All Windows operating systems were equipped with “up-to-date” software. These include IrfanView, Winamp, Office 2000, and 2003. Well-known products from Adobe and Corel are also included, as is WinRAR. Creopard also offers good packages with the usual suspects (Flash, DirectX, .NET…). The upgraded, improved USB support is highly recommended.

Standard software such as HWiNFO32 and Notepad++ also runs in special versions. There is even a special retro version of CrystalDiskMark.

Drivers

All installed hardware has functional drivers for each of the installed operating systems. One challenge was finding the driver for a built-in PCI expansion card with a NEC controller, which took some time.

It’s a shame that Medion has virtually nothing left and what it does have can only be found on old subpages indexed by Google, some of which are missing descriptions. You can’t find anything directly via the Medion search function.

BIOS

I updated the BIOS to the latest version, “6.00 PG,” which also changed the boot logo to a newer design. Of course, I had to boot FreeDOS from CD to flash the BIOS. I suspect that only the latest BIOS supports all of the CPUs mentioned above.

Goal achieved?

Yes! For the first time in decades, Traffic Giant runs without flickering or scrolling too fast!
LEGO Rock Raiders also runs flawlessly and at the correct speed, as intended by the developer. Even on Windows XP – so the problems on newer computers could also be caused by PCIe GPUs. In any case, everything runs wonderfully with AGP 8x.

The clattering and scratching of the rough PATA hard drives and the 3.5″ floppy drive evoke nostalgia.

Der Beitrag <h5>Medion PC-MT6 #6: </h5><h3><b>Software Setup</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

To determine what is feasible, you first need to know the limits. The partition style is, of course, Master Boot Record, which limits each data carrier to four bootable partitions or a total size of no more than 2 TB.

In addition, Windows 98 SE in its original state cannot address drives with a capacity of more than 137 GB; installation is not possible. To do this, you must enable 48-bit LBA support and then create (and burn) a new installation medium. Furthermore, 98 does not work correctly with more than 512 MB of RAM—this can also be circumvented, but only after installation. Until then, 512 MB or less should be installed in the system.

What is feasible now?

Each system has two hard drives installed, which would theoretically allow for 8 operating systems. Sounds like a lot, and it is a lot. It also doesn’t make sense. Nevertheless, there are many:

Hard drive #1:

• Windows 98 SE (32-Bit), FAT32
• Windows Vista Enterprise (32-Bit), NTFS
• Debian 12 Bookworm (32-Bit), EXT4
• 4 GB SWAP

Hard drive #2:

• Windows 2000 Professional (32-Bit), NTFS
• Windows XP Professional (32-Bit), NTFS
• Linux Mint 19 Tara (32-Bit), EXT4
• 4 GB SWAP

So six operating systems, all 32-bit – the total RAM installed is 4 GB and the Celeron D doesn’t even understand 64-bit instructions. Getting everything to work was a complex task, especially as the old operating systems tend to be very finicky. As with other multi-boot operations, the golden rule is always to install from old to new.

During installation, only the planned hard drive was connected, and the partitions were created at the very beginning using GParted in a live session booted from CD. Although I have a lot of experience in this area, it took me several attempts to get everything to where it is now. The fact that Windows 98 occasionally blue-screened during setup wasn’t particularly helpful.

Of course, it was more of an academic challenge than a real benefit. Windows Vista runs really poorly with only a slow core from a PATA hard drive. Debian Bookworm has bad graphics glitches.

So here is the system information under all the different operating systems on the P4 system:

And the same again for the Celeron D system:

More RAM for Windows 98

There is a really good patch for this from R. Loew. For a long time, this patch was available for a fee, but since the good man has sadly passed away, his heirs are now making it available free of charge. Applause for that.

The OS is first installed with 512 MB or less RAM; I had 128 MB in the system (one bar). After successful boot, the patch is run once and the system is shut down. Now more RAM can be installed and the system runs as if nothing had ever happened. It couldn’t be better. The 4 GB of RAM are of great benefit to all other operating systems.

Bootloader?

To avoid overloading the boot loader, I used a little trick:
I used the original loader from Windows Vista. This was modified with EasyBCD – the trick is to “chainload.” Since Windows 2000 and XP both use boot.ini in conjunction with bootmgr, I combined these two. Linux Mint and Debian both use GRUB 2, so these were also combined. The result looks like this:

Der Beitrag <h5>Medion PC-MT6 #5: </h5><h3><b>Operating systems</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

After installing Windows XP with minimal drivers on a 40 GB PATA hard drive from Seagate to perform some hardware tests, I noticed the following:

• The CPU fans on both PCs have clear bearing damage and need to be replaced
• The thermal paste needs to be replaced* as the fan speed is always quite high
• The fan on one of the power supplies is also noisy
• The more powerful ATI Radeon 9800 XXL in the P4 system is partially defective: the VRAM is damaged, the image is occasionally distorted and displayed with color distortion, and under load, it leads to an irreversible black screen
• Everything gets very warm; legend has it that the Pentium fours were real heaters. That’s about right.

