2x 4650 1GB DDR2

Not the best model but it works ok for testing purposes.

Apple IIe

Nexxen wrote on 2024-04-15, 12:32:

2x 4650 1GB DDR2

Not the best model but it works ok for testing purposes.

One of those has been my "old faithful" since 2010ish, didn't really start feeling slow until 2015 or so.... feels like "enough GPU" on earlier X2 and Core2

BreakPoint wrote on 2024-04-15, 13:25:

Apple IIe

Smell the 80s! .... they always had a unique smell to me, earthy overheating electronics or something.

They are also an extreme pain in the ass to get software on, not sure if a Greaseweasel is helpful with them.

BreakPoint wrote on 2024-04-15, 13:25:

Apple IIe

Like many I am nostalgic for a great many things from my childhood, however there are 3 devices that I will be happy to never touch again, an Atari 2600, an Apple ][, and an 8088 PC XT. Those are not machines I look back on fondly, I had enough usage of them to come to loath their capabilities. The things I actually collect are the items I always wanted at that time when I was using those horrible machines and couldn't afford anything better.

Shagittarius wrote on 2024-04-15, 14:32:

The things I actually collect are the items I always wanted at that time when I was using those horrible machines and couldn't afford anything better.

Hmm. Does explain my obsession with sound modules, if I'm following a similar pattern.

Outside of that, it's all Acorn - Electron, Electron, Model B, A3000, RiscPC. And of those, the ARM machines were a gift from a passed aunt, and an Electron and Beeb I had as a kid in the 2000's. It's only the second Electron I bought "after the fact".

I did collect Amiga stuff in the early 2000's - but using them became painful, and the cost of modernising more so!

Everex Systems, Inc. Maxi Magic EMS EV-165A

Thought I had got lucky, but the top right IC is very corroded 🙁 Not sure it's going to work

InTheStudy wrote on 2024-04-14, 21:37:

Does it have the rackmounting dimple in the bottom, like the SC-55?

I see a dimple, no sure if this is what you are talking about:

Also in the back there is a 4 positions selector close to what looks like a PS2 port (?). I have no idea what this is for and I guess I'll have to RTFM.

mtest001 wrote on 2024-04-15, 17:51:

I see a dimple, no sure if this is what you are talking about:

That's it - that dimple fits over a matching "probe" on the RAD-50 rackmounting shelf, and if you took off the front feet, there would be screwholes underneath that also line up with mounting points on the RAD-50.

The later plastic units like the SC-8820 and SD-20 don't have those mounting points, so it's really cool that the "early" buttonless ones are still rackable. Thank you for showing me! 😀

Also in the back there is a 4 positions selector close to what looks like a PS2 port (?). I have no idea what this is for and I guess I'll have to RTFM.

Serial port for connecting to a PC/Mac without MIDI hardware. Just switch it to MIDI, connect it to your sound card, and forget it was ever there. 😉

nfraser01 wrote on 2024-04-15, 16:01:

Everex Systems, Inc. Maxi Magic EMS EV-165A

Thought I had got lucky, but the top right IC is very corroded 🙁 Not sure it's going to work

Make sure you check those tantalum’s for shorts. I blew up my PAS16 by just powering it on with a bad tantalum.

mtest001 wrote on 2024-04-15, 17:51:

I see a dimple, no sure if this is what you are talking about: […]
Show full quote

InTheStudy wrote on 2024-04-14, 21:37:

Does it have the rackmounting dimple in the bottom, like the SC-55?

I see a dimple, no sure if this is what you are talking about:

20240415_182206.jpg

Also in the back there is a 4 positions selector close to what looks like a PS2 port (?). I have no idea what this is for and I guess I'll have to RTFM.

I believe the switch is for adjusting the operating mode of this "ps/2 lookalike" port, which IIRC is midi over serial, for the computers that didn't have a midi interface to connect the module to.

As I assume you'll be using the Midi DIN connector, just leave the switch on the"midi" setting 😀

All clear, thanks. I also read the manual. I did not know that MIDI over serial connectivity existed.

Nexxen wrote on 2024-04-15, 12:32:

2x 4650 1GB DDR2

Not the best model but it works ok for testing purposes.

One died before my eyes.

First it started going to black blocks, filled the screen (like you see in mem tests, rectangles) and then it wouldn't display.
I thought a driver issue.
Rebooted, fan would spin a couple of times but no image. It tried to initialize.
In the end it just stopped trying and behaves like there's a card picked up by the bios but no image.

