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Sunaiac's VLB 486 : IntelDX4, VLB Cache ctrl, ET4000/W32p

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First post, by sunaiac

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Hi,

this will be the topic for the VLB 486 I'm building with a friend.

The target configuration is as follows :
- Intel 486DX4-100 SK096 Write Back (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/69/img1382p.png/)
- Shuttle HOT 419 R2 (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/831/img1385.png/)
- 256KB cache (possibly extended to 512KB, if going single bank is not to expensive in term of performances)
- 64MB FPM RAM
- Tseng Labs ET4000/W32p VLB (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/443/img1441.png/)
- Sound blaster AWE32 CT3900, 32MB RAM, XR385 Wavetable (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/845/img1418.png/)
- Sound Blaster AWE 64 Gold (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/835/img1420.png/)
- Adaptec AHA2842A VLB SCSI (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/687/img1432.png/)
- 18GB seatage 10k RPM SCSI HD (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/20/img1468d.png/)
- Yamaha 161040 SCSI CDROM
- DOS 6.2 + Win 3.11 (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/341/img1473.png/)
- win 95

img1468d.pngimg1418.pngimg1472.pngimg1441.png

img1432.pngimg1381.pngimg1385.pngimg1420.png

Some of it is bound to change if everything fails to work together.
For example, I spent a long time finding a VLB Motherboard and CPU that would be write back, only to find that it doesn't work with VLB SCSI 🙁

Last edited by sunaiac on 2014-07-21, 21:40. Edited 6 times in total.

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Ppro 200 1M/Voodoo 3 2000/AWE 32 | iDX4 100/S3 864 VLB/SB16

Reply 1 of 61, by sunaiac

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reserved

R9 3900X/X470 Taichi/32GB 3600CL15/5700XT AE/Marantz PM7005
i7 980X/R9 290X/X-Fi titanium | FX-57/X1950XTX/Audigy 2ZS
Athlon 1000T Slot A/GeForce 3/AWE64G | K5 PR 200/ET6000/AWE32
Ppro 200 1M/Voodoo 3 2000/AWE 32 | iDX4 100/S3 864 VLB/SB16

Reply 3 of 61, by sunaiac

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vetz wrote:

Let me test that write back mode with VLB SCSI before you make any decision 😉

Well the extend of the decision is where to put the write back jumper, so it's not that terrible (according to the ultimate 486 benchmark, the difference would be less than visible in Doom, quake, and other games)

I'm certainly happy I found that EW DX4 and that NIB SCSI adapters, so they definitely go in the box 😀

R9 3900X/X470 Taichi/32GB 3600CL15/5700XT AE/Marantz PM7005
i7 980X/R9 290X/X-Fi titanium | FX-57/X1950XTX/Audigy 2ZS
Athlon 1000T Slot A/GeForce 3/AWE64G | K5 PR 200/ET6000/AWE32
Ppro 200 1M/Voodoo 3 2000/AWE 32 | iDX4 100/S3 864 VLB/SB16

Reply 4 of 61, by sunaiac

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Where's my PCI 486 thread ?

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Athlon 1000T Slot A/GeForce 3/AWE64G | K5 PR 200/ET6000/AWE32
Ppro 200 1M/Voodoo 3 2000/AWE 32 | iDX4 100/S3 864 VLB/SB16

Reply 5 of 61, by Tetrium

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sunaiac wrote:

Where's my PCI 486 thread ?

Dunno. I was looking for it too 😕

Edit:Perhaps it's been deleted by a mod who mistook your other thread as a double. Perhaps ask a mod if it can be un-removed.

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Reply 6 of 61, by sunaiac

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Asked 😀

R9 3900X/X470 Taichi/32GB 3600CL15/5700XT AE/Marantz PM7005
i7 980X/R9 290X/X-Fi titanium | FX-57/X1950XTX/Audigy 2ZS
Athlon 1000T Slot A/GeForce 3/AWE64G | K5 PR 200/ET6000/AWE32
Ppro 200 1M/Voodoo 3 2000/AWE 32 | iDX4 100/S3 864 VLB/SB16

Reply 7 of 61, by sunaiac

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😅 I have to stop quoting instead of editing ...

