Gigabyte Dual Pentium Pro - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 09:37:58 am
content: I picked up this motherboard the other day on a whim, it just called out to me so had to have it... not sure what i am to do with it yetBoard is a Gigabyte GA-686DX, the PPros are 200Mhz / 256kb cache versions overclocked to 233Mhz. The board is really nice, it's standard ATX and not the older AT or some other weird form factor like a lot of PPro boards were.it is gorgeous though, it's a shame i have to cover up those CPUs with heatsinks!!

author: Rasz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 03:12:27 pm
content: Wow, Gigabyte GA686DX seems to be hilariously late socket8 mobo. Early/mid 1998 and SIMMs, couple of months window before single Pentium 2 450MHz on off the shelf motherboard was faster, cheaper and less troublesome.Quote from: dexters_lab on March 24, 2020, 09:37:58 amwhy would you do that? the best you can do with a pair of PPros is hanging them on a wall anyway

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2020, 04:55:07 pm
content: Quote from: Rasz on March 24, 2020, 03:12:27 pmThe rollover from generation to generation of CPU was more gradual in the 1990s. People didn't queue up to get the latest CPU on its release day, and immediately abandon the previous ones.

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2020, 03:37:07 pm
content: That brings back memories , I had a single PPro computer back in the day. I don't even know why I bought the thing, probably because it looked cool.

author: Ampera
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 01:37:27 am
content: Pentium Pros are beautiful, I have a 1996 top spec gaming machine with one in it.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2020, 04:12:39 am
content: Same here. It was my second computer, has a Diamond Monster II (Voodoo II) card in it and some kind of Soundblaster AWE if I remember right. It hasn't been turned on in many years though. I should drag it out of the closet some day and see if it'll still boot.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 30, 2020, 07:34:30 am
content: I am contemplating a retro build using it but i am in two mindsi wanted to make a dual pentium pro, dual voodoo 2 machine, which IMO is cool-as f**k but Win98 will only use one CPU and even if i ran Win2K for SMP any games are going to be single thread anyway so the only tasks that could make use of the dual cpu would be windows ones so it's a totally irrational thing to do... but it certainly has some kudos about itthe other option is a P3 1.4G Tualatin Dual Voodoo 2, which technically would be a far better machinei am still undecided which way to go

author: Xolares
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 01, 2020, 08:59:05 pm
content: Nice Score! Would be a good system for a Voodoo 2 SLI setup and dual boot 98SE and 2K. See if you can find the Pentium II Overdrives.I have an Asus P2B-DS board i use as my main retro rig.

author: HwAoRrDk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2020, 03:41:27 pm
content: Quote from: Ampera on March 26, 2020, 01:37:27 amI assume that's gaming on Windows, as I seem to recall that Pentium Pros were kinda sucky performance-wise with DOS games.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2020, 04:21:59 pm
content: Just check if that clock chip has a replaceable battery, IIRC some of those at the time had a pop off cap that covered the CR2032 cell used for that purpose.No visibly bad caps, either they have been replaced already, or just failed siently. Those boards are in the middle of Cap Plague territory.Mark, I should send you some of the old flatpacks I have, as you love the gold plated ceramics, and I do not see them in your collection.

author: mariush
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2020, 04:45:14 pm
content: It's a nice board.It cries for a bit more ram, you'd have to add in pairs.Add a Creative / Aureal card on isa/pci, gigabit pci network card, a usb 2.0 controller on pci, maybe find some tnt2m64 or something similar on pci , add a voodoo2 if you want but not sure it's worth it.I'd suggest using Windows 2003 ... it's doable if you get at least 128 MB of edo installed (the board seems to support 512 MB)

author: Kilrah
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 06, 2020, 06:14:37 pm
content: Mmmmmh old golden beauties

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 09, 2020, 12:10:32 pm
content: Quote from: SeanB on April 06, 2020, 04:21:59 pmthanks Sean, i'll PM youRTC has been replaced, i found a previously depotted 12887 in a box so it's running an external CR2032 now.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 09, 2020, 12:12:49 pm
content: Quote from: mariush on April 06, 2020, 04:45:14 pmyea, i should get some more edo ram for it, but at the moment it looks like i am going down the P3 Tualatin / voodoo 2 route so i don't have many plans for this board now so might be put aside for some future project

author: HwAoRrDk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2020, 05:02:39 pm
content: Dual Voodoo2 in SLI or GTFO!I wish I still had my two Voodoo2 SLI cards.With a P3-800 and a Matrox Mystique G200 those things really flew. I eventually sold them on eBay to some German guy who collected Voodoo cards. He was very pleased to add them to his collection, as they were both 12MB STB BlackMagic models which were apparently a rarity in the European market. I wonder if he still has them...

