Re: Power Supply Recommendation?

Posted on 2008-03-30, 20:37

by

by swaaye

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

The biggest issue is that you need to get one with a -5v feed. If it lacks this, ISA cards may not work. Make sure you look at the specs for that -5v feed. It seems that sometime around 2001 or so (I'm guessing), this was removed from the ATX spec. Most PSUs out there today do not have it, as I …

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Re: 4 graphics cards in one PC?

Posted on 2008-03-30, 16:10

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by swaaye

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

Just about any video card these days can be set to not stretch (within Windows that is). DOSBOX can be set to your native res at full-screen, but not to scale so that it's 1:1. And then most LCDs (all?) I've used also have their own scaling options in their setup menu. The way to make sure would be …

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Re: my little Midi box

Posted on 2008-03-29, 20:09

by

by swaaye

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

lots of Socket A coolers will fit on Socket 7. You could look for a 1U server heatsink and that would probably solve the heat problem. Also could consider a Winchip or Winchip 2. They run cooler than anything else for Socket 7, if I recall correctly, and are very compatible little CPUs (work in …

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Re: Building an Ultimate PCI 486 System

Posted on 2008-03-28, 17:25

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by swaaye

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

Do you think an ATA66 controller would be more practical? I'm also not 100% about USB and Firewire, but I have heard there are actually some things you can do with them in DOS. I think a modern UltraATA card will do just as well as a SCSI card from those days. Even UltraDMA/33 offers more bandwidth …

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Re: Building an Ultimate PCI 486 System

Posted on 2008-03-28, 17:19

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by swaaye

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

Also, where do you get your numbers for 486 memory bandwidth? I have quite a lot of 486 motherboards, and the bandwidth can vary greatly. I have been using WinTune 2.0 for testing, but it may not be a very accurate tool. -opti495SX w/ti486SXL 40MHz reports ~14mb/sec -opti EISA VL am5x86 160MHz …

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Re: Dark Forces + dual link DVI cable + LCD = graphical glitches

Posted on 2008-03-28, 17:05

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by swaaye

in DOS

in DOS

I know that DX8-generation Radeons have some DVI issues. They were ATI's first (or at least some of the earliest) boards with DVI. If you do some searching you will quickly find talk of DVI issues with Radeon 7500, 8500. Still, 9200 is a refined 9000, which itself was a refined 8500. You'd think …

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Re: Building an Ultimate PCI 486 System

Posted on 2008-03-27, 18:09

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by swaaye

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

Just remember that RAM was stupidly expensive back then. 32MB in a 486 is a lot of RAM. :) I've no doubt that they gimped these chipsets a bit, considering that even some Pentium chipsets have limited caching (430FX/MX/VX/TX and others I'm sure). I have a MSI 4144 mobo that's based on SiS497/496. It …

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Re: Ensoniq Soundscape resources (manuals, files, links, photos)

Posted on 2008-03-27, 18:02

by

by swaaye

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Yeah the ESS chip may be using software wavetable... I don't really know a lot about the ESS chips other than that they are quite compatible with SBPro. I've used notebooks with 1688 and 688. I don't really know what to suggest. :) Soundscape VIVO should work quite well, but its MIDI isn't going to …

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Re: Old graphics card recommendation?

Posted on 2008-03-26, 21:12

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by swaaye

in DOS

in DOS

They will run almost everything. You can run into problems with older Glide games that don't know what a Voodoo3 is, but there are frequently workarounds for this. I just can't stand Voodoo1/2's pass-through setup. It just ruins the output quality. My Righteous 3D Voodoo1 is particularly degrading, …

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Re: Old graphics card recommendation?

Posted on 2008-03-26, 20:58

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by swaaye

in DOS

in DOS

I managed to get a Voodoo3 and GeForce FX to work in the same system last night. Now THAT is a sweet setup, IMO. Voodoo3 blows away Voodoo2 for both speed and image quality (that 22-bit Voodoo3 output + higher res) for Glide games, while the GeForce FX is very good for everything else. All it takes …

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Re: Ensoniq Soundscape resources (manuals, files, links, photos)

Posted on 2008-03-26, 18:26

by

by swaaye

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

How about a PCI card? I've found that the Vortex cards have very reliable SBPro support (no EMM386 needed) and they have wavetable headers that work in DOS. The onboard circuitry on my Vortex 2 is so much better than the SB16s I've used that its SBPro support actually sounds better than a SB16 …

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Re: Ensoniq Soundscape resources (manuals, files, links, photos)

Posted on 2008-03-26, 00:42

by

by swaaye

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

OPUS is 8 1/16" long.

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Re: DOS in a box

Posted on 2008-03-25, 20:40

by

by swaaye

in Milliways

in Milliways

Just line that box with some aluminum foil, eh. Maybe put some wax paper on top for insulation!! 😀

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Re: Ensoniq Soundscape resources (manuals, files, links, photos)

Posted on 2008-03-25, 17:57

by

by swaaye

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

The Opus card is shorter than the big Soundscape cards, but longer than the VIVO. One of the chips on the card says "OPUS" right on it. I was using it for a bit because it is a lot shorter than the Elite and S-2000 which didn't fit in one of my cases. There are some catches to that card though. It …

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Re: Building an Ultimate PCI 486 System

Posted on 2008-03-25, 04:26

by

by swaaye

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

Oh Ok. Well I just recapped the thread I'm sure you found at Cpumuseum.de and told you right at the end that I think it was a waste of money in its time. Hell, it was the biggest rip off CPU in consumer history at, I believe, around $500. Good thing I got it free. It is indisputable though that it …

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Re: Old graphics card recommendation?

Posted on 2008-03-24, 21:26

by

by swaaye

in DOS

in DOS

Yup they will work together fine. The only issue is getting games to pick the desired accelerator for D3D. For that, you want 3DCC. I've attached it. It's only for Win9x tho. Not sure what you'd do in XP or 2K.

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Re: Old graphics card recommendation?

Posted on 2008-03-24, 18:02

by

by swaaye

in DOS

in DOS

Radeon cards have VESA issues. I've had TIE Fighter CD (640x480 VESA) actually lock up on them. Get some sort of NVIDIA card. GeForceFX is great for retro rigs because its VESA works well and its 3D capabilities include palletized texture support.

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Re: What's your Retro-Rig?

Posted on 2008-03-23, 20:05

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by swaaye

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

I currently have running: Abit BF6 440BX P3 450@600 256MB PC133 160GB WD Geforce FX 5950 Diamond Monster Sound MX300 + SCD15 Ensoniq Soundscape Elite Sil0680A Ultra 133 PCI card Intel 1000GT NIC Win98SE I change things around weekly pretty much though. I am more into messing with the hardware than …

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Re: Ensoniq Soundscape manual + addendums (scanned)

Posted on 2008-03-23, 18:31

by

by swaaye

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Mike 01Hawk wrote: Man swaaye, you're going on a Retro Bender lately 😀 Yeah I have these bouts occasionally 🤣. Boredom combines with happy retro game thoughts and trouble ensues.

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Ensoniq Soundscape resources (manuals, files, links, help)

Posted on 2008-03-23, 04:39

by

by swaaye

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I still have my original owner's manual from my Soundscape that I got back in '94. I'm guessing that most folks who get one of these cards these days won't get a manual, so I decided to scan it. Hope it proves useful, or at least fascinating! :) soundscape-manual.gif Manual Downloads Gerwin made …

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