TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[Radical Vision]

Welp did my Radical magic, and now the GPU of the IBM T60 runs proper temperatures... And even before this, there was the stock thermal pad on the GPU, but after monitoring the temperatures of the machine, i found out that the damn GPU runs hot as hell (and that was back few weeks ago when my room temperature was 20c, not F 28c as today lol), in idle was 60c+, and under NFS Most Wanted did go up to 85c++ i was like wtF.... Then i did read few forums, and ppl was like "well it is how they are designed all T60 ATi cards run hot, that is normal". Yeah right my a$$, sure IBM failed to do proper cooling, the damn GPU mem chips are bare, there is no pads, no even contact with the cooler, what a joke no wonder many T60 have failed GPUs, and the T61 with the nGreedia cards are all dead... Good for me that T60 unit was not very used, as i can tell by the lack of glance on the wrist area and the buttons, so the GPU have much life in it prob, and after my radical fine tuning will prob lasts forever....

The bag with many thermal pads. And the chosen pads...





Before the mod Idle = 60c+, gaming 80c+ (room temperature 20c back then)
After the radical HOTfix idle = 45c, gaming 64c (room temperature 28c now)




Was looking for this cooling upgrade from some time now, but did not have the time (still did not but ehhh...), and tired from work, lifting weights ect ffs... But now it is done, and cant be undone... Used old thermal pads from dead GPUs and other dead parts, that i did collect, after some isopropyl alcohol 95%, cleaning the pads they got sticky again and they work fine.... Someone may say " u should have bought brand new pads, as these are old and useless" yeah right whatever u say m8. Pads are fine, hell even god damn thermal paste that is cemented DO work and transfer heat, and the parts wont overheat, and that is known, look at 3Dfx Voodoo III and V cards, all have cemented coolers, and they get hot as hell, so the cement do work, same with thermal pastes and pads... Now the keyboard works as giant heatsink, and as result it gets hot AF on the CPU/GPU place, welp better this to get hot, then the GPU... Now for some reason after the mod, the A button is angry with me, and wont register properly most of the time and the button feels meshy and crappy, not sure wtf, need to see if i can get it apart and clean the damn thing...




I always look how can improve the cooling of the stuff i use, since from the factory they dont do their best, and some times they fail at some critical places....


Edit after searching, seems these keys are not as garbage as the modern ones, and can be removed, without destroying them. Seems the rubber of the A key is messed up/ grow old, and once pressed, it takes x6 the time, to return back to its original form lmao.... Not sure if i can replace that part alone, as the key is otherwise perfect...

 

[MaxiPro800]

To arrive.



Not pictured:
- SR440BX

 

[wolf]

latest pickup.

GeForce GTX 780Ti 3G

 

[AUTOEXEC.BAT]

What is a good balanced GPU for a Core2Quad 9550
I want something that is period correct.
CPU is from 2008, so lets say a GPU till 2012 max

What GPU is the fastest to max out with this CPU?

 

[Radical Vision]

What is a good balanced GPU for a Core2Quad 9550
I want something that is period correct.
CPU is from 2008, so lets say a GPU till 2012 max

What GPU is the fastest to max out with this CPU?

Prob something like Radeon R9 290x would be good match, or R9 280x.... Fastest prob will be something like GTX 980TI or GTX 1080, but i would stay away from nGreedia, since they tend to die way more then the Radeon counterparts.




Parts i took some time ago, that mobo with the x2 P4 Xeons can make great retro system with more CPU processing power, then single P4 CPU...



Few lots i got also some time ago...

 

[Greenslade]

Does this need MSI MAG X570 TOMAHAWK WIFI AMD AM4 ATX Motherboard. need to have 3 4 pin connectors for power?or could i get away with 2 ? The Psu,s i have only have 2 pin ones.I have had this for some time and wanted to get it in a case And have just checked the PSU,s i have and they only have 2. 4 pin connectors

 

[jak_2456]

Does this need MSI MAG X570 TOMAHAWK WIFI AMD AM4 ATX Motherboard. need to have 3 4 pin connectors for power?or could i get away with 2 ? The Psu,s i have only have 2 pin ones.I have had this for some time and wanted to get it in a case And have just checked the PSU,s i have and they only have 2. 4 pin connectors

Unless you're running very high-TDP (above 300 W) processors, it should be fine. That extra connector is typically only present for overclocking purposes.

 

[MaxiPro800]

Prob something like Radeon R9 290x would be good match, or R9 280x....

RX 470 is the highest for a Q9550. Past that a 1366/1156 machine would be recommended.


Anyways, a 790i SLi mobo w/ Q6600. Added a fan to keep it from burning itself down but I don't have high expectations. Also FSB holes which are a deal breaker for any OC operations from me. May be good for a pairing with the GTX 260.

 

[lexluthermiester]

RX 470 is the highest for a Q9550.

