VOGONS


First post, by vikhr

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So I bought an apparently rare but worthless super socket 7 motherboard. I really liked the idea of using one system for 90's gaming so I was going to use the k6 III + but I guess that chip will work with the GA-5AX motherboard but not this version? What??? Is the chip really that specific? I'm now afraid to get any super socket 7 motherboard because of the revision crap. Will this thing at least run MS DOS games well with the K5 PRD 100 Mhz that it came with? Looking at mostly 1991-1997 timeframe.

MS DOS games are a bit before my time but I did grow up playing Hexen, Heretic, Doom, Duke Nukem, Rise of the Triad, Descent and more recently System Shock and Ultima Underworld. I'm trying to get a good rig going so that I can branch out and I'm having some fun putting this old stuff together. Just finished setting up a Gateway 2000 4DX2 66HZ.

Reply 1 of 2, by Rawrl

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The problem is with all boards that use the Aladdin V Rev. G or H, not just yours. You can mitigate it by using a non-plus CPU (the K6-III should work, and still has integrated L2), or just go with an MVP3 board (which I've heard are more stable anyway).

The K5 would work, but later DOS games might tax it. Remember they rated it against a Pentium Classic of the given speed (discounting any PR bullshit number fudging), and non-Intel x86 chips had pretty garbage FPUs until the Athlon. I'm sure someone around here has benchmarks, but I guarantee you the numbers won't be pretty, especially if you're gunning for late DOS 3D games. A K6-2 would be the easiest solution with your current equipment.

Alternately, get a Pentium MMX-233, drop the multi to 2.5x, and run it on a 100MHz bus. That sucker will scream. You could try for 3x if you're feeling spicy, but you need good cooling and an exceptional CPU.