Re: Promise Sata 150tx2 speeds windows 98

Posted on Yesterday, 20:01

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I wouldn't recommend "Assign IRQ for VGA: Enabled" so quickly, as far as I remember it's a legacy option for ISA/early PCI VGA cards. Also delayed transaction depends if there are any cards in use that are not PCI2.1 compliant. AGP graphics cards do use IRQ too. It is clearly shown in video device …

---

Re: Promise Sata 150tx2 speeds windows 98

Posted on Yesterday, 15:54

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I would recommend: IDE HDD Block Mode: Enabled Delayed Transaction: Enabled Other options I would turn on which won't have an effect on SSD speed but I would still recommend them: Assign IRQ for VGA: Enabled HDD S.M.A.R.T capability: Enabled Video BIOS Shadow: Enabled

---

Re: Promise Sata 150tx2 speeds windows 98

Posted on 2022-05-24, 19:59

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

As long as you are not using those two devices simultaneously it shouldn't matter. However sharing IRQ between USB 2.0 and SATA Controller is not a great idea. I would check that and DMA transfers being enabled.

---

Re: Need some basic add on advice for my new Tandy 1000SX

Posted on 2022-05-22, 17:59

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You probably want https://www.glitchwrks.com/xt-ide I just tested Tandy 1000 SL/2 on an emulator. What I found nice is that unlike all the other 88/86 machines it boots DOS from BIOS. However I never got booting from a hard drive to work. But it should be possible using XT-IDE. I would open the case …

---

Re: Database of best NVIDIA driver revisions per card per OS

Posted on 2022-05-21, 18:53

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I reported my results for Windows 98 + GeForce FX5600 + DirectX 8.1 here https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=1063091#p1063091 Basically 53.04 has the best performance, but some compatibility issues (e.g Thief 2) when using DirectX 8.1. For Windows 98 retro rig with FX5xxx I would highly recommend …

---

Re: 3DMark99 gives nearly same results 640x480 as it does 1024x768. CPU limited?

Posted on 2022-05-17, 16:28

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I have the same problem with FX5600. I get 5805 points with 45.x driver. It doesn't matter though as it is enough for games up to 2001. Your graphics card is too new for Windows 98 games. The driver you need to use isn't 100% compatible.

---

Re: Voodoo2 + USB 2.0 Card = Crash!

Posted on 2022-05-17, 16:07

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

USB cards require like 3 IRQs which easily leads to IRQ conflict when all devices are in use simultaneously due to PCI IRQ sharing. One way to work around it may be to free IRQs by disabling the built-in USB controller, serial, parallel ports in BIOS. Then Voodoo 2 can get assigned its own IRQ.

---

Re: Modern 2.0 speakers and magnetic shielding (to protect CRTs) - is it even possible?

Posted on 2022-05-16, 17:28

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

My solution is to use 2.1 speakers - Logitech S200. They cost me €5. Satellite speakers next to the monitor are tiny while the subwoofer sits underneath the desk. Power switch and volume control is on one of the satellites. Cheap speakers like S200 tend to have a problem with humming, but it is …

---

Re: Win98 machine just powers on randomly

Posted on 2022-05-15, 13:27

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I would say the cheapest fix would be a power extension cord with a switch. Just switch it off when you no longer need it.

---

Re: Booting from a Sil3114

Posted on 2022-05-14, 08:45

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Motherboard BIOS should be set to boot from the first hard drive and internal HDD controllers should be disabled in BIOS or jumpers (for 486). Sil3114 BIOS will run during POST, auto detect drives and the system will boot from Sil3114 as long as it has an active partition and a valid boot sector. …

---

Re: GA-5AX prices on Ebay are outrageous; why?

Posted on 2022-05-13, 18:10

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Yep, it depends of a user's first experience with a computer. I'm not nostalgic about 486 or older regarding PCs. My first PC was 386SX/33, quickly upgraded to 386DX/40, I skipped 486 and upgraded to Pentium 200 MMX. Then K6-2 followed. I don't care about those at all. I never had a PIII or Athlon …

---

Re: GA-5AX prices on Ebay are outrageous; why?

Posted on 2022-05-13, 16:39

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Valuation is very subjective. I consider 86-early Pentium rigs of low value due to very limited time coverage and existence of good emulators that can replace them. But if someone is willing to pay those high asking prices on eBay then obviously it must have that value to them. I consider PIII on …

---

Re: New guy find "Pentium 3 Slot 1 733"

Posted on 2022-05-13, 16:25

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Anything above 30fps is enjoyable to me. Less than 20fps is unplayable. I checked out Sims and it also runs fine on my PIII. I find my Voodoo 2 utterly useless as I don't play games that support 3Dfx only. Game graphics of that era is poor anyway and there is usually a later installment of the game …

---

Re: New guy find "Pentium 3 Slot 1 733"

Posted on 2022-05-12, 16:36

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Return to castle wolfstein, Midtown Madness 2, GTA SA require a faster system. A p3 won't really cut it for those games regardless of what video card you put in it - unless you like stuttering and very low FPS. For those games you'll want a late socket A or 478 PC with a radeon 9600 / FX 5700 for …

---

Re: New guy find "Pentium 3 Slot 1 733"

Posted on 2022-05-10, 16:55

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Sell Voodoo 3 2000 as it's too slow and get a good GeForce 4 or 5 (5900, 5800 or 5600). Swap CPU for a 1Ghz PIII. With that should should be able to play games released in 2001 and some from 2002. I tested Unreal, Return to castle wolfstein on my PIII 900 and it runs like a breeze. I believe it …

---

Re: C&C on a 233MMX runs poorly

Posted on 2022-05-09, 18:57

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Building sandbags fence to seal off tiberium or funnel enemy into well prepared defenses made a lot of missions easier too. Other tricks included building a concrete fence near enemy base and building multiple towers there to destroy enemy units before the main invasion force arrives.

---

Re: Doom on the 386 and 486DLC

Posted on 2022-05-09, 17:39

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Doom is playable on 386DX/40 but is not a pleasant experience due to having to decrease window size and details. 3D shooters of that era were designed for 486DX2/66 - Doom, Heretic, Rise of the Triad. I would not consider ISA only 486 due to poor video performance and resulting poor gaming …

---

Re: Would you go for any of these Socket 7 boards?

Posted on 2022-05-09, 14:23

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I would go with neither as none of them have AGP. Since you already have 3 Socket 7 boards, perhaps you should consider getting something you don't have yet - 440BX? 5x86 P75?

---

Re: ESS SOLO-1 configuration problem.

Posted on 2022-05-08, 16:33

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

You mention you have multiple machines. They may assign IRQs to PCI slots differently. If you use Plug and Play OS =No in BIOS then BIOS will manage resources, otherwise OS (and you can end up without IRQ until OS starts). The easiest way to get a different IRQ is to move the sound card to a …

---

Re: Changing BIOS language

Posted on 2022-05-08, 14:59

by

by AlexZ

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

If the option is locked then you highly likely need to download English version of the BIOS and flash it.

---