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TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

Yes, I meant a 3400 series card that you could pair with the 3400 onboard. Too bad you don't have one, just for the experience of playing with hybrid xfire.
No, unfortunately I do not have a separate, stand-alone 3400 card to match the onboard one. However, you gave me an idea ... it might be worth looking into finding one, to double up the original performance of a single 3400.

On a side note, I was just reading on nVidia's PhysX system and various situations where using two (or more) GPU units usually results with better performance, since one of the cards (presumably the faster one) gets to do 3D acceleration part, where the other one essentially becomes dedicated PhysX processing unit, offloading some of the work from the primary card.

To my surprise, the PhysX "SLI" seems to be working - nVidia control panel even automatically suggested & assigned the secondary card for PhysX application. No, it's not a real SLI but half way there, I guess.
 
You guys remember the S939 Opterons?


My Opteron 144 was from the worst week and overclocked only to 2.64GHz if my memory serves me correctly. CABNE 0540 to be exact (that crappy week still haunts me lol)

On a side note, I was just reading on nVidia's PhysX system and various situations where using two (or more) GPU units usually results with better performance, since one of the cards (presumably the faster one) gets to do 3D acceleration part, where the other one essentially becomes dedicated PhysX processing unit, offloading some of the work from the primary card.

To my surprise, the PhysX "SLI" seems to be working - nVidia control panel even automatically suggested & assigned the secondary card for PhysX application. No, it's not a real SLI but half way there, I guess.
There were actually some PhysX hybrid cards back in the day ;)

 
Heres a recent video of a SLI build

Ultimate Windows XP Gaming Rig?
looks a cool XP build. :)

These bench results are rather disappointing for SLI config, somehow I expected twice as more powerful system. Also, what the heck is SLI-ready RAM memory?! From what I understand each & every RAM module will work for any application, regardless of which socket you are going to use and/or amount of video cards. I do agree on the choice of CPU, I would have gone with Q6600 myself if I had one available.

I had to move & put away that Phenom build so I can't perform a quick benchmark test to confirm this, but from what I remember the two of my 8600 GTS in non-SLI configuration performed about the same as two 8800GT operating in "genuine" SLI mode, as featured in the video above.

In fact, those 8600 GTS were more than capable to run Black Mesa (and Half Life 2, Portal 2) maxed out, at 1280x1024 60Hz with all the AA filters & reflections being used.


I should probably add a quick note here, I'm referring to the 3D Mark bench test results, as I've performed the same ones on my system. Interestingly enough, both systems dip ... or rather, lag at the same time & same circumstances, but otherwise both of them are scoring about the same FPS. I'm not sure about the system from YT video (as I've only seen few minutes of it) but mine has the following specs:

CPU: Phenom X4, 9550
MBO: Gigabyte GA-MA78G-DS3H
RAM: 4x 2GB DDR2 800 (Dual Channel configuration)
GPU1: Gigabyte GV-NX86S256H, nVidia 8600 GTS (256MB GDDR3)
GPU2: Gigabyte GV-NX86S256H, nVidia 8600 GTS (256MB GDDR3)
HDD: Hitachi DeskStar, 400GB
ODD: Philips DVD-RW, ATA
OS: Windows 7, SP1 (64bit)
 
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So, has anyone found a work around to run Steam on Windows XP?

I am going to fire up my ole Alienware running XP and would sure like to do some nostalgic gaming through Steam.
 
So, has anyone found a work around to run Steam on Windows XP?

I am going to fire up my ole Alienware running XP and would sure like to do some nostalgic gaming through Steam.
Not sure about getting Steam to run on WinXP, but seeing that it will no longer be compatible with Win7 (as of January 2024), it made me search for alternate solutions. Apparently dropping a file "Steam.CFG" into the Steam folder and adding:
Code:
BootStrapperInhibitAll=enable
BootStrapperForceSelfUpdate=disable
will force the Steam client not to self-update upon every start, thus keeping the old version in service & Steam running on unsupported OS. Hope it helps...
 
Maybe try Steamless ?

Also, here's how I see (one of) Ultimate XP PCs :D

Crysis DX9 Low 1024x768.PNG
3DMark 05.PNG
Valid : https://www.3dmark.com/3dm05/5566479
 
@agent_x007 To be fair, mine was never going to be XP build, and especially not "ultimate" one for that matter. I wanted something modern yet old-ish, I guess you could say "the best of both worlds". And since the board supports 4x of DDR2, running 8GB configuration was my plan right from the very beginning. Which wouldn't make any sense under 32-bit WinXP, since all 32-bit systems are limited to 4GB max.

Speaking of that "ultimate XP" build, this beautiful SLACR just arrived earlier today :)


At this point I really don't have much use for it, but the idea was ... and still is to pair Q6600 with Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3, the original board which I found inside that Gigabyte case.
 
I ordered an XFlasher360 a few days ago and here it is
1701324124712.png


Hoping to get into console modding, the idea of modifying these locked-down devices sounds very fun. consolemods.org has been an incredibly valuable resource and I never knew so many different consoles have modding history. Do any of you have experience in messing with your console? What console and what kind of things do you do with it?
 
