Re: Your 'formula' for system specs and operating system matching

Posted on 2020-09-11, 09:37

by

by gerry

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

keenmaster486 wrote on 2020-09-10, 17:15: This is what I usually have in my head when thinking about this. Just a rough draft. pc_timeline.png a very handy guide!

---

Re: Your 'formula' for system specs and operating system matching

Posted on 2020-09-11, 09:37

by

by gerry

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

XP SUCKS big time on less than 1GB RAM. I used to try to get businesses to upgrade to 1GB from 512MB on their XP machine (back in the day when XP was current). Their RAM usage would normally be up around 90-95% and the drive would be grinding away swapping constantly and they would complain that …

---

Re: Collecting rants

Posted on 2020-09-10, 07:34

by

by gerry

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

not really a rant, just a funny observation... it happens so often that I watch things I find interesting... but they're way too expensive... so I watch them in anticipation of them getting cheaper eventually. but on some sellers it seems to have quite the opposite effect, as soon as they notice …

---

Re: Your 'formula' for system specs and operating system matching

Posted on 2020-09-10, 07:28

by

by gerry

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Rule of thumb dont install XP on anything that can't handle 2gb of ram. Since the OS will run like crap with less. As you can consume 1gb of ram with just a browser or some game running leaving you zero headroom of course I can run XP on something under powered but from a gaming standpoint there is …

---

Re: Your 'formula' for system specs and operating system matching

Posted on 2020-09-10, 07:22

by

by gerry

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

interesting - we sort of converge so far, perhaps tending a little bit to ward having some extra power in the PC in comparison to a typical PC at the time of the respective OS launch, which is a good move for running the OS more swiftly

---

Re: Is a Voodoo 2 worth the cost

Posted on 2020-09-10, 07:17

by

by gerry

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

It’s not worth the EBay cost. Search somewhere else at less synthetic price sounds like a sensible approach - but if they are selling on ebay then those sellers will also be searching in the places you might search in order to sell it on ebay I find the prices for these cards strange, can the …

---

Re: dogs in video games

Posted on 2020-09-09, 14:10

by

by gerry

in Milliways

in Milliways

leileilol wrote on 2020-09-06, 00:48: rise of the triad dog mode was great 😀

---

Your 'formula' for system specs and operating system matching

Posted on 2020-09-09, 14:07

by

by gerry

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

A recent thread got me thinking again about how I tend to allocate an OS to a given PC Some people prefer 'stretching' the PC, i.e. putting the latest OS on it that the PC can handle and others like to overspec, to see the OS fly as a general rule I go with the following (using intel/microsoft as …

---

Re: Your ultimate soundcard?

Posted on 2020-09-03, 14:29

by

by gerry

in DOSBox Development

in DOSBox Development

collector wrote on 2020-09-03, 13:06: Necroposting a ~17 year old thread? if one of those posters when out that same day and bought a new PC, it would now be a retro PC... vogons forum longevity is itself impressive

---

Re: Gateway roadside rust bucket.

Posted on 2020-09-03, 14:27

by

by gerry

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm enjoying this excellent resurrection, everything looks very clean in the after pics! electronics are more robust than we sometimes give them credit for

---

Re: Could you build a retro PC right now?

Posted on 2020-09-03, 14:24

by

by gerry

in Milliways

in Milliways

Right now, I could build: 3 Socket 478 machines for use from Win9x-Win7 2 Socket 775 machines for use from Win2k-Win10 I'm impressed but perhaps shouldn't be surprised that a number of regulars could put together several fully working PCs based on current stock :) It also, perhaps, says something …

---

Re: Windows 95 OSR2.5 vs Windows 98 SE for a 486 build with 32MB of ram

Posted on 2020-09-02, 09:22

by

by gerry

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I have 98se on a P1 166mmx with 64md ram and find it to be fine. less ram or lower down the pentium line and I'd probably stick to w95, for a 486 with overdrive and 32mb ram as the OP has i think 95 is the right choice

---

Re: Programming on DOS/Windows 95/98

Posted on 2020-09-02, 07:26

by

by gerry

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

A large part of my enjoyment of older PCs comes from programming, I like trying to port simple applications across operating systems, or it might be fun to 'benchmark' an app on different systems and just to experience the different toolsets in use. the various tools I use: DOS: Borland pascal and …

---

Re: Could you build a retro PC right now?

Posted on 2020-08-28, 08:10

by

by gerry

in Milliways

in Milliways

Malik wrote on 2020-08-28, 04:22: Yep, need a(nother) case and power supply here too. Have all the other parts ready. cases and power supplies seem to be a limiting factor for some, cases in particular take up room

---

Re: Collecting rants

Posted on 2020-08-28, 07:39

by

by gerry

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

What is priced how well is a really region dependent issue and a very fluid one as well. In three years I have seen local prices of retro hardware skyrocket from 1/10 of eBay to 10x eBay. that's true. sellers either on or off line often use ebay as a guide but they miss an important point. If they …

---

Re: Usability of this K7 3dfx Compaq I found and HW questions

Posted on 2020-08-28, 07:33

by

by gerry

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm mainly interested in Dos through 2000 gaming. although the upgrade options are interesting if the goal is DOS and late 90's win9x gaming I think you already have a viable system right there, at least one that you can use happily and patiently await any parts that may come along. It may not be …

---

Re: Celeron 433 Socket 370 + SLI Voodoo 2 - build/rebuild log - "Slotket"

Posted on 2020-08-25, 10:37

by

by gerry

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

this is very in depth, it will be as new when done! very impressive and interesting to follow

---

Re: Today is Windows 95 25th Birrthday. Share your memories

Posted on 2020-08-25, 08:46

by

by gerry

in Milliways

in Milliways

First encounter was a pre-install on a P75 PC with 8mb ram. So many floppies if reinstall needed! It looked 'modern'. When it was stable it was great, when plug n play worked it seemed magic! All too many crashes and problems though many were self inflicted. Doubling the ram on that PC made it …

---

Re: Collecting rants

Posted on 2020-08-25, 08:36

by

by gerry

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

So yesterday I was browsing the German eBay Classifieds site and came across an ad with several old motherboards, power supplies, PCI cards, etc. It was all in "untested" condition and the asking price was just below 60€ for the whole lot. One of the boards immediately caught my eye: An ASUS P5A . …

---

Re: Could you build a retro PC right now?

Posted on 2020-08-24, 07:10

by

by gerry

in Milliways

in Milliways

Yes. I have all the parts for a Socket 7 system; Chaintech 5TDM2 Pentium MMX 233 128MB EDO S3 Virge/DX 86C325 4Mb PCI Diamond 3DFX Voodoo 2 8MB PCI Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold CT4390 3COM 3C905B-TX PCI Ethernet 8 GB CompactFlash (might change this to hard disk, not sure yet) 40x CDROM GoTek including …

---