Nice selection! Regarding the PAS16 you can use the same resources for both PAS and SB. As long as you don't use them simultaneously you can save an IRQ.
I can definitely relate to your way of thinking, when it comes to being more of a hardware guy. I love the quirky bits of your build. Though people tended to choose the easy route by, as you’ve said, choosing components like a SoundBlaster, your build is really going to define the era it came out of. I can’t wait to see the next part(s) of the video. I already clicked the like, subscribe and bell icon, so I won’t miss a thing. Thanks!
Thanks so much for the kind words! After getting a bit sidetracked, I'm now working on part two again. I'll hopefully have it completed soon. I can't wait to finally get this machine assembled 👍
I had a PAS16 and loved it! Sadly only having a preamp was not advisable to be used by a teenager and sadly ended up being the cause for its downfall... Still, AWESOME digital sound quality, Midi was good enough. Still, can not overemphasize how good the digital audio side of that card is, specially when compared to the SB16 of the same age. After the PAS16 I got at AWE32 and put 8Mb RAM of 30pin SIMMs (2x4Mb) on it and then not only I had good Digital Audio but also amazing Midi and a card that enabled me to have it playing mods with barely any system CPU or RAM use while programming at the same time. The audio samples were loaded into the cards RAM as well as the notes etc, the CPU and system RAM in this use case were mostly used to keep an eye out for the card execution and feed it if/when needed and keep tabs on the file playing to ensure it would stop, load the next song or repeat. I can't have enough of how AWESOME the AWE32 was and is feature wise. Still the PAS16 still had a better digital DAC/AMP on the digital audio side.
I can completely relate to being interested in the hardware, and always wanting to disassemble and tinker. I built myself a similar 486 gaming rig with the same goal of keeping it intact and in use. These retro builds are so much fun!
Thanks for the comment! So true, I have as much or more fun building/tinkering than I do using the systems. Time will tell if I stay true to my promise, but I really miss having a go-to system all ready to go for gaming. I think I have amassed enough spare parts now to keep me from tearing this one apart 🙂
great vid, well spoke, great details too. i chose the pas16 (i think because of the pretty mag ad) for my 486dx2/66 back then, but i had so little other things in the system that the irq worked easily. dark forces sounded so great
Thanks very much for your comment! Yeah there were some great magazine ads for products back in those days. The PAS16 was an awesome sound card. The more I use it, the more I like it 🙂
Enjoyed the video, plan on watching parts 2 & 3. Been on the lookout for this era of PC as I like to play the older football games but they're so hard to find in decent condition or uber expensive. Probably going to go with a 90mhz pentium setup which came out around 94 I believe.
Great video! At first I got to the second part, but I stopped in time and started watching this series from the very beginning. Thank you for your work, comrade!
Interesting! I'm building a PPro with a Voodoo 1 for the same reason. You make a good point, it might be too fast for some things. Really interesting build, thanks for showing off some cool hardware!
after i sold my 486sx laptop for about a grand i went to compusa to buy a desktop. i had the choice between the last of the 486 models or the pentium166. i chose the pentium but i kinda wished i would have gone for something just like this!
Those PAS cards really are good sound cards. FYI if you didn't know, but the onboard Trantor SCSI chip is limited to 600KB/s transfer rates, making 4x CD-ROMs the fastest theoretical drive you can attach. Of course you can attach faster but you'll be missing out on some performance. I can't wait to see how your final build stacks up.
Thanks for the comment! Honestly, the more I use the PAS16, the more I like it. It really is a very unique and great sounding card. Interesting! I knew the SCSI interface was pretty weak from a performance perspective but didn't realize it'd only do 600KB/s. My Plextor drive is a 6x model, but it's not a problem for me as 4x is more than enough for my needs. I've been really busy with work lately but will hopefully have part 2 up in the next week or two 👍
Dude you have so many cool parts! I'm so jealous of that PAS16 as it's quite high up my list of wants. Looking forward to seeing it in operation. I don't think I've ever seen a VLB board with built-in I/O, and it's especially cool that's it's local bus, too. I'm just imagining your GUS being in this as well - imagine having 4 different sound standards supported in one system! Nice case, too.
