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  1. Banned
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    Soliciting ideas and resources to keep old video and PC components alive as long as possible (forever, possibly, or as long as I can still see and hear to use this stuff).

    This thread is prompted by a couple of posts I saw recently concerning the passing of old ATI cards and XP PCs, not to mention CRT monitors. As I shopped Newegg today for fans to upgrade my PC cooling, I kept finding "out of stock" messages on a lot of good ol' stuff. Yes, I know: nothing lasts forever. Yes, I know, SD video is yesterday (for some of us, but not all of us).

    I have a PC that can handle any HD stuff I'd like to create now. But SD still beckons, and I have many old VHS tapes to go with more than 300 hours of video.

    This is the equipment whose life I'm trying to prolong (and one that was used for no more than an hour and needs a fix:

    A) One like-new ATI All-In-Wonder 7500 64MB Radeon (AGP mount). Like new, that is, if it had not been injured shortly after it was mounted inside a new PC. The unit's hard drive had been removed so the card would mount inside unobstructed. On reinserting the hard drive, one corner of the drive struck the card and sheared off a tiny cannister capacitor (it's about 1/4" round by 3/16" high). Just sheared it clean off the edge of the card's component topside. I've kept the card, the capacitor, and everything in the original box. The cap has no leadout wiring, no apparent tabs or anything that would secure it to the board; the bottom contact point is perfectly smooth and flat. The empty spot on the card is smooth as well, just a solid single solder spot with a diameter slightly smaller than the cap's bottom.

    On the card's printed-circuit side directly under that solder joint is a small dot of solder -- so small, I have to use a magnifier to check it. There don't appear to be any mounting tabs, wires, or any sign of "wire" or other contact that might have broken. All surfaces are flat and smooth. I never saw a capacitor without mounting contacts of some kind, but there you are.

    The card was never used. Afraid the missing cap might damage a monitor, I removed it immediately and scraped up another $200 or so and bought a replacement. Within a few hours, the new 7500 was installed and working.

    Anyone know if this thing can be repaired? I thought about re-attaching it with electronically conductive silver thermal paste. But I'm leery of hooking it up to a monitor that I don't want damaged. The cap does have a blue dot on top that seems to be an orientation marker. But no sign of any contact leads or tabs.

    B) Meanwhile the 2001 replacement 7500 AIW is working in a PC that I built from new and spare parts:
    - WinXP Pro "Builder Edition" SvcPack 2 (from eBay)
    - Biostar K8M800 AMD Socket AM2 mobo with AGP slot. Takes up to a gigantic 2-GB of DDR2 RAM (!). Bought for $50.
    - AMD X64 dual-core 2.4 GHz CPU
    - Western Digital 40GB PATA IDE drive for the operating system.
    - Western Digital160-GB PATA IDE drive.
    - Western Digital 320-GB PATA IDE drive.
    - Promise FX100 PATA drive controller PCI card.
    - SoundBlaster Audigy PCI sound card
    - $50 Thermaltake 420-watt PSU.
    - 120mm Panaflo rear cooling fan (86 CFM) blowing out
    - 120mm Thermaltake front cooling fan (45 CFM) blowing out
    - CoolerMaster case with side vents and front panel vents with plastic mesh filters, one vent centered over the CPU area.
    - ATI 7500 64MB Radeon All In Wonder.
    - Lite-ON DVD/ROM burner model unkinown, but no problem so far
    - Old "IBM" CD/DVD ROM read-only

    C) A second home-made Biostar PC like the above with the same components, except:
    - One 40-GB HDD for WinXP Pro + two 320-GB PATA drives
    - ATI Radeon 9600XT 125MB All In Wonder AGP.
    - Couple of older cooling fans I'm about to upgrade.

    In the event the PATA hard drives fail and they disappear from the market, the board can handle SATA drives.

    D) Two Toshiba RD-XS34 DVD recorders. One was new, one is a refurb. The "new" has had its optical drive replaced by Toshiba Service early this year. I don't know what keeps them going, unless it's that they're mounted inside glass doors in cabinets that have cooling fans inside.

    E) Three VCR's, two from eBay. The Panasonic PV-9668 was bought new and has its video heads replaced a few years back. The Panasonic 8662 (1996 vintage) is pristine, bought on eBay 5 years ago. The SONY SLV-585HF is from eBay a while back and was rebuilt for $340 in 2005. My used JVC '7600' died, no parts support, went to the recycling dump.

