Re: PATA HDD issue with no-name and new non-80+ certified PSUs

Posted on 2017-06-25, 01:50

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm using more IDE drives lately and must say I'm really liking them. I haven't had any issues, on the contrary, I like that everything "just works". I'm mostly using Seagate Drives, Barracuda V and 7200.7.

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Re: Best drivers for certain cards.

Posted on 2017-06-25, 01:49

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

3DMark is the worst to use to compare machines. Driver versions can have a massive difference. So I wouldn't worry about those scores. I use them in a controlled environment, with the same driver, CPU, everything and only changing the cards.

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Re: Best drivers for certain cards.

Posted on 2017-06-25, 01:43

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

6 months to 1 year after a game release should sort it out. You can sift through the release note for specifics, for example I did this with Splinter Cell to find a good driver.

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Re: Retro Rig Photo Thread

Posted on 2017-06-24, 09:12

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

WildW wrote: Was upgrading my retro machine and took the opportunity to grab a few pictures. I'm not sure everyone will agree on it being retro... It's retro styled 😜 I love it, very nice!

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2017-06-24, 06:50

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

clueless1 wrote: Here's my pride and joy from the group, a like-new MT-32 (Old): Nice! Good to see you got it up and running. It really is a special experience trying out known DOS games and listening to how they sound on the Roland. Well worth checking out is anything from Sierra and Dynamix.

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Re: Problems using my new capture card to record old PCs

Posted on 2017-06-24, 01:27

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

The last time I checked StarTech sold a new revision which doesn't support as many resolutions as the old model / the one I reviewed.

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Re: Great deal on a Dell "retro" Windows 95/98, DOS Gaming PC

Posted on 2017-06-23, 08:49

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Milliways

in Milliways

Humour Thread: Outrageously priced retro gear for sale online

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Re: FX5700 Supposed to do bad in 3DMark?

Posted on 2017-06-23, 05:19

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I have a Radeon 9250, but I am also considering some DOS support too. I can re-bench with it later today if you want, Phil. I don't really intend to run DX8 games (still haven't broken the shrinkwrap on my AquaNox jewelcase), that I can rebuild my AMD system with a Barton 2800+ and the FX for that. …

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Re: Jaton 9500GT PCI BENCHMARKS/REVIEW

Posted on 2017-06-23, 05:07

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thank you!

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Re: FX5700 Supposed to do bad in 3DMark?

Posted on 2017-06-23, 04:44

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

The main problem with 5700 is you can't use driver 45.23 or 44.03 which are often the best drivers for Direct3D 7 and older games. With a 5200/5600/5800/5900 you can use those older drivers. 5700 came out later. The 45.23 are also my go-to drivers. Older drivers on certain cards can be even faster, …

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Re: What is the oldest system that can run Steam/GOG?

Posted on 2017-06-22, 13:10

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

There are petitions already for this 😀 I don't think there is much hope in getting images... A lot of people I know buy the games on GOG as a token, but get images from "other sources". It really is annoying, but out of all the imperfect legal options, GOG is still the best ones.

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Re: What is the oldest system that can run Steam/GOG?

Posted on 2017-06-22, 11:49

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Even if the installers would work, there are many potential pitfalls. GOG focuses on getting these games to work on modern machines, and this often breaks them for old ones. Some can be sorted out, others not.

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Re: Why is Creative's driver support so bad?

Posted on 2017-06-22, 08:31

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Hmm I have to disagree. I have little issues with Creative drivers. The main card I don't like using is the Live!, but all the ISA cards, Audigy and newer have the drivers still on the Creative site. The web-installers from Audigy and higher have zero bloatware and the ISA drivers have detailed …

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Re: can Ensoniq AudioPCI emulate Adlib Gold?

Posted on 2017-06-22, 00:26

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

"Compatible" was used often by the Marketing folks. A ton of cards claimed to be MT-32 compatible, sometimes it means that a default MT-32 map can be loaded, so games such as Monkey Island sound nice, others see it as "well sound plays, so that's good enough". The Ensoniq guys did indeed add some …

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Re: What is the oldest system that can run Steam/GOG?

Posted on 2017-06-22, 00:16

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

My AGP test machine is an Athlon 64 4000+ and GOG games as well as Steam games can be installed and played. I've installed GOG games on older machines as old as a Celeron (running Windows XP). I definitely prefer the GOG games without DRM, however installation of games can take quite long on older …

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Re: MT-32 cable options

Posted on 2017-06-20, 22:12

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Yea best to build it yourself. In the meantime you can get a joystick MIDI cable and use the Audician 32 as MIDI card.

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Re: 440LX and 100MHz FSB

Posted on 2017-06-20, 13:40

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You can go with the top 66 MHz CPUs. I believe the Celeron 433, the Pentium II 333 or with a Slotket the Celeron 533.

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Re: Voodoo Banshee + Tomb Raider DOS

Posted on 2017-06-19, 22:20

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Likely a DOS configuration issue, seen that before.

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Re: Best Doom 1 & 2 config?

Posted on 2017-06-19, 11:52

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Milliways

in Milliways

I agree, a Pentium is my preferred Doom weapon. A Sound Canvas is a must for me as well 😊

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Re: PII slot 1 motherboard and DOS

Posted on 2017-06-18, 12:26

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by PhilsComputerLab

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Slot 1 makes for an awesome DOS machine. Support for Memory Type Range Registers gives it a nice boost in DOS graphics performance, especially higher resolution. I would use MS-DOS mode of 98 SE though, as it's super easy to install. Sure some of the older games won't run correctly, but once again, …

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