The Power PC Thread [f*ck off consoles]

[rctempire]

Thought someone may find this useful
Seagate Expansion 4TB USB 3.0 £99.99
http://www.argos.co.uk/product/2388421

 

[Silent_Scone]

Beabate. Booooo

 

[SharkyUK]

So...

Short Version
Well f**k me! I've only gone and f**ked the Predator X34A monitor! Gutted. Currently trying to 'fix' it before I end up with an expensive desk ornament!!!

Long Version
Over the last year or so I've been contributing to a forthcoming book about older, and abandoned, video games from the 90's onwards. As a developer on some of those games I was asked to contribute. Especially regarding my involvement with the abandoned version of Frogger 2 on the Nintendo64 (which was my baby!) Basically a couple of early prototype development cartridges [that I produced for Hasbro] found their way onto the 'Net and gained a bit of cult status. As I was lead programmer on it I have been asked about it on several occasions and about what happened in terms of it getting cancelled. I also shared the fact that, despite being a 'flat' traditional Frogger-esque game set in 3D, we experimented early on with some crazy 3D levels that - sadly - Hasbro deemed to risky. As a result a lot of folks have been trying to find evidence of these levels but they were never seen outside of the development team - certainly not in the public domain. However, in contributing to this aforementioned book I came across an old PC tool suite and some binary files on a CD from a very early PC dev version of the game (I had it stored in a box in the loft). I haven't looked at this CD since 1999... Lo and behold, the Win95 designed executable actually (partially) worked! It was a bit glitchy and I had to run it in a virtual machine with DirectX software rendering but it kinda worked - bringing back a LOT of memories. [Still with me? LOL!]

Long Version (continued...)
As well as working, the early version had a couple of these 'lost-to-time' 3D levels! Admittedly the crap ones that we were trying to prove the concept with... but they were on that CD. Naturally I decided to grab some screenshots and video for sharing as this version and these levels had not been seen before. By default I ran the game on my new X34A monitor... Big mistake! BIG MISTAKE! The game window jumped to fullscreen but only a small central section of the panel was used. The rest remained black. I didn't realise there was a problem at that time. Anyways... after a few minutes playing I exited back to the desktop and noticed two things. Firstly, there was incredibly bad burn-in on the part of the panel that ran the game. I'm talking REALLY bad. Secondly, that part of the panel was flickering AT A DIFFERENT RATE to the rest of the panel! WTAF?!?!?! As I dragged a window across the affected area it would go from silky smooth to flickering like a tw*t when crossing the 'bad' area of the panel. Resetting / rebooting the monitor didn't fix it. Changing the resolution and refresh rate didn't fix it. Running other games in and out of G-Sync didn't fix it. Powering down and waiting over night did not fix it. I have never seen anything like this before. In the space of a few minutes, and during the elation of finding the prototype game, I've apparently trashed the monitor. The flickering is, in my estimation, 25-30Hz hence really noticeable - especially as it's flickering between black and whatever is being rendered on the desktop.

*sigh*

SharkyUK is unhappy SharkyUK.

 

[Silent_Scone]

Jesus Andy, I have no idea how that would have done that, something about the game must have ran the monitor out of VESA spec somewhere I guess?


If worse comes to worst RMA it, it's still under warranty. I only bought it in May I think? This year anyway.

 

[Cookie]

Damn that sucks Andy

Do these fancy monitors have some sort of firmware you could clear?

In more exciting and non destructive news, new RAM and cooler arrived

 

[SharkyUK]

Jesus Andy, I have no idea how that would have done that, something about the game must have ran the monitor out of VESA spec somewhere I guess?


If worse comes to worst RMA it, it's still under warranty. I only bought it in May I think? This year anyway.

Goodness knows! It's crazy! LOL! I'm going to pop over to a mate's place later tonight and try it on his system. The ghosting has completely gone now - no issues whatsoever. It's just the flickering I'm not sure what trying it on another system will achieve but I might as well give it a go. I'll give you a shout if I need to possibly take advantage of the RMA.

Damn that sucks Andy

Do these fancy monitors have some sort of firmware you could clear?

In more exciting and non destructive news, new RAM and cooler arrived

It does suck mate Oh well, fingers crossed! I'm not sure there are any new firmware updates available for it and I think it's a send-the-monitor-away affair if a firmware upgrade is needed.
Glad to hear the RAM and cooler have arrived. Just be careful what you decide to run on your monitor... avoid 20 year old games!

 

[SharkyUK]

@Silent_Scone / @Cookie

I *think* the flickering issue is fixed. How? No idea.

