The L2 cache is external, located on the motherboard. The K6-2 does not have built-in L2 cache, for that you would need a CPU like K6-3, K6-2+ or K6-3+. (the K6-3 could work on your motherboard, but the "Plus" versions are tricky, you need BIOS support which I'm not sure you will find for your motherboard).
My GPU recommendation for AMD K6-2 is a GeForce 2 MX 400 (128bit) card paired with a Voodoo 2 (if you want to play Glide games).
As a rule of thumb, you will want to use older video cards, with old drivers (since those tend to be optimized for slow CPUs). When you get to cards like the FX series, you need to use newer drivers which add a lot of CPU overhead. This will result in slower performance with more powerful cards (I know, it's counter-intuitive).
I did many tests and I found that the GeForce 2 MX has the best bang for buck/performance/power consumption on a Super Socket 7 platform. An older driver like 7.76 is what you want.

Are you sure you actually have an AGP slot? My quick google seems to indicate that the Presario 5284 does not. The AGP 2x is for the integrated video (Rage Pro LT) only.

I'm guessing you will be looking at PCI upgrade options, and your probably better with something a little older than Radeon 7000 or FX 5200 due to driver overhead. Something 3dfx (Voodoo3) would probably be ideal, but then you might be spending more than you would like. Like you suggested, the TNT2 would probably be a great option too. There will be little added benefit, but I'm guessing a PCI Geforce2 MX would be an easier card for you to find.

I believe I saw an AGP slot near the PCI slots. Black, a bit smaller than a PCI slot?
Anyways, I'll likely go for the MX 200 or 400 if I can find them for a good price on eBay after this mess is done with.
Another question, is there a way to force resolutions? The monitor I'm using is 16:10 but Windows only offers 4:3, and Powerstrip says I can't add custom resolutions because the driver doesn't support it.

brian105 wrote on 2020-04-17, 15:05:

I believe I saw an AGP slot near the PCI slots. Black, a bit smaller than a PCI slot?

Your description sounds right, although I think often a different color like brown or dark purple is used to differentiate agp.

I was going by this picture: https://651c328d1de292af2c4b-28651361a0deac96 … /320645-001.jpg

And cnets description:

Slots
1 (total) / 1 (free) x ISA
1 (total) / 1 (free) x PCI
1 (total) / 0 (free) x shared PCI / ISA

Hmm, you're right, I just checked again. What are the big black slots near the PCI slots then?

brian105 wrote on 2020-04-17, 21:44:

Hmm, you're right, I just checked again. What are the big black slots near the PCI slots then?

ISA. Great for DOS sound cards. Less so for K6/2-era video cards.

Tbh the Rage Pro isn't too bad - onboard VGA with its own RAM is far better than the integrated VGA sharing system memory with CPU all too common on this type of board. It's no speed demon, but it suits the CPU nicely.

Want more performance in the graphics department? Two options:
1) a dedicated 3D card, i.e. a Voodoo2.
2) a PCI 2D/3D card to replace the onboard VGA.

1 is pretty self-explanatory. Not cheap, but does the job and a perfect match for the CPU and Rage Pro.
2 can be cheaper, but less elegant, and less period correct. The obvious choice would be a TNT2 or GeForce2MX PCI card. They are relatively easy to find, affordable and trouble-free. Radeon 7000 PCI might also be an option. Don't expect the same performance as the AGP versions though. Anthing depending on transfers over the bus (loading textures) will be much slower.

As for your resolution/aspect ratio issue: that may be a reason to go for an nVidia card, as 16:9 resolutions simply weren't a thing in WIn98 era (I'm assuming that's what you are running), but some drivers supported it, including nVidia's Detonator drivers.

I'll likely go for the Geforce 2 MX, then. Even if it's on PCI, it should at least reach the performance of the AGP Riva TNT2 (I hope). Voodoo cards just seem too expensive on eBay , almost $40 for the Voodoo3.
Also, RAM-wise, should I just go for PC100 RAM, since 96mb is a bit low? Thanks for the advice!

brian105 wrote on 2020-04-17, 22:22:

I'll likely go for the Geforce 2 MX, then. Even if it's on PCI, it should at least reach the performance of the AGP Riva TNT2 (I hope). Voodoo cards just seem too expensive on eBay , almost $40 for the Voodoo3.
Also, RAM-wise, should I just go for PC100 RAM, since 96mb is a bit low? Thanks for the advice!

Where did you see a Voodoo 3 for under 40 dollars US ? If you can get a working Voodoo 3 2000 or 3000 PCI for that price, you should go for it, IMHO .

EDIT: Just saw you wrote Ebay . Anyway, that would have been a good deal .

On another note , PC100 should be fine

USD 40 for a Voodoo3 PCI? Grab it, they frequently go for twice that...

RAM-wise: what OS do you want to run on this? 96MB is more than enough for Win98 and any games that would happily run on a K6/2. Conversely, Win2k or XP like a lot more RAM. But... this is an So7 system. Cacheable memory limits are always an issue. For the MVP3 the rule is that 256x the amount of cache can be cached. The chipset supports up to 2MB of cache, but what I can find on that Presario suggests 512kB. That means max 128MB cacheable. If you go over that you get a significant (10-20%) performance hit. Of course, the performance hit from thrashing to HDD is far, far higher. So only go over 128MB if you are absolutely sure you will actually use the RAM over 128MB.

In any event, PC100 or PC133 will work, just make sure the DIMMs use max 128Mb chips, so 128MB with at least 8 chips. If you want to go crazy, 768MB should be possible, but make sure you use 256MB DIMMs with 16 chips (of 128Mb each). Also, consider a K6-3 or K6-2+ with its own cache in that case, as the on-chip L2 cache can address everything.

I have a very similar system, but it's in an old XT case with poor ventilation so I worry about overheating. No way am I putting a Voodoo in there.

Is the power supply an issue? I just looked and it's 110W. Guess PSUs used to be a lot weaker.

Yes good point, the case has a 155W PSU. Can I even run two video cards off that?