boxpressed wrote:

I wanted to run late DOS games such as Duke 3D and Blood in high resolution (1600x1200) as well as Windows 95/98 games that could use Aureal A3D. It turned out that those Blood glitches out too often at that resolution, and I ended up liking 1024x768. So the ISA slot is important for OPL3 and General Midi for those later DOS games.

The SE440BX is really good for this era and maybe a little earlier. Any Windows 98 game that doesn't need A3D would probably run better under XP anyway, and then you can go as fast as you need with the CPU.

The SB Link could be useful if you want to use the YMF7x4 for OPL3. Then you could use an ISA slot for a GUS. But I don't like the SE440BX for early 90s DOS games and before. It's just too fast, even when I drop in a 233MHz P2. Unless you run a patched game, Tyrian and Jazz Jackrabbit will not run at all. So a GUS (and its superiority with Epic games like Jazz) would be a better fit for a SS7 build, where you can use SETMUL to drop the CPU to 486 speeds.

So did the PCI sound card (and lack of certain signals) cause those graphics glitches in Blood? Is that because you didn’t connect it to the SB Link header?

SpectriaForce wrote:

So did the PCI sound card (and lack of certain signals) cause those graphics glitches in Blood? Is that because you didn’t connect it to the SB Link header?

No, I played Blood at 1600x1200 with ISA sound cards. I also used two different mobos, the SE440BX-2 (used different P3 and Celeron CPUs) and a K7VTA Pro (with an Athlon XP 2400+). I tried a bunch of different video cards, too.

I created a thread about it somewhere on Vogons, and that's how I learned that others had similar problems:

Re: Seen a Build Engine game crash like this?&

PARKE wrote on 2018-10-07, 17:28:

Yes, BLockOUT's observation is a typical example of anecdote that should not be taken as a general concept.

Sorry to revive such an old thread; I only mention this since I've recently been combing the interwebs for a p2/p3 build and what would work best for interchangeability.

It appears some people do have issues with CPU support on later BIOS updates - https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops-Gener … 50/td-p/2136112 as an example. "Max CPU supported is Pentium3 450 for that board due to limitations of the VRM on the motherboard. Later Bios versions enforce that"

I don't have specific first hand experience with this, but possibly soon, and will post back with my results.