Spare parts are needed

I simply removed the noisy fan in the power supply, cleaned it, greased the bearing, and reinstalled it. I only recommend this to electronics engineers, as opening power supplies is dangerous. Now the fan is even quieter than the other, more inconspicuous one.

I replaced the thermal paste with my favorite MX-4 from Arctic* – the original paste on the processors had hardened so much that, despite letting the system warm up, the CPU was stuck to the cooler on both PCs. Very dangerous—straightening bent pins is no fun. I had to hammer the Celeron D off the cooler from the side with a flathead screwdriver (!). I was lucky in my misfortune, not a single pin was bent. The paste was also renewed on the chipset.

As a replacement for the partially defective Radeon 9800 XXL, I found a working Radeon 9600 Pro from Sapphire, AGP 8x, in my collection. It fits very well. The driver is exactly the same.

The CPU fans are 80 mm – a rather unusual size. I found generic ones that match the power LED on the power switch, which glows blue. A small visual upgrade, you might say. They’re not the quietest of their kind, but they’re much better than the originals were.

Hard drives were no problem at all. If there’s one thing I have a lot of, it’s data storage devices of all kinds, designs, and models.

The Hardware

And now?

Since the basic system should remain as close to series production as possible, I got the most out of the intended operating systems. As already mentioned, Windows 98 SE should run as a minimum, but I went to the limits of what is possible, which in this case is AGP 8x, for which there was simply no support at some point.

Der Beitrag <h5>Medion PC-MT6 #4: </h5><h3><b>Maintenance and upgrades</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

As mentioned earlier, both models share some components:

• Case
• 350W ATX power supply
• MS-7012 motherboard
• CPU cooler with air duct funnel
• Two optical drives

The motherboard is based on the Intel 865PE chipset with ICH5 and is equipped with a PGA 478 socket. DDR RAM is provided, with clock speeds depending on the CPU used (FSB). AGP is used as the graphics interface, with support up to AGP 8x.

⧉ TheRetroWeb

Supported processors

Theoretically, all Intel processors for the 478 socket of the Pentium 4 (Prescott), Pentium 4 (Northwood), Celeron D (Prescott-256), and Celeron (Northwood-128) types should be compatible. If you look at the lists on Wikipedia and keep in mind that the maximum FSB clock speed supported by the motherboard is 800 MHz, then either the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.4 (Northwood) or the slightly more energy-efficient Pentium 4 HT 550 (Prescott) would be the most powerful processors for this socket or motherboard.

⧉ Intel

⧉ Intel

⧉ Intel

Which one did I choose?

None. I left the processors as they were when delivered. The reason is simple: the existing performance is sufficient for the intended purpose. In addition, the Pentium 4 HT in the second PC is already close to its limit (3.0 GHz). Very little problematic software needs to run under Windows 98, and the system requirements for 98 SE are far, far removed from the given ones:

• x86 processor compatible with 486DX or 486SX (from Windows 98 SE: at least 66 MHz)
• 16 MB RAM
• Approximately 195 MB of free hard disk space is required for the standard installation (between 120 MB and 295 MB, depending on the system configuration and selected installation components)
• CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive (for installation)
• VGA-compatible graphics card
• Mouse or compatible pointing device

And the rest?

First of all, I checked what components I had available. For AGP, of course, virtually nothing – that was standard when I had hardly anything to do with PC hardware. However, the ATI Radeons were already quite powerful for the time. It was easier with hard drives; I had a few PATA models to choose from. The rest was basically available.

Der Beitrag <h5>Medion PC-MT6 #3: </h5><h3><b>Hardware and Possibilities</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

“Those were the days,” some people say. In the case of the hype surrounding affordable home computers in the early 2000s, this phrase really fits well. People camped outside ALDI stores, just as they did outside Apple stores a few years later. All to get their hands on one thing: a Medion computer with good technical specifications at a low price. Heavily advertised but only available in very limited quantities.

The two models now in my possession were no exception, especially the model with the advertising-effective Intel Pentium 4 processor with breathtaking “real 3.0 GHz” and “hyper-threading,” which must have sold really well.

