🚀 go-pugleaf

~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

>>
>> 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.

>>
>> 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>

>>
>> 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>

>>
>> 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!

-- 
-- 
* I always hope for the best. Experience, unfortunately, has taught me
to expect the worst.

Yahoo: evilbill_agqx
Web: http://www.evilbill.org.uk