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October 2021 |
Sunday Night Reviews
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Sunday, 31-October-2021 23:22:40 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Motherboard & CPU:
ASUS Crosshair VIII X570 Extreme on Guru3D.
Intel 12th Gen Core Debut: Alder Lake CPUs Are Ready For Battle on HotHardware.
Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Extreme X570 Motherboard on PCTestBench.
Cooling:
SilverStone PF240 Premium AIO ARGB Liquid Cooler on NikKTech.
Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 and TOUGHFAN 12 Turbo Fans on TechPowerUp.
Portable & Prebuilt:
XPG Xenia 15 KC laptop on TechPowerUp.
Origin PC EON17-X 30-Series Edition laptop on TechPowerUp.
Google Pixel 6 And Pixel 6 Pro Review: A Bold Return To Android Flagships on HotHardware.
Audio Visual:
VIOTEK GFI27DBXA 27" 180Hz QHD 1440p Gaming Monitor video review by OCClub.
Meze 99 Neo Headphones on TechPowerUp.
Drop x Sennheiser HD 6XX Headphones on TechPowerUp.
Input Etc:
Building a Keyboard 6: MOMOKA Switches/Keycaps + Epomaker Skyloong GK87 Kit on TechPowerUp.
Pulsar Xlite Wireless mouse on TechPowerUp.
Sharkoon Light² 180 Gaming Mouse and SKILLER SGP30 Big Hex Mousepad on FunkyKit.
Cases:
Thermaltake Divider 200 TG Air Snow on TechPowerUp.
DeepCool CG560 on TechPowerUp.
Storage:
Samsung 980 PRO with Heatsink 1TB SSD on Tweaktown.
TeamGroup High Endurance V30 SDXC 256GB on Guru3D.
MSI Spatium M390 1TB NVMe SSD on Guru3D.
MSI Spatium M390 1TB SSD on Tweaktown.
MSI Spatium M390 1 TB Review - The new Phison Controller on TechPowerUp.
Crucial MX500 4TB 2.5" SATA SSD on FunkyKit.
TeamGroup MP34Q 4TB SSD on Tweaktown.
Misc:
E-WIN 2.0 Edition RGB Gaming Desk on APHNetworks.
ECOVACS DEEBOT T9 Robot Vacuum Cleaner on NikKTech.
Sharkoon Silent Storm Cool Zero 850W PSU on NikKTech.
Lexar Hades RGB OC 32GB 3600MHz CL18 Dual-Channel Kit memory on NikKTech.
10 Gigabit PCIe Network Adapter TEG-10GECTX video review on OCClub.
NVIDIA GeForce NOW RTX 3080 Review: A Killer Gaming Rig In The Cloud on HotHardware.
Thanks to Axe and Simon again this week!
     
     
     
     
     
Monday Night Reviews
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Monday, 25-October-2021 22:37:41 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Storage:
KIOXIA XG6-P Series 2TB SSD on MadShrimps.
Silicon Power PD60 M.2 Enclosure on MadShrimps.
Crucial P5 Plus 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIE Gen4 SSD on FunkyKit.
Quick Look: ASUS ROG Strix Arion NVMe Enclosure on TechPowerUp.
OWC Envoy Pro SX 960GB Portable SSD on Tweaktown.
Cases:
Cooler Master MasterBox 540 on APHNetworks.
Montech Air 1000 Lite on TechPowerUp.
Hyte Revolt 3 ITX Small Form Factor on FunkyKit.
Audio Visual:
Shiftcam ProGrip on FunkyKit.
HIFIMAN TWS800 High Impedance True Wireless Earphones on TechPowerUp.
Software:
Far Cry 6 Review: Paraiso de la Muerte on Tweaktown.
GeForce 496.13 Driver Performance Analysis on BabelTechReviews.
Deathloop: DLSS vs. DLAA vs. FSR Comparison on TechPowerUp.
Cooling:
ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 360 A-RGB AIO CPU Cooler on NikKTech.
SilentiumPC Fera 5 & Fera 5 Dual Fan on TechPowerUp.
Input Etc:
ASUS ROG Gladius III Wireless Gaming Mouse on Tweaktown.
Corsair M65 RGB Ultra mouse on Guru3D.
Misc:
noblechairs EPIC Compact Gaming Chair on TechPowerUp.
Patriot Viper RGB White DDR4-4133 2x8GB DDR4 RAM on APHNetworks.
Alienware m15 R5 Ryzen Edition Gaming Laptop on HighPerformanceLaptops.
ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua OC video card on TechPowerUp.
ASRock B550 PG Riptide motherboard on TechPowerUp.
EVGA SuperNOVA G6 1000W PSU on NikKTech.
We've had some forum accounts get hijacked recently. Nothing yet indicates any attack on OCAU, although investigations are still ongoing - but in the meantime here's some recommended ways to protect your forum account regardless. Firstly, change your password regularly, but don't use the same password on multiple sites. Secondly, enable Two-Factor Authentication as an extra layer of protection. There's some discussion about the recent issues in this thread.
Anyway, it's been a busy week, and we haven't had Retro Misc Pics for a few months, so here's the roundup from August 2009. As usual, forgive any that are more spicy than we would allow nowadays!
7th August 2009:
     
