JediMaster

Time is a limiting factor for games depending on their coding. I have some games that are 10 yrs or older that I can't get to work anymore because they used DX routines no longer supported by drivers from the big 2. When I moved to my house 9 yrs ago I did a lot of "game cleaning" and tossed most of my pre-95 games that were basically impossible to get working under 98 SE (XP wasn't out yet!). A couple of them I later regretted as I found ways to get them to work, but once I went to XP in 2003-4 it wouldn't have mattered anyway. I already have issues getting some XP-capable games to work right under 7. While I don't think Win8 will be an added issue, I'm betting when Win9 comes out no game that was made for XP pre-Vista (as opposed to tested on both) will really run anymore.

The alternative is of course a "legacy" PC running old hardware and OS, but the problem there is both space (where would I put the stupid thing) and parts failure. When the video or mobo dies, it's increasingly difficult to replace with a then-generation part, and a new part will likely not work with the other older parts or OS/drivers.

No, I think the only thing that really works is to play today's games today, and tomorrow's games tomorrow, while yesterday's games must be relegated to fond memories.

On the flip side, I saw a fruit picker once. Never want to again.

The funny thing is since the beginning the B-1 was configured for external weapons carriage as well, but AFAIK that ability has never been used operationally. Of course, that was just for cruise missiles I think, not the unpowered bombs it mainly drops now...

True, but something tells me once the ground attack stuff is finally going well the F-22 will get subjected to similar stresses. After all, that IS why the F-117s were retired so early, because it was decided between the F-22 and UCAVs we didn't need them.

There's a man on the fuselage of the plane!!

It makes good sense from a strategic view to dual source from east and west, even if it causes logistical headaches and added financial burden.

I can see those DX11 effects are in and working fine.

There's a dial on the front of the throttle base. That's a tension adjuster for the throttle's motion. The clicks are the detents, one for idle and one for afterburner. Unfortunately, on mine I get no throttle response below the idle detent, making it useless, but the AB one is fine.

I've heard maybe they're dumping their DRM-free model and going with something more like Steam or D2D or Impulse. We'll see I guess.

Well for that price range you're looking at a Radeon 5770 or GTX 460. The 460 has received awesome reviews (compared to the ostensibly "better" 465) and is pretty much considered the BEST card at $200. It even does DX11 well.

The 5770 is ok at it, but it's also about $50 less. AMD doesn't really have a card at $200 exactly, so I went under. The 5830 is $210, but also isn't considered as good as the 460, go figure.

Anyway, here's a list of possible choices from Newegg: Linky link

There are plenty of other places to check, too, but this gives you some idea.

I was just reading my book on the Voodoo this weekend. I'd like to fly some missions with it again now!

http://www.hardocp.com/news/2010/09/19/good_old_games_shuts_down

It was the place where EECH lived on, but no longer.

I know I've not heard a thing in a long time.

Not that it means anything necessarily. I mean, I've got SimHQ wallpaper calendars from 2005 with pics from Fighter Ops in it. To date, still screens are still the only thing I've seen of it.

"Why can't I remember these lines, I wrote them?!?!"

The problem has become (for once) a lack of publicity of the problem. When the first crash occurs because of a laser, assuming the crew survives to tell that's what it was, THEN there will be a slew reports about it.

Oh, the RAF will no longer need to engage in air-to-air combat? I guess all the unfriendly countries out there are giving up their airplanes as well?

Once again, people can't see past the war in front of their eyes. If they had 30 years ago, Afghanistan wouldn't be such a slog now. Build a force today to fight there tomorrow and you'll be in deep trouble when it turns out to be something totally different.

Well, the issue isn't combat losses, it's just accidents. We've already lost 5% of our B-2 force to a single accident!

Things happen, from ground fires to a hangar collapse to a mid-air refuelling accident, and you can't stop them all. We managed to keep most of the F-117 fleet in service till its retirement by virtue of retiring it early! If we can the F-22 in 2022 or so I'm sure we'll still have most of them as well. Keep them for the decades they claim to intend to, however, and you have to deal with other things like wing cracks (see our F-15Cs).

The book I mentioned was a compilation of several books, each on a separate plane. I wonder if your book was the source. I recognize the diagram as well, I'll have to pull my copy out of the closet and examine it!

I'm also supposing their military careers will be relatively short, so they're giving them a lot to do early because they know they won't be around for long.

That said, even if it's "easier" for them than the average service member, at least they're doing it! That's more than can be said for a majority of the so-called "leaders" which are ordering those same service members into combat.

If it needs to be done, don't hesitate, but don't do it without realizing the true costs involved by sending them in and just thinking "well, they volunteered." They volunteered to defend their country and make a positive difference, not to play some politician's games and die for someone's reelection chances.

Hey, I recognize that font! Is that from "The Great Book of Modern Warplanes"??

I read that thing cover to cover so many times when I was younger and there was less reference material easily found than now...

Well, the F-22 was designed to replace the F-15 and the F-35 the F-16, so they're not built to the same specs. Sure an F-22 could do the F-35s job, just like an F-15 can do an F-16's job, but would you want to spend that much to do it?

I remember the original JSF plan was for something like $25m/A model, $30m/C model, $35m/B model. Boy did they screw THAT specification up.

 

As to UFO's I ahve seen some stuff in my life that defies explantion but isn't that all part of the mytery of life ?

Me too, it was called C-SPAN. *rimshot*

A small number of laptop models have a GPU-on-a-card that looks like a small circuit board that can be swapped out/upgraded. Most likely yours is not, it's not a popular option.

The fan is usually linked to the CPU temp, so if the GPU overheats you wouldn't necessarily have any indicator. I have an 8600GT on my Dell laptop, but it has just one fan.

Most likely there is a heatpipe arrangement that brings the heat from the CPU and GPU to the same place where the fan can cool it, hence my statement that perhaps the thermal connection between the GPU and heatsink has failed. If the laptop has suffered any jarring impacts lately, or been in a hot dry place, that could cause the thermal paste/pad to break down. When that happens, it's going to overheat within a second or two of power-on. The instances when it would work for a short while before failing was likely because the connection was still partly there, so it took a little while to overheat.

Your only (free) recourse is to disassemble the bottom of the laptop, find the GPU, and check the connection between it and the heatsink/pipe. Not knowing your model's design, I'm not sure how user-repairable it might be, to get a new thermal pad in there and reconnect it. That said, it may be "too late" for the GPU anyway, and while that would keep it from overheating again, it could already be permanently damaged.

As for data, they don't need your HDD to fix it. Most laptops have an HDD that is easily removed after you undo a couple of screws.

REMOVE THE DRIVE BEFORE YOU SEND IT AWAY. Otherwise, who knows what could happen?

"A bit of work"!?!? That's the understatement of the year.

You could have a failed fan or the heatsink came loose on the GPU or its RAM. If you get distorted graphics BEFORE you load windows, just in the BIOS, it's 100% a hardware problem.

The 3 months OOW part is miserable, because this looks like that's exactly what it needs...to be repaired at the hardware level.