Re: S3 ViRGE deep dive

Posted on 2021-04-12, 17:52

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Interesting writeup. I suspected that the DX with EDO mem is preferrable to the GX with SDRAM, and now I know why. As someone who tested the faster Virge DX in many 1990s 3D games, my impression is that it was OK for 1996 - 1997 simple 3D games, especially if you use a lower resolution like 400 x …

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Re: vintage budget cards instead of 'good' cards

Posted on 2021-04-07, 06:49

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

In some ways newer budget or midrange cards are actually preferrable to older high end, due to lower noise and power consumption. Funny thing is even if the first time I played the game on a crappy card, I still enjoyed the game. We're talking year 2000 - 2001 games like NFS Porsche, NOLF and Max …

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Re: Golden age of computing for personal computers

Posted on 2021-04-05, 19:12

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

For me the golden age was sometime from 1996 - ??? The PC got 3D acceleration, fun PC games like Duke3D and Quake got released, and hardware power grew rapidly every year. Wide adoption of home internet also gave new possibilities of what a PC could do. The good times continued into the 2000's …

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Re: Radeon AGP card for retro gaming. 8500 and later.

Posted on 2021-03-28, 00:51

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I would go for the 9800pro. Haven't had any problems with a shim, I believe that was a 9700pro issue. But with the 9800pro, you can run all Win98 games with AA+AF. For a cheaper and cooler running alternative, try a Radeon 9600pro or xt. Still plenty fast, but less heat.

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Re: Have anyone actually gotten hardware damaged due to using old PSUs?

Posted on 2021-03-17, 18:18

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Interesting thread. I had only one instance of a failed PSU, it was in 2006 shortly after I upgraded my S939 Opteron 165 rig with a Radeon x1900xt. The PSU that failed was an OCZ Powerstream 420W. Luckily there was no fireworks and no other component died, simply one day the PSU just refused to …

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Re: A high end Multi Core (775 or AM3+) Windows XP build

Posted on 2021-03-14, 22:08

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Wouldn't the x5470 bottleneck the 7870? Maybe in some games, depending on settings and resolution. But it was still faster than a 750ti in most of my tests with that processor. Of course I tested mainly newer DX11 and DX12 games. What Windows version do you use for your tests? Windows 10. I didn't …

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Re: A high end Multi Core (775 or AM3+) Windows XP build

Posted on 2021-03-13, 15:30

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Lazar81 wrote on 2021-03-12, 12:00: Wouldn't the x5470 bottleneck the 7870? Maybe in some games, depending on settings and resolution. But it was still faster than a 750ti in most of my tests with that processor. Of course I tested mainly newer DX11 and DX12 games.

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Re: A high end Multi Core (775 or AM3+) Windows XP build

Posted on 2021-03-12, 08:37

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

A 7870 would be a good fit for a fast LGA775 build. I tested a R9 270x (rebadged and overclocked 7870) vs a gtx1070 on a 3.4ghz e5450, and the difference in most games was like 10-20%, to no one's surprise.

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Re: Understanding what usefulness of PII 400 or 450 vs PIII 800?

Posted on 2021-03-12, 00:13

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

An unlocked P2 400 is nice for 1997 and earlier games. In 1998 games like Unreal and Half Life, it offers playable performance in the 30fps range, as long as you don't use A3D. Enable A3D in Half Life, and you're solidly in the 20s, with frequent dips below 20. But then again, even a 1.1GHz P3 on a …

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Re: Good value Win98 Graphic Card

Posted on 2021-03-09, 16:56

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

What kind of problems were you seeing with the Quadro FX 1300? I'm wondering if the same problems would be seen with the Geforce PCX cards (official PCIe FX cards) What specific games have issues with the newer drivers? Here are some of my test notes. Quadro FX1300, Asus A8V-XE, A64 4000, Win 98, …

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Re: Good value Win98 Graphic Card

Posted on 2021-03-08, 22:28

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I haven't tried it myself, but from what I have read the PCIE FX quadro 1300 apparently have garbage windows 98 drivers. I tried the fx1300 and can confirm. Even after inf modding various drivers, game compatibility was hit or miss. It doesn't help that 70 series and later drivers in general break …

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Re: Voodoo 2 freezing my WIN98 at boot up time

Posted on 2021-03-08, 22:16

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I had a similar problem with a Voodoo2 on an Athlon64 system. My solution was to boot into safe mode, and disable the command that launches the voodoo2 control panel application on startup. Ultimately I think some drivers are just buggy on a fast cpu, so try more drivers. Also try disabling all but …

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Re: A high end Multi Core (775 or AM3+) Windows XP build

Posted on 2021-03-02, 22:08

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Lazar81 wrote on 2021-03-02, 21:33: Will have look what's that youtube channel in your sig supposed to be... No vids there. I deleted them and moved them to Rumble, under my username. In the process of copying them to other platforms like BitChute and UgeTube. Should probably update my sig...

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Re: Have you desolder things from trash boards to fix things

Posted on 2021-03-02, 20:40

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I desoldered a bunch of tiny smd caps from one graphics card and soldered them to fix another. A microscope was an invaluable tool in that situation.

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Re: A high end Multi Core (775 or AM3+) Windows XP build

Posted on 2021-03-02, 17:05

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Since you already have a Core2 Duo rig, what would a C2Q bring for XP games? The fun in lga775 quads is getting a cheap lga771 Xeon e5450 rev E0, modding it to lga775, and overclocking to 4ghz on a good P45 board (I used an Asus P5Q). But a cheap E8600 C2D will overcklock even easier, and with less …

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Re: Best socket 775 CPU for Radeon HD 3850 AGP

Posted on 2021-02-14, 15:40

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Just get any decently fast Core2 Duo, even something like a cheap e7500 or e7600 that's rated for FSB 1066 will blow the doors off any P4. What's the point of using a P4 if you board supports Core2? Games from 2007 - 2010 will run better with a fast dual core, and typically don't benefit from quads …

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Re: Building project pentium II

Posted on 2021-02-10, 19:03

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You'll need low density memory modules for the 440BX or LX boards. So maximum of 256MB capacity per module, and if it's 256MB, then the memory module should have 8 memory chips on each side. Graphics - an AGP card that's backwards compatible with the 3.3v AGP 1.0 standard. The card should either …

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Re: Intel G41 iGPU questions

Posted on 2021-02-09, 14:48

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I only briefly tried the integrated GMA4500 in Windows, it gets around 1800 in 3dmark 05. That puts it somewhere in the ballpark of a Radeon 9600pro. So only passable for early DX9 games, and low-mid settings at that.

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

Posted on 2021-02-08, 21:27

by

by pixel_workbench

in Milliways

in Milliways

Anything that came before some arbitrary technological shift can be called "vintage" for one reason or another. The P4 Netburst architecture was a technological dead end, and can be considered vintage simply for its outdated quirky nature, even if it's not particularly desirable. I'd expect to see a …

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Re: video card goes black after windows 98 splash screen

Posted on 2021-02-08, 15:50

by

by pixel_workbench

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Try different Nvidia drivers too. Something newer than 45.23.

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