MB-1433/50 UIV is really good.
I have two, it's like the best after the ASUS SV2GX4.
It's actually a tad faster, I only prefer the ASUS because the CPU doesn't get in the way of long AWE 32s 😀

As for your original question, for me :
486 is VLB, VLB is 486.
POD and cyrix 5x86 are not 486s.
High end 486s are :
- DX50 + VLB
- DX4/100 + VLB
- 5x86 AMD + VLB

I have tested a huge number of setups, and those 3 will be the ones I will (try to) build and keep :
- MB1433/50 UIV + DX-50 + 16MB + S3 805 + SB 16 + DOS 6.22/Win 3.11 --> the ultimate pre CPU multiplier computer
- HOT419 + DX4/100 + 16MB + ET4000/W32p + SB AWE 32 + DOS 6.22 --> the high end DOS 486
- SV2GX4 + 5x86/160 + 32MB + S3 968 + SB AWE 64 + Windows 95 --> the windows capable 486

I say try to, because I need to ensure the S3 805 is 50MHz capable and my HOT419 is Write Back capable, else some little swapping will take place. And I'm short on AT cases. And I need time. Well, you get my point :p

Anyway, that should give you a starting point/reference point 😀

Hi guys!

Maybe it is not the right topic, but I am also planning build a 486 PC. I have a lot of parts and try to make the fastest/best from them.
motherbards: Gigabyte GA-5486AL Rev. 2A, Soyo 4saw2, generic 486 PCI with ALI chipset
CPU: TI DX2-80, 2 pc AMD 5x86 133 (adz)
RAM: 4x 4BM, 2x 8MB, 2x 16MB EDO (all 72 pins)
VGA: S3 Trio 64 1MB PCI, S3 Trio 64V+ 2MB PCI, Tseng Et6100 2.25 MB PCI
SOUND: ISA Ess, ISA Sound Blaster clone
HDD: 2, 20, 40GB IDE
FDD: lot of 3,5, 1pc 5.25
ODD: CD ROM, CD writer
CASE: 2pc AT mini tower, both looks very yellowed
monitor: 14" CRT, 17" FLAT CRT

I dont have too much time for playing with settings but I am very curious what kind of system I could build. Prices are very low in Hungary if you have time to look after parts in small markets.

Welcome to the forum!

Soyo 4saw2
http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/7987/img1327lx.jpg

Gigabyte GA-5486AL
http://www.amoretro.de/wp-content/uploads/201 … motherboard.jpg

Both boards are brand name. If they have barrel batteries, remove them as soon as possible. Both are single-banked for cache, meaning they will likely require slower cache timings at 40+ MHz for 512 KB. The Soyo board may suffer from a slightly slower PCI bandwidth due to a VL-PCI bridge.

I wouldn't mind testing the GA-5486AL board out. I'm always on the look out for the best FINALi-based 486 board, but haven't seen many benchmarks from them. Are these boards stable?

The Giga mobo was tested some weeks ago. It is working. The other two was used about 20 years ago. The noname with TI DX2-80 was mine (I was learning in a highshool at that time) and the SOYO with AMD was working at my mother workplace. All the three mobos have this small barrel formed batteries but I have 2 plastic extensions for external batteries (4 AA batteries connecting via a 4 pin plug). I bought last week 3 pc-s (~18USD) for the baby AT case and one of them contained the GIGA mobo. The owner didnt know that it was a 486. Others were a Pentium 3 and a P2 Celeron with a Socket 370/Slot 1 combo motherboard. That is also an interesting freak. But currently I am not interested in that. It is very hard to find good looking AT cases from that era.

If I understand you right the giga mobo could be the best from this three. (the other PCI ali mobo is made with older tipes of resistors on the PCB.

I bought some weeks ago 2x8MB EDO RAM on a small town market for about 1 USD. Its funny in the light how mouch does it cost on ebay. Mostly the shipping cost is higher.

Hopefully on the weekend I will have time for it and come back with resutls.

you still MUST remove the barrel batteries before they start leaking and causing serious damage.

smeezekitty wrote:

you still MUST remove the barrel batteries before they start leaking and causing serious damage.

Yep, so many people seriously don't realize just how much damage and how FAR the damage travels across a motherboard when those barrel batteries go bad / leak.

Ok so an update. I've been busy sourcing and buying parts for the build.

Ive purchased a Gigabyte GA-486VS rev.6 vesa/isa motherboard. It came with an AMD DX-40 cpu (will be replacing it with an Intel DX4-100), 8mb ram (upgrading it to 16mb or 32mb when it arrives, vlb cirrus logic video card (replacing it with a better vlb video card), and vlb I/o board.

Purchased a NOS Sony 8x cd-rom kit. Brand new. For those that are not old enough to remember cd-rom "kits" such as this one came with the cd-rom drive and an ISA or sometimes EISA board that you'd connect the cd-rom drive up too.

Purchased a VLB card lot that included 3 VLB cards: S3 805 videocard, S3 Trio64 videocard, and an I/O board.

The, imho, gem of my purchases is another motherboard. The mighty FIC PIO-3! These ISA/PCI boards were one of the last 486 motherboards created and were fast, extremely stable and reliable. Mine will be coming with an Intel DX4 100mhz CPU, some ram and cards. However since it doesnt utilize VLB and doesnt seem to allow turbo switch usage I dont think ill be readily using it. I mainly got it because its not that common and imho a collectible board to have. Ill be using the Intel DX4-100 it comes with, on the Gigabyte GA-486VS board.

Chaniyth wrote:

Ok so an update. I've been busy sourcing and buying parts for the build.