I've personally used DirtyPico360 and PicoFlasher to do most of the 360 modding (both the new RGH3 and the older RGH1.2v2, as well as the lesser known JTAG and EXT_CLK methods), bgtoolset recently on the PS3, and that's about it on that generation of the consoles.

Oh and there's the Wii with its silly way of hacking through the Internet EULA :roll:

(for those curious - the newest way to exploit Wii, str2hax, is literally changing the DNS. Upon doing that, the eula is replaced with a notice that basically tells you to let it sit a few minutes as it loads the payload. Upon success, you're loaded in the BootMii/HackMii installer.)
 
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Another to add to the collection, and my first ever founders edition with this cooler type.

GTX780 3GB Founders Edition - Bought - $25 AUD.

1701735407671.png
 
founders edition with this cooler type.

I've got a couple of GTX 970's that have that cooler.

Constantly have to take them apart to clean that dang plexy window. Always gets dusty.
 
I just acquired a nice Intel socket 478 motherboard D865PERL but unfortunately it won't come to life. What puzzled me was a sticker on the P4 CPU. Is that normal? I've seen it before and taken them off, but surely they interfere with the heatsink contact?
intel-d965-perl.jpg pentium4.jpg
 
I just acquired a nice Intel socket 478 motherboard D865PERL but unfortunately it won't come to life. What puzzled me was a sticker on the P4 CPU. Is that normal? I've seen it before and taken them off, but surely they interfere with the heatsink contact?
View attachment 324504 View attachment 324505
My guess is caps issues, but that's only a theory based on those photo's. The on both of those board look "iffy".
 
I just acquired a nice Intel socket 478 motherboard D865PERL but unfortunately it won't come to life. What puzzled me was a sticker on the P4 CPU. Is that normal? I've seen it before and taken them off, but surely they interfere with the heatsink contact?
View attachment 324504 View attachment 324505
Wow for the person that left the damn sticker right there.
 
I just acquired a nice Intel socket 478 motherboard D865PERL but unfortunately it won't come to life. What puzzled me was a sticker on the P4 CPU. Is that normal? I've seen it before and taken them off, but surely they interfere with the heatsink contact?
Those boards have issues with BIOS chips being unpowered for a long time, but automatic recovery is working fine. Follow recovery procedure by the manual, and have in mind that it usually takes few attempts for successful flash. Swapping different floppy drives and diskettes helps if the procedure doesn't want to start.

Usually only problematic cap is big one by SATA ports. (yours seems fine though)
 
I don't know which processor is currently in it. (I know its a Pentium 4)
After my move I want to pick up the hobby again and see which setups I want to keep and which ones I want to sell

redmobosetup.jpg
 
I don't know which processor is currently in it. (I know its a Pentium 4)
After my move I want to pick up the hobby again and see which setups I want to keep and which ones I want to sell

View attachment 324644
I love the Northbridge heatsink fan guard. It probably makes the fan sound horrible (compared to a nice open design), but it looks awesome!
 
Those boards have issues with BIOS chips being unpowered for a long time, but automatic recovery is working fine. Follow recovery procedure by the manual, and have in mind that it usually takes few attempts for successful flash. Swapping different floppy drives and diskettes helps if the procedure doesn't want to start.

Usually only problematic cap is big one by SATA ports. (yours seems fine though)
Thanks, I'll persevere, but at the moment it isn't even firing up - no CPU fan spinning, only the tiny mobo Led comes on and no keyboard reaction at all.
 
Another PS3 done - 40GB CECHG04, recapped, painted and HDD upgraded to 200GB.

Surprisingly silent, despite having a 90nm RSX.
20231208_030709.jpg
 
Another PS3 done - 40GB CECHG04, recapped, painted and HDD upgraded to 200GB.

Surprisingly silent, despite having a 90nm RSX.View attachment 324811
Awesome! I recently installed Evilnat CFW on the CECHE01 my dad used to use for ripping SA-CDs.
This console had some serious thermal issues (overheating then shutting down mere minutes after being powered on), and a repaste helped slightly, but I had to do the "eraser mod" to make it usable.
If I find the time and materials in the future, I'll properly delid the RSX and CELL/BE.
PS3 - «Tutorial» PS3 CELL B/E Thermal Dissipation without removing the IHS | PSX-Place
 
Now that you speak of backwards compatible units , I have another BC CECHC04 unit coming in. This one has had previous maintenance done (thermal paste, dusting) by the previous owner, plus HEN firmware.

My biggest question is why would someone run HEN... on a backwards compatible unit?
I mean I have nothing against HFW (I have a superslim to rebuild that would likely love it), but it doesn't make sense on a BC unit.

EDIT: it arrived. This thing was barely used- 90 days of runtime only, and no TOKIN or BGA related errors (1001s can be triggered by improper shutdowns so they don't count usually.)
 
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