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2020, 05:08:30 pm
content: That takes me back. I think I still have a single PPro-200 machine stashed in my mom's shed, I should take it home sometime and see if it still works. I would have absolutely loved a dual one back in the day, PPros were way beyond what I could afford in their day.

author: thinkfat
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 09, 2020, 07:40:09 pm
content: I remember I had a single PPro, I think it was my first actual PC. I don't quite remember which graphics card I had, but I do remember owning a Matrox Mystique at a point. "Voodoo" rings a bell, though. The PPro, as far as I remember, was _just_ about able to run "lame" a bit faster than realtime. mp3enc only with -q.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 11, 2020, 08:29:49 am
content: Quote from: HwAoRrDk on April 09, 2020, 05:02:39 pmSimilar story here, i had SLI in the day but ditched them when i went to GeForce2, but there was something different and special with 3Dfx, not sure what it was... maybe because it was a dedicated card to make your games faster?

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 11, 2020, 06:58:14 pm
content: I still remember the very first time I ever played Quake on a Voodoo (original) card, I was absolutely blown away. That was the biggest quantum leap in gaming I can recall ever seeing, it completely transformed the experience.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 13, 2020, 07:13:31 am
content: Quote from: james_s on April 11, 2020, 06:58:14 pmsame, i remember getting a Diamond Monster 3D (Voodoo 1) just after they came out and it was like

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2020, 05:40:18 pm
content: I actually still have one of those, NOS still shrinkwrapped in the original package. I helped clean out a storage closet at a large tech company I worked at in during the mid 2000's and this was in there. It was probably at its lowest value during the time I found it so it has decorated my shelf ever since.The problem with something like this is I can't open it or it loses much of what makes it unique. In retrospect I kind of wish I'd kept the shrinkwrapped 33.6 modem I found at the same time, at one point I had an old (1.2GB?) Maxtor hard drive that was also NOS, I think I traded that to a friend. It would be fun to build a vintage PC from NOS parts, a bit like building one of the old Heathkits that occasionally turns up unbuilt.

author: Kilrah
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 13, 2020, 07:00:02 pm
content: Quote from: james_s on April 13, 2020, 05:40:18 pm

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 13, 2020, 08:00:32 pm
content: Yea that's really nice, defo keep hold of it!I remember getting mine delivered at work and having the rest of the dept over my shoulder watching me try it out in the work pc!Quote from: james_s on April 13, 2020, 05:40:18 pm

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2020, 02:12:29 am
content: I remember when I first started learning Linux, Redhat 6.2 on a 200MHz Pentium Pro with 128MB of RAM. I also learned how bad Adobe software was when that Pentium, running xpdf, would scroll pages faster than Acrobat Reader on an 800MHz P3. Later on, that P3 became another Linux machine when I got a 2.4GHz P4 as my main PC, quickly discovering how Linux was becoming ready for everyday desktop use. The move to a 64 bit Athlon 64 machine was when I started going straight to Linux on new machines and haven't looked back ever since.

author: clearscreen
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2020, 04:35:13 pm
content: Greetings,you're right, ppro are gorgeous !i've some. When you put them side to a Pentium90 (i've the gold edition) you see the extra size and guess that there should be some powered engine inside :-)But you have to run then with a real 32bit os to benefit of all the power if i remember well ?There was for winNT 4 machines with 2 or more CPU (?)CLS.NB1 : some cpu on my collectionNB2 : i've no more 8087 on the photo because i'v put in my old persona 1600 XT (see on the boot) and on checkit mark : 30 tims original XT speed

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 17, 2020, 11:28:30 pm
content: I always lusted after a Pentium Pro, still do. I have built many of them over the years but never owned one myself.