I took the monitor to a mate's house and hooked it up to his PC. However, I forgot to take my Display Port cable so I used one of his. His cable was ultra crap quality and didn't like higher resolutions at the monitor's native resolution. But, strangely, after attempting to run the panel at the higher resolutions at a range of different frequencies and resolutions the flickering appeared to stop. Interesting. So... we started at the lowest resolution and frequency and literally went through every single combination the panel is capable of until all options had been exhausted.

I'm happy to say that the monitor now appears to be back in a working state. I've not had chance to try it in anger as yet but a cursory boot-up and examination earlier suggested that it's back to normal. I hope so!

 

[Cookie]

@Silent_Scone / @Cookie

I *think* the flickering issue is fixed. How? No idea.

I took the monitor to a mate's house and hooked it up to his PC. However, I forgot to take my Display Port cable so I used one of his. His cable was ultra crap quality and didn't like higher resolutions at the monitor's native resolution. But, strangely, after attempting to run the panel at the higher resolutions at a range of different frequencies and resolutions the flickering appeared to stop. Interesting. So... we started at the lowest resolution and frequency and literally went through every single combination the panel is capable of until all options had been exhausted.

I'm happy to say that the monitor now appears to be back in a working state. I've not had chance to try it in anger as yet but a cursory boot-up and examination earlier suggested that it's back to normal. I hope so!

Awesome news!

 

[Geddes]

I've just set up my new pc and monitor but unable to get 2560x1440 resolution on the monitor display settings. I've got the DVI to DVI cable set up. I only have the built in GFX card Intel (R) Graphics 530.
Am i able get get full resolution on this built in gfx card or do i need to buy a gfx card to get 2560x1440 on my 27" monitor?

thanks

 

[McGherkin]

@Silent_Scone / @Cookie

I *think* the flickering issue is fixed. How? No idea.

I took the monitor to a mate's house and hooked it up to his PC. However, I forgot to take my Display Port cable so I used one of his. His cable was ultra crap quality and didn't like higher resolutions at the monitor's native resolution. But, strangely, after attempting to run the panel at the higher resolutions at a range of different frequencies and resolutions the flickering appeared to stop. Interesting. So... we started at the lowest resolution and frequency and literally went through every single combination the panel is capable of until all options had been exhausted.

I'm happy to say that the monitor now appears to be back in a working state. I've not had chance to try it in anger as yet but a cursory boot-up and examination earlier suggested that it's back to normal. I hope so!

Panic over!

So when are you releasing the level? :tongueout:

 

[Daz...]

@Geddes

You'll need either HDMI or display port connection for anything over 1080p with built in graphics.

 

[Cookie]

Still working fine @SharkyUK ?

 

[Geddes]

@Geddes

You'll need either HDMI or display port connection for anything over 1080p with built in graphics.

Thanks. My new pc doesn't have a HDMI or Display Port, so only option is to buy a gfx card?

@Daz...

 

[Cookie]

Thanks. My new pc doesn't have a HDMI or Display Port, so only option is to buy a gfx card?

@Daz...

Yep. Allegedly the graphics chip will output 4k, but I'm guessing only if its via HDMI

Edit: Internet seems to suggest that a dual link DVI cable will output 1440p, dunno if one would be compatible with what you have
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0001Y8UC0/?tag=cliospnet01-21

Like this

 

[Daz...]

@Geddes What motherboard did you get in the end?

 

[Geddes]

I went for the Asus H110M-K Intel H110 (Socket 1151) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard
and went for a high speed DVI cable to which I'm using now
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00MO7TNBY/?tag=cliospnet01-21
@Cookie @Daz...

Also I'm using the only HDMI port from the new monitor to the PS4

 

[Daz...]

Unfortunately I don't believe you can have that resolution using the DVI connection due to the limitations of the Intel 530.

 

[SharkyUK]

Panic over!

So when are you releasing the level? :tongueout:

Give me 30 minutes. I'll run it up now on my new monitor and grab some, oh.... bugger...

Still working fine @SharkyUK ?

Yes mate, so far so good. I had a few hours playing on it last night (y'know, to test it!) and all appeared fine. Cheers

 

[SharkyUK]

I went for the Asus H110M-K Intel H110 (Socket 1151) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard
and went for a high speed DVI cable to which I'm using now
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00MO7TNBY/?tag=cliospnet01-21
@Cookie @Daz...

Also I'm using the only HDMI port from the new monitor to the PS4

Unfortunately I don't believe you can have that resolution using the DVI connection due to the limitations of the Intel 530.

