Ok, at least we know that, but tough to say where the problem could lie.

I built this based on your 4-in-1 project actually and the only real change I made was the motherboard. The one I went with, Asus P5A-B is pretty highly sought after and I'm running the latest, Beta BIOS. I already know that it does read at 66Mhz FSB and that the mutiplier is 6. I do use SetMul in DOS and K6Speed in Win as you had suggested in your build. I confirmed that these were correctly set prior to running any benchmarks. I'll confirm the clock speed, but pretty confident that's not it. It does post 400Mhz at the BIOS and does show a 6x multiplier when I use either SetMul or K6Speed. Your video shows my current performance at Pentium mode levels.

The only other card in there now, other than the Voodoo and the AWE is a LAN card. I'll remove it and test again. There are quite a few jumpers on the motherboard. Thought I got them all right. Here's the manual:

http://www.filedropper.com/p5ab-107

Maybe you could take a look and let me know where there might be an issue?

Here are the relevant BIOS setting screens:

One more note...(not editing so it doesn't get lost with the images)

You had asked about running the bench to look at clock speed and multiplier. As noted above, it shows the clock speed at 400Mhz, but doesn't show the multiplier.
It says, "available only in real mode!" Below that, it says the the current CPU mode is "virtual." Not sure if that means anything.

When I run SetMul from DOS right after a boot, it shows the 6x multiplier.

Any ideas based on the above and results? I'm really at a loss.

Do you have any Intel processors? Ideally a MMX 233. Just to see if you then get expected performance.

I don't but could pick one up. Isn't the expected performance with the current build way off? I wanted to play DOS games mainly, but also the Win98 era stuff. Now, I've got a machine in this middle place where it's nearly too fast for DOS and too slow for the Win 98 games. Frustrating for sure...

Could voltage at the motherboard level be a possible issue? What about any of the other jumpers?

It's just that I remember hearing about some issue with Asus board and K6 processors. So if hte Pentium gives you expected speed, then that could help you narrow it down.

I picked up an Intel 233 MMX for super cheap and will try it out this weekend. I know I can disable the caches with it, but I imagine SetMul will not work, correct? Is there any way to impact the multiplier otherwise?

NooNaN wrote:

I picked up an Intel 233 MMX for super cheap and will try it out this weekend. I know I can disable the caches with it, but I imagine SetMul will not work, correct? Is there any way to impact the multiplier otherwise?

You can use SetMul to enable / disable the cache. That should get most speed sensitive games going. Changing the multiplier is not possible however. What some users have done is mount switches to the front of the machine to control the multiplier 😀

OK, will def give it a shot. Can I change both cache levels with SetMul? It's not an inconvenience doing it from the BIOS, but would be nice to not have to reset.

I think I remember that I needed to drop the multiplier, in addition to the caches, in order to get midi working properly with a couple of games. Monkey Island 1 and Laura Bow 1 come to mind...

I will test it out both ways though. Still, I can't at all rationalize why the K6 isn't working the way it should. Did you happen to look at my settings and/or the mboard manual?

The motherboard cache can only be controlled through the BIOS I'm afraid.

Not familiar with the Asus P5A-B, I usually just load BIOS defaults, but you tried so much already, either there is an incompatibility or something else going on. Unless you have a spare part of everything and can duplicate the issue, it's really hard to make a call.

OK, got the MMX 233 and popped it in. The only thing I changed was a jumper on the mboard to get the multiplier correct. BIOS posts it as a 233 on boot. I went into DOS and ran the benchmarks. Here were my original with the K6III @ 400Mhz:

1 - said MTRR setting failed: -8, MTRRs are not supported
2 - 1092
3 - 45.2 (320x200 8bpp)
4 - timed 2134 gametics in 1087 realtics
5 - 24.3 FPS

and here is the 233Mhz MMX:

1 - said MTRR setting failed: -8, MTRRs are not supported
2 - 1820
3 - 58.1 (320x200 8bpp)
4 - timed 2134 gametics in 704 realtics
5 - 47.2 FPS

So, this does confirm it's something with the processor or processor combination with the mboard. Are the MMX results within range?

Also, the couple of games I was going for require a PII-266 or better. So, this rig as it sits now really isn't ideal. I thought the K6III would cover this stuff as well no problem.

One more issue though... with the MMX installed, DOS is completely fine. But, when I popped the CF card back in with the Windows install, it just hangs at the Windows splash screen. I can get into safe mode and there is nothing funny trying to start up. Even after safe mode, still can't boot as normal. Any ideas here?