An RX580 wouldn't hurt. At least you know where the bottleneck would be.

 

[MaxiPro800]

An RX580 wouldn't hurt. At least you know where the bottleneck would be.

A bit overkill. Most I see have 8GB of VRAM which is pretty extreme for a Q9550. RX 460-480 is where I usually would cap the highest 775, given these were in 4GB flavors mostly (with few exceptions like Sapphire's 8GB Nitro cards) - 500 series fit 1366/1156 more than 775.

 

[lexluthermiester]

A bit overkill. Most I see have 8GB of VRAM which is pretty extreme for a Q9550. RX 460-480 is where I usually would cap the highest 775, given these were in 4GB flavors mostly (with few exceptions like Sapphire's 8GB Nitro cards) - 500 series fit 1366/1156 more than 775.

While I wouldn't disagree, you'd be surprised how often a Q9550 with 16GB of RAM would push VRAM usage above 4GB in certain games. My personal choice for a 775 Quad system is a GTX1060 6GB. Believe it or not, it's a sweet spot card for that socket, presuming of course Windows 7. XP however? You're spot on, there's not a single point to an 8GB card.

 

[wolf]

What is a good balanced GPU for a Core2Quad 9550
I want something that is period correct.
CPU is from 2008, so lets say a GPU till 2012 max

What GPU is the fastest to max out with this CPU?

Personally I'd be going a lot older than the other suggestions.

Choosing a GPU to max out this CPU will put you in a lot of CPU limited scenario's, or at least gear the experience much closer to that, is it really what you want?

I think you should be aiming for a GPU where the 9550 will be so fast that there is never (hopefully) a CPU limited scenario, and you are always GPU limited which I consider ideal.

In that realm I think something like an 8800 through maybe Fermi Generation, or HD3870 - 5870 or so would be optimal. my 2c.

 

[AUTOEXEC.BAT]

Got it.

 

[Outback Bronze]

GeForce GTX 780Ti 3G

If I am correct that would be the fastest win XP card besides the Titan yeah?

I've got a GTX 980 TI with hacked drivers that is faster but technically it's not officially supported. I've been looking for a nice GTX 780 Ti in its original retail box for this very reason.

 

[wolf]

If I am correct that would be the fastest win XP card besides the Titan yeah?

I've got a GTX 980 TI with hacked drivers that is faster but technically it's not officially supported. I've been looking for a nice GTX 780 Ti in its original retail box for this very reason.

My understanding is that the 780Ti 6GB AIB partner cards or Quadro K6000 would be the fastest yes, like the 6GB partner cards as the GeForce typically run slightly faster than Quadro counterparts of this vintage. So it kind of depends what you want, IMO 3GB VRAM is going to be plenty for anything you can throw at it in XP, so any 780Ti is basically peak.

In terms of the official support though it's a weird one, where some Maxwell cards are officially supported, iirc up to the GTX960 is off the top of my head, but of course it's not as fast as a 780Ti, but it seemed odd Maxwell would be supported by not to the top.

So in terms of using modded drivers, if you want to use something beyond the 960 it's adding two lines to an ini file and they install just fine, I'd be happy to share my ini file for the final XP drivers that adds support for the 970, 980 980Ti and a few Quadro's too, but I appreciate it's not official so it might not fit with your intent.

I just know I was initially put off by "modded drivers" and thinking wow I don't want to go down the rabbit hole there, but it turns out it's super easy and barely a departure from the actual final drivers.

 

[Outback Bronze]

So in terms of using modded drivers, if you want to use something beyond the 960 it's adding two lines to an ini file and they install just fine, I'd be happy to share my ini file for the final XP drivers that adds support for the 970, 980 980Ti

Yeah, that's pretty much what I did and was smashing XP old school games with a ROG 980 Ti and... I was using a 4960x (X79) as I believe that was the last officially supported XP platform : )

I'll have to find a nice 780Ti matey...

Edit: Shit, I'm starting to get hardons talking about all this high-end legacy hardware

 

[wolf]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I did and was smashing XP old school games with a ROG 980 Ti and... I was using a 4960x (X79) as I believe that was the last officially supported XP platform : )

I'll have to find a nice 780Ti matey...

Edit: Shit, I'm starting to get hardons talking about all this high-end legacy hardware

Definitely try snag a 780ti just because hahaha.

Personally I found a 980ti to be crazy overkill and tbh a 780ti probably is too. There's nothing in my retro rig I can't max out at 1080p and get great performance from a 750ti, let alone a 780ti.

 

[Outback Bronze]

Personally I found a 980ti to be crazy overkill

Yea, ok fair call.

There's nothing in my retro rig I can't max out at 1080p

Even Crysis?

This is from wiz's review of a GTX 285 on XP. This probably best represent 1080p as he's running 4xAA. In all fairness though Crysis should be run on 7 for its dx10 abilities.

