8Bitplus - Page 2 of 12 - Retro Gaming, Projects, Repairs and Blog

Retro PC now with Voodoo2

8bitplus 12/08/2019 0 Comments

You may have seen my previous posts about building a Retro PC for some DOS game action…

I wanted to keep maximum DOS compatibility, but also add support for 90’s 3D accelerated Windows games. So the biggest additions were the CPU upgrade to 233Mhz, double the RAM to 64mb and the Voodoo2 3D card. Specs are now:

Pentium MMX 233Mhz
64mb EDO Ram
3DFX Voodoo2 8mb 3D Card
S3 Virage DX 2D card

All working perfectly and now I’m able to play games like Unreal Tournament with most settings maxed out. Some very old DOS games may run too fast, but I found a program that can disable CPU caches and other features. This should allow be to slow the PC down to 486 speeds when needed.

More on this project later when I get time.

Projects, Uncategorized

DCHDMI for Dreamcast installed

8bitplus 08/08/2019 0 Comments

DCHDMI Just finished off installing a DCHDMI for a customer. It turned out great and gives an excellent image over HDMI.

Click the image or here to see more pics of this upgrade.

DCHDMI can be a tricky install. please get in contact if you want one installing in your Dreamcast.

commission work, Console

DCHDMI, dreamcast, sega

Philips CDi 450 RGB modded

8bitplus 07/08/2019 0 Comments

Looks like I can add the Philips CDi 450 model to my list of consoles that can be RGB modded.

Results are very good. Click on a picture or here to see the work on this customers console.

Hope you enjoy CDi in RGB George 🙂

commission work, Console

450, CDi, Philips, RGB

Affordable RGB to HDMI adapter

8bitplus 07/08/2019 1 Comment

I’ve been looking for a cheap RGB Scart to HDMI adapter for some time. Its already been proven that most of the cheap units on Amazon or eBay are crap and don’t in-fact support RGB or resolutions down to 240i/p. So I got a recommendation to try this one. Elephas Scart to HDMI and can be found on eBay and Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Converter-ELEPHAS-Adapter-Support-Set-top-Black/dp/B00RMMGOGS

It actually works quite well for the low price, but does have a little lag. Picture quality ranges from Ok to quite good, with some of the best results on the MegaDrive and Neo Geo Consoles. Its no replacement or a OSSD, but not bad at all.

It certainty allows for clear stable screenshots and for testing purposes. I don’t I could recommend it for extended play sessions with the lag. I’ll do a full review later.

Projects

HD, HDMI, RGB

Keeping Busy (June)

8bitplus 05/07/2019 0 Comments

Its time for my monthly report. What Have I been up to this month….

Well firstly I managed to get time to visit the new Arcade Club in Leeds. If you’ve not heard of Arcade Club, its basically a perfect place to find retro arcade machines, and play as long as you like. All machines are on free play, you just pay to get in! Loads of amazing games from the 80’s, 90’s, through to some modern ones. Well worth checking out.

Regarding work on customers machines, Its not been a very productive month. I just never seem to have any time available, but a few jobs were complete and sent out.

This was a full Mega CD recap for a customer. He also asked for a region free bios, new drive opening belt and laser replacement.

Next we have another PC Engine Duo for a recap and RGB mod. All looking great now.

And there was also another PSIO switchboard to install. The 3DO USB installation covered below, and Saturn with the full table of mods.

That’s about it for June. Its going the a tight month in July to get any work done with Holidays and weekends away, but I try 🙂

Admin, commission work, Event

Fully booked again

8bitplus 30/06/2019 0 Comments

Just to let everyone know, I’m fully booked again for repairs/upgrades. By all means please email for quotes but I won’t be able to accommodate more work for July and August.

Uncategorized

A Sega Saturn with the full mod package

8bitplus 27/06/2019 0 Comments

Last week I finished working a beautiful Japanese Sega Saturn for a customer. He wanted the full list of modifications for this stunningly mint condition unit.

Click the image or Here to see what was done.

commission work

bios, modchip, region free, Saturn, sega

3DO FZ-10 USB drive installation

8bitplus 12/06/2019 0 Comments

Page created with more details of the MNEMO 3DO FZ-10 USB drive installation.

This was commission for a customer to install the USB drive for 3DO. If you would like one of these drives installing please get in contact.

Click the image or here for more information.

commission work

Facebook

8bitplus 05/06/2019 0 Comments

Due to popular request, 8Bitplus is now on Facebook! Please like and follow my page.

https://www.facebook.com/8BitplusServices

Admin

Retro PC

8bitplus 02/06/2019 0 Comments

During the last couple of months I’ve been playing around with the idea of building a DOS based retro PC. Now I’ve finally gone and made a start.

My aim is to have a good, fast, DOS/Win98 compatible PC for games. Nothing too fast or fancy. I also wanted to keep the price down. Unlike some other projects, this should be cheap.

I settled on a board, CPU and memory combo from eBay. The motherboard is a Lucky Star 5I-VX2B. CPU is a Pentium 100mhz without mmx, and it came with 32Mb of 72pin SIMM RAM.

I was tempted to go with a highend 486 biuld, but this was a good speed/value price-point. The motherboard chipset is also new enough to work with large drives (by that I mean over 8Gb) so no worries about fitting a large game collection on the HDD. 60Gb should be fine. Win98/DOS7.1 allows for FAT32 and removes the old 2gb partition restrictions. DOS7.1 is actually just as good as the older versions when setup correctly. Windows 98SE is just for a few Widows only games that need it.

I’ll upload more pics, videos and info as this project progresses.