In fact, you can still find excerpts from the brochures from back then because careful people have kept scans of them somewhere. For example, there is such a collection of ALDI PC brochure excerpts at https://www.dosreloaded.de.

Nostalgic!

I was able to find the two exact brochures for my models there:

⧉ Aldi

⧉ Aldi

The MD 8083 with Pentium 4 was available in ALDI stores from March 24, 2004, for €999. The MD 8030 with Celeron D brochure is from July 2004, and was priced at €799 at the time.

How has the model series aged?

Medion called the series “Titanium PC” back then – when many computers were still beige or gray. The design with the sliding door on the front panel was already flimsy even back then. But I still find the design attractive today, “clean.” I didn’t really like this design when it was new, but over time I grew to like it more and more.

It’s clear that Medion and MSI (Micro Star International from Taiwan) were already partners back then: the hardware has been noticeably slimmed down in some areas to save costs, even at the board level. Both PCs are based on the same motherboard, an OEM variant called MSI MS-7012.

However, it must be said that the Medion PCs of that time really offered a lot for the money. A remote control for a PC was already an exception back then, as was support for many standards and even a built-in TV card. Wifi was also not commonplace.

Der Beitrag <h5>Medion PC-MT6 #2: </h5><h3><b>The era of Aldi PCs</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

This PC project took a completely unplanned course:
A few years ago, I acquired a “Medion PC-MT6, MD 8030” to cannibalize for parts, as it had been replaced by a new PC. That’s exactly what I did, without giving it much thought—motherboard including CPU and RAM, cards, hard drives, power supply—everything out. Just cannibalizing it—my opinion of Medion is still not the best, based on past problems and quality issues.

The empty case ended up in the attic along with a few others. The remaining components went to their respective storage areas. That was the state of this Medion Titanium prebuilt computer for years.

So far, so clear.

A few years after cannibalizing this PC, I came across a similar model—a Medion PC-MT6, MD 8083. Shortly before I was able to cannibalize this one as well, I had been planning for some time to get rid of space-consuming and unused items via bulk waste collection. My primary concern was disposing of various types of computer cases. In the process, I came across the case of the model I had cannibalized years ago.

Due to previous retro projects (RetroBooks and the Quad SLI PC) with a focus on Windows XP compatibility, I had the idea of doing the same for another Windows version that was once very widespread and popular: Windows 98 SE. The first OS I had serious contact with.

The Pentium 4 built into the newer PC-MT6 seemed familiar to me – as the last platform with driver support from Windows 98. After a very quick search, it was clear – both Medion computers are fully compatible with Windows 98 SE!

Why 98?

There are good reasons why I was not satisfied with “just” Windows XP alone:

• Windows 98 SE is the best DOS-based Windows operating system (apart from ME) and will always remain so.
• This means that all DOS-compatible software runs flawlessly.
• Anno 1602, The Settlers I and II, LEGO Rock Raiders, LEGO Racers, and Traffic Giant Gold are good examples of games that simply don’t run well on NT-based Windows. (if at all).
• I found the hardware interesting, with no PCI Express or SATA in sight.

What does that mean?

I wanted to have two computers to enable network gaming, which is now potentially possible if I can reassemble the dismantled PC. That was the first step, and I got everything back together as it was originally (except for the HDD). Apparently, even I don’t have anywhere to store such old hardware.

So now I had two visually identical Medion complete PCs that could be booted live with Linux Mint and seemed to be in working order.

Der Beitrag <h5>Medion PC-MT6 #1: </h5><h3><b>When it has to be antique because retro isn’t old enough</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

After acquiring one of these desktop processors from Intel a long time ago, I came across the bundle consisting of a motherboard and CPU again while rearranging other hardware. I personally have never overclocked on this platform, but according to everything you read in overclocking circles at the time (2007/2008), there should be quite a bit of potential. Poor heat transfer in the heat spreader is not an issue, as processors from this era were soldered.

With these first quad-core processors, Intel took the same approach as it had some time before with the first dual-core processor: two dies together on one carrier. From a technical point of view, the result is therefore more of a 2 + 2 core processor, also in terms of other functionalities (shared bandwidth, shared cache, double power consumption, etc.).

Which processors are we talking about?

The code name Kentsfield tells seasoned overclockers everything they need to know: the first mainstream quad-core CPUs were called Intel Core 2 Quad Q6xxx. The most legendary model, the Q6600 (test from back then), was first available in the “B3” stepping with 105 watts TDP and shortly thereafter in the improved “G0” stepping, then with 95 watts TDP. The newer G0 revision is generally slightly better, especially when overclocking, where the lower power consumption is very noticeable and significantly increases the headroom.

