TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[Radical Vision]

I dont buy asus too, BUT i got it for free from a guy, that was also the original 1st owner, so id take it ofc...
After all A$U$ may suck, as all some other brands, but the main goal is to have all high end/ rare ATi/ Radeon models, at least up to HD5970 when AMD totally killed even the ATi name.... For many it all ends with Radeon x19050XTX since that was the last ATi card sold while ATi was still its own company, not AMD Radeon... So better to have asus Radeon HD4870 in great condition with even full box and stuff like brand new, then nothing, or some shitty card that looks like it was taken from the rotten dumpster...

As well as these things too..





Also better then mine, but not better then the ROG MatriX model...





On other hand the ROG will beat ur Sapphire, but the upgraded Vapor-Toxic card (lmao they used to have both models in one before the HD7000), will be better from what i can see on the pictures, in terms of cooling... Still the ROG card is ok, but they should have made it even better then the Vapor-Toxic... At least design wise the ROG looks better, i would at least give them that, as the Vapor-Toxic card looks kinda bad...

 

[lexluthermiester]

Actually it does not

You say that like you think I wasn't there, in that time frame. I was. Geforce and Radeon both made everything that came before them look silly, including VooDoo cards.

tho i get disgusted when ppl build op 775, 1366 systems for Win XP

Why? I am literally doing that. My X58 system(Dell T3500) with a Xeon W3680(3.33ghz 6core) and GTX980(modded drivers) is specifically running XP. Why? For the raw performance. When I do XP things, I DON'T want the hardware holding things back or slowing things down.

So for Win9X OSes, I always recommend a Socket A or 754 for AMD or Socket 370 or 478 for Intel and the best AGP card that can be found/had.

A TNT/TNT2 is fit only for Windows 95 duties. For Windows 98se or WinME, a Geforce or Radeon is the ticket. Anything less is a waste..

 

[Radical Vision]

You say that like you think I wasn't there, in that time frame. I was. Geforce and Radeon both made everything that came before them look silly, including VooDoo cards.

Why? I am literally doing that. My X58 system(Dell T3500) with a Xeon W3680(3.33ghz 6core) and GTX980(modded drivers) is specifically running XP. Why? For the raw performance. When I do XP things, I DON'T want the hardware holding things back or slowing things down.

So for Win9X OSes, I always recommend a Socket A or 754 for AMD or Socket 370 or 478 for Intel and the best AGP card that can be found/had.

A TNT/TNT2 is fit only for Windows 95 duties. For Windows 98se or WinME, a Geforce or Radeon is the ticket. Anything less is a waste..

They did, but at the time back then, they were not yet invented... 3Dfx cards made revolution back then, no nVIDIA card or ATi could even get close to what V1 and V2 had at the time, until V3 when they could at least nGreedia.... Silly 3Dfx but they are the expensive ones for the most part, not Rage or Radeon, Riva or GEforce...

Dual boot system is a thing, so i can run also XP on my x58, instead win 7 only, but it is nonsense for me... And me on other hand i like to run stuff on older systems, after all that is the whole idea of the retro computing, running old stuff on old HW, not running win XP on Ryzen 9800x3D + RTX4090.... I get disgusted, cuz i find it insulting on the older gen HW, and the whole idea of the retro computing, goes to the dumpster, when someone runs win 98 on 2025 modern HW.....

462 and 478 are xp parts, same goes for 754 and 959, and early 775, that was the OS that was modern when these parts were modern too, not win 98, that was ancient at the time...

I think at the time of win 95, they did run mostly 486 systems, and the more rich ppl did run socket 7 or socket 8 machines, and they did not have Riva TNT, even less TNT II cards in them...

 

[lexluthermiester]

Dual boot system is a thing, so i can run also XP on my x58, instead win 7 only, but it is nonsense for me... And me on other hand i like to run stuff on older systems, after all that is the whole idea of the retro computing, running old stuff on old HW, not running win XP on Ryzen 9800x3D + RTX4090.... I get disgusted, cuz i find it insulting on the older gen HW, and the whole idea of the retro computing, goes to the dumpster, when someone runs win 98 on 2025 modern HW.....

That seems to be a little too serious for my liking. I run a target OS for a purpose on the best hardware that is 100% compatible. For example, I would never run Windows 95 on a 486 even though it could technically run it. Windows 95 performs best in a Socket 7 or Slot1/A system. I generally avoid Win98SE in favor of the much superior WinME and the minimum systems specs for that would be Socket 370 but 754 or 939 is preferred as those final AMD single core CPU's were beasts for Win9x.

462 and 478 are xp parts, same goes for 754 and 959, and early 775, that was the OS that was modern when these parts were modern too, not win 98, that was ancient at the time...

I ran WinME on 478 for years. It was perfect.

