Check the dsp of you CT1740. If it is 4.05 or 4.04, get a nec daughterboard from china for it. That is exactly what I have in my 486. The CT1740 has yamaha opl3.

486 and pci sound = bad idea.

Unless I'm looking in the wrong place I see 4.11.

I'd use the ESS 1868 card. It doesn't have a real OPL3, but it has an integrated clone that sounds pretty good, and it also sports full SBPro compatibility (which is a major plus for 486-era games), cleaner sound than an SB16, and most of them also have a properly working wavetable header for attaching a daughtercard.

It looks like a Compaq OEM card, there seems to be a spot where a daughtercard could be attached but there are no pins.
Should it be possible to add pins to it or would it be disabled another way as well.

Oh. It'd probably require some additional components added on, not just the pin header itself.

Hmm... what about those Crystal boards? The CS4235 has similar specs as the ESS chipset, though I can't speak for the quality of the OPL3 clone in 'em, as I don't own one. But that wouldn't matter so much if you're going to use a daughterboard, anyway.

Hrm, now I can only find one of those crystal cards and it doesn't have the header soldered on.
So far the only card (which I just found) that has a header for a daughterboard is a creative CT2960.

I'll have to keep looking for the other one, I swear it's around somewhere...

[Edit]
Found it, neither crystal card has a proper header.

Well, if you want to play with a daughterboard, it would probably be worthwhile just to invest the four dollars in a more appropriate card.

That's the nice thing about some of those clone cards... if you don't like one, meh, a couple bucks will get you something else to play with.

you should buy a sound baster live so you can have ENHACNED sound effects, like reverb enhancing all ur games!

I remember ess1688 having an annoying noise floor even when muting everything but wave out, even recording directly from nothing will get noise. 🙁

Bah!
Why people limit themselves to US only shipping I'll never know.

Canadian money is tainted or something?
🙁

[Edit]
I think I have 3 sound blaster live cards kicking around, god knows what I'll do with them.

TheLazy1 wrote:

Bah! Why people limit themselves to US only shipping I'll never know. […]
Show full quote

Bah!
Why people limit themselves to US only shipping I'll never know.

Canadian money is tainted or something?
🙁

[Edit]
I think I have 3 sound blaster live cards kicking around, god knows what I'll do with them.

No, too many scammers who claim non-delivery later and the package can't be tracked once it leaves the US. I've tried sending things with signature return cards attached to foreign countries but they never come back, naturally, so you have no proof the package was received even if it was. It is the same for military addresses. Once a package enters the military mail delivery system, it becomes untrackable and insurance won't pay for anything lost after it leaves the USPS and enters the military system.

I remember ess1688 having an annoying noise floor even when muting everything but wave out, even recording directly from nothing will get noise.

I think that might have been the specific card(s) you tried, rather than the chipset itself... it seems like most of them have an amplified output, but not all have the option of disabling that amp. My 1688 card isn't completely quiet, but it's at least one of the better consumer-level ISA cards I've tried, in that respect.

leileilol wrote:

you should buy a sound baster live so you can have ENHACNED sound effects, like reverb enhancing all ur games!

Take another look on the machine specs. We are talking 486 with 40 or 66 MHz. Are you seriously suggesting a PCI card?

@ TheLazy1:
If I were in your shoes, I would for now use one of the SB16s and get myself a NEC daughterboard from china first. That I would use on the SB16 and build the system. Once the system is finished, use it. In the meantime start looking for a more suitable card. There are plenty of threads here about all pros and cons. Once you have the system settled, your final options become clearer.

Old Thrashbarg wrote:

I'd use the ESS 1868 card. It doesn't have a real OPL3, but it has an integrated clone that sounds pretty good, and it also sports full SBPro compatibility (which is a major plus for 486-era games), cleaner sound than an SB16, and most of them also have a properly working wavetable header for attaching a daughtercard.

I got a couple ESS 1868F cards I think. Glad they are actually pretty good. They seemed to be very common back in the days.

Btw, anyone know if a daughterboard with "dream"-something is any good? It's the only daughterboard for a soundcard I have.

The maestro 32/96 does have an integrated "DB" with dream chips. I like the DB60XG a little better, but I found no vast differences yet.

From the choices above, my money's on SB16 CT1740.

It seems like the 486 board in addition to not liking a voodoo3 will not recognize the voodoo2 I just bought, the only other setup I have is a P3 600EB underclocked to 300.
So, unless I locate another 486 board or low-end socket 7 I'm stuck too far into the future.

[Edit]
GTA Says "What 3DFX Card?"

There is no practical use for a voodoo in a 486. The 486 was introduced in 1989, way before the voodoo 1 hit the scene in 1996.

Voodoo2 in a DX2 66MHz is a stupid idea
Voodoo2 in a DX4 100MHz is a slightly better idea
Voodoo2 in a AM5x86 160MHz is actually kind of usable

Remember there's a big performance jump between DX2 and DX4, if you're new to 486s think along the lines of this kind of performance (going by memory, feel free to correct how incorrect I am):

486 DX2 66 - 14fps in Doom, 15fps in Duke3D, 9fps in Descent, 6fps in Quake
486 DX4 100 - 30fps in Doom, 30fps in Duke3D, 23fps in Descent, 9fps in Quake
AM5x86 133 - 35fps in Doom, 40fps in Duke3D, 25fps in Descent, 11fps in Quake

I'd personally use the AM5x86 for GTA. I have a Voodoo2 working in mine 😀
The only games i'd think 486 66mhz is appropriate for are adventure games (including SVGA ones), flight sims and older strategy games (Command & Conquer will work, but as for Red Alert you can just forget about it since that's a slug for some reason)

How did you measure the fps in descent?
I own a 486SX2-66 and Descent seems to be quite playable. According to Norton SI 7.0 its just 10% slower than a 486DX2-66 using Integer.
So I would like to check this.