Well, I think the PC's almost all complete. I received the AWE64 (CT4500) today.

Initially had some problems with disabling the o/b sound. On the board labeled refers to JP1 as enable/disable O/B Sound. I could only find JPX1 which made no difference. Looking into it further the JP location was not included on this board. I dug around the Bios and found an option.

When I plugged in the AWE card, it made a pulsating noise as soon as the PC was powered, I swapped slots and it works perfectly.
What drivers do I need to use for this card? Currently Windows 98 installed a set of default ones, but I need DOS drivers as well.

Little touch, 3Dfx sticker finishes it off 😀

My Windows 98 Desktop and installed Games.

So final (For now 😀 ) Specifications

AMD K6-2 450mhz @ 400mhz (66x3=6)
256mb SD Ram
16mb 3Dfx Voodoo 3 2000 PCI Graphics Card
Creative AWE64 CT4500 Sound Card
Telesyn AT-2500GTX PCI 10/100 NIC
ISA LT Win Modem
IDE DVD-ROM Drive
40Gb WD IDE Hard Drive
Windows 98 SE / Unof. Service Pack

Great work!

I think AWE64 drivers are posted on http://www.vogonsdrivers.com/index.php?catid=7

I believe it would be ok to use the AWE64 Gold version install CD's but it's been a while since I installed those drivers for my CT4500 in my P166MMX system, so I can't remember if they worked right in DOS. It's worth a try

foey wrote:

Well, I think the PC's almost all complete. I received the AWE64 (CT4500) today. […]
Show full quote

Well, I think the PC's almost all complete. I received the AWE64 (CT4500) today.

Initially had some problems with disabling the o/b sound. On the board labeled refers to JP1 as enable/disable O/B Sound. I could only find JPX1 which made no difference. Looking into it further the JP location was not included on this board. I dug around the Bios and found an option.

When I plugged in the AWE card, it made a pulsating noise as soon as the PC was powered, I swapped slots and it works perfectly.
What drivers do I need to use for this card? Currently Windows 98 installed a set of default ones, but I need DOS drivers as well.

So final (For now 😀 ) Specifications

AMD K6-2 450mhz @ 400mhz (66x3=6)
256mb SD Ram
16mb 3Dfx Voodoo 3 2000 PCI Graphics Card
Creative AWE64 CT4500 Sound Card
Telesyn AT-2500GTX PCI 10/100 NIC
ISA LT Win Modem
IDE DVD-ROM Drive
40Gb WD IDE Hard Drive
Windows 98 SE / Unof. Service Pack

It's nice to see that this beautiful machine got a good treatment and is in perfect shape now! Well done!

Just to give you all an update.

Whilst I enjoyed maxing out my IBM, Performance was lacking slightly. Mainly due to the fact that most of the games I wanted to run were later games, 2000-2001 some onwards and had issues with DOS games. I've not posted it yet, but I have a Pentium III 733 with a Creative 256 Annihilator Pro and for later XP gaming as you may of seen I have a Pentium 4 rig which I've just finished - both of which ran most games effortlessly.

So I decided to rebuild and go for a late Windows 95 build to run DOS Games.

The CPU. I pulled out the K6-2 and replaced it with a Pentium 200 MMX. I was originally going to go with a 166MMX, however this gives me the ability to down clock as and when required.

I decided to replace the DVD-ROM drive which was failing, It was not reading Audio CDs and unable to read certain discs first time. I managed to find a hardly used Compaq 48x CD-ROM from ~2000 in the correct colour 😀

I replaced the 40Gb 7200rpm for the original 4.3Gb Hard Drive

I originally put 32MB PC66 Ram in, however found Windows was thrashing its nuts off. I put in another 32mb, which I had loads of problems with, I mem tested and found the memory was faulty. So I've put in a 128mb Stick for now, I am to replace it with a 64mb stick since thats what the motherboard can cache - also, more time fitting.

With the graphics card, I'm in two minds whether to keep it in. Its providing decent DOS performance and supporting early glide titles in windows 95. Tomb Raider 1,2 & 3, GL Quake, Quake 2 and Carmageddon 2. I was toying with replacing it with a Matrox MGA or S3 - Your thoughts guys?

