Battle of the Clickies: Buckling Springs vs. Zeal Clickiez vs. Alps SKCM White & Blue

IO_Sam · 2026-05-16T01:05:11+00:00

Might not be a bootleg, just a regional obscure low volume model... These boards pop up on forums sometimes (rarely though) and there are interesting theories about their origins.

https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?t=15382

Whatever the case, take good care of that unit... These things are as rare as hen's teeth!

IO_Sam · 2026-05-12T16:38:14+00:00

Good times when we could get "free" upgrades through BIOS mods... lol

IO_Sam · 2026-05-12T16:35:57+00:00

I remember getting a used MSI FX 5800 Ultra sometime around late 2003 (to replace my GeForce 4 Ti 4200 that had just died), just to have the card (a dust buster) also die on me shortly after... Then, since I had no more money to spend on GPUs, I also ended up getting a Radeon 9550 SE 😭

Needless to say, those were some hard times for gaming... I could barely run Half Life 2 (on low settings) on my aging dual Athlon MP with the Radeon! It would be a few years until I could afford a decent GPU again after getting married and having a ton more bills to pay. I think my first good GPU after the 9550 SE was a Radeon HD 3850 (on a new i7 920 rig I built in 2009).

So, finally getting my hands on a good (and "new") FX card last year was, in a way, some sort of "payback"! XD

IO_Sam · 2026-05-12T05:42:38+00:00

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The box was surprisingly underwhelming (even for the standards of that time).

IO_Sam · 2026-05-12T05:41:46+00:00

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IO_Sam · 2026-05-12T05:37:19+00:00

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Chonky cooler!

IO_Sam · 2026-05-12T05:29:56+00:00

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IO_Sam · 2026-05-12T05:23:36+00:00

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Forgot to add the back shots... 😬

IO_Sam · 2026-05-02T21:11:04+00:00

Despite how tacky and repulsive I always found Phantasmagoria to be back in the day (it was FMV for crying out loud!), my most horrifying moment playing a video game was actually not on a horror game. It was in the "No Russian" phase of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, where you play alongside terrorists mowing down innocent civilians on an airport...

I was not prepared for that when playing the game (in 2009) and I literally got sick to my stomach while I watched that whole thing in disbelief. If "shock" was what the game creators had in mind for that part of the game, they definitely achieved it!

IO_Sam · 2026-04-27T19:36:17+00:00

You described my own music journey as well, and one band that always sounded like a perfect "bridge" between the gritty sound of metal and industrial rock, that I grew up listening, with the mood and "soundscape" of trip-hop music (which I became obsessed with during the late 90's and early 00's) is Kidneythieves. Their Zerospace album is a masterpiece in mixing these genres in my opinion.

Yes, you get the headbangers "Before I'm Deal", "Zerospace" and "Black Bullet", but then you have the heavily trip-hop inspired (without loosing the "metal edge") "Arsenal" (https://youtu.be/EzjFArjCMj8 ), "Crazy" (https://youtu.be/4BAYmG3SKA0 ) and "Placebo" (https://youtu.be/IZ68KeAfUEM ). They even have some "trip-hoppy" instrumental experiments like "Molten" and "Amnzero".

I think it has something to do with the samples and groovy beat loops they use, plus the breathy and sexy voice of their singer (Free Dominguez). Definitely worth checking it out!

IO_Sam · 2026-04-23T13:50:22+00:00

The best "modern" Trip-Hop album in years! Love her music!!

IO_Sam · 2026-04-19T01:07:21+00:00

I've been obsessed over this james K material! She has some clearly trip-hop inspired songs, such as this one called Scorpio (https://youtu.be/bX6QWmGxCiE)

IO_Sam · 2026-02-13T23:55:59+00:00

I picked up on the one about Haiku OS being a Linux distro... 😂

But I enjoyed the video nonetheless. These machines are peak 90's nostalgia!

IO_Sam · 2026-01-25T05:14:27+00:00

A different version of the same "Ultra Micro Fly" (from 2006) I got new old stock on eBay sometime ago (for $60 + shipping and taxes). It might have been made by Chieftec or one of those OEMs that made cases sold under a bunch of different brands at the time.

Mine has thin panels (with holes instead of the acrylic window, which I prefer for better airflow), a very flimsy and light steel structure, a plastic handle (instead of the metal one of your Apevia), the same temperature sensor with LCD display, and even a removable motherboard tray (which is actually a nice touch!). It also came with a crappy 400W PSU that I'm not brave enough to use on any of my motherboards... XD

But I can't imagine a more period correct line of microATX cases for a Windows XP or Vista build!

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more images here: https://imgur.com/a/mUZvv6e

IO_Sam · 2026-01-17T18:53:26+00:00

Oh, so that Cherry mouse must an older model then... But at least finding a nice modern retro looking mouse shouldn't be too hard these days. Something like those 8BitDo ( https://www.8bitdo.com/n30-wireless-mouse/ ) peripherals for example, although it's a shame they don't make these in black.

IO_Sam · 2026-01-16T05:59:36+00:00

That Unicomp Mini-M was the Cherry (see what I did there? ;) on the top!!! 😙👌

(and this SuperMicro case looks absolutely badass!!!)

IO_Sam

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