Thanks! Yeah, VLB with built-in I/O was quite rare. It wasn't until the later PCI 486s and early Pentiums that that became a standard feature from what I've seen. Definitely pick up a PAS16 if you find one for a decent price - they are great cards. If you keep an eye out on eBay, they'll sometimes be sold by their part number (650-0044 etc) as people don't always realize what they are. I thought about adding the GUS but I think I'll reserve that for another system :)
I'm not very much into pre-Pentium era (because of some "childhood traumas" 😅 ) but this was still amazing to watch because of your passion and competence (also learned quite few things!), really like your videos, keep it up! 🦾 😎
I saw on your blog that you found an ATI Mach 32 Video card. Do you happen to have a manual or know the jumper configuration for the 4x jumpers on this card? Nice work by the way. Maybe need to take a drive to Kitchener to see what else they have :-)
Thanks SatTracker! It's been a while since I used that card but I seem to recall it had a big bank of dip switches at the top edge of the card. I believe those were for selecting the I/O address. Looking at pictures, there are some additional jumpers at the bottom right near the slot bracket but can't find anything documented about their purpose. Since the card has a bus mouse port, I wonder if it might be for that? Sorry I can't be of more help.
Cool! I’ve seen micro controller powered serial to PS/2 signal converters based on the MAX232 chip also. I may look into something like that but for now my good old Microsoft serial mouse is working out okay. An ISA based PS/2 adapter would be awesome though. I’ll have to look into that.
Great case and a lot of really nice hardware to fill it with! I missed the BIOS battery on that mobo? Is it a coin battery? Also, I can't wait for part 2, pal!
Thanks, Mike! The board actually has no battery at all - just a 4-pin header for an external battery pack. I'll probably be putting together a 3.6V nimh pack for it.
Builtin PC speaker feature might not work because pc speaker use ports in 00-ff range which is typically used for motherboard integrated devices and io transacions to that range may not route to expansion slots bus. Even when they do its usually only write operations work correctly, but for pc speaker that should be enough
There definitely would have been some benefits to using a PCI based 486, including better video card options and possible PS/2 mouse support also. But the PCI boards I had at the time didn't have functional turbo modes, which I really wanted for the build. I also have some fond memories of VLB (from my first 486 system back in 1994) so there was some nostalgia reasons too I suppose :)
Can I ask for advice- I have a 486 motherboard with a broken voltage regulator. I only have 3 volt CPUs. If I bought a 5 volt CPU would it work on this board without the voltage regulator?
Hi semloH - most 486 boards with voltage regulators allow voltage selection between 5V and 3.45V (or 3.45/3.8/4.0 etc with variable regulators) using a jumper. Because the power supply provides 5V directly to the motherboard using the P8/P9 connector, a regulator isn't needed in the 5V configuration and it's usually just bypassed completely with the 5V jumper set. I can't be 100% sure about your specific board, but if what I described is the case, it should work just fine with a 5V CPU. If you have a multimeter, it would be a good idea to check the power (Vcc) pin on the socket without a CPU installed just to confirm. If the regulator is bypassed it should not be generating any heat at all. You can check it as well using a multimeter to ensure it's bypassed. If you are handy with soldering, replacing the regulator isn't too difficult as long as you find a suitable replacement part. Necroware did some awesome videos on voltage regulator replacement if you'd like to learn more. Hope this helps.
@@vswitchzero I am sorry, I have only just seen your reply. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. The motherboard is the famous LuckyStar 486E. It has a voltage regulator that stands up and it was broken during shipping. I replaced it with a TIP127 and it worked fine until it didn't. My soldering wasn't good enough and now the holes are too big and the Tip127 will not stay in the holes so it will not make contact. So I thought I would get a 5v CPU. I have ordered a cheap ST Thompson DX2/66 because I want the computer to run slower. The DX4/100 I have is too fast, more like a Pentium. Thanks anyway and I hope it works when I get the new CPU. Your videos are concise, clearly explained and I look forward to watching more!
@@vswitchzero Hi, I got the CPU and it works, Thank you for your help. Please keep making new videos, I enjoy them very much. I recently watched your video on fixing the 6 graphics card. I have the same problem with an ISA gpu so I am going to try and fix it. Thanks again.
Nice selection! Regarding the PAS16 you can use the same resources for both PAS and SB. As long as you don't use them simultaneously you can save an IRQ.
Thanks, Necroware! I didn't realize it would let you do that. Very interesting - I'll have to give that a try 👍
I can definitely relate to your way of thinking, when it comes to being more of a hardware guy.
I love the quirky bits of your build. Though people tended to choose the easy route by, as you’ve said, choosing components like a SoundBlaster, your build is really going to define the era it came out of.
I can’t wait to see the next part(s) of the video.
I already clicked the like, subscribe and bell icon, so I won’t miss a thing. Thanks!
