Xbox 1Ghz/256k 128mb ram relevance?

[chipsgravy]

I recently discovered that the original xbox could be upgraded to 1Ghz/256k 128mb ram or 1.4G/512K/133mb.

I was wondering if anyone here has one of these upgrades. What they do? And more specifically are they still relevant? Or are newere bits of kit able to do get equal results for a fraction of the price.?

[^Katsu]

AFAIK the only difference you would notice is with Emu's (N64 games should cope better) mainly, and maybe XBMC would benefit from the increased memory?

Not all Apps & Emu's will see the increase either.

Don't think there are any kits either

[EvilBoris]

I remember seeing them for sale back in the day, they claimed to offer Performance improvements on retail titles too, I think you had to patch them to work (something to do with the dev kits being slightly quicker?)
I remember seeing some videos of Halo running on a upgraded one

[J0e Musashi]

It's purely for N64 use, and only the V1's are compatible.

[EvilBoris]

Just read up on it, retail software needed to be patched otherwise it runs all crazy fast. This may not be the case anymore though

[^Katsu]

It's purely for N64 use, and only the V1's are compatible.

Are you 100% on that?

[sj33]

It would be strange, there was a company that used to upgrade your machine for you (or sell you an upgraded one) as late as 2005. I wish I did it while I had the opportunity actually.

[J0e Musashi]

Are you 100% on that?

Pretty much, I helped a friend track down the required mobo some years back. Newer versions past 1.5 don't have the space for the extra RAM so I guess that's actually the majority of models that are compatible. I'm not big on Microsoft hardware, but I do remember he required at 1.0 for some reason.

[^Katsu]

According to my stored links 1.6 Boards Aka Crystal XBOX don't have the space to place the memory. I think all other boards are ok providing you update the Bios to a Cromwell V2.26 or greater?

[chipsgravy]

So its a lot of money and hassle for something that a PC can achieve comfortably then.

I would still like one for tinkering reasons. But think I will leave it.

Thanks for all your answers.

[Dandy_sephy]

It's purely for N64 use, and only the V1's are compatible.

Mame too. The ram is needed for things like Time Crisis to be loaded into memory

[Psyduck]

I think it gave performance upgrades in some games too, halo 2 I think? Less dropped frames maybe?
The downside was you couldn't go on live though.

[anephric]

Would 720p titles (like Freedom Fighters) get any performance increase?

[Escape-To-88]

Some Midway games - Nba jam, MK etc. run faster as well, although some emu's will not run at all, and need specific 128RAM builds, which are available but can be harder to track down. It's a lot of hassle for not much gain I found to be honest as had a tinker with a mates one. Considering a Jtagged 360 can now run everything (almost!) with HD filters etc. that would be a better option I reckon.

[monel]

Escape, what is a Jtagged 360? Pardon my ignorance, sounds like a modded 360 but I don't have much knowledge of that. When you say it runs everything, does that mean the 360 now has a good emulation scene?