See, I'm not a "purist". I appreciate retro hardware, but running something perfectly "period correct" is a pipe-dream most of the time and for many reasons. I go for what is best and available at the time I build a system. As long as hardware is 100% compatible(has full driver support), it's a valid option in my book.

 

[MaxiPro800]

I dont buy asus too, BUT i got it for free from a guy, that was also the original 1st owner, so id take it ofc...
After all A$U$ may suck, as all some other brands, but the main goal is to have all high end/ rare ATi/ Radeon models, at least up to HD5970 when AMD totally killed even the ATi name.... For many it all ends with Radeon x19050XTX since that was the last ATi card sold while ATi was still its own company, not AMD Radeon... So better to have asus Radeon HD4870 in great condition with even full box and stuff like brand new, then nothing, or some shitty card that looks like it was taken from the rotten dumpster...

As well as these things too..
View attachment 407767View attachment 407768




Also better then mine, but not better then the ROG MatriX model...
View attachment 407762View attachment 407763




On other hand the ROG will beat ur Sapphire, but the upgraded Vapor-Toxic card (lmao they used to have both models in one before the HD7000), will be better from what i can see on the pictures, in terms of cooling... Still the ROG card is ok, but they should have made it even better then the Vapor-Toxic... At least design wise the ROG looks better, i would at least give them that, as the Vapor-Toxic card looks kinda bad...
View attachment 407764View attachment 407765

Sapphire beats ROG Matrix in most (not all) tests

ASUS Matrix & Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD 4870, 4850

In this article, HotHardware compares the features and performance of the ASUS Matrix and Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD 4870 and 4850 graphics cards.

hothardware.com

 

[Radical Vision]

Yes and as i said, the ROG MatriX will beat ur normal Sapphire, but the VaporX-Toxic will beat the MatriX... All of them are better then my A$U$... But still it is for free and in great brand new like condition, also survived the test of time too with the original owner.... A friend of mine had x2 A$U$ Radeon HD3850 cards in CF, and they did work just fine for many years, and still do, even with the junk coolers, kinda fascinating u know, garbage coolers, but the cards dont die lmao... Still would take any other brand any day, or at least replace that garbage joke of a cooler...

 

[MaxiPro800]

Slightly irelevant in the end:
- ROG Matrix beats both cards (my Vapor-X and your EAH4870)
- loses to Sapphire's Toxic 4870 and even their 4890 Vapor-X which surprise, competed with even GTX285.

Not to mention their 4890 Vapor-X uses the same cooler as my card which unlike ASUS' EAH4870 joke of a cooler, actually has copper. Sapphire was, is and always will be better than A$U$.

 

[Greenslade]

He is doing a through clean on this Facebook $39
rig.I don,t suppose this us Retro yet though.

 

[Ahhzz]

You say that like you think I wasn't there, in that time frame. I was. Geforce and Radeon both made everything that came before them look silly, including VooDoo cards.

Why? I am literally doing that. My X58 system(Dell T3500) with a Xeon W3680(3.33ghz 6core) and GTX980(modded drivers) is specifically running XP. Why? For the raw performance. When I do XP things, I DON'T want the hardware holding things back or slowing things down.

So for Win9X OSes, I always recommend a Socket A or 754 for AMD or Socket 370 or 478 for Intel and the best AGP card that can be found/had.

A TNT/TNT2 is fit only for Windows 95 duties. For Windows 98se or WinME, a Geforce or Radeon is the ticket. Anything less is a waste..

ahh, my Viper V550 ran 98SE well for a while

 

[Radical Vision]

ahh, my Viper V550 ran 98SE well for a while

Hooww dare u, to use Riva TNT/ II cards on win 98, Shame on U !!!!! These are Win 93 and DOS cards obviously........





Got few cards from a guy, lucky me, he dont have a clue, what 3Dfx is, for him it was old computer junk parts lmao... Did replace the heatsink very fast, as the stock one did gauge my eyes... That Video 7 card is of great build quality, sadly will go to the scrap, with that kind of dmg, too bad it was made in Germany too.... But better that, then the Voodoo II.... That Trident, looks like it had x2 Odin/ Dallas batteries, for memory...

 

[lexluthermiester]

ahh, my Viper V550 ran 98SE well for a while

Sure, but you could have done much better back then. These days? There's no logical reason to hold one's self or the target system back. I mean, if someone is happy buying that old video card to get the same "feel" and experience, sure that's a thing. More power to them. But to go period correct just for the sake of being period correct is silliness to me. It wasn't that way back then. Everyone who custom built a PC had some form of hodge-podge system that had parts from different years and generations of hardware.

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox. @Radical Vision No offense was intended at all to you. I'm all for people doing what makes them happy!

