Re: If we were to accept 15 years ago as retro....

Posted on 2021-02-06, 08:37

by

by sf78

in Milliways

in Milliways

One thing to note about gaming is that even though you can emulate almost anything, there is still the difference between the CRT and a TFT. I recently tested Alone in the Dark 4 with both, and on TFT it just looked atrocious. Jagged edges all around, pixelated color gradient, poor colors, 5:4 …

---

Re: Retro confessions. What are yours?

Posted on 2021-02-06, 08:23

by

by sf78

in Milliways

in Milliways

kolderman wrote on 2021-02-06, 07:38: I mainly buy games on GOG just for the goodies. On this note, I only grab the free games from GOG/Steam/Epic. Never bought anything from these.

---

Strange looking mini tower.

Posted on 2021-02-04, 19:04

by

by sf78

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Anyone familiar with the design? Does someone know/have a "branded" computer with this case? It seems absurdly heavy and wide for home use. Filename mini1.jpg File size 35.54 KiB Views 172 views Filename mini2.jpg File size 44.34 KiB Views 172 views

---

Re: Retro confessions. What are yours?

Posted on 2021-02-03, 14:22

by

by sf78

in Milliways

in Milliways

Disney+ has removed from their content, classic child movies like Dumbo for its (supposedly) racist content. Games like Leisure Larry Suit and Duke Nukem would not have a place with the modern audience, an audience that likes to complain about everything not politically correct just to be on …

---

Re: If we were to accept 15 years ago as retro....

Posted on 2021-02-03, 14:17

by

by sf78

in Milliways

in Milliways

whilst what you say is true i really like that era - the last of the 32 bit cpus and the agp cards, the ultimate in the 'old' architecture of PCs before 64 bit, multi core and always online became normal. A late series P4 or A-XP is such a nice platform for a windows 98 / XP dual boot system for …

---

Re: Difficult games to get working

Posted on 2021-02-03, 13:16

by

by sf78

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

There's a replacement DOS extender called DOS32A that may help here. In early DOSBOX days, DOS4GW games were very unreliable and DOS32A used to be a great substitute which used less memory and was far more stable. I've read about this, but never tried it myself. I'll have to look into it. I should …

---

Re: Kawai GMEGA - Broken display?

Posted on 2021-02-02, 13:30

by

by sf78

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

It could also be a solder joint or capacitor issue. Better to open it and check everything anyway.

---

Re: Difficult games to get working

Posted on 2021-02-02, 11:32

by

by sf78

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Dynamix flight sims from the early 90's required insane amounts of conventional memory + EMS. Aces of the Pacific required 610k, but I did manage to launch it with around 607k. The most I could get out tinkering with Autoexec/Config was around 614k without a boot disk. For some reason, later DOS/4GW …

---

Re: Kawai GMEGA - Broken display?

Posted on 2021-02-02, 10:52

by

by sf78

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Open it up and see if there is this type of trim pot that could adjust the brightness. Filename trim.jpg File size 8.87 KiB Views 1097 views

---

Re: If we were to accept 15 years ago as retro....

Posted on 2021-02-01, 12:37

by

by sf78

in Milliways

in Milliways

the price curve, where the price gets to almost giveaway then slowly climbs and then suddenly skyrockets - the journey from old to vintage - it interests me, there's probably a huge (wasteful) period of throwing away of stuff just at that low point and then a few years later the surviving hardware …

---

Re: If we were to accept 15 years ago as retro....

Posted on 2021-01-29, 10:46

by

by sf78

in Milliways

in Milliways

I draw the line at around '00 for anything relating to vintage computing. Everything since is just a rehash of the same 64 bit/2-4-8 core processors and not that interesting. Mainly because integrated sound, net, USB etc. that makes tinkering a boring concept.

---

486 board with external mem/cache slots (identification)

Posted on 2021-01-24, 21:17

by

by sf78

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I have this unknown board: Filename board.jpg File size 300 KiB Views 86 views And the closest I got was this: https://stason.org/TULARC/pc/motherboards/H/H … ACHE-VER-1.html However, the socket orientation is wrong, as are the position of jumpers. Any thoughts?

---

Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2021-01-22, 13:21

by

by sf78

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Another trip to recycling. Right hinge is broken and the HDD is missing, otherwise seems to boot fine. Filename comp.jpg File size 137.01 KiB Views 1899 views

---

Re: Technological critique

Posted on 2021-01-21, 11:03

by

by sf78

in Milliways

in Milliways

I also dislike USB-C, but mainly in the mobile phones where you have to plug/unplug the charger daily. The phone connector seems to last for about two years before it becomes loose. I've had two phones with this problem and it's annoying when otherwise they work just fine. You can squeeze the plug a …

---

Re: Let's talk about our hated trends

Posted on 2021-01-19, 10:19

by

by sf78

in Milliways

in Milliways

Online and other multiplayer games. Many new interesting shooters etc. give you grand trailers and teasers and then you read that it only has online campaign or some multiplayer BS . I know it's easier to let the players create all the content, but it's just sad how far A titles have fallen in the …

---

Re: advice for mid-2000s winXP build

Posted on 2021-01-13, 11:23

by

by sf78

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

For an XP build I myself would go all out and not try too hard on period correct. The reason is that pretty much all the games from 2001-2010 runs fine on XP no matter the HW, so I did my build around i5/GTX 670 just to make sure everything runs. Obviously you could go for i7 and whatever top end …

---

Re: ASUS rising prices

Posted on 2021-01-11, 08:26

by

by sf78

in Milliways

in Milliways

I'm in a pickle too. I've had this Ryzen 5 / GTX 970 combo for 2.5 years now and there doesn't seem to be anything in the sub 200€ region that would make me want to upgrade. The Ryzen cost around 180e new and the GTX was 150e used. Most I would gain is a 10-20% increase and it used to be that I …

---

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

Posted on 2021-01-10, 12:23

by

by sf78

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

PTherapist wrote on 2021-01-09, 15:10: What spec is that, 8088 or 286 or later? 286. It has 3 x ISA (half-size cards) for expansion.

---

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

Posted on 2021-01-09, 12:01

by

by sf78

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Got this "Apple killer" running. Filename apricot.jpg File size 331.09 KiB Views 1782 views Filename apricot2.jpg File size 184.64 KiB Views 1782 views

---

Re: 486 Build pointers

Posted on 2021-01-09, 11:58

by

by sf78

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I've had Seventeam and FSP branded PSU's that haven't required any maintenance yet. Though they were NOS, so you should at least (used or not) measure the voltage output and then check the insides for any visible trouble. Good thing is, that even the most basic PSU's from the early 90's used mostly …

---