VOGONS


First post, by metalsonic

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Hello I've recently been wanting to get into retro PC gaming, and saw the thin client option appealing. I bought a HP 5720 to do this, and since I am not super knowledgeable on older PCs I have a few questions. I read a few topics, and it is mentioned that I may need to modify the pci slot for some cards. Is there a photo guide of this mod anywhere? I do not have the riser case extension, so I will be doing the cut case mod like in Phil's video. Could the mod be done to the pci riser cable? I mainly am after dos and Windows 98 gaming to play some games I haven't been able to since I was a kid. Hoping to get Commander Keen with a smooth frame rate for one, as I can't ever get those to emulate right in dosbox. I saw a generic Yamaha YMF724F-V card on ebay that I'm thinking of trying with it. Any other tips would be appreciated as to someone who is basically new to retro pc gaming.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/255392818767?hash=it … ioAAOSw2x5iD5qD

Reply 1 of 2, by notsofossil

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A PCI riser card or extension cable should work fine. A YMF724F card should also work fine. I'd sooner recommend using a riser card than cutting up these HP thin clients to fit the card in straight, just not worth it. If you were to do any cutting, what you should do is cut a slot to run a PCI extension cable outside then get some PC case mounting screws with matching nuts so you can bolt the PCI card to the outside of the plastic case, much more compact and elegant.

Does your thin client look like this? https://www.ebay.ca/itm/323526142112?ssPageNa … 353.m1438.l2649

I have used this thin client (HP T5710) for a couple of years now. It works well enough, but it isn't perfect. Out of the box as-is, it is often too slow for decent Windows 9x gaming and inversely it's actually too fast for many of the more picky MS-DOS games. It's a kind of "jack of all trades, master of none" DOS and Windows computer. My only two real complaints with this computer is the parallel port doesn't work with my OPL3LPT or Covox clone sound cards. Now maybe this is due to me using Windows Me with the real mode DOS hack, maybe not. My other complaint is there's no way to adjust the CPU speed in the BIOS which sucks for DOS games.

Why do I use Windows Me with a real mode DOS hack applied? Because I found Windows 98SE would fail to install due to lack of drivers, sort of a chicken and egg scenario where to install the full HP USB driver + mass storage driver, it would disable the USB interface so I couldn't control anything. The PS/2 port often doesn't work for me either. The HP T5710 is a very USB-focused system, it works SO much better with a Windows that actually has good USB driver support, such as Windows Me. Contrary to popular belief, Windows Me actually contains USB mass storage drivers which kicks ass.

The one huge complement I'd give to the HP T5710 is its Crusoe Transmeta CPU which somehow despite not actually being an x86 CPU, seems to work flawlessly. It is some weird generic CPU that doesn't use a mainstream instruction set and architecture, thus it runs an x86 virtualization layer. What is rated as an 800MHz Crusoe Transmeta honestly feels more like a 400MHz AMD K6-2 than anything.

Thinkpad T42 Win9x Drivers | Latitude D600 Win9x Drivers
Next: Dell Inspiron 8000

Reply 2 of 2, by metalsonic

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Thanks for the info. Mine is the latter model I'll add a picture of it. After more research the cable extender was looking like a better idea. About two years ago I actually had the version with the riser extension case. It did install windows 98 ok for me. I did have to jump through a few hoops to get it on there. It ran 9x games pretty good for me, but I think it has a faster cpu. I never had a sound card at the time to test dos games on it, which im hoping to get to this time. The issue I found was it was getting way too hot in it with the 420 mx card I was using. Out of frustration I sold it. I found a good deal on this one without the case extension, which I though would help with the cooling if the gpu wasn't in the case. I figure I'll make a cut in the case and feed the cable though like you mentioned. Odd about the ps2 port I didn't have any issue with the last one I had. I found a geforce 7200 gs card at a red racks for a good price. I know its not a 9x card, but I'm gonna try to use it with those forceware drivers.