Re: smallest computer that can run windows XP with supported hardware (especially video card?)

Posted on Today, 12:07

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Take a look at mini ITX boards. Depending on your requirements they can be stuck into some very small cases. A board with say an AMD E-350 can do basic 3D acceleration and fits into an enclosure not much larger than the board+ATX I/O plate (tip: picoPSU). If you want more power, go for a board with …

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Re: USB ports on Abit board not fully working

Posted on Yesterday, 23:00

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

If it were me, I'd try installing Windows XP or Windows 2000 for diagnostic purposes. If the onboard ports work well with either of those operating systems then you know it's probably a driver/OS issue; if they still do not work then you know that it's a hardware issue. Faster than installing XP or …

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Re: smallest computer that can run windows XP with supported hardware (especially video card?)

Posted on Yesterday, 22:10

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Take a look at mini ITX boards. Depending on your requirements they can be stuck into some very small cases. A board with say an AMD E-350 can do basic 3D acceleration and fits into an enclosure not much larger than the board+ATX I/O plate (tip: picoPSU). If you want more power, go for a board with …

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Re: Finalizing my 486 retro computer - advice is welcome

Posted on 2024-05-21, 15:43

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I have just run a comparison of the ESS1868 and the Yamaha 719 in Wing Commander Privateer. I stumbled upon some odd differences. Both of my different ESS1868 cards and my ESS688 exhibit a graphic micro-freeze in the intro, at the very same point. Sound works normal during the freeze. The Yamaha …

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Re: Filco keyboards appreciation post

Posted on 2024-05-20, 21:15

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Layout is purely a matter of software and keycaps. So if the keyboard doesn't have the layout you want, get a set of keycaps that does and use those instead.

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Re: Finalizing my 486 retro computer - advice is welcome

Posted on 2024-05-20, 15:28

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

S3 seems to have always been plagued with cards with poor analog output. It's not the chips themselves, I suspect their reference spec/designs weren't as good as some others. Good manufacturers made great cards with S3 chipsets, bad ones made awful cards. I have a nameless S3 805 card whose output …

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Enlight DM001 SCA drive bay module / EN8983 SCSI processor

Posted on 2024-05-20, 14:57

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Wanting to pimp my SCSI dual P3 Win2k build and free up some storage space, I decided to install a NOS SCA SCSI enclosure I had lying around. According to the box it's an Enlight DM001, but there's nothing identifying brand or model on the device itself. In my AHA29160 BIOS it shows up as "Enlight …

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Re: Assistance with Socket 370 Motherboards Please.

Posted on 2024-05-19, 00:41

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

[...] I'll look into these and the prices and see what I can find out. Will these chipsets be fine with dos games too? Or are chipsets not as big of a deal for dos gaming? Chipset determines compatibility and things like memory and I/O performance. The latter are hardly an issue under DOS with a …

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Re: Socket 7 build freeze at splash screen.

Posted on 2024-05-18, 00:48

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

[...] The i430TX has essentially the same memory controller as the i440EX (or ZX), which is the second generation of SDRAM technology and far more stable and compatible than first gen i430VX/Via VPx/SiS 5582/5598 controllers. That said, the bus speed isn't the issue. Memory speed ratings are …

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Re: Socket 7 build freeze at splash screen.

Posted on 2024-05-17, 21:51

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

[...] I'm spoiled - my TXP4 has had no issues with 256 megabyte PC133 SDRAM modules, so I didn't think about how other motherboards might not be as forgiving of memory rated for higher bus speeds than the board was designed for. The i430TX has essentially the same memory controller as the i440EX ( …

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Re: Socket 7 build freeze at splash screen.

Posted on 2024-05-17, 17:16

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

My only thought would be "Welcome to the world of PCChips!" Also, carefully inspect the RAM slots for any bent or damaged (oxidation?) contacts. No fan of PC Chips, but trying to use a PC133 256MB RAM DIMM in an early So7 SDRAM board is asking for it, even if you take a high-end Asus or MSI board. …

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Re: Absolute best, Most reliable fans

Posted on 2024-05-12, 18:47

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

their failure won’t be detected and will result in equipment failure Given the severe impact when they fail and proven track record of failure, might it not be worthwhile to invest in a means to detect that failure before loss of the cooled hardware occurs, and/or thermal fuses for the hardware so …

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Re: Need someone with a Packard Bell 680 series machine (Pentium 166-200MHz MMX)

Posted on 2024-05-12, 18:41

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Don't have the machine I'm afraid, but to help you narrow it down: - it's not the machine that needs to be a PB68x, it's he motherboard. They were used in a lot of different machines with different names per market. It also does not matter for the motherboard - the BIOSs were not system-specific so …

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Re: Need assistance with the BIOS for Alaris COUGAR 486BL

Posted on 2024-05-11, 14:07

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Btw, do i need to install IBM specific memory with 5 v? 72p SIMMs are almost always 5V. The board is a bit picky, it requires parity (x36, so 3 or 9 chips, not 2 or 8) and doesn't like double-sided SIMMs, so you should use only 1, 4 or 16MB SIMMs. See the manual-ish thing here: https://theretroweb. …

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Re: RIVA TNT2 M64 .VS. 3dfx voodoo 3 2000 AGP which is superior?

Posted on 2024-05-11, 11:19

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

"Better" is about more than just raw speed. Voodoo3 cards were manufactured by 3Dfx after taking over STB, and they were manufactured well. In particular the analog components/filters were good, resulting in a sharp, clear and vibrant image. TNT2-M64 cards were made by a number of companies, but …

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Re: Need assistance with the BIOS for Alaris COUGAR 486BL

Posted on 2024-05-10, 20:19

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Hi! not goint to trade it, at least yet. I need the BIOS files to test it. Hope someone here can assist me :) I wasn't being serious, just trying to indicate what makes this board interesting. Using the Socket 2 for a 486, it's just an early 486 board with a relatively old, slow chipset. But it's …

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Re: Need assistance with the BIOS for Alaris COUGAR 486BL

Posted on 2024-05-10, 16:38

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

It also has a 486 socket, but if you want a regular 486 VLB board, please mail me your Cougar and I'll mail you a very nice 486 board with 3V support and all mod cons :P The Cougar exists to provide a platform to the IBM BL3 CPU, which is basically an insanely buffed clock-tripled 386DX to the point …

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Re: Trying to build a retro DOS/Win98 computer.

Posted on 2024-05-10, 11:27

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by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Status: I ordered a ESS Solo-1 on ebay, which will hopefully give me what i want?! It was about 30€ with delivery so not supercheap, but ill take a chance. That's pretty steep for one of those, but it is one of the most compatible PCI sound cards. However unless your board supports one of a number …

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Re: is seeking out a slot 1 celeron worth it?

Posted on 2024-05-10, 10:47

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by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

[...] I wonder if that would have been one of the last examples of soldered-on desktop graphics... by 2000 or so, at least on the Intel side, large OEMs seemed to have all embraced the i810 and its successors and the on-chipset intel graphics. Integrated is cheaper than onboard, onboard is cheaper …

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Re: DOS 7.1 PCI NIC packet driver issues (no packets received)

Posted on 2024-05-10, 09:01

by

by dionb

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Great ! Glad you got something working. Wonder if that PnP audio card uses some odd resource that the Intel nic did not like. Not sure why a diff PCI slot would matter but odd things can happen :) The AZT2320 card was being assigned two IRQs (one for sound, one for the Rockwell modem chip) by PnP …

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