the display cable and putting the end that was in the PC into the monitor and the end that was in the monitor into the PC, makes no sense but it has worked for me in the past.

[@TheRetroRecall]

So much to reply to here, I love it! Yes the case is pretty versatile and accessing the board that way is extremely convenient. And yes, I did have a couple of older cars that I wish I kept haha. I can't say the same for computer stuff now as I have much more than I ever had before. The Voodoo card was a definite surprise, especially paired with that Matrox G200 card. I guess this would have been a sought after system back then, especially with the top P2 running the show. Nice call out on the video ram, I will run some tests. Ps - saw your most recent released video - keep it up.. And feel free to mention I reinspired you hahahahah. Take care!

[@davidlawrenc]

Hello from South Africa, looking at that P3 system reminds me of the one i have in my workshop, it's an old P3 600mhz cpu on an Asus motherboard

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hello from Canada and welcome to the channel! That's awesome - hopefully it still works great!

[@davidlawrenc]

@@TheRetroRecall it works like it's brand new, I really enjoy your videos as a mostly retro gamer and enthusiast of all types of pc I enjoy your videos. Thank you for keeping retro alive

[@TheRetroRecall]

Happy to do so, and your amazing comments are exactly why I keep doing it! :)

[@mikespikeey4625]

did you set the cd and hd drives to dma tick in the box

[@TheRetroRecall]

I did not, but with the comments I read I did afterwards. Great catch!

[@ricigri1242]

My very first PC was exactly like this (when i saw that case it blew my mind)... Too bad not in my country or i would buy it to have that very first experience again!!!!

[@TheRetroRecall]

I love that I inspired some Nostalgic memories and glad you enjoyed!!

[@ricigri1242]

@@TheRetroRecall Love your channel content.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thank you!

[@ricigri1242]

@@TheRetroRecall we thank you sir!!

[@wrlrdqueek]

If it helps, I don't do a lot of PC salvage, but of what I have, all the ones with bad caps were P4 era.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I've been lucky so far, but I keep a sharp eye out for those pesky caps!

[@PatientXero607]

Good to find a 440BX motherboard. If BIOS updates support it, it will make for a speedy PIII Coppermine system.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for this info and thanks for watching!!!

[@MrEd-qg8td]

I have always thought that the PII or PIII were the perfect CPU's for retro gaming and apps

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yes and the WIN98 /Dos environments.

[@GaryBeltz]

Which smartwatch do you have?

[@TheRetroRecall]

Galaxy 3 I believe.

[@gentuxable]

Capacitors weren't that big of a problem because those CPUs were not that power hungry compared to Pentium 4 and Athlon CPUs or even from today, the most power hungry ones were like the first Klamath-Pentium II which took a sip over 40 watts while the following Pentium III went down from that quite significantly. At these levels I wouldn't fear too much about the capacitors and most 440BX came just when it all started and those components were typically stocked and so it would take a few more years until they shipped boards with faulty caps.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Great to know this level of detail, thank you!

[@fanguy247b9]

My retro Dell Dimension L866r system has windows 98 SE and I’m running 512mb of ram no issues. Anything beyond 512 mb for windows 98 typically has given me issues in the past. I like having the extra headroom for later early 2000’s games. The PIII clocked at 866 mhz seems to be kinda a sweet spot for my use case. I eventually would like to maybe duel boot with MSDOS 6.22 because the 7.0 version windows 98 has built into it doesn’t always play nicely with some older dos games. I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Awesome, thanks for this info and sharing your build! I haven't done a lot with the p3 systems, however one of the E-waste systems was the P3 1000. Let's see what the future holds for restoration!!! Thanks for watching :)

[@fanguy247b9]

I like the PII systems like you have in your example but the early Celeron’s were over clock able and had the cache built into the dye rather than separate like the PII. Back in the day I had an HP 6535 with a Celeron 466 a friend did a bios hack on it and he was able to do a stable over clock to 575mhz it absolutely enlightened my uncles PII 450 and even gave my cousins 667 P3 a run for its money. Sadly a lightning storm ran through our phone line into the modem frying the entire system in 2005. I loved that computer it was a Christmas gift in 1999. It got me through high school and a lot of game play of Diablo II and EverQuest

[@TheRetroRecall]

Another great share. Yes, you are correct. Although the Celeron CPUs were considered budget CPUs they gave their counterparts a run for their money - mainly due to the flexibility of overclocking. Although it was discouraged, maonbaords were starting to come with the voltage controls built right into the CMOS to make it that much more convenient. I used to love tweaking these systems to see just how much I could coax out of one. Additional cooling was always needed but man those days were fun! I have a couple of Celerons... Would be cool to relive that. Also, looking for a Dual slot 1 board that would be the early support for dual Celeron or P3 CPUs! Ah.. The fun.

