Is this a good deal?
Posted by ManuFLR@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 14 comments
I have searched a lot and I can't find a Dell computer named Dimension L733r, I know the Dimension L-series is real, but since I can't find anything in the internet about this computer, I don't know if it's worth it or not. It looks cool tho
Accurate-Campaign821@reddit
It's got a Pentium 3 733mhz cpu and usually has the 810/810E chipset which has on board graphics, up to 8MB soldered on the motherboard. It's actually a variant of the Intel i740 AGP card, the 4/8MB memory is just for Frame Buffer. The other assets still use system memory via AGP bus. Yea... The iGP has an AGP link integrated, so no AGP slot since it IS the AGP card. You'll see some references to an i740 PCI card that ended up being faster than AGP, due to having memory for both 3D and Frame Buffer on the card that was faster than system memory of the time. Also, the 810 is limited to PC100 (though 100fsb P3s work) and max 512MB Ram.
Hatta00@reddit
On board graphics is a deal breaker. I had an i810 when it was current, it was the absolute worst. What's the point of having AGP graphics if it's slower than a low-end discrete PCI graphics card?
If you've got no other retro PC, you can have some fun with this for cheap. But lower your expectations.
Accurate-Campaign821@reddit
A pair of Voodoo2s worked great in mine though back in the day.
Ragnarsdad1@reddit
No, i normally like Dell systems as Dell still have the drivers for pretty much every system they ever made still available.
However, the Dimernsion L series while being nice as a PIII did not have an AGP slot which means you either have to use the onboard graphics or a PCI card which will not be as good as AGP.
ManuFLR@reddit (OP)
It's currently in a offer, price 6.50, it was originally 12 dollars
berrmal64@reddit
I guess it depends where you live and how much 6.50 is. Where I live that's essentially free, so worth picking up if you have any shred of curiosity. If 6.50 is a lot and you want to spend wisely on a single, nice retro system, I'd pass.
ManuFLR@reddit (OP)
It's us dollars, I think I will buy it, seems like a great first retro pc
muse_head@reddit
How good the deal is depends what you are looking for... If you're after a Pentium III system around 700Mhz with a floppy drive and a CD drive then it looks like a great deal.
If you're looking for something different, then not such a good deal!
ManuFLR@reddit (OP)
I'm just looking for some retro PCs and doing some projects with them, like retro gaming (1990-2005 era gaming), installing different OSes and other stuff. I think I will buy it, $6.50 seems a good deal
Accomplished-Camp193@reddit
Retro classic my a... nevermind, as long as it turns on and works, it's pretty cheap.
It doesn't have an AGP slot, so you have two choices: either a ridiculously overpriced (and overrated) 3dfx product, or something like a GeF2 MX400 or GeF4 MX440 in PCI, maybe an FX 5200 or a Radeon 9200 PCI.
Another problem is going to be the power supply, which is as per usual with OEM office rejects like these, is proprietary, which is why I usually avoid these. If it's broken, good luck replacing it.
But the biggest problem is that these are from from the beginning of the capacitor plague, if the board has bulging caps, that's another way to sprinkle money at this.
I'd rather buy a low-end cockroach S478 board with a worthless Celeron, use a similarly worthless AGP cockroach like those mentioned above, much more common, and go from there.
Legal-Swordfish-1893@reddit
This was my first PC. The numbers just refer to the clock speed. The PSU is horrendously proprietary.
GGigabiteM@reddit
It'll also probably need to be recapped. That was at the very start of the more widely known capacitor plague era. I've had to fix tons of those era power supplies.
If the motherboard has SMD electrolytic caps on it (the XPS line does), then it also falls under a *different* capacitor plague that spanned from the mid 1980s to the mid 2000s. And it will also need to be recapped, because those SMD caps have seal failures and leak out of their bases and destroy everything.
If OP doesn't want to deal with the power supply, you can sometimes shoe-horn a modern SFX power supply in them, which is close enough to the old MicroATX PSU spec that it usually works.
x925@reddit
https://www.computer-specifications.com/specifications/Dell-DimensionL733r-Specs.html
Accurate-Campaign821@reddit
Just loads a blank page with ads for me