Can't say much about Cirrus Logic PCI cards. They work fine but aren't anything special (to me at least). I like their ISA cards better. Especially later models 5429, 5434.

Actually just the other day I got 5464 card - Laguna 3D. Only tested it in DOS for now.

Speed is not everything you know....
I have had cards that crashes horribly in some Dos games, and they were fast Dos cards. And then I have had medium fast cards that ran near perfect. What I am after, is a card that can run games from 1989 to 1995 in Ms Dos 6.22 on a 5x85-133 or a 486-DX2 66/80 machine. I am not talking high res 3d Dos games. Just the usual keen2, Pinball, syndicate and Doom type of games.

Bought a used 7800 GTX 512MB off ebay for $20 free shipping.

Get it here, put it in my Core2Duo 775 system. Boot up with monitor attached and get presented with this:

Filed for a return and accepted, sending it back soon for full replacement. Free return shipping to send it back via ebay.

It ain't my system. Swapped it back to my GeForce 6800 Ultra 512MB and booted up and playing descent 3 on it again just fine. 7800's just toast. Kinda sad, I haven't had a DOA card off ebay yet this year.. oh well.

brostenen wrote:

Speed is not everything you know....
I have had cards that crashes horribly in some Dos games, and they were fast Dos cards. And then I have had medium fast cards that ran near perfect. What I am after, is a card that can run games from 1989 to 1995 in Ms Dos 6.22 on a 5x85-133 or a 486-DX2 66/80 machine. I am not talking high res 3d Dos games. Just the usual keen2, Pinball, syndicate and Doom type of games.

So true!

It's easy to get carried away with trying to break records, but in the end of the day, slow is good! And stable is even better.

There is no mention of speed in my reply. So I'm not sure where it came from 😉

kixs wrote:

There is no mention of speed in my reply. So I'm not sure where it came from 😉

Yea it was aimed at my ramblings of the ET6000 😀

kithylin wrote:

Bought a used 7800 GTX 512MB off ebay for $20 free shipping. […]
Show full quote

Bought a used 7800 GTX 512MB off ebay for $20 free shipping.

Get it here, put it in my Core2Duo 775 system. Boot up with monitor attached and get presented with this:

Filed for a return and accepted, sending it back soon for full replacement. Free return shipping to send it back via ebay.

It ain't my system. Swapped it back to my GeForce 6800 Ultra 512MB and booted up and playing descent 3 on it again just fine. 7800's just toast. Kinda sad, I haven't had a DOA card off ebay yet this year.. oh well.

I had the misfortune of getting a Gigabyte 7800GTX 256MB with a warped PCB (which I didn't notice until after I tested it) that worked long enough to get in game to Battlefield 2 before I got that "electronic smoke" smell. Oddly enough the card kept running the game for 15 minutes after I noticed that smell (which filled the room but I pretty much knew once I shut the system down that cars would never post again so I figured I may as well run it into the ground) and I was recording with FRAPS. The last frame in the video is a half rendered tank with red blocks all over the screen.

7800s are bitchs to get working. This is why Im cautious of cards that are "tested to bios only" and listed as is, no returns. This is an issue im pretty sure only occurs under load. People need to either test this equipment under load or offer returns.

kixs wrote:

There is no mention of speed in my reply. So I'm not sure where it came from 😉

Sorry... It is just the way I read "Can't say much about Cirrus Logic PCI cards." you know... Sometimes one sentence are just being misread or misunderstood. For that I am sorry, and nothing personal on my behalf.

The reason for choosing the card, was that the PCI editions of CL cards does not make them "bands" on a TFT monitor as I have seen with a number of ISA cards. Such as ET4000, Trident 9000 and ET3000. And secondly, I have choosen the chip because of compatibility issues with DOS games on CL-5446 and S3 325 cards. It is games such as Cyndicate and Dynablaster that I have had trouble with. Even Civilization (the first), I had to load Univbe on a 5446 in order to make it run as it should. So I guess a 5440 is the way to go on a 486 board with PCI slots.

If someone can point me to a decent monitor (TFT) that can interpret 320x200 just as a CRT would, then I will be a happy man.
Or possibly some kind of external box that can make these vertical spaghetti bands disappear.
They make quite an annoyance for me to the point that I can not enjoy what I am gaming.