Specifications

Intel Pentium MMX 200mhz
64mb RAM (2x32mb) @ 66 FSB
16mb 3DFx Voodoo 3 2000 PCI
4.3GB 4500RPM ST-34342A (Medalist 4342 Ultra ATA-3) - 2x2Gb FAT16 Partitions
Compaq NC3120 Fast Ethernet NIC PCI (Intel Chipset ~1996)
Creative AWE64 Value CT4500
48x Compaq CD-ROM Drive
Windows 95 (OEM First Edition) With Plus Pack and Office 95

Games

Tomb Raider 2 using the Voodoo

GLQuake, using the latest Miniport driver. Runs very smooth

Sam & Max Hit the Road, Running in DOS. Sounds fantastic with the AWE64.

Nascar Racing, Running in SVGA mode in DOS.

Benchmarks
The Pentium seems quite a decent overclocker. I managed to take the board up to 83mhz which resulted in 250mhz which was very stable, didn't have a single issue. As you can see the benchmarks improved well. I also dropped the CPU back to 166mhz to see how well it scaled.

Conclusion
I've enjoyed this more, building Windows 95 from scratch, configuring the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys and tinkering than I did with the Windows 98 build. All my DOS games now work perfectly with CD-ROM and mouse support. Back 1995 when I had our family Pentium 75 we had a Sound Blaster Pro compatible - it was no where near the quality of the AWE64 - therefore I'm enjoying Sam & Max more thanks to the better Midi and effects. I love the noise of the hard drive. It sounds very old school!

Nicely done. Sure the Voodoo3 isn't period correct but it's a fantastic card:

- Supports DOS Glide for (most) games
- Excellent & fast VESA VBE 3.0 support
- Excellent 2D quality in Windows

The only reason to go to an S3/Voodoo1 combo would be if you want to play some of the few Voodoo1-only games e.g. Fatal Racing, EF2000.

foey wrote on 2014-07-09, 21:15:

Just to give you all an update.
I originally put 32MB PC66 Ram in, however found Windows was thrashing its nuts off. I put in another 32mb, which I had loads of problems with, I mem tested and found the memory was faulty. So I've put in a 128mb Stick for now, I am to replace it with a 64mb stick since thats what the motherboard can cache - also, more time fitting.

Sorry to revive an 8-year old thread, but I have the exact same board (V58XA) and the RAM limit is confusing me. Some sites say 256MB, some 64MB. Can the board read beyond 64MB, or is the 256MB stick you said you put in earlier just extra? (I wanted to know so I don't go out buying RAM that doesn't work with it).

Also, does a cache limit mean that the board can't read past it at all, or that it can, but with sluggishness?

KayvK wrote on 2023-01-18, 04:06:

foey wrote on 2014-07-09, 21:15:

Just to give you all an update.
I originally put 32MB PC66 Ram in, however found Windows was thrashing its nuts off. I put in another 32mb, which I had loads of problems with, I mem tested and found the memory was faulty. So I've put in a 128mb Stick for now, I am to replace it with a 64mb stick since thats what the motherboard can cache - also, more time fitting.

Sorry to revive an 8-year old thread, but I have the exact same board (V58XA) and the RAM limit is confusing me. Some sites say 256MB, some 64MB. Can the board read beyond 64MB, or is the 256MB stick you said you put in earlier just extra? (I wanted to know so I don't go out buying RAM that doesn't work with it).

Also, does a cache limit mean that the board can't read past it at all, or that it can, but with sluggishness?

Mods will be along shortly to lock thread is my bet. Make a new thread and edit the link into your post 😀

https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/acer-v58xa

This motherboard?

I don’t have much experience with that ALI chipset. But if you have only 64mb cachable then you should not exceed that unless you plan to install a k6-3, k6-2+ or a k6-3+

Sometimes windows can use the non cached part of memory first. Which is dumb 🤣. Meaning exceeding your cachable limit can seriously effect performance.

Consider those processors I listed. If you want more help with those we can talk about it in the other thread. 😀

Ps, it’s such a shame seeing all these broken image links.