/vr/ - Retro Games

Just use it for now, it won't matter. Official expansion packs aren't any higher quality.

>>6304656
which one should I sell?
>official aren't any higher quality
do they ever break?

because right now I'm stuck with 2 packs and im $30 short of cash.

>>6304672
The one that gets you more money back. Official ones break too and I've seen plenty that are just dead. Expansion packs are just ram chips on a tiny cartridge, third party ones are the same thing.

I would use official RAM. N64 uses Rambus RDRAM and the one infamous thing about Rambus is that it gets hotter than other types of RAM.

With official Expansion Pak you know that Nintendo used properly tested or sourced Rambus that will remain stable when passively cooled. Third party manufacturers might have put in lower grade Rambus that could be prone to crashing after the N64 has been on for a while. In fact, I have heard many stories of third party Expansion Paks being responsible for games crashing randomly once the console heats up.

Also the N64 needs server-grade Rambus with working ECC parity cells (the console uses the ECC channel for anti-aliasing and z-buffer data), and these have lower factory yields and are more sensitive than normal Rambus so you need to be certain that the RAM put into your console has been manufactured properly.

>>6304685
>>6304681
having read both your comments I think I'm just going to use the official one and hide the aftermarket away with my computer cables. If the official one breaks while I'm """ self-isolating """ during the virus, I can just replace it, the thing only costs $10, and I was going to buy an official one any way.

I think i might just take this as I paid $30 for an official pack, and got a free third party replacement should my official red top expansion pak break.

I don't think I'm gonna be stingy about it, sounds like mental gymnastics but I can't be bothered dedicating the mental effort towards selling it on ebay or the like. Even my local games store takes a while to bring back prices for things.

Thanks for your replies fellas, appreciated.
Also, to the guy who gave me all that info about the anti-aliasing and server ram shit..
is it likely i would get worse performance in perfect dark, using the 3rd party chip?
the N64 is slow enough as is - no use adding an additional bottleneck, huh?

I think im just gonna put the aftermarket one in a drawer and completely forget that it exists.

But if anyone knows, can you please answer me - is there any RISK of console failure using a 3rd party memory pack?

>>6304672
If you can't afford to be missing $30 then you shouldn't spend $30 on vidya shit.

>>6304732
>>is it likely i would get worse performance in perfect dark, using the 3rd party chip?
Nah, In order for the RDRAM to work at all it must be at the correct spec, which the third party packs are.
>is there any RISK of console failure using a 3rd party memory pack
nope, expansion pack failure however can happen just from regular use.

>>6304594
Final Fantasy X

>>6304732
>is it likely i would get worse performance in perfect dark, using the 3rd party chip?
No, performance will be the same. All I’m saying is that a third party chip *might* be less heat tolerant.

>>6304732
How long have you had the N64?

Years ago, around 2009, I bought an unofficial expansion pack like yours made by a company called Pelican. I didn't have a credit card at the time and I couldn't be arsed to get my parents to order it, so I bought it for cash in a local game store. It was immediately apparent that it was useless. Normal games that did not use it would freeze after about an hour of play, and the console had to be turned off. Things like Episode I Racer and Perfect Dark would freeze after only 10 minutes or so. Every time, the pack would be scorching hot.

If you've had your console for a while with that unofficial pack in it, then it's probably fine. That "booster pack" is made by Retro-Bit, they make pretty decent stuff, and it's a hell of a lot better than the one I had (which in 2009, even before China got uppity, proudly declared itself "made in PRC"). Personally, I would not stress over $30. Official packs do go bad. Who knows if you can find another one for a reasonable price when that happens. Just keep it as a spare.

Never heard of an expansion pack killing a system. I don't even see how it is possible.

>>6304793
I think a good question relating to these newly manufactured third party expansion packs is, where the hell are they getting the stock of Rambus parts?

RDRAM is practically dead and aside from a few products that used it like PS2, was always fairly niche. And the Rambus used in PS2 and early Pentium 4 systems isn’t compatible with N64, since they used a newer generation of RDRAM.

You can’t rig up DDR RAM as a replacement, its characteristics are too different to Rambus. The Nintendo iQue released in 2003 used DDR but the console had a redesigned memory controller to make it work. The fact that in 2003 they bothered to redesign the console to make DDR work is a pretty good indication that even then good compatible RDRAM was getting hard to come by.

My guess is that these third party companies just got a massive stash of low-grade or even faulty old Rambus chips stored up in a warehouse somewhere. And what better way to find a way to sell all this crap then package them in shoddy expansion packs?

>>6304643
>im retarded
lol. You should hang on to both of them. No one makes compatible parts any more and while wouldn't be to difficult to reproduce with modern parts AFIK no one has done it. Contrary to what retarded zoomers like >>6304656 say 3rd party ones are notoriously bad so the number of working units is always decreasing and if you have one that's good hang on to it.
>How was I to know
When dealing with second ahd shit you should always check everything. I've seen consoles with a 3rd party expansion paks where the fucker put the sticker back on top, $200 discs in shovelware cases, etc. Never underestimate the stupidity of the average person.

