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This is going to come off as overly cynical - it's a very cool project. But are you really pushing the original Xbox to the limit when you replace and overclock

This is going to come off as overly cynical - it's a very cool project. But are you really pushing the original Xbox to the limit when you replace and overclock the CPU, increase RAM, add solid state storage, and overclock the GPU? It's not really an Xbox at that point.

settsu 2y ago
Whether it's an Xbox is arguable, but for the purposes of the topic and the post, you're mostly arguing semantics. If one were to "push a Honda Civic to the limits" with an array of engine and suspension modifications, for purposes of discussion you're going to sound like you're just splitting hairs by asking "Is it really still a Civic, tho??", even if you could be technically correct. The author has the right to title their content as they desire and you can just rewrite it as "Modding the OG Xbox to within an inch of its life" in your head...
- Sardtok 2y ago
  If the only original parts of the car, are the chassis, I would say it's not really a Honda Civic anymore.
  - MadnessASAP 2y ago
    I'm going to rely on ol' Thseuses ship here and say that as long as you started with a Honda Civic, you get to call it a Honda Civic.
Ericson2314 2y ago
I think using the same motherboard counts for something
Aurornis 2y ago
> But are you really pushing the original Xbox to the limit This is in the context of XBox modding, where “original Xbox” should be interpreted to mean “not an XBox 360”. Halo 2 can run at higher resolutions on a 360, so clarifying that this was a modding project on the original Xbox is helpful. You have to read it in context. It’s not literally about an unmodded Xbox, it’s a modding project and the target for the mods was an original Xbox.
- landr0id 2y ago
  >Halo 2 can run at higher resolutions on a 360, so clarifying that this was a modding project on the original Xbox is helpful. This isn't true. It renders exactly the same as it does on the Xbox 360 but the scaler chip handles the higher resolutions.
  - landr0id 2y ago
    oops, typo that I can no longer edit: it rendres the same as it does on the original Xbox*
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
xen2xen1 2y ago
Getting the most out of existing hardware is a pursuit in itself. See the retro computer scene. Car "nodding" is similar to that. Some want a factory perfect Corvette. Some want a model A with a engine 50 years newer. Taking something known and familiar and twisting it to your will is awesome.
xyst 2y ago
Ship of Theseus problem, lol
bigstrat2003 2y ago
Yeah, that was my thought as well. They aren't "pushing the original Xbox to the limit", they are pushing custom hardware to the limit. The title is super misleading.
- mrguyorama 2y ago
  Even worse, it's a commodity desktop CPU! They aren't running "Halo 2" on an "Xbox" in HD, they are running a heavily modified build of Halo 2 on a somewhat custom PC. We had that already, it's called "Halo 2 for Windows Vista!", and now we have MCC. Granted, Halo 2 on Vista had way higher hardware requirements to run at 30fps in 720p I think, though most of that was just Vista overhead. Actually it's worse again, they modified the Xbox kernel too! This is really impressive work but it's also way more niche than the title wants you to believe.
  - shocks 2y ago
    As per the article, the modded CPU isn’t required.
  - iforgotpassword 2y ago
    Err what? The original CPU is a commodity desktop one as well, I don't see how the CPU swap makes this more of a PC.
landr0id 2y ago
You may have missed this (from the GitHub repo): >You do not need a CPU upgraded console to use this patch and having one does not provide any additional performance gains that I've been able to measure during testing. And this: >This provided a 10% increase in transfer speeds for consoles running the stock IDE cable and up to a 300% increase (theoretically, the actual transfer speeds depend greatly on the size of data being transferred) for consoles with an upgraded IDE cable. And this (again from the GitHub repo): >If your console has 128MB of RAM this patch will utilize the extra RAM available which will enable use of 720p and 1080i video modes as well as increase the size of in-memory caches for textures and geometry. The size increase for the texture and geometry caches will significantly reduce pop-in issues to the point of being almost non-existent. For just 480p you can overclock the GPU on a stock console and use a different IDE cable. I think the remark about the SSD was unintentionally misleading -- perhaps he did mean the combo of 80pin + SSD though. It does not require an overclocked CPU (he states that the CPU was not the bottleneck), and the increased RAM is only required if you want resolutions of 720p or higher. I relayed the feedback though, he might update the blog post to make these points more explicit.
VS1999 2y ago
What's wrong with overclocking the CPU and GPU? People overclock the CPU and GPU of their nintendo switch and it doesn't become another console. I have CFW to overclock the 3DS.
planede 2y ago
I would say if it still runs other unmodified xbox games natively then it's an xbox (and possibly more).

settsu 2y ago

Whether it's an Xbox is arguable, but for the purposes of the topic and the post, you're mostly arguing semantics. If one were to "push a Honda Civic to the limits" with an array of engine and suspension modifications, for purposes of discussion you're going to sound like you're just splitting hairs by asking "Is it really still a Civic, tho??", even if you could be technically correct. The author has the right to title their content as they desire and you can just rewrite it as "Modding the OG Xbox to within an inch of its life" in your head...

