Looking to upgrade the VCS... storage / RAM...

[yrly]

On 3/3/2021 at 9:12 AM, Rick Dangerous said:

Thank you; wound up going this route for the SSD.

 

Found the G.Skill Ripjaws 3200 with the 18 CAS speed:

 

https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-16gb-260-pin-ddr4-so-dimm/p/N82E16820232724?&quicklink=true

 

I think i'm all set; thanks again folks! 

Glad the SSD was of help. 

[Rick Dangerous]

Got it done today and had a blast! Was super easy to do. Like very easy. My only nit-pick is the missing screw for the SSD. Of course none of the ones I bought fit and I had to rig something up, but it worked out in the end. Other than that all good!

[yrly]

I used an extra stand-off from my gigabyte Threadripper board. It had a few extras in case you use drives shorter than the included heatsinks. It was a fractional amount longer than needed but still fine for the purpose unless you are OCD and wanted it perfect flat.

 

Think the only other thing I may do is get longer wifi antennas for it. I suspect the reason they didn’t use longer ones isn’t cost cutting or anything since they’re virtually free shipped from China as it is, I suspect it’s because they didn’t want longer wires working loose in transit because of proximity to the fan. 
 

The one thing I haven’t seen (or overlooked) is if anyone tried a shorty SSD in the wifi slot and an external USB Wifi. 

[Chantellatari]

21 hours ago, Rick Dangerous said:

Got it done today and had a blast! Was super easy to do. Like very easy. My only nit-pick is the missing screw for the SSD. Of course none of the ones I bought fit and I had to rig something up, but it worked out in the end. Other than that all good!

Hello friend, I'm looking for these screws for installing the ssd on my Atari, and I ask, if you also put the sealing rubber between the spacer and the plate, or did you screw or ssd directly on the motherboard? Thanks for tour attention

[Rick Dangerous]

I just used a random screw I had and cut a small piece of rubber tubing so it's perfectly level and held in place firmly. 

 

I'd just skip it entirely if it was firmly in place, but it's not it flops all around and you have to turn it upside down to put the unit back together.

 

I'm going to start a thread on the screw so we can resolve this once and for all...

[Hesseloff1]

16GB DDR4 2666MHz PC4-2666V 2R8 260Pin SODIMM Samsung

Hello this type of sodimm is compatible with the VCS?

Edited May 5, 2021 by Hesseloff1
more info

[justclaws]

That looks fine.
Various people had special recommendations, but I bought a pair of generic 2400 Mhz DDR4 SODIMMs,
and no problems at all. As I was on a budget, all the shops were shut in lockdown, I bought 2nd-hand.
Generally, best to have 2 the same, to facilitate dual-channel, but one will work.
(There is the upgrades thread where all those types are suggestions are already consolidated.)

[Serpentor]

I ordered the following 32GB RAM kit (16GB x2) for $95.74 on Amazon Warehouse Deals.  Do I have to do anything to the BIOS to get it running properly in the system?  I have a VCS 800 on order and hope to have all of my upgrades ready to go when it gets here.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BGLKD4M/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[82-T/A]

On 2/15/2021 at 7:18 PM, OldSchoolRetroGamer said:

I don't own one and my comments were strictly PC related which is what it is. You only have TWO slots and so you would want two 8 gb SODIMM DDR4 modules. You will want to use both slots as Ryzen chips work best with memory in Dual Channel config which just means you want to fill up both slots totaling your desired amount as opposed to say using a single 16 gb module in one slot. Basically, it is the modern RAM used in LAPTOPS as opposed to a typical Desktop. That said a quick GOOGLE search of - atari vcs recommended ram - gave me THIS result right at the top (Googling can be magic with the right search terms for just about anything ? ) and the very FIRST result entry is right of the AtariVCS support page ? CLICK THIS LINK FOR ATARI VCS RECOMMENDED RAM INFO

 

As stated in the link above - 

Always mount the RAM in pairs, so to achieve the maximum capacity of 32GB you would add two 16GB modules. Please note, SODIMM DDR4 RAM is a different format than RAM used in desktop computers. Desktop memory will not fit in the Atari VCS.