Thanks so much for the kind words! After getting a bit sidetracked, I'm now working on part two again. I'll hopefully have it completed soon. I can't wait to finally get this machine assembled 👍
Ran AMD 5x86 @ 133 MHz back in the day. Your build brings back nice memories.
I had a PAS16 and loved it! Sadly only having a preamp was not advisable to be used by a teenager and sadly ended up being the cause for its downfall... Still, AWESOME digital sound quality, Midi was good enough. Still, can not overemphasize how good the digital audio side of that card is, specially when compared to the SB16 of the same age.
After the PAS16 I got at AWE32 and put 8Mb RAM of 30pin SIMMs (2x4Mb) on it and then not only I had good Digital Audio but also amazing Midi and a card that enabled me to have it playing mods with barely any system CPU or RAM use while programming at the same time. The audio samples were loaded into the cards RAM as well as the notes etc, the CPU and system RAM in this use case were mostly used to keep an eye out for the card execution and feed it if/when needed and keep tabs on the file playing to ensure it would stop, load the next song or repeat.
I can't have enough of how AWESOME the AWE32 was and is feature wise. Still the PAS16 still had a better digital DAC/AMP on the digital audio side.
I can completely relate to being interested in the hardware, and always wanting to disassemble and tinker. I built myself a similar 486 gaming rig with the same goal of keeping it intact and in use. These retro builds are so much fun!
Thanks for the comment! So true, I have as much or more fun building/tinkering than I do using the systems. Time will tell if I stay true to my promise, but I really miss having a go-to system all ready to go for gaming. I think I have amassed enough spare parts now to keep me from tearing this one apart 🙂
great vid, well spoke, great details too. i chose the pas16 (i think because of the pretty mag ad) for my 486dx2/66 back then, but i had so little other things in the system that the irq worked easily. dark forces sounded so great
Thanks very much for your comment! Yeah there were some great magazine ads for products back in those days. The PAS16 was an awesome sound card. The more I use it, the more I like it 🙂
what a blast from the past!
Just got my first 486 system recently such great systems
Enjoyed the video, plan on watching parts 2 & 3. Been on the lookout for this era of PC as I like to play the older football games but they're so hard to find in decent condition or uber expensive. Probably going to go with a 90mhz pentium setup which came out around 94 I believe.
Great video! At first I got to the second part, but I stopped in time and started watching this series from the very beginning. Thank you for your work, comrade!
Thanks very much, Glad you enjoyed it!
Superb video and awesome setup! I want a 486 like yours! I'm a bit jealous th... 😅
Thanks for the comment! The 486 platforms are definitely my favorite. This was when I first got into PCs and PC gaming. Lots of great memories 🙂
Interesting! I'm building a PPro with a Voodoo 1 for the same reason. You make a good point, it might be too fast for some things. Really interesting build, thanks for showing off some cool hardware!
oh dang I had a pro audio spectrum 16 in my 486/DX4-100 back in the day
You have vary nice setup, can't wait to see it running.
Thanks, Patrick! Will hopefully get part 2 up soon 👍
after i sold my 486sx laptop for about a grand i went to compusa to buy a desktop. i had the choice between the last of the 486 models or the pentium166. i chose the pentium but i kinda wished i would have gone for something just like this!
Those PAS cards really are good sound cards. FYI if you didn't know, but the onboard Trantor SCSI chip is limited to 600KB/s transfer rates, making 4x CD-ROMs the fastest theoretical drive you can attach. Of course you can attach faster but you'll be missing out on some performance. I can't wait to see how your final build stacks up.
Thanks for the comment! Honestly, the more I use the PAS16, the more I like it. It really is a very unique and great sounding card. Interesting! I knew the SCSI interface was pretty weak from a performance perspective but didn't realize it'd only do 600KB/s. My Plextor drive is a 6x model, but it's not a problem for me as 4x is more than enough for my needs. I've been really busy with work lately but will hopefully have part 2 up in the next week or two 👍
Dude you have so many cool parts! I'm so jealous of that PAS16 as it's quite high up my list of wants. Looking forward to seeing it in operation. I don't think I've ever seen a VLB board with built-in I/O, and it's especially cool that's it's local bus, too. I'm just imagining your GUS being in this as well - imagine having 4 different sound standards supported in one system! Nice case, too.
Thanks! Yeah, VLB with built-in I/O was quite rare. It wasn't until the later PCI 486s and early Pentiums that that became a standard feature from what I've seen. Definitely pick up a PAS16 if you find one for a decent price - they are great cards. If you keep an eye out on eBay, they'll sometimes be sold by their part number (650-0044 etc) as people don't always realize what they are. I thought about adding the GUS but I think I'll reserve that for another system :)
I'm not very much into pre-Pentium era (because of some "childhood traumas" 😅 ) but this was still amazing to watch because of your passion and competence (also learned quite few things!), really like your videos, keep it up! 🦾 😎
Thanks so much! Really appreciate the feedback and encouragement 🙂
Sweet build!