[@user-jj9oy8hb3g]

Hello, what is the name of the case model of this computer ? in what year did they start producing such a case ?

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hi there, I believe it is made by Inwin and is from the early 2000's!

[@user-jj9oy8hb3g]

@@TheRetroRecall I saw one video on youtube it's from 1999. I wanted to know his model in order to find information about him, maybe he was released in 98

[@TheRetroRecall]

I mean it's possible, I thought it was either 99 or 2000... But I'm not 100% sure.

[@paveljelinek772]

I see 3 dimm slots. Would you think you could use 3 1Gig rams in there? Because from what i know there ARE 1gb sdram modules

[@TheRetroRecall]

It's definitely a possibility however from a windows 98SE view... It only makes sense to run it with 256mb or 512mb max (for later games) before we start having some issues. From what I've been told in the comments it makes sense to stay with 256 or 512. That said, if it you went with a slightly newer OS, then 1 Gb ish would be acceptable, however I would not go to 3gb with a P2

[@gentuxable]

Max module size was 256 MB for the 440BX and according to Vogons even running with more than 384 MB total was not always stable. If you have 4 memory slots you can maybe get to 1GB but that's as far as this goes. Those 1Gig RAM modules may work with other chipsets just fine however.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for this info!

[@paveljelinek772]

@@gentuxable negative, i have seen 1Gig SDRAM modules. So they EXIST but i cannot say if they're gonna work

[@gentuxable]

@@paveljelinek772I did never say there are no 1 Gig modules what I said is that the 440BX does not support them. Hence "Max module size was 256 MB for the 440BX". Only 256 if double sided. Max 128 MB per side of RAM if you want it to be even more detailed.

[@PiercedJedi]

about this time I had upgraded from the Pentium MMX 233Mhz to an AMD K6-2 350Mhz with 96MB PC100 RAM I had a Voodoo 2 8MB card with a Matrox MGA M200 2D card, my sound card was probably a SB 16 or maybe SB32..... This would have been a dream come true for me

[@TheRetroRecall]

Agreed! I was running a p200 at the time and was selling the K6 - 2 systems. Man was I jealous.

[@PiercedJedi]

I was working at Office Depot at the time so mostly Pentium MMX/Celeron/Pentium 2/Pentium 3 around the era, most of the Compaq & HP systems (and even eMachines when those came in) were intel based but for home I built my own and went AMD@@TheRetroRecall

[@tremorrs]

I remember discarding PC's like this Pentium II by the dozen in the early 2000's when I started my IT career. Mostly Gateway in those days. They were dog slow if you tried to run anything more than windows 98. Of course I think the hard disks were quite a bottleneck back then. They came with super cheap ones usually.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I loved this comment because of the share and love hearing people's experiences. I wish there was a 'sad' button because of all of those helpless machines being tossed lol! Thanks so much for watching!!!

[@therobb5738]

Does anyone know of an older Windows program called Asymetrix 3D/FX?

[@TheRetroRecall]

I am not sure... I know have not. Without me jumping right to Google... What is it?

[@kenabi]

the plague was from 1999-2007ish, so this board would have been in that block of time, but the signs are blatantly obvious when problems are present.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Good to know. So far I have been lucky with the boards.. But I am all ready to replace caps if necessary. Also, I just recently purchased a cap tester for my multimeter.. So that will definitely help if I run into a board with a cap that is not leaking but is going bad. :)

[@gentuxable]

I would say this board was before the plague, looking at the BIOS versions 1.0 until 2.8 were released in 1998, only Version 2.9 came in 2000. So I'd say most, if not all boards were produced well before 1999 the year the Pentium 3 launched and other chipsets offered higher FSBs than the 100 MHz and faster AGP as well.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks. PS - I love all of your input on the channel - it's extremely helpful! Great to have you along.

[@nushnume]

This MSI motherboard looks pretty much identical to the ECS ones. I had an ECS that looked exactly like this but it also had a socket 370 along with the Slot 1

[@TheRetroRecall]

Ohhh that sounds like a neat board. Do you remember the model of that? I also think ASUS boards looked similar as well!

[@nushnume]

@@TheRetroRecall It was an ECS P6BXT-A+. It supported Slot 1 Pentium 2 and 3 processors and only socket 370 Celeron processors. Mine was a Compaq OEM version. Basically same board but with custom Compaq BIOS

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for this info!

[@paramcomputers007]

From where did find this old is gold PC ?😁

[@TheRetroRecall]

They were all ready to be thrown away into recycling. I figured hey, let's save them and see if we can restore them!

[@paramcomputers007]

@@TheRetroRecall oh thats great. It shows you love computers. Like i do 😄👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[@johnathanjamesjohnsonjr7408]

.....👍

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks!

[@MusicPlusNL]

Hey man, I have some "vintage" hardware, I was wondering if you interest, is so how can I contact you

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hey Scott! Please send me an email at [e-mail] with some info on what you have and we can go from there. Thanks for thinking of me and supporting the channel!

