TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[Robert B]

ECS P4ITA V1.0 S423-I850-RAMBUS / 15-A09-010300 - It needed some repairs but it works! P4 1.3GHz SL4SF and a few stricks of RAM. I'm still missing a clip for my heatsink but at least I have ONE

Sound Blaster 16 Value - CT2770 - I need it to test my Creative CR-563-B CD-ROM which requires a Creative / Panasonic interface - old stuff is OLD!

 

[Trekkie4]

ECS P4ITA V1.0 S423-I850-RAMBUS / 15-A09-010300 - It needed some repairs but it works! P4 1.3GHz SL4SF and a few stricks of RAM. I'm still missing a clip for my heatsink but at least I have ONE

Sound Blaster 16 Value - CT2770 - I need it to test my Creative CD-563-B CD-ROM which requires a Creative / Panasonic interface - old stuff is OLD!

This is very close to my own setup from around 2001, when I got it brand new

Mine was Asus P4T with Pentium 4 @ 1.4GHz and 128MB RIMM memory. Also had Creative SoundBlaster128, Hauppauge TV Tuner card, Matrox Millennium G450 DualHead AGP graphics, NEC DVD-ROM (first DVD to have), and TEAC CD-RW drive. Oh yeah, and it also had a crappy Maxtor 40GB drive which fell apart in about a year or so ... what a surprise Here's the pic from way, way back! And no, that wasn't the original case, the original one was just a standard, beige one


Although I no longer have that system (sold it looong time ago), I kept some of the original components & eventually re-integrated them into other, retro system. This includes the following components: Matrox Millennium, Hauppauge TV tuner, Creative SB128 and NEC DVD-ROM

 

[Ruru]

When unlocking the multiplier was easy.

 

[StrayKAT]

Luckily got a refund and got the right kind of a monitor. An old 4:3 Samsung 15" LCD (purposely went small because I wanted 1024x768).

It's strange how many monitors are out there are presented as 4:3, when they're actually 5:4 (usually 1280x1024).

 

[lexluthermiester]

This is very close to my own setup from around 2001, when I got it brand new

Wow that cable management! Not making fun, because that was actually decent back in the day, with all the zip-ties. We've come a long way..

Luckily got a refund and got the right kind of a monitor. An old 4:3 Samsung 15" LCD (purposely went small because I wanted 1024x768).
It's strange how many monitors are out there are presented as 4:3, when they're actually 5:4 (usually 1280x1024).

Dell made a few really good 1600x1200 19" LCD's. Those are great for classic gaming.

 

[StrayKAT]

Wow that cable management! Not making fun, because that was actually decent back in the day, with all the zip-ties. We've come a long way..


Dell made a few really good 1600x1200 19" LCD's. Those are great for classic gaming.

I considered 1600x1200, but figured the type of games I'd play (mostly DOS) wouldn't look as good scaled up so high. Maybe I'm wrong?

edit: Nostalgia wise, this was really the last of the 4:3 resolutions I used for gaming. Although I did use Macs in the 90s, and went up a next step to 1152x864 or something like that. I never did have a 1600x1200 monitor back in the day. I think eventually transitioned to widescreen around this time.

 

[Trekkie4]

Wow that cable management! Not making fun, because that was actually decent back in the day, with all the zip-ties. We've come a long way..

No way, that cable management was NOT considered decent now, or even back in a day! But hey, I was only getting started with hardware back then... To put it this way, if it wasn't for that Pentium 4, I probably wouldn't know as much about hardware as I do know - including the cable management

 

[Ruru]

I considered 1600x1200, but figured the type of games I'd play (mostly DOS) wouldn't look as good scaled up so high. Maybe I'm wrong?

edit: Nostalgia wise, this was really the last of the 4:3 resolutions I used for gaming. Although I did use Macs in the 90s, and went up a next step to 1152x864 or something like that. I never did have a 1600x1200 monitor back in the day. I think eventually transitioned to widescreen around this time.

1280x960 -> 1600x1200 -> 1280x1024 -> 1920x1080 here.

First I had a 19" CRT, then a 21" Trinitron CRT which was awesome, supported 1600x1200 @ 85Hz so no flickering. Then it was time to say goodbye to CRTs and move to TFT, so a 17" Hyundai was next. When I got GTX 470, it was time to upgrade. That BenQ 22" FHD is still on my desk, the most left of my three-monitor setup.

 

[Trekkie4]

And so the Pentium 133 project continues...

Tomb Raider III (barely runs, at around 1 FPS )


CART Precision Racing DEMO


Monster Truck Madness II


Grand Theft Auto (1)


Grand Theft Auto London


Duke Nukem 3D


Dangerous Dave


Doom/Doom2


Heretic


The Lionking


The Secret of Monkey island



Prince (of Persia)


Stunts


And that's about it for now... The only thing left is to resolve is the hardware upgrade, I would really, REALLY like to get my hands on a decent PCI video card, because this is just absurd IMO! And I would prefer to stay "true" to the original formula & avoid using 3dfx ... but considering I don't have much of a choice, I might end up grabbing the Voodoo (2?) card from one of the other systems & putting it inside this one here *shrug*

 

[phill]

Amazingly awesome!! I remember the days.....