    All this old stuff is used for video-only. No games, no email, don't even have a printer hooked to them. Most video work is stored on external hard drives.

    I'm still looking for spares and replacements for all this stuff. Obviously no 9600XT or 7500 AIW cards will show up. Anyone know how that busted cap on the unused 7500 AIW can be fixed (or not?). ATI customer service is not an option; I don't even think those clueless clowns know how to turn their computers on, they likely have the janitor do it for them every workday.
    Last edited by sanlyn; 21st Mar 2014 at 06:22.
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  2. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
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    what markings do the can have on the top?

    i've seen working Ati All In Wonder 7500 boards sell for as little as $2 on ebay.
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  3. I'm a Super Moderator johns0's Avatar
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    $50 Thermaltake 420-watt PSU isn't that good of a deal,just bought a 750w antec for $55.
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  4. Member
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    yes the card can be repaired but for what it'll cost (certified repairman) it be cheaper to source them through ebay and sooner than later

    us ebay ... 3 available each $24.99 item number 280713582262, thou postage is a sting.
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  5. Well, I'd say I'm fairly experienced in the task of keeping old PCs alive (the one I'm posting from being a prime example) and my first recommendation would be to simply keep your eyes out for old bits and pieces. Old computer stuff probably finds the bin every minute and it's not usually that hard to get a hold it of beforehand. For things like CPU fans, I would simply ask at a few small computer stores, you could easily find yourself leaving with ten of them without paying a cent.

    Unsurprisingly this is coming from someone with significant storage problems, but its nice to have a hardware failure mean "its time to try out that one I got last year", rather than "it's time to spend a few days finding a replacement or waiting for one off Ebay".

    Also, keep an eye on cooling as heat is known to be the main cause of early chip failure. I know it's not the most practical advice in the world, but in order to prevent disaster try to keep an eye on your fans, if one stops starting it can mean curtains for a valuable chip. Programs like SpeedFan can help you monitor this if the sensors are available (and correct). Simpler replacement fans can be bought in many sizes from electronics stores, although usually without connectors.

    Much of that information is probably more relevant to older systems, but I hope it helps.

    By the way, in regards to the video card issue, I'd recommend looking at the PCB paths and prodding them with a multimeter (when card is disconnected of course) in case it helps make things clearer. Also make sure you consider the motherboard you try it on as well as the screen, I can't see how a faulty card could damage a monitor, but I don't doubt it can make a mess of a motherboard if it's in a poor enough state.
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  6. Banned
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    Originally Posted by Bjs View Post
    yes the card can be repaired but for what it'll cost (certified repairman) it be cheaper to source them through ebay and sooner than later

    us ebay ... 3 available each $24.99 item number 280713582262, thou postage is a sting.
    Thanks, Bjs. I looked forever (well, every few weeks or so), missed this one. I have it in my WishList for another looksee soon. Some that I found were PAL-only (shucks, same with the 9600's I looked at). Yeah, that postage is awful, but all of eBay seems to going there. Thanks again.
    Last edited by sanlyn; 21st Mar 2014 at 06:22.
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  7. Banned
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    Originally Posted by Computer Nerd Kev View Post
    Also, keep an eye on cooling as heat is known to be the main cause of early chip failure. I know it's not the most practical advice in the world, but in order to prevent disaster try to keep an eye on your fans, if one stops starting it can mean curtains for a valuable chip. Programs like SpeedFan can help you monitor this if the sensors are available (and correct). Simpler replacement fans can be bought in many sizes from electronics stores, although usually without connectors.
    Very practical advice, and I'm with you 100%. One PC has a SUNON and a Panaflo inside (each does about 85 CFM), but the ones I want to replace in my other PC were cannibalized from an old Gateway and a Dell. I was going to replace them with the same fans mentioned. My mobo came with AMD's WarSpeeder utility, but I don't really trust it. I'm a newbie at stuff like SpeedFan, but I'll give it a serious try.