[@MusicPlusNL]

@@TheRetroRecall just sent it thank you :)

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thank you! Got it! I will reply later today (it's going to be a busy one! :)

[@EyeSooGuy]

Install Windows 95 OSR2.5 (rev C) on it.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha that's an oldie! I'll have to dig this one back out - it's a nice system.

[@stevencamp6824]

Windows XP on a PII is painful

[@TheRetroRecall]

Agreed!

[@dim0n1]

Why you don't test any games on your channel? Also no drivers, no games of course... Especially if you have a voodoo 2 card inside... And if course, this is an w2k setup, or better w98...

[@TheRetroRecall]

I guess it all depends on the focus of the channel. It's like saying why don't I test Linux on the channel. This is meant to be fun and nostalgic for folk. Cant do everything :) Either way, in my later videos I do test games on the builds depending on what's been done on them. Thanks for watching.

[@dim0n1]

@@TheRetroRecall yeee, but, But this pc is a dream setup for anyone living in 98 and with voodoo 2, it's really asking to test it, crying for good 3dfx game 😊 oh I can just wish to find something like this here in czechia... And I'm really pissed of, coz father had that pc in office and he threw it away... But that's another story...

[@TheRetroRecall]

Oh I understand, it will get some great gaming sessions in! Not cool that the system was tossed...hopefully you are able to get another retro build sometime in the future.

[@rallyscoot]

Whats the point having windows xp on a Pentium II machine... Would better go for windows 98.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Exactly! I mean it was on there... But we got rid of that 'Pesky' Windows XP. Besides, Windows 98SE just feels right on a system of this era :). Thanks for watching!

[@BenState]

that 'dirt' is skin :*(

[@TheRetroRecall]

Ew. One of the hazards of restoring old systems I suppose!

[@alexandrzaikov584]

Заставка на канале не очень!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for your opinion / feedback. Hope you enjoy the content :)

[@jameshaley8162]

...Hi...how you doing? I have a question for you...and I'm sure you get a lot of Tech Questions..but this is a request for help for an OLD computers such as the one in this video. My Question Is..... I have a low cost hobby of getting old computers and trying to make them work again and then push their motherboard limits...without breaking them, of course...I'm not a violent person or too reckless. This hobby helps keep me out of trouble with everyone but my wife. She keeps asking me; "Don't you have enough computers?!?" I really thought she wanted an answer to that...I was wrong. Anyway... I have a Gateway 450 MHz mini tower, built I believe in 1999. And it has a AMD K6-2 processor. It works, I use it mostly as a jukebox in my wood shop and it Winters in my house.. The Everest program says that the motherboard is a : 52-0100-009999-00101111-071595-alladin5$0AAQm010 It originally had a 8.6 GB h.d.d, running Win 98 se. and 64 MB of Ram. It had been an office drone. at a nearby manufacturer in Caledonia. I replaced the h.d.d. with a 40 GB and it now runs Win XP sp3. I replaced the Ram and now it has 512 MB.. But it still has it 450 MHz processor. I heard the only other processor for this motherboard was a 1 GHz. I thought you might need a history of this machine. Dunno...however I am looking for a video card that would work properly in this machine. I have gone 'on-line' looking for...something..and to say that I found very little would be generous. So I am reaching out to You. Perhaps you know of a store that sells 24 year old, working parts in list of places. We all have them to some extent...mine is mostly a place called Valley City in Kentwood, MI. The trouble is...I have no idea of what part number I would be looking for. I know its a Video Card and that's it. I have replaced almost everything in this computer except the motherboard and the processor. I replaced the Land line card for a DSL...it has been on-line a few times using that...and I added a USB card. I know can trade information using the USB, the DSL, CD and the Floppy drive. You can see what I like it so much..its very versatile. IF You could help me find a suitable video card or even some information concerning this machine, I'd appreciate it. Your friend and mine; Jim

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hi Jim, It sounds like you have a pretty nice system there minus of course a decent video card. It all depends on what that board will support in terms of interface, speed etc. I mean, the Voodoo2 Card that we have in this build seems to work very well with the 2d/3d Matrox card. You could even push it to a Voodoo3 2000 or 3000 card that would have full 2d/3d capabilities - you can even get this in a PCI configuration. Now, in terms of where you can get one? That is another million dollar question. I would setup your local Kijii (or Craig's List) and Ebay searches to auto look for these types of video cards. When one pops up - you can then make a decision on whether to move forward with it or not. As for stores, that would really be hit and miss depending on your area. I know around here the stores are minimal - I generally have to look elsewhere (or in the US) if I want something decent. These systems were just a lucky find! I wish you well on your build - it sounds like you are well underway to having an awesome retro system!! Thanks for watching and your support! -TheRetroRecall