I think their lowest multi is 2x. They remap 1.5x to 3.5x internally and I don't know if there are any exceptions. So it'll come down to the minimum fsb of your board

Tetrium wrote:

I think their lowest multi is 2x. They remap 1.5x to 3.5x internally and I don't know if there are any exceptions. So it'll come down to the minimum fsb of your board

So it sounds like 100mhz (50 x 2) is as low as I'll be able to go with it, then. That should be slow enough to maintain compatibility with 286/386 games, right?

sliderider wrote:

Tetrium wrote:

I think their lowest multi is 2x. They remap 1.5x to 3.5x internally and I don't know if there are any exceptions. So it'll come down to the minimum fsb of your board

So it sounds like 100mhz (50 x 2) is as low as I'll be able to go with it, then. That should be slow enough to maintain compatibility with 286/386 games, right?

I'm not really a DOS guru, I'm better with hardware of that era but from writing on several forums I'd say there will always be some games that won't run properly, whatever machine you throw at it.

If you're interested in games from that era just build a 386 or slow 486 machine and you're good to go 😉
Better yet, just run DOSBox which will eliminate all incompatibilities.

F2bnp wrote:

If you're interested in games from that era just build a 386 or slow 486 machine and you're good to go 😉
Better yet, just run DOSBox which will eliminate all incompatibilities.

I'm not paying $200 for a 386/486 motherboard.

I'm not paying $200 for a 386/486 motherboard.

Um... who ever said you had to pay $200 for one? I got my 486 board for $20, and a complete 386 system for $50 shipped, and neither of those were really spectacular deals.

The lowest I have taken a P1 MMX is 133MHz. A P1 166 without MMX could be operated between 50 MHz and 200 MHz. I have not seen a board with MMX voltage compatibility and 50 MHz, but I haven't exactly searched for one either.

I gave up that 50-200 MHz P1 system, cause DosBox could do the same job basically at 50 MHz and a P2 at 200 MHz. And the old Mobo was difficult to maintain (battery etc.).

I got a working 486 for free. They are frequently thrown in the trash, just be there before it hits the can.

I must say however, that I have not yet seen a real advantage of the 486 over DosBox.

All for free 😁

But that was back then when nobody wanted these except for me 😉

sliderider wrote:

F2bnp wrote:

If you're interested in games from that era just build a 386 or slow 486 machine and you're good to go 😉
Better yet, just run DOSBox which will eliminate all incompatibilities.

I'm not paying $200 for a 386/486 motherboard.

You can find a full 486 tower with either very low money or just in the trash.
And that's here in Greece, imagine how many you can find in the rest of the world! 😉

Well I can tell you that the supply of 486 boards in The Netherlands has dried up since the last couple years. They are much much harder to find now. Now and then you can find one offered but usually it's pick up only and I can't manage that by bike 🙁