 

[MaxiPro800]

Sure, but you could have done much better back then. These days? There's no logical reason to hold one's self or the target system back. I mean, if someone is happy buying that old video card to get the same "feel" and experience, sure that's a thing. More power to them. But to go period correct just for the sake of being period correct is silliness to me. It wasn't that way back then. Everyone who custom built a PC had some form of hodge-podge system that had parts from different years and generations of hardware.

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox. @Radical Vision No offense was intended at all to you. I'm all for people doing what makes them happy!

Even for 95 there's better stuff than TNT2, so TNT/TNT2 is pretty much useless.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Even for 95 there's better stuff than TNT2, so TNT/TNT2 is pretty much useless.

While true, for Windows 95 a the TNT cards were solid. 98, 98SE and ME had more OS overhead and that made the desktop a bit laggy in higher resolutions(1280x960 or 1600x1200). Even the first gen Geforce and Radeon cards never issues at those resolutions.

 

[MaxiPro800]

While true, for Windows 95 a the TNT cards were solid. 98, 98SE and ME had more OS overhead and that made the desktop a bit laggy in higher resolutions(1280x960 or 1600x1200). Even the first gen Geforce and Radeon cards never issues at those resolutions.

95 suits best with a Geforce 256 or a Rage Pro\128. TNT really has no use.

 

[Ahhzz]

Sure, but you could have done much better back then. These days? There's no logical reason to hold one's self or the target system back. I mean, if someone is happy buying that old video card to get the same "feel" and experience, sure that's a thing. More power to them. But to go period correct just for the sake of being period correct is silliness to me. It wasn't that way back then. Everyone who custom built a PC had some form of hodge-podge system that had parts from different years and generations of hardware.

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox. @Radical Vision No offense was intended at all to you. I'm all for people doing what makes them happy!

Those days? those were EARLY 98 days lol. I started it on 95 and was SUPER happy hahaha. I've got it upstairs in a box

 

[Greenslade]

That seems to be a little too serious for my liking. I run a target OS for a purpose on the best hardware that is 100% compatible. For example, I would never run Windows 95 on a 486 even though it could technically run it. Windows 95 performs best in a Socket 7 or Slot1/A system. I generally avoid Win98SE in favor of the much superior WinME and the minimum systems specs for that would be Socket 370 but 754 or 939 is preferred as those final AMD single core CPU's were beasts for Win9x.

I ran WinME on 478 for years. It was perfect.

See, I'm not a "purist". I appreciate retro hardware, but running something perfectly "period correct" is a pipe-dream most of the time and for many reasons. I go for what is best and available at the time I build a system. As long as hardware is 100% compatible(has full driver support), it's a valid option in my book.

I thought i would put this on here for you Lex ,and any one who is Environmentally friendly ,which as we are in to Retro stuff ,we must be.Knowing that you don,t like those big discs Lex .This is about a clear CD

Like the guy says in the video , people don,t know which way to put the disc in the player.I think it is the way forward. Theres to much e waste.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Knowing that you don,t like those big discs Lex .

Wait, what now? I love optical media, not sure you understand me there..

Beyond that, the Transparent CD is a gimmick. A fascinatingly cool one, but still.

 

[Greenslade]

Wait, what now? I love optical media, not sure you understand me there..

Beyond that, the Transparent CD is a gimmick. A fascinatingly cool one, but still.

When i talked about 12 Vinyl records you said, you did not like them because they were to big.
I did not mention CD or cassettes..

 

[lexluthermiester]

When i talked about 12 Vinyl records you said, you did not like them because they were to big.

Oh right, ok. And yup, that's one of the reasons.

I did not mention CD or cassettes..

That YT video was what made me associate what you were saying..

 

[Greenslade]

Oh right, ok. And yup, that's one of the reasons.

That YT video was what made me associate what you were saying..

No problem Lex

 

[Ruru]

A64 X2 4200+, 4GB DDR2, Radeon 7000, Audigy2 - some Win2000 action. I'll swap a Phenom X4 9750 & 6800 Ultra afrer testing some cards

 

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

I dont, but i do have A$U$ (sadly), but in perfect condition and with whole retail box, and also it has red pcb.... Never got the idea what the deal is with that 90 model, is higher clocked then the 70, or what... Only this gen had 90 card, after that point they had HD5970 but was dual chip...

Nice I too have a Asus HD4870 in perfect shape and full retail packaging.

 

[Ruru]

What the hell they were thinking at Biostar? Having a NV40 chip crippled with 64-bit DDR2?

 

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

This is the first retail Graphics card I bought way back in the day. Bought it for my Super Socket 7 system running a K6-2 500 which I also still have.

 

[Ruru]

My first retail card was a Radeon 9250 128MB as an upgrade from my GF2 MX. Of course I did some research and bought the better version with 128-bit memory bus.