     
14th August 2009:
     
     
21st August 2009:
     
     
     
28th August 2009:
     
     
     
Thursday Morning Reviews
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Thursday, 21-October-2021 00:34:24 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Video Cards:
AMD Radeon RX 6600 Review: Lower-Cost RDNA 2 For 1080p Gamers on HotHardware.
Radeon RX 6600 (Sapphire Pulse) on Guru3D.
PowerColor RX 6600 Fighter on LanOC.
AMD Radeon RX 6600 1080p Gaming on TechGage.
XFX Radeon RX 6600 Speedster Slick 210 on Tweaktown.
AMD Radeon RX 6600 on TechPowerUp.
GIGABYTE Radeon RX 6600 Eagle on Vortez.
Gainward Phoenix GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 12GB on NikKTech.
PowerColor Radeon RX 6900 XT Red Devil on Guru3D.
Motherboard & CPU:
ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Apex Motherboard on Tweaktown.
EVGA X570 Dark Motherboard on Tweaktown.
Cooling:
Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black CPU Cooler on ThinkComputers.
Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler on PCTestBench.
Thermaltake TOUGHLIQUID Ultra 240 All-in-One Liquid Cooler on APHNetworks.
Gigabyte AORUS Waterforce 240 AIO CPU Cooler on FunkyKit.
Memory:
XPG SPECTRIX D45G DDR4-4400 2x 8 GB on TechPowerUp.
Lexar Desktop Memory DDR4-3200 2x 16 GB on TechPowerUp.
Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith RGB DDR4-3600 32GB Memory Kit on Tweaktown.
Quick Look: CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB RT DDR4 Memory on TechPowerUp.
Lexar Hades RGB DDR4-3600 32GB Memory Kit on FunkyKit.
Power Supply:
Pure Power 11 FM PSU video review by OCClub.
PlayStation 5 Power Supply (ADP-400DR) on TechPowerUp.
Lian Li SP750 Gold SFX Power Supply on OCInside.
Fractal Design Ion+ 2 Platinum 860W on APHNetworks.
Software:
Back 4 Blood Performance Review: A Worthy Successor To L4D on HotHardware.
Battlefield 2042 Open Beta Benchmarked at 8K: 16GB VRAM Required on Tweaktown.
Portable & Prebuilt:
Alienware X15 Gaming Laptop Review: A Svelte Stunner With Caveats on HotHardware.
The Best Desktop PCs 2021 on TechSpot.
Misc:
Neatsvor X600 Robot Vacuum Cleaner on NikKTech.
Asus ROG STRIX XG43UQ monitor on Guru3D.
Netduma R2 router on Guru3D.
Tuesday Night Reviews
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Tuesday, 19-October-2021 23:54:31 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Audio Visual:
AOC 16T2 monitor review and Arctic X1-3D gas spring monitor arm on OCInside.
1MORE ColorBuds 2 In-Ear TWS Earbuds on MadShrimps.
Creative Outlier Air V2 Bluetooth Earphones on APHNetworks.
Drop + Sennheiser PC38X Review - The King of Analog Gaming Headsets on TechPowerUp.
UPERFECT Y Portable Touch Screen Monitor With Stand on NikKTech.
ASUS ZenBeam Latte L1 projector on TechPowerUp.
SteelSeries Arctis 3 Bluetooth headset on TechPowerUp.
Campfire Audio Holocene In-Ear Monitors on TechPowerUp.
Arozzi Occhio RL Ring Light Webcam Review - Privacy Above All on TechPowerUp.
HyperX SoloCast USB Gaming Microphone on ThinkComputers.
Input Etc:
Genesis RX85 RGB Programmable Mechanical Keyboard on FunkyKit.
Turtle Beach Recon Wired Gaming Controller on Tweaktown.
Corsair Sabre RGB Pro Wireless mouse on NeoSeeker.
iQunix A80 Explorer Wireless Mechanical Keyboard on ThinkComputers.
Genesis Xenon 800 RGB Gaming Mouse and Carbon 500 Ultra Blaze Mouse Pad on FunkyKit.
Razer Huntsman V2 Tenkeyless Optical Gaming Keyboard on TechPowerUp.
Storage:
Lexar Desktop Memory DDR4-3200 2x 16 GB on TechPowerUp.
Kioxia Exceria Plus G2 2 TB on TechPowerUp.
TerraMaster F5-422 NAS on Guru3D.
Quick Look: ORICO M2PAC3-G20 NVMe Enclosure on TechPowerUp.
SanDisk Professional G-DRIVE SSD 2TB Portable on Tweaktown.
Patriot Supersonic Rage Prime 1TB USB 3.2 Gen2 Flash Drive on MadShrimps.
Cases:
Thermaltake Core P6 TG Mid Tower on FunkyKit.
Thermaltake Divider 200 TG mATX on TechPowerUp.
Antec Draco 10 mATX on TechPowerUp.
Thermaltake Core P6 TG Snow on TechPowerUp.
Thanks to Axe and Simon this week!
     