Sardtok 2y ago
If the only original parts of the car, are the chassis, I would say it's not really a Honda Civic anymore.
- MadnessASAP 2y ago
  I'm going to rely on ol' Thseuses ship here and say that as long as you started with a Honda Civic, you get to call it a Honda Civic.

Ericson2314 2y ago

I think using the same motherboard counts for something

Aurornis 2y ago

> But are you really pushing the original Xbox to the limit This is in the context of XBox modding, where “original Xbox” should be interpreted to mean “not an XBox 360”. Halo 2 can run at higher resolutions on a 360, so clarifying that this was a modding project on the original Xbox is helpful. You have to read it in context. It’s not literally about an unmodded Xbox, it’s a modding project and the target for the mods was an original Xbox.

landr0id 2y ago
>Halo 2 can run at higher resolutions on a 360, so clarifying that this was a modding project on the original Xbox is helpful. This isn't true. It renders exactly the same as it does on the Xbox 360 but the scaler chip handles the higher resolutions.
- landr0id 2y ago
  oops, typo that I can no longer edit: it rendres the same as it does on the original Xbox*

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

xen2xen1 2y ago

Getting the most out of existing hardware is a pursuit in itself. See the retro computer scene. Car "nodding" is similar to that. Some want a factory perfect Corvette. Some want a model A with a engine 50 years newer. Taking something known and familiar and twisting it to your will is awesome.

xyst 2y ago

Ship of Theseus problem, lol

bigstrat2003 2y ago

Yeah, that was my thought as well. They aren't "pushing the original Xbox to the limit", they are pushing custom hardware to the limit. The title is super misleading.

mrguyorama 2y ago
Even worse, it's a commodity desktop CPU! They aren't running "Halo 2" on an "Xbox" in HD, they are running a heavily modified build of Halo 2 on a somewhat custom PC. We had that already, it's called "Halo 2 for Windows Vista!", and now we have MCC. Granted, Halo 2 on Vista had way higher hardware requirements to run at 30fps in 720p I think, though most of that was just Vista overhead. Actually it's worse again, they modified the Xbox kernel too! This is really impressive work but it's also way more niche than the title wants you to believe.
- shocks 2y ago
  As per the article, the modded CPU isn’t required.
- iforgotpassword 2y ago
  Err what? The original CPU is a commodity desktop one as well, I don't see how the CPU swap makes this more of a PC.

landr0id 2y ago

You may have missed this (from the GitHub repo): >You do not need a CPU upgraded console to use this patch and having one does not provide any additional performance gains that I've been able to measure during testing. And this: >This provided a 10% increase in transfer speeds for consoles running the stock IDE cable and up to a 300% increase (theoretically, the actual transfer speeds depend greatly on the size of data being transferred) for consoles with an upgraded IDE cable. And this (again from the GitHub repo): >If your console has 128MB of RAM this patch will utilize the extra RAM available which will enable use of 720p and 1080i video modes as well as increase the size of in-memory caches for textures and geometry. The size increase for the texture and geometry caches will significantly reduce pop-in issues to the point of being almost non-existent. For just 480p you can overclock the GPU on a stock console and use a different IDE cable. I think the remark about the SSD was unintentionally misleading -- perhaps he did mean the combo of 80pin + SSD though. It does not require an overclocked CPU (he states that the CPU was not the bottleneck), and the increased RAM is only required if you want resolutions of 720p or higher. I relayed the feedback though, he might update the blog post to make these points more explicit.

VS1999 2y ago

What's wrong with overclocking the CPU and GPU? People overclock the CPU and GPU of their nintendo switch and it doesn't become another console. I have CFW to overclock the 3DS.

planede 2y ago

I would say if it still runs other unmodified xbox games natively then it's an xbox (and possibly more).