Re: Unreal 1's elusive OpenGlDrv. What even is able to use it?

Posted on 2020-09-11, 04:29

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

I mainly use Unreal Gold, but it has an updated D3D renderer that refuses to work on Riva128. I just get an error at launch. Switching to OpenGL renderer enables the game to run on that card.

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Re: Your 'formula' for system specs and operating system matching

Posted on 2020-09-11, 04:05

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

I start with what OS the games need to run best or with the least amount of headaches, hacks and tweaks. Glide and A3D games run best on Win98, and some of those like Half Life, Unreal or Deus Ex need a fast P3 to run well. And if building a Win98 rig, might as well have an ISA slot for DOS games. …

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Re: P III vs P4

Posted on 2020-09-07, 15:09

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by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The Sis 651 boards for P4 also have universal AGP, but are mATX and have an IGP. I have the Aopen MX46-533V, currently dual booting 98 and XP.

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Re: P III vs P4

Posted on 2020-09-07, 07:11

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by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

P4 is ok if you want a cheap system for Windows 98 and early XP games. Once you get into things like DOS games and ISA slots, a P3 is more practical and easier to find boards. And if you only want XP games, an Athlon64 or Core2 will beat the P4. So the P4 is not the best choice for anything, but it …

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

Posted on 2020-09-05, 15:31

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by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I tried unsuccessfully yet again to get a Trident 9850 AGP video card to work on my Via Apollo Pro 133A board, and it still locks up in 3D games despite all my BIOS tweaking, Powerstrip settings, and driver reinstalls. The card works fine on an Intel chipset though. If this is any indication of the …

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Re: I tested several pci video cards for picture quality in dos games.

Posted on 2020-09-05, 15:05

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by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You mean side-scroller dos games? There's much more to dos games than keen and jazz. If I want to play Duke3d for example at resolutions higher than 1024*768, then any Nvidia newer than Gf3 is unusable due to screen flickering. And if using DVI output, then basically any Nvidia card is out due to …

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Fastest CPU for Epox 8kta2 (Via kt133)

Posted on 2020-08-30, 15:48

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by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Anyone have experience running Athlon XP cpu on a Via kt133 board? I have an Epox 8kta2 board (Socket A, FSB 200, PC100 sdram, ISA) currently running an Athlon Thunderbird, and that's as far as the board officially supports. But I also have several Palomino, Thoroughbred and Barton processors I'm …

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Re: Most powerful ATI / Geforce GPUs possible for a Win 98SE Tualatin gaming build - socket 370, AGP 2x/4x

Posted on 2020-08-29, 02:51

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You are right about the price, it is way cheaper indeed. The annoying part is that I used to have that same graphics card, and I think I threw it away a while ago. *sigh* I saw ads with Radeon 9600 Pro with 128 and 256mb versions. Is that difference relevant for this Win98se build? 128MB is plenty …

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Re: 3dmark03 and 05 won't run?

Posted on 2020-08-29, 02:38

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by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Did it work on the same cpu with a different video card? Maybe try disabling hyperthreading?

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Re: Most powerful ATI / Geforce GPUs possible for a Win 98SE Tualatin gaming build - socket 370, AGP 2x/4x

Posted on 2020-08-29, 02:13

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I always put a rice grain sized drop of thermal paste in the center of the cpu, and place the cooler on top, which will spread it out. As far as video cards, if you're not dead set on having the ultimate possible hardware just for the sake of having it, a Gf4 mx is a decent card for windows 98 games …

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Re: Difficult games to get working

Posted on 2020-08-29, 00:15

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by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Lithtech games and Dark Engine games, although there's an improved engine for the second nowadays. I remember having a lot of trouble getting NOLF2 to work even a few years after its release. I got NOLF to run on a crappy S3 Virge, and it even had textures and got more than 2fps. Blood2 also ran on …

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Re: Most powerful ATI / Geforce GPUs possible for a Win 98SE Tualatin gaming build - socket 370, AGP 2x/4x

Posted on 2020-08-29, 00:00

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

MSI 815 EPT Pro has universal AGP, it should be voltage compatible with any AGP card.

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Re: Types of capacitors to recap computer stuff (motherboard and PSU)

Posted on 2020-08-28, 21:37

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by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I recapped a few P3 and P4 boards using modern low ESR Nichicon or Panasonic electrolytics, and haven't had any issues. Usually just make sure to use the rated voltage, capacitance, and size of the replacement capacitors no less than the original. These boards will not be run 24/7 for years, and …

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Re: Dull signal and horizontal smearing

Posted on 2020-08-27, 14:22

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by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I have a Geforce2 with a similar problem - light/dark banding, white color is grey, RGB colors are overly saturated. After checking the analog output path components against an identical working card, using a multimeter, I couldn't find anything that would indicate a broken discrete component. So …

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Re: K7 for Windows 98SE and pure DOS

Posted on 2020-08-17, 17:13

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by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

When I disable the caches through bios I have a 386 class machine. Only issue due to CPU speed, Desert strike has the divide overflow error. Setmul cannot disable both the caches, maybe it's not compatible with my board. What do you mean cannot disable both caches? Disabling L1 cache turns off the …

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Re: Hardware failure.

Posted on 2020-08-10, 05:15

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by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I had very few failures, but my boards are from 1999 and newer, video and sound cards from 1996 and newer. I did save a few boards by replacing electrolytic caps, and managed to cobble together one working gf4 ti4200 from two dead ones by painstakingly soldering the tiny smd components. It helps if …

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Re: If you were able to go back say 15-20 years ago what one motherboard would you buy ?

Posted on 2020-08-02, 00:16

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I would convince myself not to waste $2500 on a new P3 laptop with a crappy onboard Ati Rage Pro. Instead I would build a P3 or Athlon desktop with a GF2, and still have money left over. Then of course the obvious: 1. Stock up on every cheap 3dfx and Kyro2 graphics card, ISA sound card, ISA …

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Re: Midtown Madness graphic glitching

Posted on 2020-08-01, 03:19

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by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

The glitches exists with all Geforce cards, even with the oldest drivers I can find. Those distorted polygons come from pedestrians. If you disable pedestrians, the glitches go away, but then you're not playing it "the way it's meant to be played." The alternative is to use a non-Geforce card. Like …

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Re: Radeon X850XT and Windows 98SE problems

Posted on 2020-07-28, 04:14

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by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

About Duke3D, try launching it after rebooting to DOS, not while running Windows. I had similar display corruption on my Ati 9800pro, but restarting in DOS mode fixed it.

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Re: Prevent Vortex2 trying to load au30dos.com

Posted on 2020-07-28, 04:05

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Perfect, thanks. Works great now.

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