Bancho wrote on 2024-01-24, 16:07:

Manage to get the final piece of hardware for my XP/Win7 Build. Creative Labs X-Fi Titanium PCI-E card. Just installed it in bot […]
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Manage to get the final piece of hardware for my XP/Win7 Build. Creative Labs X-Fi Titanium PCI-E card. Just installed it in both OS's, and then proceeded to Play a bit of Outrun 2006 Coast2Coast in XP. Passing Breeze sounded soo good. This PC is now finished and I'm thrilled how it turned out.

That's a lovely build!

And those X-Fi Titanium cards are just perfect for Windows XP. 😀

Bruninho wrote on 2024-01-25, 01:21:

Royale or Zune theme?

Royale Noir.

Saving laptops from themselves:

That long battery came from a Fujitsu Lifebook B-2154 which was incomplete but working. I had another B2154 that was destroyed by the same battery - the battery's electrolyte travelled through the cable into the mainboard, destroying some connections for system memory so it no longer POSTs. Thankfully this new B-2154 I got for a pittance but it was missing all the parts my broken one had, and it's in much nicer condition with the touch stylus still present 😀

I've had one of my Toshiba Portege 610CT laptops in a box in storage for around 2 months now. When I put it in the box I could see that the center of the screen looked a little different than the rest, now 2 months later it looks like the polariser is definitely degrading and will need replacing:

Which is awful, I paid quite a lot for that replacement panel.
Since I don't need to use this laptop any time soon, I think it might be wise to take some pictures covering the timeline of its breakdown.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-01-25, 01:29:

And those X-Fi Titanium cards are just perfect for Windows XP. 😀

I agree for the most part, but they have some issues with OpenAL games. DanielK's latest X-Fi driver pack fixes this, but at the cost of disabling the "What U Hear" recording input. Alternatively, you can use (much) older official drivers which don't disable that input.

Also, the PCI-e versions of X-Fi cards can't decode Dolby Digital 5.1, so you're out of luck if you want to hook up an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 to your PC for some 5.1 surround goodness. Paradoxically, Audigy cards can do this without any issues, and I think PCI versions of X-Fi cards can do it as well.

I started modding yet another old cooler to be used on a GPU that was not meant for it.
I got a V3 just 3 days ago (i was always regretful of selling my V3) and since i became good at taking off glued heatsinks i did it for the V3, the only issue is that i thought i had no cooler for it, i tried getting some standard square heatsink i had laying around but the size was just not right.

Then i remembered that i had a cooler from a stock i bought 8 months ago but that i never used because i had no Gf6 or at least compatible GPUs for it, it's surprisingly a good fit, way too good even, the only problem was the pure copper base, damn that was hard, i junked the bit after i was able to drill the 2 holes, it became unusable, tomorrow i will add the screws etc. and see if everything comes up tight as i imagined it.

Only one thing is puzzling me now, is every major release of the V3 (2000\3000\3500) the same card just overclocked? because if it is i wouldn't mind flashing the bios of a 3000 or even 3500, the cooler will keep it extremely cool of that i have no doubt, i would just like to know if the chip used is the same, that would make the overclocking\flashing pretty safe from my point of view.

P.S: I'm also thinking of shimming the ram since the base of the cooler covers half of them.

"Voodoo Silencer" 🤣

I also got the HSF off mine (the TV out variant) but just cleaned up and repasted it back. I don't know how to get it cooled off without taking up a mobo header for any active heatsink fan combo.

Managed to get a NOS PCI-E X-Fi Titanium installed in my ivy bridge system. Had some trouble because the GPU blocks the PCI-E slots, so I'm using a little extender cable and mounting it sideways, which took some effort to get working...

I need to get the front panel audio hooked up and then I think this system will be all done and I can turn my focus back to my 98SE project.

PcBytes wrote on 2024-01-26, 00:59:

"Voodoo Silencer" 🤣

I also got the HSF off mine (the TV out variant) but just cleaned up and repasted it back. I don't know how to get it cooled off without taking up a mobo header for any active heatsink fan combo.

No kidding i'm half thinking of printing a new graphic voodoo related 🤔 but i don't feel like destroying the OG one.

You can always go for modding and hunting for some old retro cooler everybody forgot, that's more or less what i do when i want to start a cool project.

Disabled the on-board CyberBlade graphics on one of my EPIA-800 boards just to test out my S3 VIrge/DX 4MB in a pure DOS 6.22 environment with something more powerful than the Pentium 166 build I was using it in, and to see if it played well with the EPIA-800's finicky PCI slot.