R9 3900X/X470 Taichi/32GB 3600CL15/5700XT AE/Marantz PM7005
i7 980X/R9 290X/X-Fi titanium | FX-57/X1950XTX/Audigy 2ZS
Athlon 1000T Slot A/GeForce 3/AWE64G | K5 PR 200/ET6000/AWE32
Ppro 200 1M/Voodoo 3 2000/AWE 32 | iDX4 100/S3 864 VLB/SB16

Reply 8 of 61, by Anonymous Coward

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One of the problems with the &EW chip (as far as I know) is that the write back L1 cache is permanently enabled. Could be a problem if you run into conflicts.

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

Reply 9 of 61, by 5u3

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Anonymous Coward wrote:

One of the problems with the &EW chip (as far as I know) is that the write back L1 cache is permanently enabled. Could be a problem if you run into conflicts.

My 486 board (PVI-486SP3) has an optional jumper setting for write-through L1 cache on &EW CPUs, which works according to CHKCPU (and there is a noticeable difference in benchmarks).
There is also a setting in the BIOS to toggle between WT and WB L1 cache, but this one does nothing.

Reply 10 of 61, by Anonymous Coward

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Oh snap! I shouldn't have sold mine then.

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

Reply 11 of 61, by sunaiac

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Yep, I also have a jumper setting on my MB.
Havn't started it yet, so no idea for the bios settings 😁

R9 3900X/X470 Taichi/32GB 3600CL15/5700XT AE/Marantz PM7005
i7 980X/R9 290X/X-Fi titanium | FX-57/X1950XTX/Audigy 2ZS
Athlon 1000T Slot A/GeForce 3/AWE64G | K5 PR 200/ET6000/AWE32
Ppro 200 1M/Voodoo 3 2000/AWE 32 | iDX4 100/S3 864 VLB/SB16

Reply 12 of 61, by sunaiac

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vetz wrote:

Let me test that write back mode with VLB SCSI before you make any decision 😉

So, any instabilities/problems ? 😀
Given the troubles we have on the PCI 486, we'll build the VLB at the same time, so we can test drives/floppies on 2 different computers to help find pb sources faster ...

Reply 13 of 61, by vetz

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I'm very embarrased to say that my DX4 does not support WB, which I thought it did all along 😦 😢 😦

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Reply 14 of 61, by sunaiac

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Arf 😁
Not a SK096 or 101 ?
Ok then I'll try and see. I'd like to have WB+SCSI, but if I have to choose, I'll probably go SCSI ... given feiopea tests, doom is not very WB sensitive.

R9 3900X/X470 Taichi/32GB 3600CL15/5700XT AE/Marantz PM7005
i7 980X/R9 290X/X-Fi titanium | FX-57/X1950XTX/Audigy 2ZS
Athlon 1000T Slot A/GeForce 3/AWE64G | K5 PR 200/ET6000/AWE32
Ppro 200 1M/Voodoo 3 2000/AWE 32 | iDX4 100/S3 864 VLB/SB16

Reply 15 of 61, by Anonymous Coward

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If you want to use writeback and SCSI, go PCI.

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

Reply 16 of 61, by Anonymous Coward

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Why did you say your DX4 isn't a writeback model? It has the "&EW" marker, therefore it does support writeback. Whether or not writeback is enabled is a different question...

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

Reply 17 of 61, by vetz

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Anonymous Coward wrote:

Why did you say your DX4 isn't a writeback model? It has the "&EW" marker, therefore it does support writeback. Whether or not writeback is enabled is a different question...

It was me who said it. My DX4 does not have the "&EW" marker.

3D Accelerated Games List (Proprietary APIs - No 3DFX/Direct3D)
3D Acceleration Comparison Episodes

Reply 18 of 61, by Anonymous Coward

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Ah. So you did.

oops.

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

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