Bad Login Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 5 hours ago, Charles Darwin said: So now...you just have to replace the CPU/GPU, the motherboard, the fan... This is a mini PC!!! ? Haha, no kidding. I might as well just install the VCS partitions on a faster machine that I already have. There have been some people that have done that already. This experiment was more academic in nature, but yeah, it's an expensive upgrade for this kind of machine. Now you don't have to do it just to find out if it can be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 21 minutes ago, Bad Login said: I'm not planning on using it as my main computer, so having it totally decked out is more for academic purposes. I mostly went with the 2 TB storage to see if it could take it since I saw documentation originally that stated a 1 TB limit, but then a later one by Atari that said there was none. I fell on the (expensive) sword to see if it could work so that others could learn about this. If it turns out that putting other O/Ss on here isn't really all that practical, then I can certainly use the storage for something else. It's not a waste then. I already knew that I needed more storage when I saw the size of some of the games that are available. the 32 GB was going to be too little of space, and it's pretty slow compared to an SSD. I realize that the games in the store will be designed for that speed in mind, but I thought it might make the experience a little nicer if it was a little more expedient in loading content. What would you have recommended for memory and storage? Would you even bother putting an alternative O/S on it or would you just leave it like it is and only use it as the Atari VCS? Would you leave the Atari O/S on the eMMC or would you transfer it to an SSD if you had the space? Just curious to know for contrast of your purpose for using the VCS. Has anyone benchmarked the eMMC against the m.2 SATA? Generally your eMMC is going to be faster, actually. Especially as it is not an nVME slot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 19 minutes ago, Bad Login said: Haha, no kidding. I might as well just install the VCS partitions on a faster machine that I already have. There have been some people that have done that already. This experiment was more academic in nature, but yeah, it's an expensive upgrade for this kind of machine. Now you don't have to do it just to find out if it can be done. If you try putting AtariOS on a different machine and it works, let me know, I'd be curious to see how that works! (I'm betting it won't unless you have very close hardware to the VCS, as they didn't seem to include all the modules a standard Linux kernel will have.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Darwin Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 19 minutes ago, leech said: Has anyone benchmarked the eMMC against the m.2 SATA? Generally your eMMC is going to be faster, actually. Especially as it is not an nVME slot. I originally installed Linux Mint on the eMMC, then I installed it on a m.2 SATA. The m.2 SSD was faster...boot time was about 30% shorter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Login Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 34 minutes ago, leech said: If you try putting AtariOS on a different machine and it works, let me know, I'd be curious to see how that works! (I'm betting it won't unless you have very close hardware to the VCS, as they didn't seem to include all the modules a standard Linux kernel will have.) I believe that there was a thread on here about somebody that got it working on an old MBP. Not everything was supported, like Bluetooth, but it seemed possible. I suspect that you'd have to do a bunch of work and hacking of the Atari O/S to get it fully functional. Obviously, this isn't practical, but would be interesting to try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Login Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 38 minutes ago, leech said: Has anyone benchmarked the eMMC against the m.2 SATA? Generally your eMMC is going to be faster, actually. Especially as it is not an nVME slot. @Charles Darwin is describing what I've heard about using the SSD instead of the eMMC for the VCS O/S. eMMC was used because it's inexpensive, it's fast enough, and it supports being booted up with UEFI. It was a design choice to cut costs while still giving enough capability for the system to perform the way they want it to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 5 minutes ago, Bad Login said: @Charles Darwin is describing what I've heard about using the SSD instead of the eMMC for the VCS O/S. eMMC was used because it's inexpensive, it's fast enough, and it supports being booted up with UEFI. It was a design choice to cut costs while still giving enough capability for the system to perform the way they want it to. gnome-disks has a disk benchmarking utility, or you can use hdparm of course. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 On 1/30/2021 at 5:11 AM, justclaws said: You THINK 2TB will be enough to move AtariOS and install a couple of other O/S? Ha ha. I realise you're saying that "tongue in cheek", sarcastically, but not all will. There are people who really don't understand how much RAM and disk is needed for normal usage of Linux or Windows, and so buy unnecessary costly upgrades. (Also, I think using Atari's logo as your avatar is also a bit dubious, as a result.) My gaming PC only has 16Gb RAM, so when I see people throwing 32Gb into the VCS, I have to ask why. 2TB is a lot, unless you plan on downloading many large games. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 40 minutes ago, zzip said: My gaming PC only has 16Gb RAM, so when I see people throwing 32Gb into the VCS, I have to ask why. 2TB is a lot, unless you plan on downloading many large games. Ha, when one of my games (Conan Exiles) is 96gb, 2TB becomes not that much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
