Atari VCS - Windows 11, Steam, GTA5, Halo MCC, Quake Demo

You can do so much more than play the basic games included. It's a shame all this extra ability is poorly explained and documented and you are left up to your own devices to work it out.

[@markperreira5889]

Agreed about how versatile the VCS is, yet how misunderstood it is. I have done most of what you have shown with my upgraded VCS including playing RDR II with lower settings, but very playable. Thanks for doing the video to get the word out on what is possible for the VCS with Windows.

[@mmsvintagei.t.2442]

The Atari name appears to be cursed, ever since my childhood, no matter the owners of the trading name - they have some good ideas but poorly market them, poorly explain them, poorly support them or what ever. I hope this time the curse can be broken. I’m so far not holding my breath. I hope i’m wrong.

[@aleksamilutinovic1463]

This is good console/PC for that money

[@Subieghost]

What an odd machine

[@Michael_Afton40]

My dream came true playing gta 5 on a Atari console

[@cipherthedemonlord8057]

Well you may have convinced me to get this.

[@linuxlover_8436]

Thanks for the video. I have one myself and have had nothing but trouble as I have a unit which does not accept the bios password specified by atari after many attempts at following their instructions. I will try once again very soon and do a video recording for them as evidence of following the instructions to the letter. I have discovered others on various forums indicating they have had the same problem. I have been able to install Uhbuntu and Peppermint Linux, but they for some reason (probably uefi security key related) don't seem to remain bootable. I have tried two different external sata ssd enclosures and 2 different sata ssd's to rule out hardware incompatibility, but the problem must be the vcs itself seeing that all those configurations work elsewhere just fine. I've never had so much problems w/any pc or laptop I've come across.

[@MMWA-DAVE]

I didn’t bother going into bios, the boot priority already is usb first the m.2 slot second then the internal emmc third. Windows 10 then 11 have been flawless on the machine. I play steam games way more than the atari side. Probably 95% steam and 5% atari, Till theres more exciting games to play on the atari side this probably wont change any time soon. Ive also removed the heat insulative silicon pad under the heatsink now and run paste which has solved the constant fan screaming issue.

[@DaveLuxmore]

Just picked one up. I was in the market for a mini PC and they were on Sale for $180 usd for black friday.

[@n057828]

Thanks mate got mine from Pax for $300

[@DavpaCoX]

Have you done any BIOS adjustments? The VCS only utilizes 2gb of RAM for the graphics side of the APU. With your 16gb you could allocate 4gb to graphics for more performance. Another thing to tweak in the BIOS is disabling the Core Performance Boost. This Boost mode overdrives the APU at times but it drives up the heat in the system and causes greater dips and spikes in performance. The VCS actually runs smoother and quieter with the Core Performance Boost turned off.

[@mmsvintagei.t.2442]

I have not been into bios at all. I read somewhere that with the latest bios update they blocked end user access and the password no longer works, so I never tried. If there is a current password known for the latest bios let me know and i'll take a look.

[@big_bird8597]

just curious but what ram did you buy for uprgrade

[@mmsvintagei.t.2442]

this is the exact ram i bought and installed - you should be able to find a seller local to you: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB)... www.amazon.com.au/dp/B019MRBKYG?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share