Re: My utterly redicilous dream Pentium II (build log with pics!)

Posted on 2021-05-08, 17:39

by

by Thandor

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Nice build! Perhaps you're golden with the Philips PCRW1208 (and a few other models like PCRW2010) that might match the silver front. There are also NEC Optiarc's out there with a silver front which might be a tad or two darker in color.

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Re: Athlon XP 2500+ running hot.

Posted on 2021-05-07, 12:37

by

by Thandor

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Your thermal compound is fine that way. If you apply the compound and install the heatsink then the compound will be pushed away into the tiny little imperfections of the CPU 'die' and the bottom of the heatsink. https://techtreehub.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/How-thermal-paste-works.png In a …

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Re: German theme 486 computer.

Posted on 2021-05-02, 19:14

by

by Thandor

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2021-05-01, 15:28: What about CPU ? Should I use Intel or AMD ? I'd say AMD despite that the 486 CPU's were made in Austin, Texas. Since '98 AMD is also located in Dresden so that makes a nice connection to a German themed PC.

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Re: VLB Mach32 Issues: Stuck in CGA Mode?

Posted on 2021-04-14, 05:43

by

by Thandor

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Weird stuff! Although I do like the text-mode of a CGA setup, eventually you want VGA ;). I notice that you have 3 jumpers for IRQ-settings. Please double check but I think one should be connected to provide an IRQ for your card. (Edit: looking on-line I see various configurations. Some have no …

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Re: Voodoo 2 sli board, real or fake?

Posted on 2021-04-10, 19:19

by

by Thandor

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

http://www.thedodgegarage.com/3dfx/q3d_mercury_brick.htm Read this 😀.

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Re: Voodoo3 underperforming?

Posted on 2021-03-28, 14:01

by

by Thandor

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

If I remember correctly the vSync is turned on by default with the latest 3dfx drivers. Try turning vSync off and benchmark again. You can either use 3dfx Tools or VControl to tweak these settings. VControl has more options, however, several of the options may hurt (or actually improve if you tune …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2021-03-26, 17:36

by

by Thandor

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Dug up two Creative 12mb V2s from the same scrap bin at ewaste: https://i.imgur.com/j3Kmp57.jpg https://i.imgur.com/gI68Y31.jpg The PixelFX chip on the bottom took a noticeable ding (two pins were pretty bent, straightened them out) but otherwise they are in decent shape, and I can't complain …

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Re: Voodoo 2 - Heatsinks Needed?

Posted on 2021-03-24, 08:07

by

by Thandor

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Generally 3dfx card run quite hot, however, they can also withstand quite a lot of heat. In normal situations you don't have to add extra cooling. I define a 'normal situation' with a slight breeze of fresh air in your system case, no overclocking and not putting your system in a room that is over, …

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Re: Does the EPoX EP-8RDA3I really use the 12 volt connector for the CPU?

Posted on 2021-01-23, 21:01

by

by Thandor

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I you want a silent Athlon XP rig, try to find a Geode NX 1750 CPU, which is a Athlon XP 1600+ low voltage. I run mine on the same Asrock K7VT4A Pro. Vincent That's an interresting idea. I have an ALIX 2D3 mini server with a Geode LX800 CPU. It doesn't come with a fan or even a heatsink. Is it the …

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Re: First game with lan support?

Posted on 2021-01-10, 18:40

by

by Thandor

in DOS

in DOS

Thandor reporting in! Glad you liked Elephant Herding! It came to life after I programmed Bloxinies. With Bloxinies I wanted to reach a playable game that runs on low spec (8088 4.77MHz, CGA. Who needs more? :)) which worked out quite well (in hindsight the game has a few quirks that would be non- …

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Re: Post your favorite video game cover (MS-DOS/Early Windows edition)

Posted on 2021-01-08, 18:05

by

by Thandor

in Milliways

in Milliways

This has to be one of my favourites: https://wiki.ultimacodex.com/images/a/aa/Uw2box.jpg I was thinking about Ultima Underworld II when I saw the topictitle. Good choice bro ( :P ) ! Others already mentioned Ultima boxes: Ultima 5 and Ultima 8 are very nice, too. One that I like much is the Star …

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Re: Dune II - Dos6.22 :: Won’t start due to error

Posted on 2020-12-13, 18:47

by

by Thandor

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

I guess you should make sure that the PC is in good working order. Is Dune II the only game you're experiencing problems with? By testing a few other games you can check if your PC is running well. Dune II is also a game with high conventional memory requirements. Especially when you turn on sound …

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Re: Undying on K6-2 cpu, performance.

Posted on 2020-11-06, 18:22

by

by Thandor

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Keep in mind that the AMD K6 series aren't as strong with these kind of games as for instance a Pentium II. I've ran benchmarks with Quake 2 (in software rendering mode, 640x480) and my AMD K6-2 550+ scores with 20FPS (average) just between a Celeron 333 and Celeron 366 which is then followed by the …

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Re: Can I use a joystick and roland sc-55 at the same time by using SB16Vibra?

Posted on 2020-10-29, 15:55

by

by Thandor

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Try finding a Gravis MIDI adapter. They allow you to connect both the joystick and a synthesizer to one MIDI-port. I've verified on my 386 that Wing Commander (1990 release) works with SoftMPU loaded and a Gravis MIDI adapter connected to the Soundblaster 2.0 with a Gravis Joystick and Roland RA-50 …

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Re: Does your collection / regular builds lean more towards AMD or Intel

Posted on 2020-09-24, 17:33

by

by Thandor

in Milliways

in Milliways

It's quite mixed here in all the years I've been 'computing'. Running x86 systems at the moment: - Siemens 8088 (My first system, now with CGA) - Intel 386SX20 (retro DOS-machine, VGA, Roland RA50 and various other accessoires) - AMD Ryzen 1700 (Home-server, used to be desktop until I bought 3700X) …

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Re: What game are you playing now?

Posted on 2020-09-18, 20:36

by

by Thandor

in Milliways

in Milliways

Star Flight on the Sega Megadrive. I was actually looking for decent gamepads for my Amiga 500 so I ended up buying a Sega and browsing through the games the seller had available as well, I noticed Star Flight. Never heard of the game before but it got my interest. I guess the game is not for …

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Re: Windows 95 optimization and 486DX2 performance

Posted on 2020-09-18, 19:13

by

by Thandor

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Yes, from what I remember, Win95 was quite quick and "stable" on 386/486 hardware if "enough" RAM was available. I think enough RAM is indeed the key. Of course instable drivers, malware, weird tweaks and whatnot will ruin a system but RAM ... I've seen enough ad's and PC's in person with so little …

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Re: Old CD-ROM drives and CD-Rs - try Taiyo media

Posted on 2020-09-15, 20:13

by

by Thandor

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I like to use my old CD-ROM drives as well and tried various different media, burners and burn-speeds. A while ago I've bought a Pioneer DVR-108BK burner which I use to burn at 4x speed. I can burn CD's that are readable in my Philips CDI and Philips CDD462 (a single speed drive, 1992 technology) …

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

Posted on 2020-09-10, 19:38

by

by Thandor

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Dug out one of my PCs from storage to have a look what was inside, as my records didn't list any specific information about it. I couldn't remember anything about what was inside this PC, other than the installed CPU, RAM & HDD. Opened it up and was greeted with this: https://i.imgur.com/FkfLDCMl. …

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Re: Pentium 3 550Mhz Win98SE Battlestation

Posted on 2020-09-09, 11:53

by

by Thandor

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2020-09-09, 08:27: What is the name of that case ? InWin A500.

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