But this is why I need a 980Ti for games like this and then add 8xAA for no performance hit

 

[wolf]

Even Crysis?

This is from wiz's review of a GTX 285 on XP. This probably best represent 1080p as he's running 4xAA. In all fairness though Crysis should be run on 7 for its dx10 abilities.

But this is why I need a 980Ti for games like this and then add 8xAA for no performance hit

View attachment 403501

I'd need to bench it again but yeah I mean, Crysis fps is inherently lower than many other era games but it was ultra smooth and playable. It's one of those games imo that a super consistent 40-45+ feels quite good and 60+ is super buttery already.

From the TPU database a 750ti is a smidge slower than the GTX295, so a good chunk faster than a GTX 280/285.

Crysis is easily the most intensive game on my XP rig, but it's also running in the more limited DX9 mode (no godrays iirc?, maybe more but visually they are pretty close), where I'd assume the numbers from that review were done under DX10 and Max settings.

All food for thought I guess. Using well overpowered hardware for older boxes feels like a bit of a miss for me like it's all too easy, for example the 750ti feels like crazy overkill for most of the games on the XP rig so I went to high end DX9 hardware like geforce 7000 series or ati x1000 series to match it up closer to my taste. You might not have this mental roadblock and be happy with massive overkill

 

[Outback Bronze]

super consistent 40-45+ feels quite good and 60+ is super buttery already.

Yes, you are right. I was originally playing it on my 8800GTS 640mb on a 55" DLP 1280 x1024 and getting 20-25 fps fully maxed on my E6600 and it was smooth enough to thoroughly enjoy it!

Why do I now need a 175hz panel lol??

 

[wolf]

Yes, you are right. I was originally playing it on my 8800GTS 640mb on a 55" DLP 1280 x1024 and getting 20-25 fps fully maxed on my E6600 and it was smooth enough to thoroughly enjoy it!

I likely first played it in earnest on an 8800GT and then every card I had for many years until at least 2010 or later haha.

Why do I now need a 175hz panel lol??

So with this just be careful, I've done down exhaustive research and testing but windows XP has some limitations around refresh rates and resolutions. Iirc I wasn't able to get over 60hz working at 1080p, but with older crt monitors have gotten 1024x768 @ 100hz, 640x480 @ 150hz for example. There may be a maximum sort of total throughput possible, or my hardware may not have been compatible for the task I'm not sure.

 

[Outback Bronze]

So with this just be careful,

Nah, think you missed the joke. I was just referencing that I was happy with 20-25fps back in 2007 so why do I now need to be happy with 175 fps.

But hey thanks for the tip for the XP limitations. I honestly thought it would have been monitor dependent even on XP. Pretty sure you could find at least a 75Hz crt/lcd for XP no?

 

[wolf]

Nah, think you missed the joke. I was just referencing that I was happy with 20-25fps back in 2007 so why do I now need to be happy with 175 fps.

Yep, straight over my head lol, I was also wrapped up in seeking overpowered hardware

I can't believe how many hours I must have sank into n64 games, some hit their 30 fps targets, some spent basically the whole time well under it and I remember noticing it at the time but never really thinking the game was unplayable.

But hey thanks for the tip for the XP limitations. I honestly thought it would have been monitor dependent even on XP. Pretty sure you could find at least a 75Hz crt/lcd for XP no?

Happy to, XP is a great OS. It definitely supports high refresh rates but I've used two high refresh 1080p LCD monitors on it and both only worked at 60hz instead of their native 144, all the earlier 4:3 / 5:4 LCD and crt seem to support higher than 60hz just fine though. So it's definitely monitor dependent too.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Got it.

View attachment 403486

That's a nice looking case! Get some black face drives for it and let is shine!

If I am correct that would be the fastest win XP card besides the Titan yeah?

Very likely!

 

[agent_x007]

@AUTOEXEC.BAT So... few things of note :
1) An idea how DX11 stuff does vs. "period correct" 2010 things in Crysis under Windows XP
(+ keep in mind core clocks, since turbo boost was adjusted on Kepler cards) :

2) I don't like "what is best performance card I can put into Core 2" and "I want it to be period correct" at the same time. If you want period correct do that and welcome lower performance (or lower graphics details).
If you want performance for best gameplay experience, just get proper card from later years.
There is no point in buying old flagship instead of mid range later card, which may be more expensive and die on you during gaming.

3) GPU decides what game settings you can run, and I can tell you right now that period correct hardware for Core 2 775 - isn't capable of running Crysis with 1080p + AA enabled at *60FPS+ (*assuming that's your target ?). You WILL need at least a high end DX11 card for that to happen.

4) From what I tested, 60FPS+ minimum framerate on maximum settings with Core 2 class CPUs isn't possible under non-OC settings (it requires some tweaking, and even then GPU will be hold back).