    Originally Posted by Computer Nerd Kev View Post
    By the way, in regards to the video card issue, I'd recommend looking at the PCB paths and prodding them with a multimeter (when card is disconnected of course) in case it helps make things clearer. Also make sure you consider the motherboard you try it on as well as the screen, I can't see how a faulty card could damage a monitor, but I don't doubt it can make a mess of a motherboard if it's in a poor enough state.
    Sounds reasonable, though I figured caps are often used to limit or regulate power in some way, so that kept me from trying the card anyway. I'm total Klutzville with a voltmeter, but I know someone who can help with that.
    Last edited by sanlyn; 21st Mar 2014 at 06:22.
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    Originally Posted by aedipuss View Post
    what markings do the can have on the top?
    The only mark of any kind on the silverized body is a small blue dot on one side of the round top. Looks as if made with a marker pen. Looking at that same spot on the "good" 7500 I still use, looking down at the card with the (missing) cap in the extreme lower right-hand corner, the dot is on the top pointing directly upward toward the card's upper right corner. The mark is a slightly smeared 1/8-inch square.
    Last edited by sanlyn; 21st Mar 2014 at 06:23.
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  9. Banned
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    Originally Posted by johns0 View Post
    $50 Thermaltake 420-watt PSU isn't that good of a deal,just bought a 750w antec for $55.
    I've built and repaired many a PC with Antec. 750w might be overkill for this setup, the old AGP's didn't take much power (if I had a newer digital card, I'd be headed for around 750w for sure). I have three Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC, all bought on sale at $35 to $40, two in use and one in my side PC repair business. They seem to be quite popular, and had 5-year warranties. But for the PC with the ATI 9600XT, I think I should try to find a good 500 to 600 unit. As for the ATI 7500 card, it barely burns up 75 watts, but of course it's no match for the 9600XT. But, then, I've had that 7500 running video processing for 18 or up to 40 hours straight. Neither the card nor the PSU felt any hotter than just a little warmish during that time.
    Last edited by sanlyn; 21st Mar 2014 at 06:23.
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    I ordered the AIW 7500 from eBay. The seller claims the box is sealed and unopened (must have got the pictures of the package components from another source). Will test it on the 7500 PC when it gets here.

    Still can't find a NTSC copy of the 9600XT that looks unbroken. Mine won't last forever. I now have AfterEffects, which likely is too powerful for the 7500's slower CPU and 64MB chip. 7500 works great for VHS capture, so I'm happy for that link to the 7500. But if the 9600XT dies, I'll just have to fix up a new PC with a PCI-e card to replace it for other work. Phooey.
    Last edited by sanlyn; 21st Mar 2014 at 06:23.
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  11. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by aedipuss View Post
    what markings do the can have on the top?
    i've seen working Ati All In Wonder 7500 boards sell for as little as $2 on ebay.
    But the boards are useless with the set of in/out wire blocks/bundles.
    There's also issues with heat aging, which harms the cleanliness of the analog signal (needed for VHS capture).
    A good complete ATI AIW card is worth $50-75+ easily.
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  12. Banned
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    Originally Posted by lordsmurf View Post
    Originally Posted by aedipuss View Post
    what markings do the can have on the top?
    i've seen working Ati All In Wonder 7500 boards sell for as little as $2 on ebay.
    But the boards are useless with the set of in/out wire blocks/bundles.
    There's also issues with heat aging, which harms the cleanliness of the analog signal (needed for VHS capture).
    A good complete ATI AIW card is worth $50-75+ easily.
    I found and purchased an unopened, unused, complete 7500 AIW, found by following the ebay link posted earlier to a newer ebay link. The box indeed appears to be unopened. It cost a lot more than used/refurbished 7500's listed). Haven't mounted it yet. I have an ancient Dell with an AGP slot that I can try it with, but the Dell has to be dug out of storage.

    It's a shame about the damaged card. It was mounted but was never fired up. I took it to an electronics shop a few years ago, recommended by an acquaintance. But the tech declined to fiddle with it because we couldn't find specific info about the cap's function, and with no visible connections he couldn't determine its value. I can't say I blame him. In fact he speculated that it might not be a capacitor at all.

    At least I got some value out of it by using its input dongle to replace the one on my 9600XT, which developed a loose s-video connection.

    If I can find the time, I could make old-and-replacement comparison photos and post here (Time? What's time?).
    Last edited by sanlyn; 21st Mar 2014 at 06:23.
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