 

[lexluthermiester]

I never did have a 1600x1200 monitor back in the day. I think eventually transitioned to widescreen around this time.

I did, both CRT and LCD. Both ran and looked great, with the right hardware. I was always buying the best Radeon ATI had to offer.

 

[hat]

I had a weird 1152x864? tube monitor once. It was a slight step up from the 15" 1024x768 screens I was used to. For me though, I think I've found the sweet spot to be 1920x1080 screens. I ran my 19" 1440x900 TV for a few days, but quickly went back to my 1920x1080 monitor. It felt like quite the upgrade when I started using it again...

 

[StrayKAT]

I'm running 4K mainly on a TV now.. so my next monitor will match it. It doesn't really feel any different than 1080p though.. since I'm scaling up Windows interface the same way (1080p scale is 150% and 4K scale is 300%).

 

[lexluthermiester]

I had a weird 1152x864? tube monitor once. It was a slight step up from the 15" 1024x768 screens I was used to.

I had on of those. Can't remember the brand, but it was a 17" with a trinitron tube.

For me though, I think I've found the sweet spot to be 1920x1080 screens. I ran my 19" 1440x900 TV for a few days, but quickly went back to my 1920x1080 monitor. It felt like quite the upgrade when I started using it again...

I currently have 1440p screens on one system and 1600p screens on another. While they are excellent, I could happily live with 1080p if needed.

I'm running 4K mainly on a TV now.. so my next monitor will match it. It doesn't really feel any different than 1080p though.. since I'm scaling up Windows interface the same way (1080p scale is 150% and 4K scale is 300%).

Windows 10 then?

 

[StrayKAT]

I had on of those. Can't remember the brand, but it was a 17" with a trinitron tube.

I currently have 1440p screens on one system and 1600p screens on another. While they are excellent, I could happily live with 1080p if needed.

Windows 10 then?

Yes.. I've grown accustomed. Even like it

But I need a 4:3 for some old games. Daggerfall, Kotor.. I can mod many old games, but these are impossible for me.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Yes.. I've grown accustomed. Even like it

With recent updates it isn't so bad, privacy issues aside. Even those are looking like they might become manageable.

Kotor

Star Wars; Knights of the Old Republic? Both 1 & 2 are on GOG and have been updated for current hardware and wide screens. You should take a look.

 

[StrayKAT]

With recent updates it isn't so bad, privacy issues aside. Even those are looking like they might become manageable.

Star Wars; Knights of the Old Republic? Both 1 & 2 are on GOG and have been updated for current hardware and wide screens. You should take a look.

Ah that sucks. I don't want to purchase it again. But 2 works fine on Steam. Just the first one is a problem.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Ah that sucks. I don't want to purchase it again. But 2 works fine on Steam. Just the first one is a problem.

Maybe, but it's worth it. GOG strives to make older games work well on modern systems. While Steam does make an effort in this area, it's not on the same level of GOG.

 

[StrayKAT]

Maybe, but it's worth it. GOG strives to make older games work well on modern systems. While Steam does make an effort in this area, it's not on the same level of GOG.

I have plenty of GOG games..I like it... but I'm not going to buy the same game twice (three times really.. since I used to have a boxed Kotor). Especially after I just purchased a monitor that will work with it.. and all of my DOS games.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I have plenty of GOG games..I like it... but I'm not going to buy the same game twice (three times really.. since I used to have a boxed Kotor). Especially after I just purchased a monitor that will work with it.. and all of my DOS games.

Good point.

 

[StrayKAT]

To be fair, if any game deserves multiple purchases, that be might one of them.

 

[lexluthermiester]

To be fair, if any game deserves multiple purchases, that be might one of them.

Right?

 

[Ruru]

I know that feeling to get a game twice and even maybe three times. Especially when it's a game which first was released on consoles, then on PC.

Oh boy those hours spent with Final Fantasy series on consoles, and now with PC..

 

[StrayKAT]

I know that feeling to get a game twice and even maybe three times. Especially when it's a game which first was released on consoles, then on PC.

Oh boy those hours spent with Final Fantasy series on consoles, and now with PC..

Is it sad that I even bought FF13 on Steam (had it on console once). Those are underrated.

 

[Ruru]

Is it sad that I even bought FF13 on Steam (had it on console once). Those are underrated.

I played FF XIII over 200 hours on X360, tried to hunt down that Treasure Hunter achievement... didn't get it. I'm not still even near to that on Steam version.

Truly an underrated game, love the story, characters, SOUNDTRACK! and gameplay. And I consider myself as a FF veteran.