Re: What were your defining moments in computer history?

Posted on 2021-03-24, 20:22

by

by Almoststew1990

in Milliways

in Milliways

For me it's probably the time my dad showed me some tape-based game on a Commodore 64 or similar age Acorn personal computer thing (I can't remember it exactly), must have been when I was 4. I think it's a memory of a memory at this point. A vertical scrolling car combat racing game. That must have …

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Re: Can I put anything interesting in a miniPCI-e slot? (Fast cache?)

Posted on 2021-03-23, 17:49

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by Almoststew1990

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I have a dell laptop that has three miniPCI-e slots. When asking such questions it would be sensible to specify which Dell laptop. I am not sure if the slot can handle PCIe, but I have a Crucial CT240M500SSD3 in my Dell Inspiron 7720 what shows up as a SATA 600 SSD and can be booted from. It's a …

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Can I put anything interesting in a miniPCI-e slot? (Fast cache?)

Posted on 2021-03-23, 09:17

by

by Almoststew1990

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I have a dell laptop that has three miniPCI-e slots. One is taken up by a wifi card so I was wondering if there was anything "fun" I could put in the other two. I think from the factory one would be taken up by a WLAN module(?) and one with a "fast cache" module. Does fast cache offer a performance …

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Re: Fullscreen mode in Direct3D8 games on Windows 10

Posted on 2021-03-22, 12:01

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by Almoststew1990

in Windows

in Windows

Well... This seems to have fixed itself for my intel Pentium Silver (Apollo Lake) integrated graphics netbook thing, with drivers dated March 2021 (or earlier ones, I don't update my netbook display drivers regularly!). SimCity 3000 now works flawlessly full screen!

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Re: Anyone else into photography?

Posted on 2021-03-19, 18:45

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by Almoststew1990

in Milliways

in Milliways

I'm into photography, even if I have not been able to / wanted to go anywhere to take any photos in the last year! I'm not even an amateur, I have a basic DSLR and 18-55 lense. I just like composing and playing around with aperture and shutter speed. I like landscapes , nature and "things" more than …

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

Posted on 2021-03-19, 16:23

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by Almoststew1990

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I bought a spares and repair Dell XPS 1530 laptop without a HDD. It has a t8100 2.1GHz CPU, 3GB of RAM and an 8600GT video card. I was hoping the Spares and Repairs just related to it not coming with a HDD but it didn't power up at all when I got it. I took it to bits right down to the chassis and …

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Trying to Revive old Dell XPS Laptop - power issue?

Posted on 2021-03-16, 21:20

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by Almoststew1990

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I am trying to revive a Dell XPS 1530 laptop. It does not power on at all. I plug in the charger and the charger's LED does not light up. Does the LED light up even if the laptop is not turned on? I.e. this would indicate a dead charger. If the LED is not meant to light up when the laptop is off, …

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

Posted on 2021-03-14, 10:39

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by Almoststew1990

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Today I had a bit of a clear out of dead motherboards and I'm now down to one 478, one 775, one 939, one FM2, one 386 and one 486, one VIA ITX thing, one 1156 (which gives me blue screens at stock clocks), one 1155. OK that sounds like quite a lot but I now have loads of space for more retro stuff! …

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Re: Mothermoard with 4 slot DDR400 slot PCI and 2 core more CPU

Posted on 2021-03-14, 10:36

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by Almoststew1990

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I know this isn't what you asked but DDR2 (and even small capacity DDR3) RAM is so cheap now that I would suggest buying different RAM rather than limiting yourself to DDR1. This allows for a wide range of (likely cheaper) motherboards that offer a lot more compatibility. A basic, late Socket 775 …

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Re: Socket 462/A and 12v rail

Posted on 2021-03-12, 10:03

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by Almoststew1990

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm looking at cheapo boards MSI MS-6786 (OEM) with a KM400A Chipset PC CHIPS M825 with KM266/8235 Chipset

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Socket 462/A and 12v rail

Posted on 2021-03-11, 16:04

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by Almoststew1990

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I am thinking of building a Socket A PC. If a Socket A board has a 4-pin 12v "CPU power connector" in addition to the 20-pin ATX power connector, will the CPU (say a ~50watt Athlon 1GHz) use the 12v rail, or is there some other reason why these boards have the separate 4-pin power connector?

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Re: What is the (real world) difference between these CPUs

Posted on 2021-03-11, 10:32

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by Almoststew1990

in Milliways

in Milliways

My board has arrived with a T5500 - 1.66GHz. It was advertised as coming with a T2300 but they appear to have the same specs and I'm upgrading anyway! However All of the Socket M T7 series are expensive (compared to the price of the board). I'll get a T5600 which is 1.83GHz 2MB for £6, with the next …

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Re: What is the (real world) difference between these CPUs

Posted on 2021-03-09, 12:17

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by Almoststew1990

in Milliways

in Milliways

Whilst this board is long gone a year or so ago, by coincidence I bought a similar board - Aopen i945GMm-HL. This is MATX and has a few extra slots, but it 's socket M and is limited to the early Core 2 Duo's and comes with a T2300. These CPUs are also a lot harder to come by it seems!

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My "Back to Basics" build and have I broken it

Posted on 2021-03-07, 15:29

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by Almoststew1990

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

In the past I've done ITX W98/DOS builds, a Dual P3 build and various P4 builds but I wanted to go back to basics for a simple, nothing special Windows 98 PC. https://i.imgur.com/yK55JGLh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Jnk9CKxh.jpg It has a FIC Something-or-Other motherbaord with a 440LX chipset. I bought …

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

Posted on 2021-03-07, 12:13

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by Almoststew1990

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm tempted to buy a new case as my storage area has a case sized gap in it ;) I'm not sure if this is an interesting or incredibly horrible looking case. http://www.evercase.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=63&product_id=119 Really I want a M-ATX Case that is small and can also be …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2021-03-03, 14:22

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by Almoststew1990

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thanks for the help I was struggling with old Anandtech reviews to work it out. I'll request the Celeron and return the P2!

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2021-03-03, 09:10

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by Almoststew1990

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I bought a 333MHz Celeron but was sent a 266MHz Pentium 2. If the seller gives me the option to keep or send back I was wondering what CPU was likely to be faster? I've got a 66FSB Slot 1 system.

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

Posted on 2021-03-01, 16:18

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by Almoststew1990

in Milliways

in Milliways

Today I bought a VR headset Oculus Quest 2. It feels like the day you buy a new console with the unboxing, huge potential for new games and experiences etc! I've never had a VR headset before.

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Re: Video Card prices

Posted on 2021-02-27, 12:41

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by Almoststew1990

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

The popularity of cryptocurrency is a response to global political uncertainty and is not just a fad. (In other times people would be hoarding gold.) Not sure I agree - Gold was a physical item, with a finite amount, that would always have value (and was what was used to set the value of money) …

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Re: Video Card prices

Posted on 2021-02-27, 12:39

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by Almoststew1990

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I am getting tempted to move on my 1070ti but I use it too regularly in a secondary PC and I know i'll miss it. I bought it new for £350 (on a Black Friday event) and the eBay sold section shows 1070 ti's that have gone for £350 to £420!!! Fortunately the kind of old, slow cards I buy for my builds …

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