>>6304740
Its not so much that I need the $30 back, I feel ripped off because I bought something that I already had.
I could have used that $30 on something else had I known. Also I bought the expansion pack because I wanted to play my original copy of perfect dark while locked up in my home because I've caught the normie paranoia i think.

>>6304742
>>6304746
Thanks guys, very helpful information to know and thanks for assuring me :)
>expansion pack failure however can happen just from regular use.
how regular are we talking? do they die pretty often or only once in a blue moon? Like, lets say in comparison to the power supply or a hard drive in any other console, do they die more or less often - or just about the same frequency an xbox 360 would red ring or a PS3's disc tray would break? because im used to THAT kinda stuff, this is my first 2-decade-old console ive bought.
already had to replace the N64 power supply because it started burning plastic playing goldeneye...
>>6304793
I bought it like 4 months ago but didnt play it until last week. I used my cousins N64 back in the day so I don't have one from my childhood so i thought I'd get one for myself.

I played goldeneye last week for about an hour or something and the console started smelling like burnt plastic. it seems to be the power supply, so I bought a new one today, and while I was buying the new power supply I thought about buying expansion pack for my perfect dark cartridge, not knowing I already had one in the machine.

>Never heard of an expansion pack killing a system. I don't even see how it is possible.
I only asked because I'm already in a super suspicious state right now because my N64 made a burning smell, so I was wondering if it was the 3rdparty expansion cart to blame, not the PSU.
While we're here, have you ever had an N64 make a burning smell and overheat? Was replacing the power supply the right thing to do in this situation?
The console unit itself seems to be in immaculate condition.

>>6304816
>$200 discs in shovelware cases
holy shit, haha. that is something.
what game was it? and what shitty literal who game's case was it being stored in?

>>6304824
RAM is generally pretty robust and has an indefinite lifespan, but if the temperature are too high for too long the RAM can get cooked.

Low-grade manufactured RAM can be hotter in operation than better manufactured RAM. Also third party expansion packs might have a worse heat sink inside than the official product. So I can easily see third party packs getting really hot, crashing often, and then eventually cooking themselves to death inside those packs.

BTW N64 power supplies tend to be the part of the system that dies most often. They generate a fair amount of heat even on standby, and many power supply capacitors can’t take 2 decades of constant heat.

>>6304594
It's a bad game but I still like it

>>6304816
also, note taken.
You seem to be very awary person.
I was thinking the same thing too, never assume what you've got is what it looks like. I mean, not like many consoles have expandable parts and if they do they usually show up in software (i.e. xbox 360 hard drive or DVD kit for xbox original)

can you think of any consoles that have expansion hardware INSIDE the console? from where I stand, I can't recall any.
Sega consoles have all their expansions on the outside of the console (32X, SegaCD, Sonic3&Knuckles&Knuckles&Knuckles)
I am genuinely scratching my head now, seems like the N64 is the only console I know of with additional hardware outside of internal storage being stored inside the machine. But makes sense, because the N64 is the only mainstream console to sell a couple extra megabytes of ram as an "expansion" product

most consoles that needed extra hardware just sold a new model or gave you some clunky piece of shit external device

>>6304850
1. look at the OP image again, the aftermarket ram chip doesnt even have room in the plastic for heat to escape. instead its taken up by the shitty company shilling the name of their product - even nintendo didnt do that.
2. Okay, so its best if I unplug my N64 the second I stop playing it? Would that be unnecessary hyper-autism or is that just good practice for a console this old?
>generate a fair amount of heat even on standby
i take it thats because it comes from an era that predates an adapter only taking the power it needs?
I remember when I was a kid my dad told me to turn off things like game consoles computers and TVs in the house at the mains because they still draw power in standby, and if left alone too long with power flowing through them theres risk of housefire. I don't know if it was just my dad being paranoid of new technology at the time, or old tech drew more power during standby. Now he's not worried about it and I asked him why - he said that modern technology doesn't even make a dent on his power bill and "the technology is modern now and has a 1 watt per year standby power draw". Is he right about this, did old electronics used to draw a shit ton of power even in standby? not worried about $$, my power bill is always cheap as piss these days.

>>6304881
Turning off consoles at the main is a good idea just to keep the power supply alive longer when not in use. The cost isn’t even the main reason to do so imo.

Newer power supplies use a relay to change into an ultra low power mode when in standby.

>>6304889
>Newer power supplies use a relay to change into an ultra low power mode when in standby.
so before that they run at full capacity when the console is off??? yikes
what generation did the smarter power supplies begin? xbox 360/ PS3/Wii era? PS2/XB/GC? or was it only this generation or perhaps the re-modelled "slim" xbox 360/ PS3's?

>>6304903
>so before that they run at full capacity when the console is off??? yikes
Not quite because the console when off doesn’t try to suck up a lot of power. It’s just that a fair bit of power continues to flows into the power supply, has nowhere to go, and just dissipates as heat.

The practice seemed to begin with 6th gen, because that’s when consoles actually started to use a decent amount of electricity. 5th gen were all passively cooled machines with wattages well under 50.

>>6304930
>passively cooling almost exclusively 3D-accelerated hardware
WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

I bet theres some autist out there cooling his N64, PS1 and Saturn with fans - with motherboards removed and frankensteined into PC cases.

