ClassicGMR

I haven’t had one in 14 years and I still have occasion to look longingly at someone with a cigarette. Goes away in a flash but it’s always there. great job! 👍🏼

Hopefully this helps out the AMD users that are holding what could possibly end up being expensive paperweights. Surprising though overall since video cards that are 8,9 maybe even 10 years old still get driver updates. That’s Nvidia talking though. I’ve not used an AMD video card since I threw my R9 290 into a wall and never looked back. 🤷‍♂️

I have been using Arctic MX-4 for ages. I found something that works for me every time and I don’t plan on changing it unless they stop making it. 😁

I visit Funspot at least 5 times a year. ACAM is a favorite destination for me. Gary is awesome to chat with. Really nice guy with a passion for video games.

Interesting. I have an i7-6700 HP Elite Slice coming. I may have to try this out. It was going to be a Batocera build but maybe this first.

A 2nd Gen i7 and 24GB RAM is a nice combo. The quad core still can run a lot of things and the GPU definitely helps. Hell the RAM running at 1600 instead of 1333 is nice!

I haven't tested it yet. I do know the dvd drive works but just based on what I am reading Kodi is hit or miss at best playing dvd media. Every site suggests ripping movies to MKV format and playing them from the internal drive or USB. I just put the AIO away last night and it's not in a convenient spot to get at. I think I'll dig it out next week and try it.

Interesting to see an AIO with a GPU! Didn't think any manufacturer did that. I was going to give the Lenovo to my son for the grandkids to play games on. They all have their own PCs though. Then I figured I would try and sell it off but the hardware is incredibly old ... like me. I think I am going to keep it for camping trips. I have a massive Jackery 1000w battery backup for my wife's CPAP in case the power goes out. Between that and the van having 120v outlets I could easily use it for playing or even watching movies one night for a few hours. We're always looking for something to do at the campsite when we have extended stays.

First - I must say it is so much better than RetroPie. So I am sure most of you already know what it is. It's a gaming build in Linux. I found it is a very, very, VERY stripped down Linux build. It's almost not even worth doing an SSH into the system as you really can't do anything at command line level. I did use FTP over WiFi to transfer files but that got cumbersome. I found it much easier to use a USB stick and the Files GUI from the main menu. I do like the Bezel Project availability and you can log in to Screen Scraper right from the interface. The main attraction to Batocera is how well it runs on old hardware. So I started with an Intel NUC NUC8i3BEH1 I had lying around. 8th Gen i3-8109u upgraded to16GB RAM and a 480gb SSD. I took out the M.2 to use in a current build and had the SSD just sitting on my desk. Not old really but definitely not a gaming powerhouse. In its previous life it was an entertainment server for my friend for a few years. The fan died in it so he bought a new mini pc and gave this back to me. $9 repair. It runs PS2, Gamecube and Dreamcast full speed. Not one issue with those systems or older. Full MAME library using 0.78. What really surprised me was the Steam integration. I installed Balaltro, Slay the Spire and Free Stars (Ur-Quan Masters) for starters. Nothing major but fun games on Steam. Runs like a dream. I blew $28 on an 8bitDo controller just for it. No surprises yet right? Here's where it gets fun for me. I have had an old Lenovo IdeaCentre B320 downstairs for years. My wife's grandparents used to use it but it got too slow for them. 21.5” LCD, i3-2120 cpu, upgraded to 8gb RAM and a 240gb SSD because, at the time, it made the system bearable. Glad it was already upgraded. This. Thing. Is. GORGEOUS. Gamecube runs at 55-60 FPS as does PSP. Dreamcast seems to run full speed. PS2 is not playable though. There's a good 3-5 second delay between launching a game and being able to play it. The same goes for exiting a game. In the menu and in the game itself it is amazing how well this runs. The LCD is a nice, bright 1080p screen with front firing speakers! That same 8bitDo controller works with zero delay as far as I can tell. I can make every Hot Shots Golf shot so that tells me all I need to know about lack of the input lag. I have 3 old Raspberry Pi setups in the house that I haven't updated in years. 2 I haven't even booted in years. I think I may revisit them and see how a 3B+ likes Batocera. Windows emulation is still my mainstay. Nice to have an option for all this old stuff lying around. Everyone gives me their outdated stuff because they don't know what to do with it. I just haven't gotten around to going to the E-Waste pickup in a while. I know there's a few laptops down here somewhere running at least Dual-Core processors...

I still have 3 WD 7200RPM drives in my main tower. As long as they’re not the boot drive they’re still good for storage and running most programs. Nothing wrong with 4TB storage either. 😁

I mean... from the standpoint of building PCs for people that do not have one that is functional then absolutely there is nothing wrong with backing down to DDR3 if needed. There are quite a few games and productivity software out there that won't care the platform is dated. It still works and works well. EDIT: As a side thought though... drivers may no longer have W10 support. Also anything before GTX10XX are no longer supported correct?

Well I’m under 33” of snow up here in RI but if you shoot me your details I should be able to send to you by the week’s end?

I have a 1650 or 1660ti here somewhere. I *think* it’s a 1660ti. In’nerested?

