I rescued an old Slot A Athlon system from the trash at my work. And I decided I’d like to restore it and make a Windows 98 gaming rig…Why? Because I can…AND I always wanted a system with a slot CPU. Here’s the rundown on what the hardware is…as best I can tell after some Google-Fu
MoBo: Shuttle AI61V12A
CPU: AMD Athlon 950
RAM: 1x Stick of Crucial 128MB PC100 SD RAM
1x Stick of Generic 256MB PC133 SD RAM
GPU: TNT2 VANTA 16MB
PSU: Sparkle (Watts are unknown I can’t read the sticker)
HDD: None
FDD, CD-ROM, CD-RW
The case a generic beige classic…but it is missing the side panel.
I have powered the system up; at first I had some error beeps. Turns out one of the RAM slots is apparently dead/damaged. That’s not a deal breaker at all. So here’s the run down on what I’d like to do…
Replace the case. Preferably with something with a basic “cheap/retro” feel. BUT I’d like something I could do a little bit of cable management with. Black is fine but beige/white would be sweet…
Replace the PSU. The PSU is old and the cables all feel stiff. I’d like to replace it with something new (maybe even modular), but I am unsure if a modern PSU will work with a board this old.
Replace the Floppy drive with a floppy emulator so I can use floppy disk IMG files and a USB stick to store any floppy based software.
Use a single optical drive. DVD with CD writing capabilities.
IDE to SD (or compact flash) to replace the HDD. I’ve heard this works really well. and it seems like the most logical solution.
Replace all ribbons with rounded IDE cables…I always loved these but never had them…it’ll scratch that itch and it will be decent way to replace these aging ribbons.
Replace the CMOS battery…duh
Replace Video Card…this is something I’m struggling with. I think my most ideal choice would be a Geforce 3 (64mb). I considered an AGP Voodoo card…but the prices I’ve seen are insane.
Add a PCI soundblaster card. This board has no onboard sound so I got to do something about that.
Potentially add some more USB ports via PCI.
I think that’s basically everything. I realize this is probably the most impractical project, but I’ve kind of been wanting to do something like this and the opportunity has presented itself. I welcome any advice and suggestions. Especially leads on to wear I might be able to find good deals on some of these older replacement parts. I’ll probably post updates to this thread as the project progresses (at least I hope I do).