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What 11 years means in technology...


dencorso

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Sure. I still have a working GeForce2 MX 400, so I decided to run GPU-Z on it while I can. Then I decide to compare it with the latest video technology I have on hand, regardless of the wide differences in them. In a way, the GeForce2 (so, in fact the model preceeding the one I actually measured) is where it all began for modern gamers... So what really standed out for me is the comparison of lithography technologies, die sizes and transistor numbers. It's simply awesome! Actual capabilities are, in a way, just a consequence of those differences...

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  • 3 weeks later...

Are there any utilities for reporting GPU capabilities from Windows 98 where these old video adapters are working. :w00t: What is the compatibility level of Intel HD Graphics with old 3D games? I am quite pleased with how modern "budget" nVidia cards can render Direct3D 8, 9 and OpenGL titles with full antialiasing and fanless, but they won't run any DX6 era titles at all (crashes, picture full of artifacts). I don't own a HD Graphics and would like to know how it compares.

Edited by j7n
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And, how about the 8088 processor and discrete ram chips that had to be plugged into sockets on the motherboard?

Now, that's a stroll down memory lane, at least for those of us old enough to remember it.

It's been a real chore, to keep up with all the hardware upgrades since 1980 when I built my first PC-XT,

and then got into the PC Building and Repair business.

Before that, I was a big time player in the Commodore 64 game. It's sure been a wild ride!

:thumbup

Edited by Andromeda43
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i440 LX / ATI 1250 / G965 / B75

Mendocino / Yonah-1M / Conroe-L / Ivy Bridge-DT

Intel 740 / ATI RS600M / nVidia GF119

A trans-atlantic speed test on the 400 MHz machine with 160 MB of RAM.

JB6jy1E.png

My motherboard and video adapter has a 'huge' pullable BIOS chip like that one above.

All these components are on the low end, but why not when their absolute speed has increased so many times.

post-118823-0-94469900-1396282051_thumb.

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I must say I miss the old days of HW

when I struggled with 550 MHz Intel Pentium, some of the rich kids had been buying AMD Duron that was about 1 GHz

while GPU, I had S3 Savage 4 Pro, while some started to buy Geforce 3 and Ati Radeon's

there were monthly tests by so many graphic cards in PC magazines it was always a pleasure to read them

havin 128 or more MB RAM was science :D

mother boards had 4-5 PCI slots

one had to be for audio card

one had to be for LAN card

one had to be empty because Windows had often problems mapping all slots to work correctly

one had to have 56k modem :D

it was a pride to have additional PCI TV card, so one can brag how he filled every slot with some tech stuff

-

today you get it all bundled integrated in motherboard :P

how boring !

Edited by vinifera
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I wanted a TV card too because I was misled by advertising that suggested that it was possible to receive multiple channels simultaneously with one basic card. When I got one (bt787), its reception quality was disappointing (bands on screen, noise in SECAM mode), and it took about a second to tune to another channel in the bundled software to realize the multi-channel mosaic view. If there were any good cards around, I lost interest to look for them. Decent computer hardware was always hiding in professional stores here. And all common TV cards were about the same quality than consumer routers or integrated sound.

I still have the TV card, which I use to receive FM radio, which is usable. The card's only decent application is that it can quickly (only the bundled software imposed the wait time) tune across all the VHF and UHF spectrum, but sensitivity is still disappointing, even with a long antenna, for interesting transmissions like Taxi. Of course the bundled software only allowed some pre-defined "channels". This is material for a good rant in another place.

Borg TV worked with this card very well. It has a neat, responsive GUI. A curious thing with this program is that it could apply some video effects without loading the CPU, and data going directly to the video adapter, like color adjustments and averaging in time for noise reduction. (The CPU was still 400 MHz and couldn't do it.) As far as I know, modern Pixel Shaders came much later. Had this card been more solid, it would have made a decent receiver.

Motherboars indeed may seem rather boring. Also because they are so standartized. Back when my PC was made, the mobo power connectors could be inserted in two ways, and so could USB (it does have usb 1), with disastrous consequences.

Decent sound cards and LAN cards are still hiding. The motherboard stuff is very consumer oriented, offering bling and "experience". From an add-in card I would expect some unlocked, hidden functionality, such as recording S/PDIF streams in any sampling rate, advanced signal routing.

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Well, in my day, when I got my first computer I had to solder its components :w00t:

http://www.zx81.de/english/zx80_e.htm

.... and we liked it. (Kids today...) ;):
http://tinyapps.org/blog/misc/200702250700_why_in_my_day.html

Would anyone now have the guts for it? :unsure:

http://www.petervis.com/Electronics_Kits/Sinclair_ZX80_Kit/Sinclair_ZX80_Kit.html

jaclaz

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I am going to say this. Nothing has really changed over the years, everything just got cheaper, to afford. So we feel like we are advancing forward but we are working with credit, dept, and inflation. Many of the advancements of technology is based off debt. Some of which is illegal money as well. Most of my computers are used machines, and clearly if I was living in the future, I would have to be spending a good -5,000 on a real machine.

Honestly it means nothing at all to me. Ten years and we still have the same problematic situations. Computers are still slow, and the products all have spyware built inside. I would escape to the 20th century and deal with those problems, then have something that is built for only five years.

About TV cards. TV cards worked great if you had the satellite dish to go with it. The big dish I am talking about that is used to pick up stations from, around the globe. I am talking about tv from around the globe. That was the only way to go. However cable tv, made it far more cheaper, to dodge bullets, then pick up stations on an over sized dish. It was funny because people who did abuse cable, could see when they were coming. You had them in their vehicles surveying the area, like the FCC tying to track down people overriding the air waves. TV was awesome back then.

Edited by ROTS
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Well, in my day, when I got my first computer I had to solder its components :w00t:

http://www.zx81.de/english/zx80_e.htm

.... and we liked it. (Kids today...) ;):

http://tinyapps.org/blog/misc/200702250700_why_in_my_day.html

Would anyone now have the guts for it? :unsure:

http://www.petervis.com/Electronics_Kits/Sinclair_ZX80_Kit/Sinclair_ZX80_Kit.html

jaclaz

Yup, you would be happy with the 1kB expansion board, all black and white too! :P

Also based on that same Z80 used in the MSX 1 :). Darn, I was 7 back then...

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