Re: What is your oldest working Brand name computer ? - ( Challenge ).

Posted on 2020-06-04, 10:00

by

by enigmo

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

I've got my Amstrad CPC 464 upstairs, circa 1985. 100% working, new power supply, new SCART adaptor. Been a trooper for 35 years now. Next to it is my Amstrad 6128+, same deal, new SCART, new PSU, fully working except for an intermittently stuck keyboard key, circa 1990.

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Re: VooDoo 1/2 CPU Choices

Posted on 2019-04-21, 23:50

by

by enigmo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

dr.zeissler wrote: what games do you want to play? First up would be the 3dfx-enabled games I remember liking, like GlQuake, Quake 2, MechWarrior 2, Carmageddon, MDK, Tomb Raider, Unreal, Descent, then go in search of any others I never played.

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Re: VooDoo 1/2 CPU Choices

Posted on 2019-04-21, 21:08

by

by enigmo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Nice! Seems neat and tidy. So faced with another choice: VD1+3, or VD2 SLI + GF2/3/4. Given a bucket of parts, which would you pick? I did find a GT220, but that's a PCIe card so not overly useful.

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Re: VooDoo 1/2 CPU Choices

Posted on 2019-04-21, 20:48

by

by enigmo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Yes Voodoo1 for the 100% backwards compatibility and the voodoo3 for performance (and the excellent 2d image quality and the win3x driver) Must admit I'd never considered that. I never thought VD1 and 3 in the same machine would work. How would you force games that need VD1 to use that and not the …

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Re: VooDoo 1/2 CPU Choices

Posted on 2019-04-21, 20:39

by

by enigmo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

For machines from 700Mhz I would add a pixelshader-gfx-card like the gf3 to the voodoo2. That is a very nice combination. A very good combination is a voodoo3 with a voodoo1 for the low run with a e.g. p2-450. Voodoo 3 and Voodoo 1 in the same machine? And 2D card is the next thing to tackle. I …

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Re: VooDoo 1/2 CPU Choices

Posted on 2019-04-21, 20:29

by

by enigmo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You go for high FPS in low resolution or why the heck 1 GHz CPU for Voodoo 2? That is even for a Voodoo 5 5500AGP a good strong processor. I use a Pentium Pro 200MHz for Voodoo 2 SLI and I can enjoy both’s best at 1024x768 resolution. No special reason other than those are the parts I have. I'd …

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Re: VooDoo 1/2 CPU Choices

Posted on 2019-04-14, 22:47

by

by enigmo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

As for RAM, 512MB is fine for games up to about 2004/2005 so dont worry about the I815. I did hear rumours of even 512MB sometimes being troublesome with 98, so that or less was a target, just considering higher limits for any future projects. Since you already have a 845G board, why not use it …

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VooDoo 1/2 CPU Choices

Posted on 2019-04-14, 18:24

by

by enigmo

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I find myself planning a rebuild of my retro box and after digging through my spares I'm faced with a few choices. I'm most interested in Voodoo1/2 era games, so that pretty much means 98se or ME, and a rig that me from 1998 could both be amazed by but crucially still use. So, given that this …

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Re: 3dfx Generation Compatibility

Posted on 2019-04-13, 23:49

by

by enigmo

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

firage wrote: This related thread is probably of interest to everybody: Voodoo 2 DOS Glide compatibility matrix (vetz's compatibility matrices) That’s a pretty useful list! Thanks

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Re: 3dfx Generation Compatibility

Posted on 2019-04-13, 08:32

by

by enigmo

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

OK, so there's a fair chance that VD1 era games won't work on anything newer, or at least not very well?

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3dfx Generation Compatibility

Posted on 2019-04-12, 23:03

by

by enigmo

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Thinking particularly of games I've found harder to get working in 3dfx mode, like MechWarrior 2 & Mercinaries, Carmageddon, does anyone know of changes in Glide version between VooDoo 1, 2, 3, and 5 that could stop games that run fine on VD1 working?

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Re: OS Recommend - 98se or ME for 3dfx

Posted on 2012-10-10, 14:28

by

by enigmo

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

Well, for the time being it would seem ME did the business for me. Installed fine on my old retro box while 98 blue-screened repeatedly. Don't know what's wrong with the newer one, but as long as one box is up and running that's all that matters.

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Re: OS Recommend - 98se or ME for 3dfx

Posted on 2012-10-08, 22:05

by

by enigmo

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

No... No... Not a busted card. Seems just the Engineering God has taken a dim view of me poking at what was already working OK and decided to throw some troubleshooting mysteriousness into the mix.

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Re: OS Recommend - 98se or ME for 3dfx

Posted on 2012-10-08, 21:33

by

by enigmo

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

I was aiming for turning it into more of an instrument as well as a variety of sound card options. Keyboard Midi controller and all that stuff. Besides, I see empty slots on a board and I just have to utilize them. ^_^ Sounds like my home server. Never did find an actual use for that fiber-channel …

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Re: OS Recommend - 98se or ME for 3dfx

Posted on 2012-10-08, 20:16

by

by enigmo

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

I like the way you build! My Optiplex Gs is very similar to that. I even have an Orchid Righteous myself. Everything else is various sound cards crammed in there. AWE32, Ultrasound, Yamaha XG, Roland, and General MIDI. (I felt the need for extreme variety.) -Difficulty of Assembly- Processor …

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Re: OS Recommend - 98se or ME for 3dfx

Posted on 2012-10-08, 15:25

by

by enigmo

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

I'd most likely throw ME onto a system with a poor pci or onboard sound card and no ISA where you don't really expect solid DOS compatibility anyway. Ah, now that's an interesting tidbit. This box is an old HP d530, and indeed has no ISA capability and has on-board sound. I picked this box because …

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Re: OS Recommend - 98se or ME for 3dfx

Posted on 2012-10-08, 15:00

by

by enigmo

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

I never had too many issues with ME except that it was a obese hog on the drives. Go 98SE and hope that you got the usb working. First task, as I remember hammering the CD-RWs to get it up and working years ago! . . . And now it starts with the msgsvr32 errors. I just remembered why I was so …

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Re: OS Recommend - 98se or ME for 3dfx

Posted on 2012-10-08, 13:43

by

by enigmo

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

I did wonder if the loss of Real Mode DOS would be a bridge too far. I guess for a retro box, it might well be. Thanks all 😀

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OS Recommend - 98se or ME for 3dfx

Posted on 2012-10-08, 10:36

by

by enigmo

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

I'm in the process of rebuilding my retro-gaming PC. Sole purpose; old 3dfx games (Mechwarrior, MDK, Carmageddon, that sort of thing). I've got both 98se and ME to choose from and was wondering if anyone has had any good or bad experiences with ME. I've had 98se on it for a while now with the usual …

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