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My Pentium MMX gaming rig

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First post, by RacoonRider

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I've been working on a cool MMX gaming rig and here's what I've got now:

Pentium 233MMX @262Mhz (75x3.5)
ASUS P/I-P55T2P4 (i430HX, 512kb cache)
64 Mb EDO SIMM (4x16)
Diamond Monster 3D (3dfx Voodoo Graphics 4Mb)
Compaq 2D card (Matrox Mystique 220) 2Mb
Creative Sound Blaster 32 CT3670 2Mb SIMM
Creative Sound Blaster Live! CT4830
Seagate 20Gb HDD covered in rubber (looks awesome)
intel PRO/100 LAN card
common LG 52x CD-RW drive
286 AT horizontal case with 200W power supply
hp 56 15" CRT monitor
common PS/2 mouse and keyboard.

The whole rig working:
P1000636.jpg
Mobo and CPU:
P1000626.jpg
More pictures are here: http://s1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii564/RacoonRider/

Some benchmarking results after DRAM and FSB tuning:
SSTIMG05.png
CPU-1.jpg
Memory.jpg
More results here: http://s1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii564/RacoonRider/

Last edited by RacoonRider on 2012-08-03, 18:06. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 6 of 25, by RacoonRider

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I saw your top case somewhere here on the froum, you got a very nice 486 system running there, right? 😀

I got mine with a nameless 430FX mobo, Pentium-100 and 8Mb RAM. Even windows 95 didn't work 100% smoothly, so most of the stuff is now kept in boxes in my granny's cupboard. At first I thought that I gave $6 for some crap, but later I realized that the case was totally worth more 😀

btw, here in Russia we call them "crocodiles" as they resemble crocodile's jaws 😀 And they swing pretty hard when you forget to move your finger or LED wires away from the danger zone 😁

Reply 7 of 25, by luckybob

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RacoonRider wrote:

OMG! I just LOVE the ghetto PS/2 connector! awesome job!

It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.

Reply 8 of 25, by badmojo

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RacoonRider wrote:

btw, here in Russia we call them "crocodiles" as they resemble crocodile's jaws 😀 And they swing pretty hard when you forget to move your finger or LED wires away from the danger zone 😁

he he, yeah I've been bitten myself once or twice. 😵

Reply 9 of 25, by Tiremaster400

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I like the cases, they look good. I really like finding cases that only have one floppy drive and no cd-rom yet so I can equip it myself.

Reply 11 of 25, by RacoonRider

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The first post now represents the subject in a more descent way. Made some benchmarking as well.

btw, I don't get it, what did Sandra developpers mean under "P266MMX"? The P233MMX is the fastest MMX, so was it a P233MMX overclocked to 266Mhz, or was it a P2-266MMX?.. I don't imagine a P2 on TX with EDO, neither do I beleive those guys at Sisoft would include a a P233MMX already with overdrive.

Reply 13 of 25, by Mystery

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The fastest desktop P55C is the 233MMX.
The mobile versions (Tillamook) also exist as 266 and 300MHz versions, but their cache works differently, making them incompatible to most desktop chipsets and they also use a smaller manufacturnig process. So they're not completely the same CPU with just higher clock speeds.

Take a look at this for the Tillamook's potential:
P55c at Overclocked to 300mhz?

::42::

Reply 14 of 25, by NJRoadfan

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Weird. I came across a machine with this very motherboard in it at the local thrift store today! I was wondering about that empty DIP socket and that media bus 2.0 slot.

Reply 15 of 25, by luckybob

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the empty DIP socket is for an upgrade cache slot. If you install a COAST memory card, you also need to install a tag ram in that socket. I have a tyan board that does the same. I just swiped a 256bit tag l2 cache chip from a 486 board and use that.

The upgraded tag ram allows the board to cache >64mb of ram.

It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.

Reply 16 of 25, by RacoonRider

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luckybob is right, as I made my research to know this board better, I found out, there were 3 versions of it (not revisions). First one had no onboard cache and a slot for a COAST module. The second one had 256kb onboard cache and a COAST. The third one had 512kb onboard and didn't need a COAST since it was already maxed out. Luckily, I have the last one. Funny thing though, I still need a tag ram to cache more than 64MB.

Considering MediaBus: From what I've heard, it is a 16-bit ISA interface or very similar one. It was used by ASUS to make budget cobines of PCI Video and ISA Audio cards in on single board.

btw, luckybob, could you please tell me if any extra megabyte over 64 pays off on a socket 7 system (I guess, your tyan board is inside one)? I thought of upgrading RAM to 128Mb EDO, but 32Mb modules are pricey and uncommon.

Reply 17 of 25, by luckybob

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If you install more than 64 mb of ram, you MUST upgrade the tag ram also. Otherwise performance will suffer.

I don't know about siberia, but I just did a glance at ebay for "32mb edo" and I saw prices range from $4 to $20. 64mb sicks are going for $10 each. not bad, but if you are buying eight to fill a p-pro system its a bit hefty. hell, i even see 128mb sticks for $20.

I always feel compelled to max out my memory. Its just who I am and what I do. Dos cant even see more than 64mb of ram! So for what you have, I would stay at 64mb.

It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.

Reply 18 of 25, by Mystery

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RacoonRider:
There aren't really any applications, especially games, that benefit from more than 64MB of ram and still perform well on a Pentium1.
I had a P55T2P4 with tag ram and upgraded from 64 to 128 and even 256MB RAM without noticing any difference in DOS or Windows. If a game actually does get a boost from more RAM, let's take Diablo2 as an example, it's usually crippled by the rest of the hardware, so there's not really a point to upgrading.

But: If you can get the RAM modules and tag ram for cheap, go for it. It's always nice to have a system maxed out and have the extra RAM "just in case" 😀

::42::