Re: Intel Thor: my DOS/WfWG3.11 machine
Posted on 2019-11-16, 22:58
Great job and great write-up !
Re: Asus VL/I 486SV2G (converted to X4) Build
Posted on 2019-11-16, 21:20
Good stuff. Really like this motherboard. I noticed that it does better with L1 cache in Write-Back mode for 486 class CPUs. Also, Speedsys CPU scores seem to be affected slightly by the different VLB VGA adapters. The one you used pushed it above the average of ~59.5ish common for this board and …
Re: 3 (+3 more) retro battle stations
Posted on 2019-11-11, 05:41
Another weekend - another motherboard examined - Elitegroup US 3486, although FX-3000 rev 1.0 is printed on the PCB. Actually the examination happened a while ago, only sharing the findings today. Motherboard is fully stable at 45MHz with all system timings at their lowest (fastest) available values …
Re: DooM
Posted on 2019-11-07, 06:04
@Anonymous Coward. But back in the day FPUs mattered pretty much exclusivelly to CADs and 3DCCs anyway. There was not much else out there that needed them - some spreadsheets maybe and obscure science apps perhaps. :) Thanks for the rest of the info. @ rayante Looking forward to his next "infernal …
Re: DooM
Posted on 2019-11-06, 06:37
Agreed. It will be great if you list some of the better late 386 mobos that you encountered over the years. As for 387 FPUs - i am more interested in "clean" systems, meaning no DLCs and other hybrid hardware, so don't have much experience with them. Sorry. I test with IITs, ULSIs, i387, Cyrix …
Re: 3 (+3 more) retro battle stations
Posted on 2019-11-04, 07:19
A special guest on this weekend's matinee was Microstar MS-4144. https://www.petershipkov.com/temp/retro_pc_images/components_lo/ms_4144_motherboard.jpg I happen to have a ver:1.0 of the same motherboard. There are also versions 1.4 and 2.1 out there. There are some differences between them. Most …
Re: Post photos of your favorite 1990’s computer.
Posted on 2019-10-31, 06:14
Dual 20" CRTs in the 90ies ? You were operating on a different level than me for sure. As far as i remember, i got dual 22" flat screen ViewSonic CRTs at the beginning of 2000s - they were massive. Cool stuff.
Re: DooM
Posted on 2019-10-27, 07:05
Thanks for making the effort. Interesting results from your Doom test: low-detail + small screen: 38.5 fps high-detail + full screen: 9.4 fps Figured i should share some of my 386 metrics: PC-Chips M321, tightest bios timings, 45MHz: ~35 fps and ~ 9.3 fps, respectively. FX-3000, tightest system …
Re: DooM
Posted on 2019-10-22, 03:03
I am not questioning by any means the legitimacy of your Doom system. Period. :) Just sharing observations and wondering how you got around the same problems. I am genuinely interested in how things work in Doom. For example, running the system at 55mhz with clock divider of 6 is more or less equal …
Re: DooM
Posted on 2019-10-21, 07:03
Few questions @JoJo, if you don't mind. So far my experience with overclocking clean (real) 386 systems differ a bit from what you show here (which is impressive). What i found is that 45MHz is where the upper limit is, if one considers maxed out RAM/CACHE, tightest wait states and completely stable …
Re: 3 (+3 more) retro battle stations
Posted on 2019-10-14, 03:38
In continuation to my post on Page 2 about 486 motherboards from the time period 1995-1996, i am adding one more to the list - Biostar MB-8433UUD-A Revision 2 https://www.petershipkov.com/temp/retro_pc_images/components/mb_8433uud_a_motherboard.jpg Revision 3.1 https://www.petershipkov.com/temp/ …
Re: 3 (+3 more) retro battle stations
Posted on 2019-10-08, 06:18
Ran a quick test with latest version of glQuake1 against the 3 Virge cards using the GL library provided by S3. Used Voodoo 1 as a reference, but had to set "cache burrst write" to 3 cycles (lowest possible is 2), otherwise Voodoo and glQuake don't cooperate. This was not necessary for the Virges. I …
Re: Got used Voodoo 1 card, it does not appear to be working for 3D, pass-through works
Posted on 2019-10-05, 15:00
Recently i had exactly this problem - a brand new looking Voodoo 1 suddenly stopped showing in the Hardware monitor of Windows (95). This is on 486dx5 class motherboards. Tried different mobos, CPU/FBS speeds, new Win installs. Is gone.
Re: Alaris Cougar Fastest 386
Posted on 2019-10-02, 14:39
50-ish MHz seems to be the practical OC limit for 386 hardware. Past that you will probably have to "frankenstein" stuff. Start with 40MHz and see how far you can get past that. Never owned one of these Alaris mobos, but remember looking them it up online and the reported performance figures were ok …
Re: IT IS THE NINETIES, and you are about to enter a whole new world of
Posted on 2019-09-15, 08:29
Oh, man, i remember this piece of hardware back then. Friend of mine had one. Tried to play Q1 (or was it Q2) on it and got me so sick in no time. But i totally understand where you are right now with this thing. All best !
Re: Dell Optiplex G1 - An Act of Desecration and Butchery
Posted on 2019-09-14, 07:14
Nice transformation. So, how many times did you cut yourself during this job ?
Re: 3 (+3 more) retro battle stations
Posted on 2019-09-13, 07:11
Back in the day there were plenty of S3 Virge based video cards. Spent a moment today to check the unaccelerated DOS and accelerated Windows GUI performance of 3 Virge generations (capped at 1996). Added an S3 Trio for reference. Used the ASUS PVI-486SP3 motherboard. System's performance will be …
Re: Good 386 motherboard with FPU socket
Posted on 2019-09-13, 00:08
@Anonymous Coward The "Screaming Baby" was for fun, don't take it seriously. :) @imi The usual - wolf3d, superscape, pcp benchmark, doom, wintune2 maybe. A rendering tests if you have the patience to deal with that stuff. @HanJammer Thank you for sharing the stats. Something feels off with the Doom …
Re: Good 386 motherboard with FPU socket
Posted on 2019-09-12, 07:15
Mmm ... i am cool. Thanks ;P
Re: DooM
Posted on 2019-09-12, 06:33
@derSamler A much better formulation than my very fuzzy initial thought. 😁
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