So far, so good.

I know the S3 cards get a lot of hate for their 3D performance, but to be honest, its overall DOS compatibility really sells it for me, and they can still be found cheap. You just have to be realistic with your expectations and some games just run better than others. Duke 3D for example runs great at 800x600, but Duke runs good on many things. Going to load Quake on there next and see how it does.

S3 PCI cards are great and highly underrated. There are plenty of games that don't need any 3D acceleration.

Kahenraz wrote on 2024-01-26, 04:38:

S3 PCI cards are great and highly underrated. There are plenty of games that don't need any 3D acceleration.

Indeed. So far I've dropped just under 90 games on this "test build", and most are not 3D accelerated, and work great with the Virge/DX.

I got about 1.5GB of space left, plenty of room to play with a LOT more. 😀

Are S3 cards underrated? I always see them highly recommended for DOS gaming due to their broad compatibility.

I think they fly under the radar for a lot of builds because they lack any meaningful 3D acceleration. Every card has a place, as long as you understand it's limitations. And as mentioned, they have excellent DOS compatibility.

Virge DX/GX cards using S3D can be faster than software rendering on a Pentium 133/166 (and older systems). Their 2D compatibility is very good too.

Image quality tends to be a mixed bag though. For best results, you want a branded card from a reputable manufacturer like ELSA, Hercules, STB, Diamond etc. There are also black level issues on some cards, but that can usually be fixed by either flashing a different BIOS or using the debug command in DOS.

PcBytes wrote on 2024-01-16, 19:11:

Finished painting it! Green and white, goes pretty well. Doesn't look the best as the place I used to buy paint from recently switched to crappy chinese-made paint.

looks cool, kinda military almost 😀

Started working on a Toshiba T1200. Unfortunately need a bit of help:
Fixing Toshiba T1200 - Flickering LCD panel with no picture

iraito wrote on 2024-01-26, 00:56:

Only one thing is puzzling me now, is every major release of the V3 (2000\3000\3500) the same card just overclocked? because if it is i wouldn't mind flashing the bios of a 3000 or even 3500, the cooler will keep it extremely cool of that i have no doubt, i would just like to know if the chip used is the same, that would make the overclocking\flashing pretty safe from my point of view.

Yes, but you can also set the clock speed of the faster model by using the software/control panel (3dfx tools I believe?). It'll only work while in windows of course.
Be careful of the memory though, not all chips are guaranteed to withstand the clock speed of the faster model.

Even if you decide to permanently flash another BIOS, overclock in software to check the behavior before doing so. A 2000 can definitely be flashed to a 3000, but I don't about the 3500.

konc wrote on 2024-01-26, 12:30:

Yes, but you can also set the clock speed of the faster model by using the software/control panel (3dfx tools I believe?). It'll […]
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iraito wrote on 2024-01-26, 00:56:

Only one thing is puzzling me now, is every major release of the V3 (2000\3000\3500) the same card just overclocked? because if it is i wouldn't mind flashing the bios of a 3000 or even 3500, the cooler will keep it extremely cool of that i have no doubt, i would just like to know if the chip used is the same, that would make the overclocking\flashing pretty safe from my point of view.

Yes, but you can also set the clock speed of the faster model by using the software/control panel (3dfx tools I believe?). It'll only work while in windows of course.
Be careful of the memory though, not all chips are guaranteed to withstand the clock speed of the faster model.

Even if you decide to permanently flash another BIOS, overclock in software to check the behavior before doing so. A 2000 can definitely be flashed to a 3000, but I don't about the 3500.

Depends on the speed of the ram the card is using and if the GPU core itself is capable of hitting 3500 speeds. The 3500 was the best binned Avenger chips with fast Vram, V3 2000 will more often than not hit 3000 speeds and 3000 can sometimes do 3500 but Vram speed is the key here. Might even be a few AIB 2000/3000 models with fast Vram that can get close to 3500 but its all dependent on the speed of the Vram and active cooling.

What are the specs written on your RAM chips, so we can see what their theoretical maximum speed is?

gerry wrote on 2024-01-26, 08:41:

PcBytes wrote on 2024-01-16, 19:11:

Finished painting it! Green and white, goes pretty well. Doesn't look the best as the place I used to buy paint from recently switched to crappy chinese-made paint.

looks cool, kinda military almost 😀

Ahahah 🤣 thanks. Now, to order a Aladdin XT and maybe go to town with programming its CPLD as well.