@Daz... is correct I'm afraid @Geddes

Integrated Graphics Processor- Intel® HD Graphics support
Multi-VGA output support : DVI-D/RGB ports
- Supports DVI-D with max. resolution 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz
- Supports RGB with max. resolution 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz
Maximum shared memory of 1024 MB
Supports Intel® InTru™ 3D, Quick Sync Video, Clear Video HD Technology, Insider™

 

[Geddes]

I'll have to think about getting a graphic card like and fit it myself as a noob. I rang Overclockers and they recommend a Nvidia 1050. Seen them around £100 area . Would a 1030 be ok? Or spend the extra money?

Thanks much appreciated people

 

[Cookie]

I'll have to think about getting a graphic card like and fit it myself as a noob. I rang Overclockers and they recommend a Nvidia 1050. Seen them around £100 area . Would a 1030 be ok? Or spend the extra money?

Thanks much appreciated people

What are you using the PC for?

 

[Silent_Scone]

Give me 30 minutes. I'll run it up now on my new monitor and grab some, oh.... bugger... :tongueout:


Yes mate, so far so good. I had a few hours playing on it last night (y'know, to test it!) and all appeared fine. Cheers :smile:

Now stop trying to f**k it with rose tints

 

[Geddes]

What are you using the PC for?

I use the PC for streaming , movies, surfing the net, YouTube, photography editing

 

[Cookie]

I use the PC for streaming , movies, surfing the net, YouTube, photography editing

Probably be fine with a 1030 then if you're not going to game

 

[Daz...]

@Geddes Just be careful which one you choose as a lot of the 1030's only output up to 1080p over DVI.

 

[Geddes]

Been looking at this one, would this be ok for 2560x1440 resolution?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N0OZ1Z5/?tag=cliospnet01-21

 

[Daz...]

Been looking at this one, would this be ok for 2560x1440 resolution?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N0OZ1Z5/?tag=cliospnet01-21

From what I can find online that one should be fine mate.

 

[McGherkin]

Shirley for pretty much the same price a 1050 is far more future proof?

 

[Daz...]

Shirley for pretty much the same price a 1050 is far more future proof?

The one he linked is a 1050 :up:

 

[McGherkin]

Ah, should've checked the link, lol

 

[Darren S]

Graphics card memory is king these days - for the trifling amount of a further £25 - I would certainly be doubling the amount onboard to 4GB...

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/pal...phics-card-768-core-1290mhz-gpu-1392mhz-boost

 

[Daz...]

I agree, but not sure it would be needed when it's not being used for gaming.

 

[Geddes]

I looked on NVidia website and can't find if it covers the 2560 x 1440 reso, just for my own peace of mind it's ok that's all.

I presume any 1050 no matter which model of the 1050 will be ok? I presume I'll be able to fit this myself and it'll be just a couple of wires and push it in myself in the machine?

 

[Silent_Scone]

2GB is too little these days for frame buffer

 

[Geddes]

One of the many reasons why is that my new screen can do screen in screen and you could have 4 displays in each corner. So be canny if the card could handle something like that

 

[SharkyUK]

I would avoid the 1030. I would also reinforce what the guys have already said... 2GB is not great these days. Especially as we move towards higher resolutions (e.g. 4K streaming) etc. where the demands on video memory increase significantly. Photo editing will also benefit from the increased graphics memory as it's increasingly likely that the software used makes use of the GPU for various graphics-related tasks. For example, Photoshop uses GPU power for a lot of the filter processing and geometric transformations.

 

[Geddes]

I'll order the one the Darren posted up, true paying an extra £25 for 4GB I'm sure it will do me fine

Thanks

 

[Darren S]

I'll order the one the Darren posted up, true paying an extra £25 for 4GB I'm sure it will do me fine

Thanks

Just check (my bad - I should have done that for you) - as to whether or not it needs any additional power connections going into it. Some cards are a little weird with their consumption demands - we've had standard 1050's here that required a single 6-pin cable for juice - then had 1050Ti's that have drawn their power straight from the PCI-E bus.

 

[Geddes]

Just check (my bad - I should have done that for you) - as to whether or not it needs any additional power connections going into it. Some cards are a little weird with their consumption demands - we've had standard 1050's here that required a single 6-pin cable for juice - then had 1050Ti's that have drawn their power straight from the PCI-E bus.

I'll have a look inside the pc tomorrow see if there's any leads inside for the card already in

 

[Cookie]

http://www.pcgamer.com/amd-radeon-pro-ssg-pairs-vega-with-2tb-of-memory/

2TB SSD on a workstation card must be a first.. (and 16GB of HBM2)

7 grand!

I hear @SharkyUK has ordered 6