     
     
     
     
Captain Kirk.. in.. Space!
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Thursday, 14-October-2021 00:49:59 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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I didn't realise this was tonight - but alch points out that William Shatner's Blue Origin launch is happening in about 40 minutes from now. Follow the live video here on YouTube.
SpaceX Starlink Review
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Monday, 11-October-2021 01:10:06 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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I've only had it a few days, but I've shared my thoughts on SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, including installation, setup, benefits and drawbacks. For those of us who feel abandoned by the NBN, is this the high-speed broadband solution we've been looking for?
Click for the review!
Monday Morning Reviews
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Monday, 11-October-2021 00:36:05 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Motherboard & CPU:
ASRock X570S PG Riptide on TechPowerUp.
GIGABYTE Z590 Aorus Master Motherboard on NikKTech.
ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Extreme Motherboard on Tweaktown.
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G on TechPowerUp.
ASRock X570S PG Riptide Motherboard on FunkyKit.
Video Cards:
GeForce RTX 3080 Ti vs. Radeon RX 6800 XT on TechSpot.
Colorful GeForce RTX 3060 Bilibili 12GB on Guru3D.
ASRock Radeon RX 6900 XT OC Formula on Tweaktown.
Audio Visual:
MOONDROP KATO IEMs + Kinera Leyding Cable on TechPowerUp.
Campfire Audio Mammoth In-Ear Monitors on TechPowerUp.
Creative Sound Blaster GC7 Review - A Feature-Packed USB Sound Card on TechPowerUp.
Arlo Essential Wire-Free Security Camera on Tweaktown.
Portable & Prebuilt:
Razer Blade 14 on HighPerformanceLaptops.
Dell XPS 15 9510 Review: A Powerful RTX Laptop With OLED Pop on HotHardware.
Acer Swift X on HighPerformanceLaptops.
XPG Xenia 15 Gaming Notebook on Tweaktown.
MSI Pulse GL76 on HighPerformanceLaptops.
Memory:
Team Group T-CREATE Expert 64GB DDR4 3600MHz CL18 Dual-Channel Kit on NikKTech.
Lexar Hades RGB DDR4-3600 32GB Memory Kit on FunkyKit.
Mushkin Redline Lumina DDR4-3600 32GB Memory Kit on ThinkComputers.
XPG Spectrix D45G DDR4-3600 2x8GB DDR4 RAM on APHNetworks.
Input Etc:
Building a Keyboard 5: MARVODIY Undefined 61, Charcoal Keycaps & Ajazz Diced Fruit Switches on TechPowerUp.
Corsair Sabre RGB Pro? Wireless mouse on Guru3d.
Ploopy Mouse on TechPowerUp.
EVGA X20 Gaming Mouse on FunkyKit.
Thermaltake ARGENT K5 RGB Gaming Keyboard on PCTestBench.
Kailh BOX Keyboard Featuring New Kailh BOX Hush Switches on TechPowerUp.
EVGA X15 MMO Gaming Mouse on FunkyKit.
Cooler Master MM711 Lightweight Gaming Mouse on PCTestBench.
CORSAIR SABRE RGB PRO WIRELESS CHAMPION SERIES Gaming Mouse on MadShrimps.
Storage:
Kingston SX2000 1TB USB 3.2 Gen2 x2 - World's Fastest Native USB SSD on Tweaktown.
BIOSTAR P500 Portable RGB 1TB SSD on Tweaktown.
Kingston XS2000 2 TB Review - World's Smallest and Fastest Portable SSD on TechPowerUp.
Buffalo Portable SSD-PUT USB-C 500GB Portable SSD on Tweaktown.
Software:
Far Cry 6 Benchmarked on TechSpot.
Battlefield 2042 Open Beta Benchmark Test & Performance Review on TechPowerUp.
Far Cry 6 With Ray Tracing And FSR Performance Review on HotHardware.
Far Cry 6: PC graphics performance benchmark analysis on Guru3D.
Far Cry 6 Benchmark Test & Performance Review on TechPowerUp.
Far Cry 6 Benchmarked: 1080p, 1440p, 4K on Tweaktown.
Diablo 2 Resurrected Review: Evil Reborn on Tweaktown.
Power Supply:
Fractal Ion+ 2 Platinum 860W PSU on PCTestBench.
Fractal Design ION+ 2 Platinum 860W on NikKTech.
Misc:
Secretlab TITAN Evo 2022 Superman Edition Gaming Chair on Tweaktown.
TP-Link Deco X90 Mesh Wireless Router on APHNetworks.
Scythe Mugen 5 Black Edition CPU cooler on TechPowerUp.
Happy Birthday Dan! Thanks to Axe and Darren this week.
     