See.. my wife will extoll the virtues of Linux to me until she is blue in the face - then complain the next three hours how this version doesn't have all the features so she installs again. Then it doesn't run right. So installs something else again. Then she digs into the OS... etc etc. I, meanwhile, have been productive in Windows for the same 3-5 hours. Yes - I'm a windows geek. Linux is definitely awesome just... can't (or won't) wrap my head around it. I do like RetroPie though! Bazzite seems to be the same "type" of OS? I have some old laptops that may need to be test subjects for this.

GAME: Solasta: Crown of the Magister SYSTEM: Steam Deck 512 GB LCD, GPD Win 4, PC CLOUD SAVE: Yes First off I did not expect to like this as much as I do. Screenshots make it look like a Final Fantasy Tactics kinda clone with some tabletop genre layered on to sell the game to us nerds. And, to be fair, it IS that. But it does it well so far ... with some glaring PITA game mechanics. Be forewarned. The game plays on mouse and keyboard on your PC but is also a gamepad game. It was released on XBox, PS5 and PC so it needs to be. Makes it a good game to have on Steam Deck since you can use the cloud saves to go between the deck and the PC as needed. Controls are admittedly (and unsurprisingly) better with mouse and keyboard but everything is workable and flows well on a controller once you get used to it. The game supports multiplayer but us gamers know it's usually a lonely hobby we adults have selected for ourselves. This game is an AD&D adventure complete with dice rolls, party customization, weight management, class restrictions, spells per day, etc. I really like how it feels. The game is not easy which is very nice (and frustrating at times) as I find a lot of games these days are "Easy Mode" right out of the gate. I'm 25 hours in and have lost party members, run out of spells at bad times and run out of arrows (damn it!). It plays well but it has a few issues I am dealing with (what choice do you have?) : Fast travel between towns is built in. You can't bypass it. You can't seem to just go off exploring. You can interrupt it when things happen or every night when they set up camp. But once you are on that path you have to finish your travel before you can go somewhere else. Which leads to my biggest knock on the game. You can't just camp anywhere. Unless I am missing something you have to Fast Travel to get a complete night's rest in (long rest). You can take what looks like 2 short rest periods while adventuring but that's an hour with limited physical recovery and ZERO spell recovery. So all this means 3 days game time of travel back to town just to 100% your party THEN 3 days back to the Tower I am currently exploring. The above scenario also means 6 days of rations too. If you don't have a party member that can cast the "Goodberry spell" at night you will need to use the rations you are carrying with you. Those can disappear so fast if you are not paying attention. They only stack 5 per slot as well. I like it. Can I recommend it? Not really. You would have to be an AD&D fan to really like this game and get past the mechanics that are rule bound and set in stone. Reminds me of a pre-written campaign and a very by the book Dungeon Master with limited imagination. You gotta really want to like it. Decent review and game footage below.

I remember when EverQuest dropped their 32-bit client support back in 2022. Even by then no one was really even using 32-bit tech. Almost no one noticed the change. I'm surprised Valve has taken this long to get there.

Right but from a gamer consumer standpoint it's a console that will run out of the box. For the PC builders (meaning us) it's under-powered. But then, to us, so is an XBox or PlayStation. I may get one on the used market to check it out. I do have a Deck after all. I'm not immune to the charms dammit!! My opinion is it will have a good sales run considering the target audience and STEAM(!!!!!1!1!1!1111). 🤣

Yeah… I got tired of looking at it. Having a computer in there with the sides off, just made it look so… junky. It worked, but after a while, I just could not look at it anymore. The computer took up too much space and squished all the controllers together. It just looked horrible to me. So I took advantage of the fact that I was going to change the computer anyway and upgraded it. I’m running a Geekom A8 Mini PC. It’s a Ryzen 7 8745HS with 4GB Radeon 780M graphics, 32GB DDR5 RAM and a 1TB M.2 drive. Active cooling. All USB 3 and USB C lightning ports. The best part is it’s a lot smaller. Everything fits so much better. NOW I’m happy. 😊

I have yet to try anything Linux related since I went through my Raspberry Pi phase. I'll be sticking with whatever junk Microsoft throws at me until I die or , Microsoft starts doing their OS as a subscription or someone comes up with a better solution. It just works. I'm getting old and cranky and just want it to work. I'm the same but different. I would have purchased black controllers or gaming controllers like the Pac-Man controller I used in my portable game case. The white is a nice contrast but I like matching. Nothing wrong with what you have though. Love it.

Well it’s still a little ugly but everything fits and fits nicely. I’d like to say I’ll make it prettier as time goes by but I know myself. I probably won’t do anything else to it now that I have it all working the way I want and it’s portable. 😁😁

Couple of changes to make things smaller and fit better: - I changed out my portable keyboard for one of these tiny handheld ones. WORTH it. - I bought the shortest USB A to B cable I could find for my Vision-daptor. I refuse to emulate an Intellivision controller 😁 - I also bought a small 90 degree adapter so I can keep the monitor plugged into the power strip at all times now I only plug in one thing when I open the case - the extension cord it’s still pretty cluttered but everything fits even more comfortably now and it all works the way I want.

27 at idle is good for an i7. Nice!

One of my favorites. Then there's this: