Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Posted on 2017-09-19, 16:44
So that's what the box looked like. Cool.
Re: Retro Games Played by Release Year
Posted on 2017-09-19, 15:12
Heh, I haven't started my deep dive into my game library, but I was planning on keeping these kinds of statistics. It'll be awhile before I have enough data to make a pretty chart though.
Re: Teach me to love ATI Rage
Posted on 2017-09-19, 15:11
I've been kinda curious about the Matrox cards for awhile. Never really used one. I've got a Millennium I in my DOS/Win95 machine, though I may be swapping that out if I run into any DOS compatibility issues. I have a single 8MB Monster II for glide in the win98 machine, but that's more of an …
Re: Teach me to love ATI Rage
Posted on 2017-09-19, 14:19
Back in early 99, I was living with my dad and did all of my gaming on his NEC Ready 9889. It had a Rage Pro Turbo. Honestly, I didn't really know what the fuck a "3D Accelerator!!!" was back then. I would grab every gaming mag that had a cover CD and run the demos they had on that machine. Thief, …
Re: Recommend A DX7/8 Video Card and Driver Pairing
Posted on 2017-09-19, 01:45
Got a 4600, it was my first choice. Probably should have mentioned that :) The question was more that I don't know much about that era and wasn't sure if there was a better option performance-wise. I know the 9700/9800 kills this thing in raw speed but wasn't sure if the ATI driver lottery hurt it …
Recommend A DX7/8 Video Card and Driver Pairing
Posted on 2017-09-19, 00:22
Looking to put together an ME/2000 dual boot machine. I want to keep this pre-dx9, as I'll be building another machine specifically for that. Any suggestions for a card that will give me the best performance in games requiring those two DX versions *only*? Not trying to stay with Pre-DX9 cards, so …
Re: Senrew's Late Win98 Machine
Posted on 2017-09-16, 21:54
Phillips PSC604 PCI Soundcard (I don't know much about this, but will be testing it as best as I can) That card uses a rebranded CMI 8738 chip, so nothing special about it. Yeah, I put this thing together on my "bench" (an old motherboard box) and it was just...meh. It's an alternative to a Live! …
Re: Senrew's Late Win98 Machine
Posted on 2017-09-16, 20:56
I've decided to stick with the Ti4600 on this build. Going to dual-boot WInME and 2000. This machine will be meant to cover Dx7/8 games from about 2000-2003 or so. Just waiting to pick up an Audigy 2ZS and a Case for the machine and I think it'll be ready to go.
Re: Halcyon
Posted on 2017-09-15, 16:20
I ordered a p200 chip and some rolled IDE/Floppy cables. Once I install the cpu the build itself will be complete and I can call this machine ready for use. The new cables will help me clean up the inside of the case. As for the outside of the case...well, it's rusted to all hell. Really considering …
Re: What to do with a P2B-S
Posted on 2017-09-15, 00:07
BTW, just checked the specific revision of this board and it'll only take a 600mhz Katmai. It's currently got a 500mhz Katmai in it, so I guess that's the target build. So, anyone else? Where would the sweet spot for this board/CPU combo be?
Re: What to do with a P2B-S
Posted on 2017-09-14, 18:12
Well, personally, I've got machines that'll take me to early 1998, and then a machine that would be fine from there till about 2002/3 or so. I don't necessarily *need* a machine in between, but I've got this one sitting here and it's just a shame to let it collect dust. Not really trying to recreate …
What to do with a P2B-S
Posted on 2017-09-14, 15:33
I've got this awesome board sitting here, and no idea what to build it up as. I think this one can take up to an 800mhz Slot 1 Coppermine. If you were given this board, what would you build it into, and what would you play on it?
Re: Senrew's Late Win98 Machine
Posted on 2017-09-13, 22:30
Would I be able to max out the RAM to 3GB for the XP side and just use the MaxPhysPage trick to limit to say 512 for 98? Or is there some kind of hard limit for RAM in 98?
Re: Useful Life of the Pentium 1 (and MMX)
Posted on 2017-09-13, 17:31
By April 2001, almost every game required a P2 as minimum CPU. There were a few holdouts, Everquest and Blair Witch (reviewed in that issue) needed a 200mhz chip at minimum, but I think we can call it by early 2001 that new games upped the floor for CPUs to at least the slowest of the P2s.
Re: Useful Life of the Pentium 1 (and MMX)
Posted on 2017-09-13, 17:18
That's a pretty good analysis, but I think it misses one salient metric - there's a point at which a given spec (a PMMX, say) will still run most new releases, but you'd never consider building a new machine with that spec. In 1999, it seemed to me like a PMMX could still run most things, but I'd …
Re: Useful Life of the Pentium 1 (and MMX)
Posted on 2017-09-13, 17:10
Wild card. What about the Pentium pro? My memory of the Pentium Pro is mostly that the window where a PPro machine made any sense for a gamer was very narrow. I knew a few people that had them, but those were all expensive (and usually company-owned, or at least company-subsidized) graphics …
Re: Useful Life of the Pentium 1 (and MMX)
Posted on 2017-09-13, 16:52
I've been going through the CGW magazine archives and checking out what their killer rigs were through the late 90s and the recommended specs on the games they review. Using the January 2000 issue as a cutoff (As it would have been out before the new year), their Killer/Lean/Budget machine builds …
Re: Useful Life of the Pentium 1 (and MMX)
Posted on 2017-09-13, 03:36
Today (2017) we're all spoiled by buttery smooth frame rates 60 or even 120-144hz, so when you go back and build a nostalgic retro system, sometimes you get a nasty surprise in performance. If you want to run late 90s to early 00 software I would just go ahead and get a Pentium III Coppermine or …
Re: Useful Life of the Pentium 1 (and MMX)
Posted on 2017-09-13, 03:32
In February 99, at age 16, I went to live with my father across the country and had to leave my machine behind. He had a p2/350 based NEC and I played a few games on that; Thief, Jane's F-15, Blood II. When I moved back in with my mother later in the year, I was back to my 200mmx Compaq. The newest …
Re: Useful Life of the Pentium 1 (and MMX)
Posted on 2017-09-13, 03:17
My own experience was somewhat the same. I had a p200mmx from mid/late 97 through till at least 2003 when I bought myself an already low-end socket 478 celeron 2ghz HP machine. I didn't do a lot of gaming beyond 1999 or so though, so I was kind of out of it, and even on that celeron machine I didn't …
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