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Building 486-class system w/ GUS, Tseng ETx000 video

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First post, by blakespot

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I want to put together a fast 486 system utilizing a Gravis UltraSound at a Tseng ETx00 gfx chipset for early-mid '90s demoscene fun.

I had a system during this time consisting of:
- ASUS PVI486SP3 mobo
- AMD 5x86 133 CPU
- GUS (ISA)
- Hercules Dynamite Power VLB (Tseng ET4000 W32p)

This machine had extremely high speed DOS graphics at the time. The ET4000 W32p was at or near the DOS performance top.

Now...the Tseng ET6x00 came along on PCI and I believe it had better DOS performance than the ET4000 W32p. Are there PCI + ISA motherboards (I want to use the (orig) GUS - ISA) that one could recommend that would perform well with the GUS and demos of that period? I realize that this would be a Pentium architecture vs. 486.

I have heard reports of the ET6000 showing glitchy displays with some DOS games of the eras, while the ET4000 ran them well. And I know some of the PCI + ISA boards had strange performance. The PVI486SP3 with its VLB, ISA, and PCI did its job across busses very well.

Also of note: The GUS is at the center of this. I am fond of it and am aware of alternatives that, in ways most people value, are superior. But, it's the GUS I want to use (and the one piece of this system that I currently have in-hand).

Thanks, guys! Glad to have found these forums!

bp

:: Visit the Byte Cellar, my vintage computer blog (since 2004).
:: See a panorama of my own Byte Cellar (a.k.a. basement computer room)...
:: twitter: @blakespot

Reply 1 of 9, by blakespot

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It's just about all together!

http://instagram.com/p/josW0xD4Dt/

bp

:: Visit the Byte Cellar, my vintage computer blog (since 2004).
:: See a panorama of my own Byte Cellar (a.k.a. basement computer room)...
:: twitter: @blakespot

Reply 2 of 9, by Mau1wurf1977

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If you don't mind, could you capture some Pinball Illusions, Fantasies GUS Gameplay?

Cool video BTW 😀

My website with reviews, demos, drivers, tutorials and more...
My YouTube channel

Reply 3 of 9, by 5u3

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Nice!
I also use a PVI-486SP3+GUS for scene demos, it is perfect for the job. 😉

For watching the earliest demos, some additional parts might come in handy:
- a 486DX CPU to swap in instead of the 5x86. A lot of the older demos will not work right if the CPU is too fast.
- a Soundblaster (Pro) or a LPT-DAC for the pre-GUS era.

You're right about the ET6000 btw. It glitches only in a few games, but for VGA demos it is an absolute nightmare. It performs very well in VESA modes though.

Reply 4 of 9, by Robin4

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Hello, i saw one of your videos on youtube..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03o2oa9j75I

Whats the size of that sony CRT you are using?

~ At least it can do black and white~

Reply 5 of 9, by archsan

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Robin4 wrote:

Whats the size of that sony CRT you are using?

Looks like a G420... yep, confirmed. It's a 19-incher. I have a pair, but only one still has workable colors (the other one going reddish). The colors on that one in the video looks alright though.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."—Arthur C. Clarke
"No way. Installing the drivers on these things always gives me a headache."—Guybrush Threepwood (on cutting-edge voodoo technology)

Reply 7 of 9, by archsan

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Robin4 wrote:

Why would you use a 19incher on a 486 computer? Isnt 17 inch big enough?

That's what she said too! But who cares if it feels great!

Sorry, couldn't resist the opportunity 😁

Or ask 5u3. If memory serves right he's using 21" Sony. I swear I've also seen one user with 22" Diamondtron here somewhere...

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."—Arthur C. Clarke
"No way. Installing the drivers on these things always gives me a headache."—Guybrush Threepwood (on cutting-edge voodoo technology)

Reply 8 of 9, by 5u3

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archsan wrote:

Or ask 5u3. If memory serves right he's using 21" Sony. I swear I've also seen one user with 22" Diamondtron here somewhere...

Sadly, I had to get rid of the 21" Sony Trinitron some years ago as the picture quality had deteriorated and it started to lose sync at random intervals. Afterwards, I've tried several TFTs as an "all-in-one solution", but they just don't cut it for old games and especially scene demos.
Now I have three screens connected to a VGA matrix: A 24" Samsung 2443 TFT, a 19" Samsung 959NF CRT, and a beat-up 15" AOC from the early 90's. And I've got the sneaking suspicion that the crappy 15" AOC will outlive the other two monitors. 😒

Reply 9 of 9, by blakespot

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A retweet reminded me of this thread that I never got back to. This build did get finished and I've been enjoying it quite a bit. Scenedemos, Dark Forces, etc. I put Norton Commander 7 and Win95 on it as well as DOS -- I wish I had only done DOS. I need to get the others off the drive sometime. It's a great box, though.

https://bytecellar.com/2014/03/11/behold-the- … ld-is-complete/

(Also, the 19" Trinitron on the machine does double duty as a 2nd display (mirroring first) on my Amiga 2000 '020, as can be seen here: https://bytecellar.com/2020/08/16/the-infinit … ur-amiga-again/ -- I love that CRT and definitely don't feel it's too large for DOS demos. The bigger the better. (And it's what I had on hand!) It started life on a Power Mac G4.

bp

:: Visit the Byte Cellar, my vintage computer blog (since 2004).
:: See a panorama of my own Byte Cellar (a.k.a. basement computer room)...
:: twitter: @blakespot

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