Re: Unreal 1 - What is your opinion about it?

Posted on 2025-01-30, 18:52

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by Shponglefan

in Milliways

in Milliways

Two things that stood out to me about Unreal were: 1) Wide-open spaces. That first moment when you emerge from the ship and see the giant cliff and waterfall were one of those FPS defining moments. Similar moment when you are approaching the Sun Spire and realizing what a huge structure it was. 2) …

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Re: Current Heatsinks for pentium 4 LGA 775

Posted on 2025-01-26, 18:40

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by Shponglefan

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

There aren't really many modern options for 775 heatsinks. There is a cheap Startech one available on Amazon from what I can see. Last year I bought a Be Quiet Pure Rock and a Dark Rock 3 from a 3rd party seller on Amazon. Looks like they aren't available on Amazon anymore, but sellers on Ebay do …

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Re: Someone have basic "Kit" or "list" component assortment for Vintage computers?

Posted on 2025-01-24, 21:36

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by Shponglefan

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'll echo the above comments that trying to collect a bunch of random components before hand doesn't make a lot of sense. Same thing with generic component kits. I've bought a few of those in the past. I end up using one or two components from said kits while the rest collect dust. I currently track …

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Re: LIfespan of DOS-based games post Windows 95

Posted on 2025-01-23, 16:46

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by Shponglefan

in Milliways

in Milliways

I really did not want to go for i845, but for 3+ GHz on 865, and to get ISA there was not available, no boards on ebay/ali, so on. Axiomtek IMB-200 motherboards are readily available from China and have i865 chipsets and support 3+ GHz processors. There are dozens of listings currently on Ebay. …

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Re: LIfespan of DOS-based games post Windows 95

Posted on 2025-01-23, 16:42

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by Shponglefan

in Milliways

in Milliways

1997 was the year when Windows started to take over, but it even then it didn't fully replace DOS. I was still playing games like Blood and Shadow Warrior in DOS that came out in 1997. It wasn't until 1998 when I remember fully switching over to Windows gaming.

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Re: 1996 spec PC build

Posted on 2025-01-23, 14:20

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by Shponglefan

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

For RAM, I think you mean 16 MB, not 16 GB. ATX versus AT won't matter when it comes to sound card support. It's really more about form factor and that ATX boards have more built-in IO ports (serial, parallel, etc). Overall, a Pentium 133 is a solid mid-90s PC. It's ideal for that era of DOS gaming …

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Re: IDE-CF: Learn from my stupidity

Posted on 2025-01-22, 21:48

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by Shponglefan

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Is it plugged in? Is it turned on? Solves 90% of tech issues.

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Re: Best and worst sound cards you have ever owned?

Posted on 2025-01-21, 19:44

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by Shponglefan

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I have way too many sound cards to go through them all, so I'll just list some favorites in alphabetical order: Adlib Gold / Goldlib - Best Yamaha YMF262 implementation there is. Absolute favorite cards for FM playback. Creative Labs AWE64 / AWE64 Gold - My go-to cards for SB16 / AWE32 support. Has …

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Re: Best and worst sound cards you have ever owned?

Posted on 2025-01-21, 19:22

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by Shponglefan

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

ESS ES1938S Solo-1. Same as above; wonderful chip trapped on a terrible cut-down PCB. It has a MIDI port, which has no pins, and the SMD components are not populated. ES1938S supports SB-link, but it is not present on my card. It might be able to be modded to add the extra features. I have a …

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Re: Noobie question about building Pentium 1/2?

Posted on 2025-01-21, 01:24

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by Shponglefan

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'll second the suggestion for a 486 system for games from the late 80s to early 90s. I have a 486 DX-33 which is my absolute favorite system for running games of that era. I can throttle it between 286, 386 and 486 speeds.

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Re: Help choosing right CPU throttler

Posted on 2025-01-18, 21:55

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by Shponglefan

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Ahh, I see. Thanks. So, I take it the boxes that are empty, for the PIII, are features it doesn't have...? And the ones in green with an asterix are the ones it does...? Correct. The green boxes with the asterisks are for supported features. Empty boxes are unsupported features. I'm a bit confused …

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Re: What game are you playing now?

Posted on 2025-01-18, 19:54

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by Shponglefan

in Milliways

in Milliways

Recently returned to playing Elden Ring and started an RL1 (level 1) challenge run. Currently in the mid-game. It's been challenging but quite fun so far. I'm at a point where almost everything can one-shot me. Reminds me of playing old school NES platformers where you die in one hit.

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Re: Silverstone to release a retro-style desktop case

Posted on 2025-01-18, 19:30

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by Shponglefan

in Milliways

in Milliways

Looking at the back of the case, I like the inclusion of the horizontal expansion slot. That could be useful for something like a CF adapter.

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Re: Silverstone to release a retro-style desktop case

Posted on 2025-01-18, 19:28

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by Shponglefan

in Milliways

in Milliways

theelf wrote on 2025-01-18, 18:43: For me a razonable price for a nice case will be 20-30 us dollars, and 30-50 with power supply There is definitely pricing disparity across different locales. Where I live, a decent PC case starts at about $60 USD and up without a power supply.

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Re: Help choosing right CPU throttler

Posted on 2025-01-18, 01:16

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by Shponglefan

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Yeah, I've tried both of those. I can't remember SETMUL, but I know CPUSPD has a number of options I'm not quite familiar with, except disabling the L1/2 caches. Or is there a Windows version that has different options? No, there's no Windows version. It's a DOS utility. Since you're trying to …

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Re: Help choosing right CPU throttler

Posted on 2025-01-17, 21:34

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by Shponglefan

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

I use CPUSPD and SETMUL. CpuSpd - A Hardware Based CPU Speed Control Utility for DOS/Win9X Retro Gaming SetMul - Multiplier control for VIA C3 / AMD K6+7+8 Mobile / Cyrix 5x86 Keep in mind that any throttling capabilities will be largely dependent on your specific motherboard and CPU. Not all …

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Re: Signs Your an Old Geek

Posted on 2025-01-15, 01:54

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by Shponglefan

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

smtkr wrote on 2025-01-15, 01:46: I know I'm old because I look at new technology and I don't think it's useful, but everyone else is super excited about it. I feel that way about AI and increasingly, about the internet in general.

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Re: Clueless question about VR...

Posted on 2025-01-15, 01:46

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by Shponglefan

in Milliways

in Milliways

You load up an FPS game, and it has mouselook. You move the mouse left and right, and the view pans left and right. You move the mouse back/forward and it tilts the view up and down. Now you transfer those functions to the motion tracking of the headset. You turn your head left and right and the …

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Re: Signs Your an Old Geek

Posted on 2025-01-15, 01:35

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by Shponglefan

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2025-01-15, 00:33: I know how to do things in Win3.1 to WinXP without even thinking about it but I find newer versions of Windows complicated. I know how to do things in DOS without thinking about it, but find Windows in general complicated. 😉

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Re: Socket 478 P4 and DOS.

Posted on 2025-01-11, 23:38

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by Shponglefan

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Something I don't think was suggested yet is using SBEMU to emulate sound blaster support using AC97 audio: SBEMU: Sound Blaster emulation on AC97 It's not a perfect solution, but it may serve in lieu of buying any PCI sound cards.

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