philscomputerlab
Experienced Member
Video build log: Building a 486 with modern parts
So you want to build a 486? That's awesome! You can get yourself a ready to go 486, all authentic with that retro AT case and whizzing hard-drive, but as vintage parts fail, or become harder and more expensive to obtain, maybe you have thought of combining a 486 with more modern parts to save money, improve reliability, or have a machine that blends in with others, but under the hood retro goodness awaits you!
In this project we are building a 486 retro DOS PC but using modern parts such as:
ATX case
ATX power supply
CF card as HDD replacement
GOTEK floppy emulator as FDD replacement
New buttons for power and turbo
I did run into some roadblocks, but that's good, it means you will avoid these mistakes and have a smoother project! Specifically the replacements budgets turned out to be garbage and I didn't end up mounting them to the front of the case, but that is all explained in the video.
The case is a standard, cheap and nasty, ATX case from Aywun:
I'm using this ATX to AT adapter:
CF card reader:
Floppy emulator:
This is the type of button I used:
The computer specifications:
Biostar MB8433-UUD motherboard
IntelDX4 100 MHz processor
8 MB of RAM
PCI S3 Trio 64 V+ graphics card
2 GB CF card
IDE optical drive,
Sound Blaster 16
World exclusive: the prototype of the DreamBlaster X1 General MIDI wavetable board
MS-DOS 6.22
Findings:
The build was quite straight forward. The trickiest part is the new power and turbo buttons, I found some alternatives since producing this video:
You can use a 5.25" to 2.5" adapter and it has some space on the sides. Ideal for mounting switches or buttons.
You can mount switches or buttons onto spare slot covers. Just means you need to reach around the computer to turn it on/off or use the turbo feature.
So you want to build a 486? That's awesome! You can get yourself a ready to go 486, all authentic with that retro AT case and whizzing hard-drive, but as vintage parts fail, or become harder and more expensive to obtain, maybe you have thought of combining a 486 with more modern parts to save money, improve reliability, or have a machine that blends in with others, but under the hood retro goodness awaits you!
In this project we are building a 486 retro DOS PC but using modern parts such as:
ATX case
ATX power supply
CF card as HDD replacement
GOTEK floppy emulator as FDD replacement
New buttons for power and turbo
I did run into some roadblocks, but that's good, it means you will avoid these mistakes and have a smoother project! Specifically the replacements budgets turned out to be garbage and I didn't end up mounting them to the front of the case, but that is all explained in the video.
The case is a standard, cheap and nasty, ATX case from Aywun:
I'm using this ATX to AT adapter:
CF card reader:
Floppy emulator:
This is the type of button I used:
The computer specifications:
Biostar MB8433-UUD motherboard
IntelDX4 100 MHz processor
8 MB of RAM
PCI S3 Trio 64 V+ graphics card
2 GB CF card
IDE optical drive,
Sound Blaster 16
World exclusive: the prototype of the DreamBlaster X1 General MIDI wavetable board
MS-DOS 6.22
Findings:
The build was quite straight forward. The trickiest part is the new power and turbo buttons, I found some alternatives since producing this video:
You can use a 5.25" to 2.5" adapter and it has some space on the sides. Ideal for mounting switches or buttons.
You can mount switches or buttons onto spare slot covers. Just means you need to reach around the computer to turn it on/off or use the turbo feature.