>>6304945
There’s somebody out there that made a mod where you can transfer your internal power supplies for PS1 and Saturn into external boxes so they don’t heat up the CPU and GPU and such.

Seems pretty silly though. My PS1, which is SCPH-5xxx, so a second or third generation model, has a power supply rated at only 9W. My N64’s power supply is actually rated at 26W, but that’s also because it has to power the 64DD which doesn’t come with its own supply.

My SNES is 17W and Mega Drive 2 is 19W.

>>6304945
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izeEmLCXqgI
N64 runs at sub 100MHz, no cooling is technically necessary.

>>6304953
>N64 runs at sub 100MHz, no cooling is technically necessary.
That’s true for both the CPU and GPU, but the Rambus runs at 250 MHz

>>6304953
>>6304956
THEN WHY DOES IT RUN SO FUCKING HOT?

>>6304643
That reminds me of that time I passed on a 5 euros complete copy of Majora's Mask because I thought my N64 didn't have an expansion pack. Except it had one.
That was 18 years ago and now I'm mad again.

>>6304960
The CPU and GPU don’t run that hot, but the Rambus certainly runs hot and it’s right in the middle of the system.

Rambus always ran hot. The first time I saw a heatsink on RAM designed for PC was RDRAM modules on early Pentium 4 boards.

>>6304961
hopefully the virus will put you out of your misery soon, you look pretty fucked up my man

original aspect ratio always.

>>6304970
Okay so if RAM is the hottest part of the N64, its almost certainly for the best to use an official heatsinked one, right?
Also, is it good practice or just autism to take out the expansion pack when not needed? I only need it for perfect dark, should I just take it out when I play goldeneye?

not that you probably care but sorry if you get infected from me bro, i don't know where i got the virus from, probably replying to someone on /v/

>>6304981
Go for official pack but don’t unplug the RAM. You’ll just mess up the connector if you keep inserting and reinserting.

>>6304987
thanks man, note taken

im going to bed everybody
thanks for the replies and help :)

>>6304643
I don't understand why you want to sell the original one
I never read good things about the third party ones but this was years ago

>>6305027
yeah ive already decided im going to leave the third party one in a drawer just in case my first party one breaks one day and i cant go to the store (quarantine)

>>6304643
What's funny about this?

>>6305120
I was on the fence about buying an expansion pack, and eventually decided to part with the money - only to come home and realise the previous owner of my console put one in for me. It made me laugh because I spent a good amount of time deciding last night if I should get one to play perfect dark, when I could have just played it last night had I known it was in there already.
A whole bunch of mental energy and worrying about spending muh money wasted for something I already had.
oh well, you live and you learn.

>>6304831
I buy a a lot and in lots so this happens a lot. Most memorable ones were Rondo in some shitty VN case and Battle Garegga for the Saturn in some Wii case. A few times I've got cases with no game but they were full of obi. Aspies are obsessed with that shit. Also get lots of console with a disc still in the drive and handhelds with carts in them.

>>6304852
Saturn MPEG cards are the first thin that come to mind. This used to be largely irreverent as they cost a few bucks but now that faggots have driven the price through the roof getting one for "free" is very nice. BBA for the DC is another although not sure if it qualifies as "inside".
It's also a major thing with copiers. An extra memory card for a v64 used to cost as much as the device itself. God knows what they go for now. I haven't seen one for sale in ages and the device itself goes for $200+. MGD2 memory is insanely expensive. Hell, last time I saw a MGD2 SRAM battery for sale they were asking $50. I've seen collectorfags actually pay these sorts of prices.

>>6304960
Prob because you have a ton of dust lint, hair or whatever the fuck else inside the thing, try taking it apart and cleaning it out

>>6304972
I hope so, anon.
COOF

>>6304643
>>6304732
>being this retarded

The Super Retro 64 garbage you have isn't even a ram pack, it's a regular jumper pack which is required to boot the n64.

You didn't even read the ebay page closely enough to figure out you're getting scammed by a shit title.

>>6306514
I didn't buy the retro 64 pack
it was already in the N64.
The only thing i bought was the expansion pack

>>6304643
My sample size of one: it crashed a lot and an official one doesn't.

>>6307023
So, the N64 requires something to be in the expansion slot or it won't boot. What you have there is a third-party Jumper Pak, which doesn't do anything other than terminate the expansion bus. There are a few games that won't play correctly with the Expansion Pak (at least the unmodded cart versions, but if you have an Everdrive you can play the fixed ROMs) biggest example being Space Station Silicon Valley, so if you're interested in that you may wanna keep the thing.

>>6307037
>So, the N64 requires something to be in the expansion slot or it won't boot.
Yep, because it uses Rambus. Even on PC motherboards that used RDRAM back in the day, they needed a jumper terminator in a RAM slot if you had any empty slots.

From experience unofficial expansion paks are junk always get the official one.

>>6304672
Yes they break my official Nintendo one is broken

>>6306514
why would anyone need to even buy a jumper pak anyways? you cant run the n64 without one

>>6304793
Bitch people know who Pelican is you fuck