Results look fine, you can always check with this huge benchmark project: http://www.philscomputerlab.com/phils-ultimat … se-project.html

As for the CF card, that's quite off. I've changed more than just the processor in the past and windows worked fine. You might just have to reinstall Windows.

P5A Boards, revision 1.5 and 1.6, will run extremely slow on a K6-Plus CPU

Does this fit?

I actually left Windows going and it did boot after about 15 minutes. Something going on there...

Thanks, I didn't see that link to the results before.

Where is that quote from? That's too bad if accurate. I guess I could go with a diff mboard so I can still use SetMul and fulfill the goal of the build. Sucks though as that mboard was by far the most expensive part of the build. I'll test the 233 with the really old stuff to see if it works ok (midi too).

I found it through a google search, should come up straight away.

That is correct, 1.03 and 1.04 run perfectly fine but 1.05 and 1.06 have the newer revision ali chipset that does not work well on k6+ cpu's on this board. Every normal k6-2 or k6-3 works perfectly fine, but not the mobile ''+'' versions.

So if it runs dog slow check your board revision. And no, there is no ''cure'' for this in case you wonder.

Ok, thanks for clarifying that. I def have a 1.05, so makes sense. I did just try the older DOS games with the 233MMX and they do have issues, mostly with Midi. They were the same issues I was having with the K6 before I started using SetMul.

So, seems my options are to wire a switch to adjust the multiplier and keep the MMX, get a new mboard or get a new CPU. I'm thinking the first option is not good, since the max speed of the 233 isn't really enough for what I was going for. New mboard is an option, but would need 2 ISA slots, AT Keyboard, ATX power supply, etc. so might be tough to find.

@meljor - I appreciate your help. is the + version just lower voltage? Is there another K6 either II or III about 400-450Mhz that would work with the Asus and also support SetMul etc.? That seems like the best option if it makes sense.

Maybe these? (ignore the price on the first, I know it's garbage)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-K6-III-400AHX-SOC … =item19cd94da84

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-K6-2-400AFQ-AMD-C … =item3d0519c671

Would be great to get a recommendation. In general, I don't care about price, just want to do this right with the best gear. I'm def willing to hear any advice, even an overhaul, if that makes the most sense.

Thanks again guys...I really appreciate the help.

Any commentary or recommendations with the above would be awesome...thanks again.

I love my FIC VA-503+ rev 1.2 with my K6-3+ 450. Has 3 ISA (1 shared), DIN KB socket, and ATX or AT power. If you go the new mobo route, I can definitely recommend it.

boxpressed wrote:

I love my FIC VA-503+ rev 1.2 with my K6-3+ 450. Has 3 ISA (1 shared), DIN KB socket, and ATX or AT power. If you go the new mobo route, I can definitely recommend it.

Thank you! Just picked this one up on eBay to give it a shot. Thought this was a good deal with the CPU, Mem and accessories:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151840677525

I never would have stumbled on this one, so thanks again. Will let you know how it works out.

NooNaN wrote:

Thank you! Just picked this one up on eBay to give it a shot. Thought this was a good deal with the CPU, Mem and accessories: […]
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boxpressed wrote:

I love my FIC VA-503+ rev 1.2 with my K6-3+ 450. Has 3 ISA (1 shared), DIN KB socket, and ATX or AT power. If you go the new mobo route, I can definitely recommend it.

Thank you! Just picked this one up on eBay to give it a shot. Thought this was a good deal with the CPU, Mem and accessories:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151840677525

I never would have stumbled on this one, so thanks again. Will let you know how it works out.

That's a nice-looking setup. The previous owner appears to have taken good care of it, which is important. That's also the same CPU that I am using, and I have had zero problems running it at 550 MHz. Your package comes with all the cables, which is a real bonus. Now you can use a PS/2 mouse. There is even a header on the motherboard for USB, and you can find a compatible USB cable fairly easily (Belkin makes one).

Here's a thread where I say a little more about my build: K6-3+ Daily Driver Finally (Almost) Complete

The best thing about this board/CPU combo is how you can use SETMUL to change the clock multiplier and disable caches via software. I hooked up a switch from my case to my VA-503+ so that I can change the FSB speed with the Turbo button. Between these two, I have amazing versatility setting the speed of my computer to play the widest variety of games.

Details here: Still working on finding my Windows 98 SE Final Build...