Sometimes the fan spins at 100% or at low rpm.

Core isn't getting warm at all. No shorts, voltages are ok.

IDK what it could be.

My PCI version FX 5500 turned up today.

Popped off the heatsink, and...I've been HAD! It's a 5200 in disguse. It shows up as a 5500 though, some crafty VBIOS work from a factory in China.

...and here's the thing, it's not much better than the 16MB onboard on my Slot 1 board. Is it this bad because the bios is funky? Or is it just a bad card? We're talking borderline unplayable Project IGI.

Dan386DX wrote on 2024-04-16, 00:42:

My PCI version FX 5500 turned up today.

Popped off the heatsink, and...I've been HAD! It's a 5200 in disguse. It shows up as a 5500 though, some crafty VBIOS work from a factory in China.

...and here's the thing, it's not much better than the 16MB onboard on my Slot 1 board. Is it this bad because the bios is funky? Or is it just a bad card? We're talking borderline unplayable Project IGI.

Weren't all 5500s just overclocked 5200s, even the pricer ones from brands like BFG and PNY? Seem to recall something like that.
As for how good its performance is relative to the onboard graphics, it really depends on your CPU. A Pentium II in the 233-333 range may even bottleneck some quicker 16MB GPUs (onboard Voodoo3 for instance, if you're lucky enough to have one of those).

If I’m not mistaken all early FX 5200 are based on the NV34 chip. When the FX 5500 came out nVidia shipped the NV34B1 chip. From that point in time all FX 5200 and FX 5500 used the newer B1 revision. Your card has the B1 chip. Not sure about binning, however. I guess all B1-chips can run at stock FX 5500 speeds even if nVidia labelled one as 5200.

Performance can vary a lot with these cards. The ones that have a 128-bit memory bus and high clock frequencies aren’t that bad (at least for what it is- a budget card) but there are plenty of cards with just a 64-bit memory bus and some of them have slower rated RAM making it even worse. So yeah, a lot of those cards performs really slow.

mtest001 wrote on 2024-04-15, 22:17:

All clear, thanks. I also read the manual. I did not know that MIDI over serial connectivity existed.

I grew up in the 90's and never came across it until three months ago when I started looking at Sound Modules - so; I'm not super surprised. I had an Amiga serial-midi converter about 5 years ago, but that's not even quite the same thing.

I did however have a detailed design for a line of site building network based on hooking a serial port to a laser pointer. Long live Aminet for that gem.

The overhead from these newer drivers makes them slower than older video cards, with a few rare exceptions. You will need at least a Coppermine-class CPU to take advantage of an FX series card.

You will probably have much better performance with a TNT2 or a Rage 128 on a Pentium 2-class CPU. Maybe even a GeForce 2, if you use old enough drivers.

OpenGL drivers are often worse on older cards and the overhead for this API is generally much faster than Direct3D, so this is one exception to the rule.

Dan386DX wrote on 2024-04-16, 00:42:

My PCI version FX 5500 turned up today.

Popped off the heatsink, and...I've been HAD! It's a 5200 in disguse. It shows up as a 5500 though, some crafty VBIOS work from a factory in China.

...and here's the thing, it's not much better than the 16MB onboard on my Slot 1 board. Is it this bad because the bios is funky? Or is it just a bad card? We're talking borderline unplayable Project IGI.

This is the best I was able to achieve with an FX 5500 (it's identified as a 5200 Ultra because I force installed that driver). I compared both 64 bit and 128 bit cards (all else the same) and it was so CPU limited that there was no difference; that wouldn't be the case with a faster CPU I'm sure. Pixel Pipes has a video with a 128 bit 5500 PCI in a high powered system, and it isn't terrible.

An FX 5200 will have the same performance as an FX 5950 when the CPU is so severely underpowered.

I've always wondered if these newer drivers shift TnL back onto the CPU, where it may be faster using SSE instructions. But when there is no SSE, the fallback code path is what destroys these cards in retro systems.

Even though these cards are it achieving their maximum potential, it's still important to compare them to whatever else is available for your system. Sometimes the performance of a 5500 is "good enough" for whatever you want to use it for. Your personal satisfaction should rest not upon benchmark scores but on what you want to actually play with the card.