Re: Memories of Win 8.1 as it goes EOL

Posted on 2023-01-12, 06:14

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by Standard Def Steve

in Milliways

in Milliways

I guess I'm a bit of a Microsoft enthusiast, having used and even enjoyed, for the most part, everything from DOS 5 to Windows 11. I even remember firing up Vista Beta 2 for the first time and thinking: THIS , this right here, is the freakin' bomb -- a notion I still agree with to this day. So it …

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Re: failed memory channels in 486 motherboards

Posted on 2023-01-04, 16:42

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by Standard Def Steve

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I've got a couple of systems with dead or failing slots. One, a Deskpro 6000 with a 440FX-based Slot 1 board. Two of the eight 72pin SIMM slots just won't recognize any memory modules that have been shoved into them. However, since the machine requires memory to be installed in pairs, it's possible …

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Re: Intel Core i7 3770 (Not 'K') and IHS problem?

Posted on 2022-12-29, 17:43

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by Standard Def Steve

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I don't think you'll have any thermal issues with a 3770. You can't overclock it beyond its turbo multipliers, plus Ivy Bridge in general was cooler running than both Sandy Bridge before it and Haswell after it (at least, at stock speeds). Hell, I think the third gen was the coolest running of all …

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

Posted on 2022-12-29, 00:56

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by Standard Def Steve

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I just started a 1080p h264 to 1080p, 20mb/s WMV-HD transcode on a PIII Katmai 550, the slowest CPU I have with SSE. I have absolutely no good reason for doing such a thing; morbid curiosity is the best excuse I can come up with at the moment. I have no idea if this thing will actually complete the …

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

Posted on 2022-12-28, 03:01

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by Standard Def Steve

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I just started a 1080p h264 to 1080p, 20mb/s WMV-HD transcode on a PIII Katmai 550, the slowest CPU I have with SSE. I have absolutely no good reason for doing such a thing; morbid curiosity is the best excuse I can come up with at the moment. I have no idea if this thing will actually complete the …

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Re: Merry X-Mass 2022...

Posted on 2022-12-21, 08:14

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by Standard Def Steve

in Milliways

in Milliways

W-w-wishing you all a v-v-very Merry Christmas and a s-s-standard def n-n-new year. 😰 Filename Capture.PNG File size 19.15 KiB Views 1022 views

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

Posted on 2022-12-18, 17:32

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by Standard Def Steve

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I added a K6-266 processor to this three-decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich. The Pentium MMX sticker on the front is now indeed a bald-faced lie. Actually, I will be taking this appalling dump heap of a PC to the thrift store today. Just thought I'd give the lucky DOS gamer who decides to …

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

Posted on 2022-12-16, 00:11

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by Standard Def Steve

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Oh, and my retro activity for the day has been to dig through my entire sound card collection looking for a card I was almost positive that I owned. It's kind of ridiculous how the mind can trick us into being able to picture something in your hands, or on your desk, or in a box, or installed in a …

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

Posted on 2022-12-15, 18:51

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by Standard Def Steve

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Oh, and my retro activity for the day has been to dig through my entire sound card collection looking for a card I was almost positive that I owned. It's kind of ridiculous how the mind can trick us into being able to picture something in your hands, or on your desk, or in a box, or installed in a …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2022-12-14, 03:56

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by Standard Def Steve

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I picked up a Dell Studio XPS 435T/9000 at my local thrift store that, thankfully, has no silly policy about not selling computers. They said $40.00, I offered $30.00, they said "Sold!" This thing is built like a tank! I actually put it on a scale because I had to know, and it weighs forty pounds; …

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Re: Bought this (Modern) hardware today

Posted on 2022-12-13, 00:22

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by Standard Def Steve

in Milliways

in Milliways

I bought my first USB-C thumb drive today. Nothing too flash y (ha?), just the cheapest 128GB SanDisk I could find. Cheap, because I don't even trust the highest-end flash drives with important data. No, for that, I always bust out the external HDD or do a network transfer. For quick and dirty file …

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Re: Troubleshooting odd Compaq i440Bx board

Posted on 2022-11-30, 17:00

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by Standard Def Steve

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Technically not proprietary (it's NLX), though I'm not sure if any third party chassis manufacturers ever made NLX cases. Wonder if it needs the front case fan (which also cools the CPU in Deskpro cases) to be plugged in. Could also try a PCI video card, if you have one. If the board has an onboard …

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Re: Entirely questionable Digital Trends article: "The 5 worst Nvidia GPUs, ranked".

Posted on 2022-11-30, 07:25

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by Standard Def Steve

in Milliways

in Milliways

Obviously missing from this list is the 8300 GS, G100, and G205 group of lightly accelerated framebuffers.

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2022-11-29, 01:48

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by Standard Def Steve

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I picked up a Dimension 8250 on my way home today. Now truly, I need another old Dell like I need a hole in the head, but as the 8250 was their last Rambus based system, I couldn't just leave it there. I fully intend to put this machine back into circulation after having my fun with it; after all, …

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Re: What games did you become really good at?

Posted on 2022-11-20, 19:31

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by Standard Def Steve

in Milliways

in Milliways

Pinball. I've even crafted entire pinball playlists carefully optimized to help me power through 1hr+ games and rack up insane new high scores. But I suck at Doom. The game itself even agrees: IMG_0029.jpg I don't know if my CRT is getting weak or I just happen to be a Doom Numbskull, but it took me …

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Re: Nvidia adaptergate

Posted on 2022-11-17, 17:14

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by Standard Def Steve

in Milliways

in Milliways

Space heaters are meant to radiate... heat. That's their sole purpose in life. :-) But, more importantly, space heaters are preassembled (and they are really not that complex to begin with), so there is nothing "DIY" about them. Even your average grandma can go to the store, buy one, come home, …

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Re: Games don't feel as exciting as they used to

Posted on 2022-11-17, 05:08

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by Standard Def Steve

in Milliways

in Milliways

Au contraire. I played Spider-Man Remastered for hours last night. And the night before. And even during lunch a few days ago. It's exhilarating . Actually, I find myself enjoying new games just a skosh more than the older ones as of late! But hey - I still love the classics! Grew up playing them, …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2022-11-15, 23:30

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by Standard Def Steve

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I had a wonderful time with Windows ME. As with all OSes, it's primarly a matter of good driver support. Especially on old Windows. I've been to paradise--Windows 2000--but I've never been to ME. One of these days I'll have to sit down and spend some quality time with it. Really liked Vista, so …

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Re: your last purchased retro graphics card or any of your collection

Posted on 2022-11-15, 16:25

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by Standard Def Steve

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Retro only? Pre DX10? Separate card that didn't come with a machine? I believe that would be the Quadro FX 4500 for my PowerMac G5 Quad, over a year ago.

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Re: Christmas 1999 build - What's under YOUR tree?

Posted on 2022-11-07, 04:00

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by Standard Def Steve

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Very, very nice! I would've loved a 733MHz P3 or Athlon in 1999! Hell, a K6-2 with a decent tailwind would've been a substantial upgrade over the Toshiba Pentium 100 (or was it a P75?) laptop I used in my first year of university. That thing could barely whip the llama's ass and run Word at the same …

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