     
     
     
     
Twitch apparently hacked
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Thursday, 7-October-2021 01:00:44 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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If you use Twitch, maybe change your password and set up 2FA. Everywhere seems to be linking to this page with details. An anonymous hacker claims to have leaked the entirety of Twitch, including its source code and user payout information. Discussion in this thread.
HELLO FROM SPACE
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Thursday, 7-October-2021 00:49:12 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Guess what arrived at the AggCave yesterday?
Full review soonish. More Starlink discussion in this thread.
Monday Afternoon
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Monday, 4-October-2021 13:02:39 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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The US Postal Service has suspended deliveries to Australia due to COVID-related issues, thanks MoJoMaN and Tony_L. On the official page it says only Sydney due a COVID incident, but it's more widely reported that they have stopped shipments to Australia due to lack of available transport. The United States Postal Service has suspended most of its deliveries to Australia, infuriating consumers waiting for mail and businesses relying on overseas sales. The national postal service began halting services last month due to the “unavailability of transport,” with many items destined for Australia returned to their US senders. Hoping this doesn't impact my StarLink shipment which is coming via DHL.
If you haven't updated Chrome recently, you should. In mid-September, Google patched some actively exploited zero-day vulnerabilities discovered in Google Chrome. Now, the web search giant has done it again with several new security fixes in the 11th hour of September, and you should patch right now.
TechSpot look back at 9 years of AMD CPUs. Today's CPU review is all about AMD's performance progress, comparing a flagship part from the AMD FX era and all Ryzen series with just 4 cores enabled at a fixed frequency to make direct comparisons, and then some.
The EU is aiming to force all phones to use USB-C, thanks IntelInside. Manufacturers will be forced to create a universal charging solution for phones and small electronic devices, under a new rule proposed by the European Commission (EC). The aim is to reduce waste by encouraging consumers to re-use existing chargers when buying a new device. All smartphones sold in the EU must have USB-C chargers, the proposal said. More info here, thanks Alch.
Lithuania have concerns about certain Chinese phones, thanks IntelInside, with more info here on ArsTechnica. The Lithuanian National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recently published a security assessment of three recent-model Chinese-made smartphones—Huawei's P40 5G, Xiaomi's Mi 10T 5G, and OnePlus' 8T 5G. Sufficiently determined US shoppers can find the P40 5G on Amazon and the Mi 10T 5G on Walmart.com—but we will not be providing direct links to those phones, given the results of the NCSC's security audit.
Meanwhile if you've found the whole USB-C cable situation confusing, be aware there are new standard logos to clarify things. The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) — the group that maintains the USB standard across its many varied incarnations — has introduced new, official logos for companies to use to brand their USB-C cables and packaging to go with its USB4 and 240W power standards. The goal is a noble one, aiming to help ease the confusion about the different types of USB-C cables (which can differ widely in things like charging and data transfer speeds) when you’re buying one.
Here's a slightly mind-bending article about working in full-time VR. This week, I’ll spend 40–50 hours in Virtual Reality (Immersed), like I did last week and every (work) week for the last 2½ years. It’s not just fun and games — there are plenty of those, along with exercise, meditation, creativity, socializing, etc. — but for this article, I’m only focusing on (and counting) the work.
