Re: Non-x86 Systems: They are pulling me back in, do you guys also hear the call?

Posted on 2024-01-10, 18:32

by

by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

@StriderTR - hot damn that’s impressive! Regarding old non-x86 tech, yeah, I can sympathize. I have a decent collection of Amigas. I also have an Atari ST, Apple IIGS, tons of old other Apple and Mac hardware, some FM Towns stuff, the list goes on. The cool thing is that hardware mods for these are …

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Re: Non-x86 Systems: They are pulling me back in, do you guys also hear the call?

Posted on 2024-01-10, 10:03

by

by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I feel it as well... My "biggest" pull was to explore an era I missed out on, the late 70's. I didn't get my first PC until 1981. (TI-99/4A) So...I built my own Z80-MBC2 to explore the CP/M era, and I must say .... I love it! Also, a LOT cheaper than original hardware. :) Source: https://hackaday.io …

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Re: What game are you playing now?

Posted on 2024-01-10, 09:50

by

by StriderTR

in Milliways

in Milliways

Over the last week... Fallout 76 (WAY too many hours in this one) =/ Craft the World C&C Remastered And a long list of Win95 games on my EPIA-800 powered ITX build so I could complete a blog post I neglected for months. 😜

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2024-01-10, 07:55

by

by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Been working with the PicoMite VGA I built myself for the past couple days. Very cool little project, easy, cheap, and fun to play with! :) It's a pretty versatile little "retro computer" anyone can build if you're into such things like I am, all open-source. I'm teaching myself MMBasic, really …

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Re: VIA Epia 800 experience

Posted on 2024-01-10, 07:37

by

by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm just going to add a little to the information in this thread for future searchers on using the EPIA-800 for retro gaming based on my own build since this thread was helpful to me. I have two of these, and one is in a mini retro Win 95 PC I built to enjoy some games from that era. Overall, it …

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Re: Mini-ITX Windows 95/DOS Build With The EPIA-800

Posted on 2024-01-09, 06:09

by

by StriderTR

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Long overdue update! TLDR: I'm really pleased with it. It plays what I want, without many issues, and tickles the nostalgia bone. What more can one ask? Over 6 months later and I FINALLY had time write up a post about on how well it works. :P If you feel like it, you can check it out below and give …

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Re: Yet Another Win3.1/DOS Build – Socket 7 – Suggestions Wanted

Posted on 2023-07-22, 18:56

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by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I just noticed that your OPTi card has an on-board QS700 wavetable. This will give you even more options for DOS game music, assuming the drivers recognize it correctly. My own card didn't come with that, so I have no personal experience as to how it's supposed to be configured. That said, @ …

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Re: Yet Another Win3.1/DOS Build – Socket 7 – Suggestions Wanted

Posted on 2023-07-22, 18:12

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by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Good to hear! If you're going to be using both cards together, I suggest configuring the OPTi at A220 I7 D1 P330 T4 (SBPro) and A530 I7 D1 (WSS). This will give you the best compatibility with some older games like Gods, which expect those specific configuration parameters. After that, you can …

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Re: Yet Another Win3.1/DOS Build – Socket 7 – Suggestions Wanted

Posted on 2023-07-18, 06:38

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by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Well, it looks like I'm the proud owner of both the Opti and CT4520, so the dual card setup is going to happen right away. The Opti seller got it out to me today and gave me a refund for being a week late on the shipping, I'm not going to complain. 😀

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Re: Yet Another Win3.1/DOS Build – Socket 7 – Suggestions Wanted

Posted on 2023-07-17, 21:23

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by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

*snip* Your review is what sold me on the OPTi to be honest. :) I love the idea of running both cards for most of the reasons you mentioned. I will likely still do that, but my starting card may end up being the CT4520. In fact, I just ordered one so I can this build up and running and I'll see how …

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Re: Yet Another Win3.1/DOS Build – Socket 7 – Suggestions Wanted