o187em Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 If only they had added a Thunderbolt port so we could use an EGPU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marss Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 E-gpu is possible without thunderbolt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 On 1/6/2021 at 8:22 PM, OldSchoolRetroGamer said: I would not think sol, I mean it certainly does not hurt however nothing the VCS can do will be aided much beyond 16 gb RAM, he has increased storage capacity so it will hold more and MAYBE the spec of the storage M.2 is slightly faster for a touch quicker loading? I am not clear on the M.2 storage, was this to add to the default OS drive or replace it? Games whether Steam or otherwise, the quality of the experience is more reliant on CPU / GPU defaults of the system. Basically, he's made it the best AtariVCS it can be pretty much but it is still far short for AAA titles to run smooth with decent settings, not saying this as a insult, it simply is what it is a low to midrange PC, in the end to improve gaming performance and visuals requires more powerful CPU/GPU specs period. With 32gb of ram you can run several VMs at once. That is the only purpose a normal PC has as well, really. Or maybe large video editing. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 9 hours ago, o187em said: If only they had added a Thunderbolt port so we could use an EGPU. Ha, yeah some nutjob added a 1060 through the mini PCI that the BT/WiFi card is in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justclaws Posted February 2, 2021 Author Share Posted February 2, 2021 More people upgrading to the max. He thanks everybody else who made guides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 1) if you are going to open it all the alway to upgrade the RAM, you may as well max it out. 2) it isn't all that different in a price from 16 to 32. 3) there isn't much reason to do it outside of 'you can' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youxia Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 You will be hard pressed to utilize 8GB on this machine. Sticking 32GB in it is quite wild (and price differences are significant). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 (edited) 6 hours ago, youxia said: You will be hard pressed to utilize 8GB on this machine. Sticking 32GB in it is quite wild (and price differences are significant). Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever maxed out the RAM on any PC I've ever owned. Usually I'm forced to upgrade the CPU and go to a new board long before I hit the limit on the amount of RAM the current mobo supports. Edited February 3, 2021 by zzip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 7 hours ago, youxia said: You will be hard pressed to utilize 8GB on this machine. Sticking 32GB in it is quite wild (and price differences are significant). You only actually have 6GB of RAM on the VCS as 2GB is assigned to video RAM by default. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrly Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 I haven’t opened it yet but my SSD will be here soon. Does it need the stand-off and screw or just the screw? If it needs a stand-off would one from a gigabyte board work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 48 minutes ago, yrly said: I haven’t opened it yet but my SSD will be here soon. Does it need the stand-off and screw or just the screw? If it needs a stand-off would one from a gigabyte board work? Needs a stand off. There is basically just a screw hole there. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086T2KXGQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share If the gigabyte screw doesn't work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrly Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 17 minutes ago, leech said: Needs a stand off. There is basically just a screw hole there. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086T2KXGQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share If the gigabyte screw doesn't work. Yeah I’ve been holding off ordering it in case the gigabyte one works but wasn’t gonna open it until the SSD gets here. I’ve been debating the RAM I’ve got 16gb in a seldom used laptop that I took out of my wife’s gaming laptop. Thing is it’s obscure ram “Goldkey” and 2400mhz. The 8gb in there I was able to set to 2666. I don’t know if the Goldkey would operate at 2666. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeatari1 Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 19 hours ago, yrly said: I’ve been debating the RAM I’ve got 16gb in a seldom used laptop that I took out of my wife’s gaming laptop. Thing is it’s obscure ram “Goldkey” and 2400mhz. The 8gb in there I was able to set to 2666. I don’t know if the Goldkey would operate at 2666. This should work great if you don't plan on overclocking the ram in the bios. The stock VCS is limited to 2400 Mhz anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 16 minutes ago, joeatari1 said: This should work great if you don't plan on overclocking the ram in the bios. The stock VCS is limited to 2400 Mhz anyway. You can clock it higher actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlecRob Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 (edited) Idk why but the Atari VCS really lends itself to maxing out that RAM It’s begging for it. Is there any reason to use faster RAM than 2400? Does it make the CPU hotter? Edited February 9, 2021 by AlecRob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrly Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 8 hours ago, AlecRob said: Idk why but the Atari VCS really lends itself to maxing out that RAM It’s begging for it. Is there any reason to use faster RAM than 2400? Does it make the CPU hotter? I clocked the stock RAM at 3200 it is faster on userbenchmark. Not sure how much it would benefit any games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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