Ive purchased a Gigabyte GA-486VS rev.6 vesa/isa motherboard. It came with an AMD DX-40 cpu (will be replacing it with an Intel DX4-100), 8mb ram (upgrading it to 16mb or 32mb when it arrives, vlb cirrus logic video card (replacing it with a better vlb video card), and vlb I/o board.

How much cache does it have? Remember you need 4K of cache per MB of RAM to cache it all.

smeezekitty wrote:

Chaniyth wrote:

Ok so an update. I've been busy sourcing and buying parts for the build.

Ive purchased a Gigabyte GA-486VS rev.6 vesa/isa motherboard. It came with an AMD DX-40 cpu (will be replacing it with an Intel DX4-100), 8mb ram (upgrading it to 16mb or 32mb when it arrives, vlb cirrus logic video card (replacing it with a better vlb video card), and vlb I/o board.

How much cache does it have? Remember you need 4K of cache per MB of RAM to cache it all.

It comes with 128k, but I figured i'd be able to use the cache ram thats installed on the FIC PIO-3 to upgrade to 256k or 512k or won't I be able to do that? This is my first 486 build, so a bit new to it all. 😎

Chaniyth wrote:

smeezekitty wrote:

Chaniyth wrote:

Ok so an update. I've been busy sourcing and buying parts for the build.

Ive purchased a Gigabyte GA-486VS rev.6 vesa/isa motherboard. It came with an AMD DX-40 cpu (will be replacing it with an Intel DX4-100), 8mb ram (upgrading it to 16mb or 32mb when it arrives, vlb cirrus logic video card (replacing it with a better vlb video card), and vlb I/o board.

How much cache does it have? Remember you need 4K of cache per MB of RAM to cache it all.

It comes with 128k, but I figured i'd be able to use the cache ram thats installed on the FIC PIO-3 to upgrade to 256k or 512k or won't I be able to do that? This is my first 486 build, so a bit new to it all. 😎

If you keep the RAM to 32MB, 128K would be enough. Honestly I recommend keeping the cache in the other board unless the board is dead in case you want to use it later.
It will also have higher resale value with cache.

Some news from my side.

I checked all the three mobos I have, and unfortunatelly all has only 256KB chache (in four banks). As mentioned before it is suitable for 64MB of RAM. So I bought some more 16MB EDO modul in a small shop yesterday (4x16MB for about 4USD). It feels like search in the garbage, but this kind of sources are the cheapest.

On sunday I will go to a local flea market at my parents town and see what it can "offer me".

I did this a year and a half ago and chronicled the adventure to a degree. Had lots of help from Vogons. 😀

Hope it's of interest:

Setting Out to Build a 486-Class DOS Box

bp

blakespot wrote:

I did this a year and a half ago and chronicled the adventure to a degree. Had lots of help from Vogons. :-) […]
Show full quote

I did this a year and a half ago and chronicled the adventure to a degree. Had lots of help from Vogons. 😀

Hope it's of interest:

Setting Out to Build a 486-Class DOS Box

bp

I watched your video on YouTube as you video chronicled your journey, I enjoyed watching it very much. 😎

Yestarday evening I tested one of my three motherboards. (the generic PCI board with FinAli chipset). It works fine with the Cyrix DX2-80 and with various RAM modul combination (4Mb, 8MB, 12MB, 16, 32, 48). Now I see that that the 8MB EDO moduls are only 4Mb what I bought some weeks ago. I removed the small barrel formed battery from the board also. I will use an external battery holder thorugh a 4 pin connected cable. For Video I used a Trio64V+ 2MB. It looks also working good, but some more test are coming after a WIN install.

I tried to install a win98se but I stuck at the beginnings. 486 boards doesnt boot from CD, so I have to create a dos bootsik with ATAPI drivers. The CD-ROM drive is also problematic, it gives very strange noises. It looks that it shuold be changed also.

I checked the CPU-s again. The two 5x86 AMDs are different. One is ADW and the other is ADZ series. But as I red before both of them are able to run on 160Mhz (4x40).

I changed the CD-ROM dive and got an external battery holder also, because the integrated akku were not working, and the bios forgot after the restart to boot from floppy. Now I see that my 3.5" Floppy drive is also faulty... I should get another one. This 486 building story will be quite long for me 😀

I'd get a Gotek emulator rather then an actual FDD The 486 wont know the difference, You can transfer files even from PC's without a drive with the software and best of all no more "error reading from drive A"

chinny22 wrote:

...and best of all no more "error reading from drive A"

That's part of the "real experience" isn't it? 😉

devius wrote:

chinny22 wrote:

...and best of all no more "error reading from drive A"

That's part of the "real experience" isn't it? 😉

you people are NO FUN.

Retro PC gives us retro failuremessages and problems.

I have 2 spare 3.5" FDD at my parents. I will test them in this month.

Hello! I am also interested in building a high-end 486 machine. After reading this thread, I have a few questions/comments.
Are there any 486 boards that have EISA and VLB? If so, is EISA worth it? What can it be used for?
I'm not sure If I'd want PCI or not. Perhaps, but it isn't a necessity.
Does the i486-DX4 need a special socket? I've heard it needs a 3.3v supply, but are there any boards that support that natively? I'd get an AMD or Cyrix 5x86 if I could find one, but they seem fairly rare. As for Pentium OD, I kind of want to stick to "real i486" architecture, but I'd consider it.
For graphics, an ET4000/w32i or w32p over VLB seems like my best bet. Maybe a PCI card too if I go that route.
Any help would be appreciated!