Posted on 2023-07-17, 19:23

by

by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The CT4520 AWE64 Value that you mentioned before would be a good companion for the OPTi card. It provides AWE music and SB16 compatibility, which nicely complement the SBPro/WSS capabilities of the OPTi. I used both of those cards in one of my retro rigs for quite a while, and they worked together …

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Re: Yet Another Win3.1/DOS Build – Socket 7 – Suggestions Wanted

Posted on 2023-07-11, 23:03

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by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Secondary sound card options. Opinions wanted. :) In addition to the Opti 82C930 I already have ordered, out of the cards in the photo below, what one (if any) would you recommend as a 2nd card for this system? Vibra 16 Vibra 16C Packard Bell Crystal Cs4231a-kl Avance Logic ALS120 Analog Devices …

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Re: Yet Another Win3.1/DOS Build – Socket 7 – Suggestions Wanted

Posted on 2023-07-11, 20:18

by

by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

AOpen makes one of my favorite "old" motherboards as well, the AK-72. I had one (seen below - the photo I took for the eBay listing I sold it on) powering my old Windows 95 "retro gaming" build that I sadly parted out several years ago. I regret doing that now, especially getting rid of my AWE64 …

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Re: Yet Another Win3.1/DOS Build – Socket 7 – Suggestions Wanted

Posted on 2023-07-11, 05:15

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by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Which cards are the chips on? The speed difference will be negligible for your purposes, but 4MB means nice high resolutions and colour depths - but that also means you will really see bad analog parts. If the Virge has better build quality than the Virge/DX, it wins hands down. This is the …

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Re: Yet Another Win3.1/DOS Build – Socket 7 – Suggestions Wanted

Posted on 2023-07-10, 16:56

by

by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You'll only notice the differences between those two in 3D accelerated games. The DX will be slightly faster there. Also, with regards to the proprietary S3D API, the original Virge 325 is more compatible and works out of the box, while the DX sometimes needs additional patches to get it running …

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Re: Yet Another Win3.1/DOS Build – Socket 7 – Suggestions Wanted

Posted on 2023-07-10, 08:50

by

by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Quick question... Both 4MB S3 ViRGE 325 ? or S3 ViRGE/DX ? Opinions?

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Re: Yet Another Win3.1/DOS Build – Socket 7 – Suggestions Wanted

Posted on 2023-07-06, 04:31

by

by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thanks for the input, it’s very much appreciated! So, this is what I’ve narrowed it down to… For sound, I’m going to just pick up a “new old stock” Opti SA 16-bit 82C930 ISA card. It seems like it will work well for the range of DOS games I’m wanting to play. Like I said above, I may drop in an …

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Re: Yet Another Win95/DOS Build – Socket 7 – Suggestions Wanted

Posted on 2023-07-05, 16:48

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by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thanks for all the advice! I'm still open to more suggestions. While laying in bed after posting this, I decided to just "keep it simple", and make a pure DOS 6.22 build out of this motherboard, with Windows 3.1 thrown in of course. Many of the reasons mentioned here came to mind, and I already have …

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Yet Another Win3.1/DOS Build – Socket 7 – Suggestions Wanted

Posted on 2023-07-05, 06:47

by

by StriderTR

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Edit: I've decided to drop Win95 from this one, as you will see down the thread, and just do DOS 6.22/Win 3.1. :) I’m looking at building yet another Windows 95 / DOS machine, but unlike my Mini-ITX version... https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=94178 This one will not have any size …

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Re: Mini-ITX Windows 95/DOS Build With The EPIA-800

Posted on 2023-06-24, 18:21

by

by StriderTR

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Can you name some games that had compatibility issues with that build? And how did you resolve those Mostly DOS games, Duke Nukem 3D was my "benchmark", but most DOS games would only play FM music, nothing else. Some games would just be silent. At first, I tried a mix of games other then DN3d …

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