🚀 go-pugleaf

EvilBill wrote:
> ~misfit~ wrote:
> > EvilBill wrote:
> > > ~misfit~ wrote:
> > > > EvilBill wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > True, but I don't have any spare AGP ones, just a PCI TNT2,
> > > > > and I think that'd struggle just to run XP, let alone some of
> > > > > the other games I enjoy. <g>
> > > >
> > > > Actually, you'd be surprised. It'll run D2 in 2D mode just
> > > > fine. As for running XP, don't tell me you have the eye-candy
> > > > turned on? The first thing I do with a fresh XP install is
> > > > right-click the desktop, go to "Themes" and click "Windows
> > > > Classic". Then right click "My Computer", Properties, Advanced,
> > > > Performance, Settings and tick the "Adjust for best
> > > > performance" box. Then a 2MB PCI Cirrus Logic card (remember
> > > > those?) will run XP.
> > >
> > > The last time I had one of *those*, it was January 1998 and I was
> > > running Windows 95 OSR2 on a Cyrix 150MHz machine with 32 megs of
> > > RAM and a 2 gig hard drive. LOL!
> >
> > Heh! I ran a Cyrix CPU for a while until too many games didn't
> > recognise it as a Pentium and wouldn't install. Swapped it for a
> > P166. :-)
>
> I swapped mine for an MMX P233. <g> Ah, Socket 7... LOL


Rich man!! I'd just upgraded my 486DX-2/66 for the Cyrix 150Mhz as it was 
cheaper (by about $100) that the P166. However, Diablo (and a couple other 
games) didn't recognise it as a Pentium-class processor. As everything was 
*very* Intel-centric in thse days some games 'assumed' that I had a 486 and 
wouldn't install. (Can't remember if Diablo was one). So I bit the bullet, 
spoke to my supplier who kindly gave me a full refund on the Cyrix towards 
the P166.

> > > D2, maybe - but I'm not even sure what the impact on my system
> > > will be of replacing a mid-end AGP card with a truly ancient PCI
> > > one. I don't know if my monitor will even display anything on it!
> > > Plus the current nVidia drivers don't do TNT2s any more, I'd have
> > > to uninstall 94.24 and go back to 61.77 to even get the drivers to 
> > > recognise
> > > the card, LOL...
> >
> > Yeah, I know. I see that nVidia were taking action against a group
> > (name escapes me) who were reverse-engineering their newer drivers
> > so that they'd work with older cards as well.
> >
>
> Silly buggers. If they'd continued to support their older cards with
> their newer drivers, they wouldn't *have* to take any action.


Exactly! I get really annoyed with companies who try to "force" you to 
discard hardware that could be working just fine, doing what you want. 
Microsoft are doing it when they dropped support for Win98 (Although I for 
one don't need their steenking support) and now nVidia are doing it with 
their drivers. Bastards!

> > > I did have an FX5200 back along, unfortunately I sold it on eBay
> > > last year!
> >
> > Foolish boy! One thing being broke has taught me; Always have a
> > spare/backup. When you can't afford to just go out and buy something
> > it pays to have a part 'B'. (Going to pick up a spare Speedtouch 510
> > ADSL modem I begged off a guy who upgraded in an nz computer group
> > on Thursday).
>
> That works. <g>

Yeah, he wrote about some problems he was having that he thought was due to 
the modem/router. I replied trying to help troubleshoot as I have the same 
model (and they were quite pricey when new, certainly not entry-level). He 
obviously has more money than me (who doesn't?) and just replaced it. I 
mentioned in-group that it's a shame they aren't really user-serviceable on 
a component evel as, otherwise, I'd grab it for spares.

He emailed me saying that he thinks the problem was actually with his ISP 
and they were unable to help him set up the modem as they're not common and 
most people have budget units (He'd made changes to Windows MTU and the 
modem stopped connecting). He said if I want to go pick it up I can have it. 
Very nice of him. There's still a chance that it could be fusked but it's 
only a half-hour drive so I figure it's gotta be worth it. They're a nice 
bit of kit, they run a cut-down *nix kernel and have basic firewall 
functions.

> > > I remember those. <g> Had a 64MB one back in the day when I was
> > > running an old Duron 800 rig with 128 megs of RAM. LOL
> >
> > Hehee! I still have a few older rigs. Let's see... PIII 500, Celeron
> > 900, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, Duron Applebred 1.6, Athlon XP2400+ as well as
> > my main rig (Barton 2500 clocked to 3200 at redued vcore). All
> > machines will run at the push of a button and are connected to my 
> > LAN/the
> > internet. They're worth pennies to sell so I'd rather keep 'em.
> >
>
> Yup, I have a few older ones too. Athlon 600 384Mb, PIII-667 128Mb,
> PIII-933 256Mb... all pretty useless for gaming but the 384Mb Athlon
> makes a nice backup machine for the Net and watching videos. <g>

I use one of mine for decoding UHF Sky transmissions so I can watch the 
Formula 1 live instead of avoiding the news etc. and looking for a torrent. 
They all run D2 and, as there are currently a few CD keys in the house with 
Shady flatting here, it's handy to have four machines on-line at once.

> > > PCI graphics cards are like hen's teeth full stop! AGP ones will
> > > be soon, too; I don't think anything better than a 7600GS is
> > > available on AGP nowadays.
> >
> > I lashed out with my birthday money a couple months ago and bought
> > one of those! 256MB DDR-RAM onboard. I don't need the grunt
> > (however, I figured get it while I can) but Shady has some demanding dx9 
> > games
> > so I'm letting her borrow it for now. I was amazed that it has a
> > molex for extra power but was passively cooled. "Was" being the
> > operative word. I fitted a thermister-controlled variable-speed 80mm
> > fan, with the sensor wedged into the heatsink fins. It starts off at
> > around 900rpm in winter and stabilises at around 1,300rpm in
> > Windows, Hits nearly 2,000 gaming. Gotta make it last longer I
> > figure.
>
> Indeed. I don't think I'd buy one without a fan, not since this rig
> didn't come with a case fan!

It was an impulse buy. I was there to get a HDD and the owner knows me quite 
well, I've been buying parts from him for a while now. He gave me a good 
discount on the HDD (didn't even have to ask, he just took it to his desk, 
tapped away at the keyboard and said "The best price I can let you have it 
for is xxx") I saw it on his shelf, decided the bills could wait as they're 
fast dissapearing off shelves and bought it.

To be honest I'd rather have a 'passively cooled' card and fit my own, 
larger, quieter fan to it. IME 80% of graphics cards fail due to the buzzy 
little fans they usually come with failing and the GPU/VRAM overheating. 
Seems they're designed to last about 2 years.

Mate, I don't want to hear that your rig didn't come without a case fan. 
There's nothing stopping you fitting one. All my machines have them, even 
the low-power ones. My main rig has four. (1 x 120mm and 3 x 80mm) The #1 
cause of PC component failure is heat-related. Could be why your graphics 
card is playing up now.

Cheers,
-- 
Shaun.