For those that recommend me to buy a CRT monitor, then that is out of the question.
1: My woman can hear the vibrations/noises that a tube makes, and she will get an heavy migrane from that.
2: I do not have the space for a CRT on my desk.

brostenen wrote:

Sorry... It is just the way I read "Can't say much about Cirrus Logic PCI cards." you know... Sometimes one sentence are just be […]
Show full quote

kixs wrote:

There is no mention of speed in my reply. So I'm not sure where it came from 😉

Sorry... It is just the way I read "Can't say much about Cirrus Logic PCI cards." you know... Sometimes one sentence are just being misread or misunderstood. For that I am sorry, and nothing personal on my behalf.

The reason for choosing the card, was that the PCI editions of CL cards does not make them "bands" on a TFT monitor as I have seen with a number of ISA cards. Such as ET4000, Trident 9000 and ET3000. And secondly, I have choosen the chip because of compatibility issues with DOS games on CL-5446 and S3 325 cards. It is games such as Cyndicate and Dynablaster that I have had trouble with. Even Civilization (the first), I had to load Univbe on a 5446 in order to make it run as it should. So I guess a 5440 is the way to go on a 486 board with PCI slots.

If someone can point me to a decent monitor (TFT) that can interpret 320x200 just as a CRT would, then I will be a happy man.
Or possibly some kind of external box that can make these vertical spaghetti bands disappear.
They make quite an annoyance for me to the point that I can not enjoy what I am gaming.

For those that recommend me to buy a CRT monitor, then that is out of the question.
1: My woman can hear the vibrations/noises that a tube makes, and she will get an heavy migrane from that.
2: I do not have the space for a CRT on my desk.

look for newer Iiyama or eizo lcd monitors. I got a 19" prolite led backlit monitor for about 50$ locally. You can usually find these 5:4 and 4:3 LCD monitors on sites selling refurbished OEM computers and stuff. If you can't find one PM me and I'll pick out a nice one and ship it to you.

Here's my latest acquisition:

21" 1600x1200 samsung LCD. It even has analog S-video and Composite inputs (i use it with my SNES as well). Payed 70$ for it but these 21" 4:3 displays tend to be expensive.

On another note, my SC55mk2 is finally here!

It powers up fine and seems to like the universal power adapter I'm using with it. It has a new battery inside and looks nice and clean. I haven't tested it yet since I don't have a midi cable - or a rca to jack adapter for speakers, but I'll get those tomorrow and test it out.

Got MSI MS-9121 dual s604 with pair of 3.06 1MB L2 CPU's and 2GB ECC DDR with it. Bulging caps, (all 10v 1000uF) will change them and hopefully get it running. Board has AGP pro slot and also miniPCI (that had Ati RageXL in there 🤣).

I have exactly the same one... and remember having a ton of issues with it. Like when using AGP, neither onboard SCSI or pci-x were working. But maybe it was BIOS error or my own mistake.

kanecvr wrote:

look for newer Iiyama or eizo lcd monitors.

Thanks. 😀 Going to PM you on what exact model to look for, when I have searched what is avaliable locally.

I see you have gotten a Roland module. Sweet. They really do deliver some nice quality sound for a retro game.
Though I am not going to get a Roland module. Need to get a daughterboard if any MIDI is going in my collection.
They are just not the top priority for me at this point in time. 😀

I have an eye out on this LCD monitor:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/NEC-MultiSync-LCD2190U … t-/141539047742

But have no idea if it's any good for retro usage 😕 I like 4:3 ratio and 1600x1200 resolution. If anything it would be good for MAME - with Pivot function for vertical shooters 😀

kixs wrote:

I have an eye out on this LCD monitor:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/NEC-MultiSync-LCD2190U … t-/141539047742

But have no idea if it's any good for retro usage 😕 I like 4:3 ratio and 1600x1200 resolution. If anything it would be good for MAME - with Pivot function for vertical shooters 😀

It looks great spec-wise, but I've never used one. i wanted to pick up that exact monitor from a local firm who specializes in selling refurbished hardware, but most of their stock is corporate garbage. I use the term garbage because most of the hardware, especially monitors and laptops have been badly damaged during transport. Over half have black pressure points on the panel, cracked cases, vertical lines and so on. I ordered the nec for 50$, and decided to go pick it up myself - witch was a great idea since all 3 2190u's were rated "D" and were quite damaged. One had a huge gash in the middle of the panel, while the other two had big black pressure spots - so I settled on the Samsung witch they graded "B+". Apart from a tiny hard to notice scratch in the top left corner of the display and some scratches on the case, the samsung looks and works perfectly.