 

 

 

Ok, I've got to ask... I saw your avatar picture...

 

 

I know this picture from somewhere, but for the life of me, I cannot remember. Was it from an 80s computer game, or something like that? Where is this from?

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

5 hours ago, 82-T/A said:

 

 

Ok, I've got to ask... I saw your avatar picture...

 

 

I know this picture from somewhere, but for the life of me, I cannot remember. Was it from an 80s computer game, or something like that? Where is this from?

Ha! That would be RAIN, one of the three "Storms" Rain / Thunder / Lightning, characters from John Carpenters awesome 80's epic Big Trouble in Little China! ? They serve the evil Villain Lo-Pan. 

 

It's a pretty common pose / image for this character, I just ran it through a filter and liked the way it turned out. ?

 

 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2021 by OldSchoolRetroGamer

[tripled79]

On 3/7/2021 at 12:35 PM, Rick Dangerous said:

I just used a random screw I had and cut a small piece of rubber tubing so it's perfectly level and held in place firmly. 

 

I'd just skip it entirely if it was firmly in place, but it's not it flops all around and you have to turn it upside down to put the unit back together.

 

I'm going to start a thread on the screw so we can resolve this once and for all...

I bought a bag of screws from Amazon. Really only needed on screw but it's hard to buy just one screw. I think it came in a bag of 100 so now I have 99 screws.

Anybody want one?

[Serpentor]

On 3/2/2021 at 4:43 PM, Rick Dangerous said:

And a M.2 screw mounting kit.... because I'm a perfectionist..

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08L637CGQ?returnFromLogin=1&

 

None of the screws in this kit fit the hole on the motherboard.

[+SabertoothRetro]

On 5/24/2021 at 12:28 PM, Serpentor said:

 

None of the screws in this kit fit the hole on the motherboard.

It's an M 3 x 4mm screw. I used the following: 

 

[Allpaul]

This is what I ended up going with. I'm going to partition the drive in half, and run Windows 10, and use the other half for storage for AtariOS. 

 

The reason I went with the 2400 ram is that my friend who works in IT told me overclocking can make your fans run more and shorten the life of the machine.

 

Let me know what you guys think

[82-T/A]

On 5/9/2021 at 4:39 AM, OldSchoolRetroGamer said:

Ha! That would be RAIN, one of the three "Storms" Rain / Thunder / Lightning, characters from John Carpenters awesome 80's epic Big Trouble in Little China! ? They serve the evil Villain Lo-Pan. 

 

It's a pretty common pose / image for this character, I just ran it through a filter and liked the way it turned out. ?

 

 

 

OMG, I loved that movie!!! Hahah, that was one of my all-time favorite movies as a kid.

 

 

[adamchevy]

What’s the maximum Ram speed supported by the VCS? Does it make a noticeable difference in the native Atari OS gaming performance?  

[Djmicklovin]

On 10/3/2021 at 11:59 PM, adamchevy said:

What’s the maximum Ram speed supported by the VCS? Does it make a noticeable difference in the native Atari OS gaming performance?  

I think 16GB of 3200Mhz RAM is the most it can handle. The stock ram that ships with the VCS is only 8GB 2400Mhz RAM. I have 32GB of 2666Mhz RAM in mine and bumped up the timing configurations slightly to have the RAM running at it’s max possible speed.

[jgar1517]

I wanted to provide my experience with upgrading my vcs in June of 2023. Here’s a list of things I’ve done. 

1. Installed internal ssd and installed windows onto it via usb install tool I created from Microsoft’s website. 
2. Installed 32GB Ram - (2x) 16GB and allocated 6gb to video ram 

3. Downgraded bios that allowed me to tweet ram settings 

 

I found some good info scattered through old and new YouTube videos and forums. Piecing it all together was frustrating and took a lot more time than I had anticipated. I’ll include some videos here for reference. 
 

Here’s a link to Microsoft’s usb tool 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-installation-media-for-windows-99a58364-8c02-206f-aa6f-40c3b507420d

 

1. Good SSD for VCS 

Low cost SSD. Can’t say much about quality or longevity but cost effective. I purchased a used SATA lll ssd on eBay that is a micron brand. 
 