My Q6600 is the G0 stepping, which is ideal for an “old-school FSB overclocking session.” — the multiplier is locked (only the much more expensive Extreme variants available at the time had an unlocked multiplier). The biggest advantage was getting at least equal performance from the cheapest quad-core processors compared to their expensive counterparts.

These are all the Kentsfield models from back then, excluding Xeon:

All of these processors fit into the LGA 775 socket, have 8 (4 + 4) MB L2 cache, and are quad-core. They are all manufactured by Intel with a 65 nm structure size. For serious overclocking to the limits of this generation, an Extreme model with a free multiplier would of course be essential. In my case, however, it’s more about nostalgia – apart from that, the Q6600 G0 in particular is a legend. PCGH users also thought so in 2010.

⧉ Intel

⧉ Intel

⧉ Intel

Hm, Mainboard?

At the time, I got the CPU together with two 2 GB sticks of 667 standard RAM installed on a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS4 in revision 1.0. A usable to good board for overclocking. I replaced the RAM with four XMS2 DDR2-800 modules, each with 2 GB from Corsair – so in total, I still have 8 GB of RAM that is theoretically usable today.

I continued to use the Freezer 7 Pro from Arctic that was already on the board as a cooler, together with new MX-4 thermal paste* – whether this will be sufficient remains to be seen.

⧉ Gigabyte

Initial situation

In good old DIY fashion, I put the motherboard on the benchtable, inserted all four RAM sticks, and connected the cables. For such projects, I like to use a “problem-free” GPU model, in this case an older GeForce 210 from ASUS with 1 GB VRAM – no additional power connection, no fan. PCI Express 2.0 with 16 lanes.

As the system drive, I used an inexpensive Intenso SATA SSD with 256 GB capacity* connected to the first SATA-II port, with Windows 10 22H2 Professional 64-bit installed. The BIOS was already up to date (F12 from June 25, 2009).

This is what it looked like:

Then let’s get started!

First of all, I ran Cinebench R23 for single and multi-core performance, using the default settings. Incidentally, the required VID for my model is a moderate 1.288 volts. The results were 330 / 1251 points:

As was previously common with Gigabyte motherboards, you have to press “CTRL + F1” in the main BIOS menu to display all options. At first, I wondered why I couldn’t enter RAM timings anywhere – but after pressing the key combination, all the options suddenly appeared in the overclocking submenu. You have to know this kind of thing first.

Once I had cleared the first hurdle, I set everything relevant from “Auto” to fixed values, primarily the RAM timings to those stored in the modules (5 – 5 – 5 – 18 at 1.8 volts) and the PCIe speed to “100 MHz”. I wanted to achieve a RAM divider of 1:1, so I always made sure that the final value was at or below the 800 MHz of the RAM modules.

The actual overclocking began here: First, I had to find out what this specific processor was capable of at its original Vcore voltage. According to the BIOS, this was 1.28750 volts, which matched the read VID of 1.288 volts exactly. 266 MHz is the original FSB clock, which has to run in any case.

Front Side Bus…

I slightly increased the clock speed, saved it, restarted, and then briefly checked stability with Cinebench R23. Starting with 300 MHz FSB – as expected, this ran smoothly and already resulted in a clock speed of 2.70 GHz (300 x 9). Next, 333 MHz also ran without any problems (333 x 9). This already resulted in 3.00 GHz instead of the original 2.40 GHz.

At a clock speed of 350 MHz, I had my first blue screen in CB23. No problem, just slightly increase the Vcore in the BIOS – in this case to 1.30 volts to have some leeway. Then everything ran smoothly again, reaching 3.24 GHz!

After further smaller clock jumps, instabilities, and Vcore increases, I had to increase the FSB and MCH voltage by a minimal 0.10 volts for the first time at 372 MHz FSB. Then it ran stably again. I pushed the whole thing much further, up to about 1.55 volts—that’s way too much, especially with air cooling!

I wanted to find out at what point the clock speed no longer scales well with the Vcore. With this very old hardware, I ultimately settled for 380 MHz FSB, as anything above that required really significant voltage increases for marginal gains (from 380 MHz to 386 MHz instead of 0.10 volts, now 0.25 volts on FSB and MCH, plus 1.525 volts Vcore!). Of course, the temperatures also rose disproportionately – I wouldn’t have wanted to go above 1.50 volts permanently anyway. The Arctic Freezer 7 Pro does a good job; thermally and voltage-wise, this is an acceptable range.

