VOGONS


First post, by dirkmirk

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Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

This is a spiritual successor to my original Pentium 2 overdrive build Pentium(PRO) 2 Overdrive 333 BEAST.
This computer machine is a bit more period correct using one of the best motherboards for Socket 8, the PR440FX which allows a slight overclock on the fsb to 70mhz, it also supports dual cpus and up to 1gig of ram.
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Specs
Motherboard: Intel PR440FX
CPU: Pentium 2 overdrive @ 350mhz(5x70)
Video: ATI 9100 PCI 64meg
Ram: 256meg (would be more but too slow to boot up)
Soundcard: SoundBlaster 32 CT3670 (no hanging note bug)
Highpoint Ultra DMA66 IDE controller - Can't remember hard disk size
Display: Dell U2412M (DVI 4:3 aspect ratio)
DVD Rom
Floppy

I have a computer desk setup with my main machine, The everyday machine is connected through the displayport and the PRO through the DVI, I have a wireless usb Keyboard & mouse for the main machine and have the PS2 keyboard/mouse resting ontop of the PRO system when not in use.

To switch between the systems I simply put the usb KB/Mouse aside and move the Pro's to the desk, press 2 buttons on the monitor and plug in the audio lead to the front of the stereo speakers and away we go.

For some reason its failing to run some 3DMARK 2001 tests like Nature, I'm using DX9 and Omega drivers, also tried the official drivers which also failed to run.

Hopefully I'll be able to rig up the MT-32 & SC-55 in a way that works in harmony, just waiting on 6.35mm to rca leads to go from the MT-32 to the SC-55 audio in, then output back to the soundcard, I'll figure something out.

The ATI 9100 is slightly more period correct than using a GF 6200 or FX5500/FX5200, in reality their should be no difference in performance as they're all equally bottlenecked by the CPU, again using a 64meg card sounds better than 128 or 256meg on a machine such as this.

This machine does score better at 350 compared to 333, I can't remember the results as I've wiped the hard drive and will need to reinstall the benchmarks.

I really want an Abit AB-PS6 board that can do 75mhz on the fsb but I suspect I will never find one, the PR440FX is probably the best option for a high performance socket 8 board, theirs no options for tweaking the bios unfortunately but I'm going to try and run a wide range of games with this machine,..

Does anyone know what the latest bios changes? Mines DI08, the latest is DI09

In case anyone is wondering, the red tiles on the front patio have been painted with an Epoxy resin with paint flakes, it was a pain in the ass and $$$, I'm using the Silver/black Antec case the white one was my old Pro system which shows the old red tiles.

Reply 1 of 1, by Skyscraper

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Rank l33t
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l33t

Nice build!

Im planning to build a Pentium Pro DOS system some time in the future, Im not sure if I will use my Intel PR440FX or a single CPU board. At the moment I use the PR440FX for a NT4 system.

Everytime I find a Pentium Overdrive for a reasonable price the seller is in the US and the combination of shipping cost, VAT and customs handling fees makes it not worth while.

New PC: i9 12900K @5GHz all cores @1.2v. MSI PRO Z690-A. 32GB DDR4 3600 CL14. 3070Ti.
Old PC: Dual Xeon X5690@4.6GHz, EVGA SR-2, 48GB DDR3R@2000MHz, Intel X25-M. GTX 980ti.
Older PC: K6-3+ 400@600MHz, PC-Chips M577, 256MB SDRAM, AWE64, Voodoo Banshee.