Ediloca EN206 512GB 3D NAND M.2 SSD, M.2 2280 SATA III 6Gb/s SSD Internal Hard Drive

https://a.co/d/axkLCzp 

 

 

Install windows onto internal drive.

Make sure to not have any external drives plugged into the vcs when using the bootable drive. It will prompt you to install windows and ask you which version you want installed (pro, home ect) and it will ask you where you want it installed. This YouTube video is a very helpful walk through for a more complex approach that includes installing a UI boot up screen.
Otherwise windows will automatically boot up and you will need to switch manually thru bios to Atari VCS ssd to load that OS. The YouTube video is still helpful with this approach tho. 
Remember to remove usb from vcs after going thru installation before rebooting. 
 

 

2. This RAM worked for me. 
TEAMGROUP Elite DDR4 32GB Kit (2 x 16GB) 3200MHz PC4-25600 CL22 Unbuffered Non-ECC 1.2V SODIMM 260-Pin Laptop Notebook PC Computer Memory Module Ram Upgrade - TED432G3200C22DC-S01 https://a.co/d/i6ZV3JH 

 

3. Downgrade BIOS to utilize 

download tool and bios file here and follow instructions on windows doc provided. 
https://archive.org/download/atari-vcs-2020-recovery-image

 

hope this helps you on your Atari VCS journey! 
 

4. Xbox wireless controllers need a driver installed in windows to connect via Bluetooth. I used an app called drive booster to get it. May be another way to do that and free. 

[tripled79]

So I upgraded the M.2 SSD storage today.

Now the VCS seems stuck in this odd resolution. Much of the screen is cropped out.

 

I wonder if I have to do a factory reset?

 

Has this happened to anybody else?

[zzip]

9 hours ago, tripled79 said:

So I upgraded the M.2 SSD storage today.

Now the VCS seems stuck in this odd resolution. Much of the screen is cropped out.

 

I wonder if I have to do a factory reset?

 

Has this happened to anybody else?

Sometimes when I boot mine it defaults to something like 720p and there's a large border around the screen.   Sometimes the OS fixes the resolution when it boots, sometimes not, but I can fix it manually.    It will do this for several boots and then go back to normal.

 

I don't understand what triggers it but it's not a show stopper when it happens.   No idea if it's related to the SSD though,

[tripled79]

4 hours ago, zzip said:

Sometimes when I boot mine it defaults to something like 720p and there's a large border around the screen.   Sometimes the OS fixes the resolution when it boots, sometimes not, but I can fix it manually.    It will do this for several boots and then go back to normal.

 

I don't understand what triggers it but it's not a show stopper when it happens.   No idea if it's related to the SSD though,

After rebooting several times. I also rebooted the stereo receiver that I have the VCS plugged into and it is operating back to normal now.

Thanks.

[zzip]

6 minutes ago, tripled79 said:

After rebooting several times. I also rebooted the stereo receiver that I have the VCS plugged into and it is operating back to normal now.

Thanks.

Interesting, mine's also plugged into a receiver.   

[Kris1977]

I just want to install a 256gb SSD to move games onto because the internal memory is almost up. Will installing 16gb ram at the same 2400 speed have any significance if I'm just playing VCS games? I'm aware of adjusting speeds to 3200 in BIOS but don't think I need to.  Thanks

[zzip]

5 minutes ago, Kris1977 said:

I just want to install a 256gb SSD to move games onto because the internal memory is almost up. Will installing 16gb ram at the same 2400 speed have any significance if I'm just playing VCS games? I'm aware of adjusting speeds to 3200 in BIOS but don't think I need to.  Thanks

I doubt Atari will release any games that require more than 8GB because most users won't bother to upgrade.    Upgrading the memory will mostly benefit people using PC mode.

 

 

[Kris1977]

3 hours ago, zzip said:

I doubt Atari will release any games that require more than 8GB because most users won't bother to upgrade.    Upgrading the memory will mostly benefit people using PC mode.

 

 

Ok, thank you. I'm still on the fence about using it as a PC but as far as gaming, adding more ram at the same speed won't really have a big impact right? I mean with added RAM at the same 2400 will games run any better?