Hey all - long time lurker. Wanted to first of all thank many people here for the gobs of knowledge, in particular Phil for his excellent YouTube videos..

I've started with essentially Phil's "Fast PIII" build. I had AMD processors until I switched to the 2nd gen Core i, so this is fantastic to me. I'm thrilled to get back into some DOS and Windows 98 SE gaming..

AOpen AX6BC
Slotket adapter
Pentium III SL5QV (1000/256/100/1.75V)
512MB (2x256MB) Crucial PC133 CL2
PNY Quadro FX 2000 AGP 128MB
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS SB0350
Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold CT4540
VIA USB 2.0 PCI Card
Realtek 8139D PCI 10/100
LG IDE DVD/CD

Case/Power/Cooling/Storage are planned to be brand new/modern components:
StarTech FAN3701U Socket 370 cooler
Corsair RM550x - fully modular and rated at 130W/25A on the 5V and 3.3V rails!
Corsair Carbide Clear 600c - Nothing against the cases of the era, but it sounds awesome (to me) to show off this excellent hardware in a modern way
GOTEK Floppy Simulator
SD(XC) to IDE Adapter

I'm waiting on most everything to come in, but this beauty arrived yesterday to kick things off:

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

kithylin wrote:

Bought a used 7800 GTX 512MB off ebay for $20 free shipping.

Filed for a return and accepted, sending it back soon for full replacement. Free return shipping to send it back via ebay.

It ain't my system. Swapped it back to my GeForce 6800 Ultra 512MB and booted up and playing descent 3 on it again just fine. 7800's just toast. Kinda sad, I haven't had a DOA card off ebay yet this year.. oh well.

I had the misfortune of getting a Gigabyte 7800GTX 256MB with a warped PCB (which I didn't notice until after I tested it) that worked long enough to get in game to Battlefield 2 before I got that "electronic smoke" smell. Oddly enough the card kept running the game for 15 minutes after I noticed that smell (which filled the room but I pretty much knew once I shut the system down that cars would never post again so I figured I may as well run it into the ground) and I was recording with FRAPS. The last frame in the video is a half rendered tank with red blocks all over the screen.

7800s are bitchs to get working. This is why Im cautious of cards that are "tested to bios only" and listed as is, no returns. This is an issue im pretty sure only occurs under load. People need to either test this equipment under load or offer returns.

I remember the 7800 GTX... bought it new back in the day. Thank goodness it was a EVGA - they're very good with their warranty. It was artifacting like crazy. I did one RMA, and the 2nd card was also bad. I saw in their forums, others were also flooding in with the same issues. It turned out the 7800 GTX was artifacting for all manufactures. EVGA let all the users who filed an RMA for the 7800 GTX to wait for the 7900 GTX (it was a few weeks later), then upgraded everyone who had defective 7800s for the 7900s. People on the BFG side were also saying they were pretty good with exchanges, but I don't recall if they replaced their 7800s with 7900s.

It was my first high-end 3D card (like the very top model - I usually go for mid-range stuff) - so the experience was engraved in my mind.

doogie wrote:

this beauty arrived yesterday

AWE64 Gold are a great card. Amoungst the best of all cards. (depends on whom you ask)

Yeah...
Not the best of the best, yet the 64-Gold is certainly in the top 5 of all.
It looks good, it sounds good. To me it is THE card for non-opl dos-games.

Got the gtx 295 today. This thing is stupid big.

ODwilly wrote:

Got the gtx 295 today. This thing is stupid big.

Same size as my MSI 9800GX2. But what do you expect? its 2 GTX 280's @ GTX 260 clock speeds on one card.

ODwilly wrote:

Got the gtx 295 today. This thing is stupid big.

Not really that big as some of us got even larger cards but the old VHS style GTS 295s were awesome back in the day and are Solid. Modern cards just don't compare build wise and when they have the backplate they are truly tanks. Got two EVGA Red Editions and they are treasures as they are limited edition cards.