I saw on your blog that you found an ATI Mach 32 Video card. Do you happen to have a manual or know the jumper configuration for the 4x jumpers on this card? Nice work by the way. Maybe need to take a drive to Kitchener to see what else they have :-)
Thanks SatTracker! It's been a while since I used that card but I seem to recall it had a big bank of dip switches at the top edge of the card. I believe those were for selecting the I/O address. Looking at pictures, there are some additional jumpers at the bottom right near the slot bracket but can't find anything documented about their purpose. Since the card has a bus mouse port, I wonder if it might be for that? Sorry I can't be of more help.
I had a custom-made PS/2 mouse ISA card built for my IBM 5170 so I could use it with a KVM switch. It is possible in theory.
Cool! I’ve seen micro controller powered serial to PS/2 signal converters based on the MAX232 chip also. I may look into something like that but for now my good old Microsoft serial mouse is working out okay. An ISA based PS/2 adapter would be awesome though. I’ll have to look into that.
Great case and a lot of really nice hardware to fill it with! I missed the BIOS battery on that mobo? Is it a coin battery?
Also, I can't wait for part 2, pal!
Thanks, Mike! The board actually has no battery at all - just a 4-pin header for an external battery pack. I'll probably be putting together a 3.6V nimh pack for it.
Builtin PC speaker feature might not work because pc speaker use ports in 00-ff range which is typically used for motherboard integrated devices and io transacions to that range may not route to expansion slots bus. Even when they do its usually only write operations work correctly, but for pc speaker that should be enough
Its never a waste! 32mb ram baby!
Why didn't you use the PCI 486 instead? For better videocard options?
There definitely would have been some benefits to using a PCI based 486, including better video card options and possible PS/2 mouse support also. But the PCI boards I had at the time didn't have functional turbo modes, which I really wanted for the build. I also have some fond memories of VLB (from my first 486 system back in 1994) so there was some nostalgia reasons too I suppose :)
Can I ask for advice- I have a 486 motherboard with a broken voltage regulator. I only have 3 volt CPUs. If I bought a 5 volt CPU would it work on this board without the voltage regulator?
Hi semloH - most 486 boards with voltage regulators allow voltage selection between 5V and 3.45V (or 3.45/3.8/4.0 etc with variable regulators) using a jumper. Because the power supply provides 5V directly to the motherboard using the P8/P9 connector, a regulator isn't needed in the 5V configuration and it's usually just bypassed completely with the 5V jumper set. I can't be 100% sure about your specific board, but if what I described is the case, it should work just fine with a 5V CPU. If you have a multimeter, it would be a good idea to check the power (Vcc) pin on the socket without a CPU installed just to confirm. If the regulator is bypassed it should not be generating any heat at all. You can check it as well using a multimeter to ensure it's bypassed. If you are handy with soldering, replacing the regulator isn't too difficult as long as you find a suitable replacement part. Necroware did some awesome videos on voltage regulator replacement if you'd like to learn more. Hope this helps.
@@vswitchzero I am sorry, I have only just seen your reply. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. The motherboard is the famous LuckyStar 486E. It has a voltage regulator that stands up and it was broken during shipping. I replaced it with a TIP127 and it worked fine until it didn't. My soldering wasn't good enough and now the holes are too big and the Tip127 will not stay in the holes so it will not make contact. So I thought I would get a 5v CPU. I have ordered a cheap ST Thompson DX2/66 because I want the computer to run slower. The DX4/100 I have is too fast, more like a Pentium. Thanks anyway and I hope it works when I get the new CPU. Your videos are concise, clearly explained and I look forward to watching more!
@@semloh1870 Thanks so much! Best of luck with the ST CPU. Hopefully it’ll work just fine. Let me know how it works out 👍
@@vswitchzero Hi, I got the CPU and it works, Thank you for your help. Please keep making new videos, I enjoy them very much. I recently watched your video on fixing the 6 graphics card. I have the same problem with an ISA gpu so I am going to try and fix it. Thanks again.
@@semloh1870 Thanks so much for the kind words and encouragement! I'm glad to hear that the CPU worked. 👍
I'm building a pentium and a dx4
46 cpus? Who made up that saying?
Why not just use the startech sata to IDE than o,o it works great.