About a Super Socket 7 build \ VOGONS

About a Super Socket 7 build

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First post, by boludo123

Posted on 2017-08-19, 15:25

boludo123 Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 3
Joined: 2017-08-19, 14:31
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Hi guys! 😀
I'm new here, plus i have very little experience with the SS7 plataform, so please forgive any dumb mistakes. Also, my english is pretty crappy.
So, i built a PC with this parts:

Epox MVP3G2 motherboard, with 1 MB of L2 cache and 256 MB of RAM

AMD K6-2 333AFR processor, @400 MHz (100x4)

Diamond Viper V550 video card, 16 MB of VRAM

Sound Blaster AWE64 CT4500

with the intention of playing late DOS games and Windows games up to the late 90's. So far, it's working out pretty well, but i advice on some stuff:
About the CPU:

1- I also have a Pentium 166MMX, should i use that one instead of the K6-2? I can underclock it to 133 at 66x2, but i can't on the K6-2 because the 2x multiplier is hardwired to the 6x one.

2- I may be able to get a K6-2 500, should i get that? Does it perform noticeably better?

About the video card:

1- SimCity 2000 currently crashes in Windows 3.1 with the nVidia drivers tnt5w311.zip from http://win31.de/edrivers.htm, but works fine in DOS and Win9x. I've read online the Win3.1 TNT drivers are kinda unstable, so i guess it's that. I may be able to get an S3 Trio3D 2x 8 MB AGP, would that be more compatible with Win 3.1?

2- Should i get a Voodoo 2? Especially for DOS games, like Quake and Tomb Raider. Also, will i get better performance in games like Unreal with the Glide renderer?

Reply 1 of 4, by lazibayer

Posted on 2017-08-19, 19:02

lazibayer Offline

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Posts: 1065
Joined: 2014-10-21, 21:16

I would favor K6-2 chips over MMX unless you must run it at 66x2 for some reason. K6-2 500 and 400 are so close that you might not be able to feel any difference. I would suggest getting a K6-2+ or K6-3+ that are 1) much faster; 2) easy to set the multiplier via setmul (including 2x); 3) taking 2.5x setting as 2x with the embedded versions (of course you lose 2.5x).
Get a voodoo2 if you can afford it! Treat it well and its value will keep climbing up.

Last edited by lazibayer on 2017-08-20, 02:59. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 2 of 4, by melbar

Posted on 2017-08-19, 20:21

melbar Offline

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Posts: 568
Joined: 2016-01-31, 13:38

Be aware of the "cacheable RAM" when you install the pentium MMX or the K6-2 into your VIA MVP3 board.

With 128Mb Ram, you'll get full speed of your system (regarding your 1024kb L2 cache and Write Back cache strategy).
With 256Mb Ram, you'll get reduced speed. (With Write Through cache strategy a few %).

With a K6-2+ or K6-3 or K6-3+, you avoid these cacheable problems...

About the (+) versions of the K6-2 and K6-3, it depends to your money you want to spend...
See also "The Ultimate 686 Benchmark Comparison" here on Vogons.

Link:
http://www.amd-k6.com/cacheable-ram-on-socket-7-platforms/

#1 K6-2/500, #2 Athlon1200, #3 Celeron1000A, #4 A64-3700, #5 P4HT-3200, #6 P4-2800, #7 Am486DX2-66

Reply 3 of 4, by boludo123

Posted on 2017-08-20, 21:40

boludo123 Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 3
Joined: 2017-08-19, 14:31
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Thanks for the responses guys!
As for the K6-3+, i haven't found one near my region yet, the closest was a really overpriced K6-3, so yeah.
About the cacheable size, my mobo uses write-through so i have 256 MB cacheable. A message pops up during bootup wich says "DRAM Cacheable Size = 256 MB".
Also, I'll try buying a V2, if i can find one. What should i expect to pay for one of those?