Re: Why did they rush Windows 11?

Posted on 2022-03-22, 16:15

by

by happycube

in Milliways

in Milliways

I was at a DMV today and the line queue screens had a Windows 11 update nag screen on. Annoying that, but I was a bit surprised that the computer was new enough to qualify for the upgrade.

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Re: Best PCIe graphics card to pair with a Prescott Pentium 4 build?

Posted on 2022-01-27, 03:17

by

by happycube

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

9800GT ECO sounds good to me. And there's already one furnace in this computer, so if it had the PSU, why *not* add another? 😉

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Re: ARM based CPU on PC

Posted on 2021-11-17, 14:33

by

by happycube

in Milliways

in Milliways

I don't see anything exciting about it. x86 or ARM doesn't matter much at this point. Both are very old CPU architectures with piles of legacy stuff and workarounds. 64bit ARM is a significant reset that axed most of those... at least once 32-bit support is removed, which Apple has done and ARM's …

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Re: Getting CGA Stable on Composite Monitor

Posted on 2021-01-17, 17:40

by

by happycube

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I think you're confusing that with the analog audio on the combined port used by the Pi 1 B+ and later. Jo22 wrote on 2021-01-17, 17:09: The Raspberry Pi's Composite output is tricky, though. It is entirely software-based and uses PWM (pulse width modulation) method.

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Re: Different Versions of Ensoniq AudioPCI

Posted on 2021-01-17, 05:50

by

by happycube

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

IIRC the best versions were the ES1370's with Tantalum caps, basically before Creative got their grubby cost-reducing hands all over them.

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2020-09-22, 04:12

by

by happycube

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Back to the GW to check for more media and got 150 DVD blanks for $10. They have a shelf full of unopened various brands DVD+R and some DVD-R for $3 or $4 for 50 packs or $7 or $9 for 100 packs. The little 25 packs were also $3.... Any body need some DVD media for cheap ? These are what I left on …

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Re: ATI X1400 vs NVIDIA 6600

Posted on 2020-03-03, 07:26

by

by happycube

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

For a few years (~2010-14 or so?) there were very few new laptops with better screens than a 15" IPS T60, and through the mid 10's there was still much worse out there that cost a lot more.

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Re: Are these PSU capacitors bulging? (with picture)

Posted on 2019-12-24, 18:24

by

by happycube

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Whether or not it is, I doubt a Teapo from 2001 actually does much at this point.

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2019-12-06, 05:58

by

by happycube

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

That P4i945GC w/SL7Q8 combination is puzzling, since they negate what the other part of the combo is good for (Northwood diehards who want PCI-e and DDR2, and people who want 64bit support on an AGP board 😉 ) I guess they got the CPU's cheap...

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Re: Identify this variant of Soundblaster PCI 128?

Posted on 2019-11-28, 20:28

by

by happycube

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

This looks more like the early Ensoniq designs, all surface mount parts... Creative definitely cheaped out as time went on.

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Re: The risks of using period correct power supplies

Posted on 2019-10-17, 02:01

by

by happycube

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Allied = Deer. It was a period correct thing for the PSU to do that. 🙁

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Re: Using x86 software on non x86 platforms pre 2000-Emulators etc.

Posted on 2019-09-05, 21:37

by

by happycube

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

If you haven't checked the battery on the mainboard do it, they leak and I think on some models it eats the mouse port traces. And will only get worse.

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Re: Fastest emulators period

Posted on 2019-07-08, 04:48

by

by happycube

in Console & Arcade Emulation

in Console & Arcade Emulation

It depends, if the emulator uses SSE2 the atom could be better. Generally I think Atom IPC ~= P4 IPC.

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Re: Computer reset sale on Texas

Posted on 2019-06-13, 15:57

by

by happycube

in Milliways

in Milliways

Justin Scott (et al?) made arrangements to reopen the store on weekends - all openings are listed as events in this group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/627459117730981/ The backstory and a gofundme here: https://www.gofundme.com/7uagmw-elderly-coupl … n-need-of-help/

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Re: What recent hardware has the best chance of becoming "retro" in the future?

Posted on 2018-04-21, 03:39

by

by happycube

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Considering a good bit of what's talked about these days could be considered garbage when they were new , it's hard to predict. I can see grey Dell P4's making a comeback... On the less razzy side, 2nd gen (and some high end 1st) i5's and i7's have held up better than pretty much any previous CPU …

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Re: Is the VIA EPIA-M a good ITX Win9x platform?

Posted on 2018-02-15, 20:46

by

by happycube

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Check the capacitors first - the original EPIA's used very good Sanyo caps, the -M's... didn't. (GSC IIRC)

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Re: Rarest CPUs?

Posted on 2018-01-15, 17:52

by

by happycube

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

A 2017 Cannon Lake chip is going to be pretty darn rare, albeit BGA. Rumor has it it's a 2.2ghz-turbo 2-core with no graphics, so there probably won't be many takers... or chips.

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Re: I recently found this hardware, AKA the Dumpster find thread.

Posted on 2017-12-14, 05:59

by

by happycube

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Buying a machine like that with only one CPU should've been illegal. (but it's not so expensive to fix now, if you want!)

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Re: Should I keep a late 32-bit PC for games?

Posted on 2017-09-24, 04:22

by

by happycube

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You could certainly run 32bit Win7 or 10 on the newer laptop - and you can probably keep both laptops as well - it's not like they take up that much space...

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Re: Gateway 4000622 a.k.a. Intel D815EEA

Posted on 2017-09-22, 05:30

by

by happycube

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Yup, that's a nice reliable board. Big downside of the 815's the 512MB RAM limit, alas. The lack of fan was due to OEM cases in that era already using rear case fans with ducting. The 667 doesn't run that hot though, so it would probably do OK in a non-cramped case even without a fan.

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