IO Sam
@iosam.bsky.social
Reviews, tutorials and DIY projects for PC, gaming and A&V enthusiasts. YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/IOSam
And if I had to guess, I'd say the Aztech A3Ds were also cut in the very same factory... 👯♀️
November 15, 2025 at 7:42 PM
And if I had to guess, I'd say the Aztech A3Ds were also cut in the very same factory... 👯♀️
MAGA only eats crappy fast food... They clearly couldn't care less about taking away high-quality low-cost food options for the masses... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
November 10, 2025 at 7:41 PM
MAGA only eats crappy fast food... They clearly couldn't care less about taking away high-quality low-cost food options for the masses... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
With all this AI malarkey we have nowadays and yet... no one can make an autocorrect that actually works.
November 6, 2025 at 12:42 AM
With all this AI malarkey we have nowadays and yet... no one can make an autocorrect that actually works.
I tried my 6800 GT (PCIe) on Win98 and, while it worked fine on the desktop, it didn't for games (very unstable and crashing on most games with all drivers I tested with). So, not sure how much better the Nvidia 7xxx series would fare... But my X850XT PE PCIe works flawlessly on Win98.
November 3, 2025 at 6:11 PM
I tried my 6800 GT (PCIe) on Win98 and, while it worked fine on the desktop, it didn't for games (very unstable and crashing on most games with all drivers I tested with). So, not sure how much better the Nvidia 7xxx series would fare... But my X850XT PE PCIe works flawlessly on Win98.
I meant "high-end *PCIe* GPU" to support Win98...
November 3, 2025 at 5:57 PM
I meant "high-end *PCIe* GPU" to support Win98...
...since the X850XT is, as far as I know, one of the very few (if not the only) high-end GPUs to still properly support Windows 98 with original drivers.
November 3, 2025 at 5:55 PM
...since the X850XT is, as far as I know, one of the very few (if not the only) high-end GPUs to still properly support Windows 98 with original drivers.
But for the X850XT PCIe specifically, I think the increased demand (and, consequently, price) is directly related to the difficulty to find good Athlon/P4 mobos with AGP ports (because of bad caps) or with 12V connectors (to allow the use of modern PSUs without strong +5V rails) to run Win 98.
November 3, 2025 at 5:53 PM
But for the X850XT PCIe specifically, I think the increased demand (and, consequently, price) is directly related to the difficulty to find good Athlon/P4 mobos with AGP ports (because of bad caps) or with 12V connectors (to allow the use of modern PSUs without strong +5V rails) to run Win 98.
Wait till you see the prices for R400 (X6xx, X7xx and X8xx), R500 (X16xx, X18xx and X19xx), R600 (HD2xxx and HD3xxx) and R700 (HD4xxx) architectures... in the AGP bus!
November 3, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Wait till you see the prices for R400 (X6xx, X7xx and X8xx), R500 (X16xx, X18xx and X19xx), R600 (HD2xxx and HD3xxx) and R700 (HD4xxx) architectures... in the AGP bus!
Literally sweating bullets
October 27, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Literally sweating bullets
Computer companies and their old fascination with naming themselves (or their products) after fruits...
The "Pineapple" Apple II clone was my favorite though... So much creativity!! XD
The "Pineapple" Apple II clone was my favorite though... So much creativity!! XD
October 27, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Computer companies and their old fascination with naming themselves (or their products) after fruits...
The "Pineapple" Apple II clone was my favorite though... So much creativity!! XD
The "Pineapple" Apple II clone was my favorite though... So much creativity!! XD
Coincidently, I got my hands on a variant of this chip this week: the AM9080AD1B (a military grade variant of the 9080 made in 1977). An interesting piece of silicon history for sure!
October 27, 2025 at 3:13 AM
Coincidently, I got my hands on a variant of this chip this week: the AM9080AD1B (a military grade variant of the 9080 made in 1977). An interesting piece of silicon history for sure!
Although I still have much bigger problems to be solved on Windows 11 as it turns out...
October 26, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Although I still have much bigger problems to be solved on Windows 11 as it turns out...
I started having this exact problem with my Brother laser printer after upgrading to Windows 11... Changing from Wi-Fi to wired ethernet seemed to fix the issue for now (for reasons I will never know).
October 26, 2025 at 9:49 PM
I started having this exact problem with my Brother laser printer after upgrading to Windows 11... Changing from Wi-Fi to wired ethernet seemed to fix the issue for now (for reasons I will never know).
Exactly my thought after seen this!
(I guess we were all busy with what we thought would be another ELE back in 2020)
(I guess we were all busy with what we thought would be another ELE back in 2020)
October 20, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Exactly my thought after seen this!
(I guess we were all busy with what we thought would be another ELE back in 2020)
(I guess we were all busy with what we thought would be another ELE back in 2020)
As last year election was getting closer, I knew what was unfortunately coming... I went on a spree to get as many of the imported vintage stuff I had my eyes on for a while (from Europe and Japan). Overall, it was expensive... but looking cheap now after these outrageous tariffs + end of de minimis
October 18, 2025 at 10:44 PM
As last year election was getting closer, I knew what was unfortunately coming... I went on a spree to get as many of the imported vintage stuff I had my eyes on for a while (from Europe and Japan). Overall, it was expensive... but looking cheap now after these outrageous tariffs + end of de minimis
Those who dine with the devil need a long spoon...
October 17, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Those who dine with the devil need a long spoon...
A 600 Mhz boost (plus doubling the L2 cache) will definitely make a noticeable difference in performance when gaming on XP!
October 13, 2025 at 1:44 PM
A 600 Mhz boost (plus doubling the L2 cache) will definitely make a noticeable difference in performance when gaming on XP!
Which is why I usually avoid OEM parts for my DIY retro projects (retail parts can be hard enough as it is :P). HP and DELL were famous for switching wires even for their "ATX" PSUs! So, God only knows what they did with their BIOSes...
October 13, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Which is why I usually avoid OEM parts for my DIY retro projects (retail parts can be hard enough as it is :P). HP and DELL were famous for switching wires even for their "ATX" PSUs! So, God only knows what they did with their BIOSes...
...which may or may not work with your Intel 845D based motherboard. But that would be easy to spot since you have the new chip on hand. Truth is, OEM mobos are tricky, and the multitude of cpus and northbridge variants at the time (early 00's) makes it even more difficult to troubleshoot.
October 13, 2025 at 3:49 AM
...which may or may not work with your Intel 845D based motherboard. But that would be easy to spot since you have the new chip on hand. Truth is, OEM mobos are tricky, and the multitude of cpus and northbridge variants at the time (early 00's) makes it even more difficult to troubleshoot.
cpu-upgrade.com is not the final word on these things of course (user generated data), but other than anecdotal reports on VOGONS, that would be the only resource at this point. There are other variants of 2.8 Ghz Pentium 4s (SL6HL/SL6PF/SL6S4 with 533 FSB and SL6WJ/SL6WT with 800 FSB)...
October 13, 2025 at 3:46 AM
cpu-upgrade.com is not the final word on these things of course (user generated data), but other than anecdotal reports on VOGONS, that would be the only resource at this point. There are other variants of 2.8 Ghz Pentium 4s (SL6HL/SL6PF/SL6S4 with 533 FSB and SL6WJ/SL6WT with 800 FSB)...
After some digging here, www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ASUS/P4B2... says that the SL7EY CPU should not be compatible with your motherboard...
October 13, 2025 at 3:38 AM
After some digging here, www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ASUS/P4B2... says that the SL7EY CPU should not be compatible with your motherboard...