The result

With 380 MHz FSB and 1.45 Vcore set in the BIOS, this results in 3.42 GHz at 760 MHz RAM clock speed (1:1 division, 380 x 9). That’s 1.02 GHz more than the original, even with a rather small air cooler. It’s clear why this CPU is so well known among overclockers around the world – my sample is actually only average in terms of silicon quality, as can be seen from the average VID. Under full load, HWiNFO reads only 1.392 volts as Vcore, so the Vdroop is clearly visible.

The processor does get very warm with these settings. After about 45 minutes of Prime95 Smallest FFTs, the hottest core was at 79 °C and the package at 84 °C. These are clearly too warm as permanent values, but in Cinebench R23, nothing ever exceeded 72 °C. Prime95 is a rather unrealistic load in normal operation anyway.

CB23 Comparison

Here, I have once again compared the changes between the original and the newly overclocked Q6600 G0:

This was a very nostalgic overclocking project. All that remains to be said is: you notice the difference in performance immediately. Both in terms of computing speed under Windows 10 and the significantly increased waste heat. Over 40% performance gain with a locked multiplier at only 15% more voltage!

Der Beitrag The first desktop quad-core processors: OC legends erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

I am very happy with the result. It would be almost impossible to build a more extreme retro PC for Windows XP. What’s more, thanks to quad-boot with Windows 10 or 11, this PC can still be used for everyday tasks, even if the idle power consumption is also “extreme.”

I also see the finished build as a repository for XP-compatible parts. Who knows, maybe I’ll build the four GTX TITAN X into four separate PCs at some point?

This was one of the coolest PC projects I’ve ever built, and I was really lucky with the prices of most of the components; many of them are now either significantly more expensive or even harder to get hold of. The computer has also become relatively quiet thanks to the maximum-size fans everywhere.

The processor is legendary, 64 GB DDR3 with 2133 MHz clock speed at CL10 is an exception, and functioning PCI Express 3.0, which was never officially supported on Ivy Bridge E, is an absolute unicorn. Add to that a very powerful board and the latest Nvidia graphics cards, which made Quad SLI possible. Everything about this PC is special.

So, is XP running well?

Extreme. Totally unnecessary.
Anyone reading this who is enthusiastic about a similar project should note that the desktop platform with an i7-3770K in tandem with 32 GB RAM and a GTX 980 Ti represents the “optimum.” Everything this workstation PC can do, a desktop PC can also do. Only at a significantly lower price and power consumption.

A desktop will also enable quad-boot on a maximum of 2 TB storage devices.

Der Beitrag <h5>Retro-XP-PC #14: </h5><h3><b>Conclusion</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

As with the RetroBooks, I have also implemented a Windows quad boot here, consisting of:

• Windows XP Professional, SP3 (32-Bit)
• Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64-Bit)
• Windows 10 Professional 22H2 (64-Bit)
• Windows 11 Professional 25H2 (64-Bit)

All systems in German and unchanged. This also means that the maximum number of MBR has been reached, four primary partitions. Here, too, the installation was carried out from old to new, on suitable partitions previously created with Live Linux.

However, I have also installed the following Linux distributions on a second 500 GB SSD* in dual boot mode:

• Linux Mint Cinnamon “Zara” v22.2 (64-Bit)
• Solus Budgie “Endurance” v4.7 (64-Bit)

I can only boot from this second SSD via the boot manager, and the selection is then made via GRUB 2. Six operating systems in one PC should be sufficient.

64 GB RAM and 32-Bit…

Of course, it is annoying that Windows XP can only address a maximum of 4 GB RAM. After the system was built and all operating systems were installed, unexpected new problems arose:

• SLI does not work under Windows XP, but all cards are recognized (due to the modified driver or simply never SLI?).
• Each card reserves some RAM from the system depending on the VRAM. Each card has 12 GB of VRAM, which was very large at the time, resulting in an extreme loss of usable RAM under Windows XP!

After extensive research, I managed to boot Windows XP using components from Windows Server 2003 by making changes to the “boot.ini” file. The system itself is stable once it has booted up, but the boot process fails from time to time, which I suspect is due to the four GPUs.

Still, it’s crazy to see what’s possible:

The original 1.44 GB of RAM available is not particularly generous, but interestingly, it is mostly sufficient for software from the XP era. The minimum requirements at that time were in the megabyte range, and XP is very economical with RAM.

Der Beitrag <h5>Retro-XP-PC #13: </h5><h3><b>Software</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.