If you're developing games in NSW or SA, there is a development incentive from the respective state governments. New South Wales has joined South Australia in widening its 10 per cent post, digital and visual effects (PDV) rebate to include game development. From October 1, eligible digital games projects that spend a minimum of $500,000 in the state will be able to claim the incentive, which is administered by Screen NSW. It comes after the Federal Government announced a 30 per cent Digital Games Tax Offset as part of May’s Budget.
MUTMAN sent in this wayforward machine view of OCAU, which is a reference to the wayback machine of the Internet Archive, giving a worrying perspective on their concerns for the future of the web.
Monday Morning Reviews
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Monday, 4-October-2021 11:20:29 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Power Supply:
Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 1000W TT Premium Edition PSU on PCTestBench.
MIFCOM Performance 450 W on TechPowerUp.
Memory:
Neo Forza FAYE 32GB DDR4 4600MHz CL19 Dual-Channel Kit on NikKTech.
Corsair Vengeance RGB RT DDR4-3600 32GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit on Tweaktown.
Portable & Prebuilt:
MSI GS76 Stealth gaming laptop on HighPerformanceLaptops.
Intel Core i7-1195G7 Performance: MSI’s Prestige 14 EVO on HotHardware.
iPhone 13 Pro Review: Fast, Impressive But Unfinished on HotHardware.
Audio Visual:
Viotek GNV34DBE2 Ultrawide Gaming Monitor on NeoSeeker.
Creative Stage V2 Computer Soundbar on APHNetworks.
EIZO FlexScan EV3895 UWQHD+ Curved Ultrawide Monitor on NikKTech.
XGIMI Halo+ Portable Android TV Projector on NeoSeeker.
JDS Labs Element II Desktop DAC/Amp on TechPowerUp.
Audeze LCD-XC (2021) Planar Magnetic Headphones + Embody Immerse Virtual Studio on TechPowerUp.
Input Etc:
CORSAIR SABRE RGB PRO WIRELESS CHAMPION SERIES mouse on Vortez.
CORSAIR M65 RGB ULTRA mouse on Vortez.
EVGA Z12 RGB Water Resistant Gaming Keyboard on FunkyKit.
Cougar Dualblader Gaming Mouse on PCTestBench.
Cases:
SilverStone ALTA G1M on TechPowerUp.
Raijintek PAN SLIM on Tweaktown.
Thermaltake Divider 500 TG Air Black on TechPowerUp.
Storage:
Buffalo Portable SSD-PG 1TB on Tweaktown.
Toshiba Canvio Gaming 4TB Portable HDD on MadShrimps.
Acer Predator GM7000 2TB SSD on Tweaktown.
ACER Predator GM7000 2TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD on Guru3D.
Acer Predator GM7000 2 TB on TechPowerUp.
Kingston DataTraveler Max USB 3.2 Gen 2 Flash Drive on TechPowerUp.
Misc:
Cougar Explore gaming chair on NeoSeeker.
ASRock Z590 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB4 Motherboard on ThinkComputers.
GeForce 472.12 Driver Performance Analysis – Using Ampere and Turing on BabelTechReviews.
Thermaltake Pure 12 ARGB Sync Fans on FunkyKit.
Retro Gaming October 2021
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Saturday, 2-October-2021 17:00:23 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Stuck at home in lockdown on a long weekend? Why not get into some Retro Gaming?
This month's Retro Racing game is Colin McRae Rally 2.0 which I remember playing a LOT of, from back in 2001. Colin McRae Rally 2.0 is a semi-simulator game of Rally, which offers the possibility of playing with vehicles present in the Rally Championship of the year 2001, as well as the stages of eight countries present in said championship. The countries whose sections are present in the game are Finland, Greece, France (although the latter stages are not in France, but on the island of Corsica), Sweden, Australia, Kenya and the United Kingdom.
Click for the thread!
Or, this month's Retro Let's Play is the truly bizarre looking The Typing Of The Dead. Originally developed and released by Sega in 1999 to arcades (yes, an arcade machine with a keyboard!), this amazing game couples an educational touch typing tutor with zombie blasting action.
Click for the thread!
If you do want to go back to the days of DOS gaming, I noticed CRTified has created a great Retro FAQ: DOS, 1990-1994 guide as well. By 1994, the 4th generation x86 line was commonplace in the home, namely the 32-bit 80386 and 80486 processor based systems. The typical home system was a fast 386 / slow 486 with between 2-4MB RAM, an 80MB hard disk, and sometimes a Sound Blaster card allowing for proper audio in games and applications.
Thanks to Axe and Simon this week - if it's a long weekend for you, enjoy it!
     
     
     
     
     
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