That's pretty slow - my recently purchased 'slow' 286-16 board gets nigh-on 4000 dhrystones.

Is the turbo mode disabled? A full DX 386 should be absolutely fine for early to mid era Dos games.

It probably can be faster.
Once upon a time I had a 386DX-25 with no cache, and - when set to 0 wait states - it scored 5139 Dhrystones.
But it still may be too slow for some 1993 stuff - it was already the era of 486 with VLB.

If I was building a machine for such games, I would probably go for some late 486, or even Socket 7.

Yes it's slow for games up to 1993. Without cache I'd bet it can't even run Golden Axe fluently, which is a 1990 game.

Turbo is enabled. I took a closer look into the BIOS. Wait states were at one, setting them to 0 improved the benchmark score to 4804. I also enable BIOS and VGA shadowing, not sure if that improves performance. There's also alot of other wait state options... I set them all to the lowest possible setting, but it did not improve the benchmark score. I ran WC2 again... it's better but not really good. If I look at this table I wonder if I should invest in a 40 Mhz board with cache or just use my 233 for these games...

If you already have a Socket 7 box, then what's the point of that 386 ?
Are any games from your list running too fast?
If so, then perhaps try to disable caches, try SETMUL, or something?

So you got a 20% performance boost by optimising some BIOS settings? Regardless of your decision to keep on with the DX-25, that's pretty fantastic outcome anyway.

A DX-40 with cache is pretty much guaranteed to be significantly faster than your current DX-25. That said, other than the 3D shooters on the list, I would think that your system would be more than capable of handling those games.

gordon-creAtive.com wrote on 2021-01-21, 18:35:

So I wondered: Does it even make sense to use this as a gaming rig? Or is my Pentium 233 that I use for late DOS gaming sufficient? What do you think?

Majority of those games aren't speed sensitive which the P233 can cover the ones that are want something bit faster then a DX25, eg Wing Commander wants a DX33
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/List_of_ … sensitive_games

For gaming that's the only practical reason for anything lower than a Pentium class dos machine.

If your interested in hardware in general a 386 with its limitations can be fun, the games are more secondary consideration.

and if the PC has any sentimental value then you will always find a way to make it useful just to relive the past, vast 486's and below here are built for nostalgia over any practical use.

chinny22 wrote on 2021-01-22, 09:56:

Majority of those games aren't speed sensitive which the P233 can cover the ones that are want something bit faster then a DX25, […]
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gordon-creAtive.com wrote on 2021-01-21, 18:35:

So I wondered: Does it even make sense to use this as a gaming rig? Or is my Pentium 233 that I use for late DOS gaming sufficient? What do you think?

Majority of those games aren't speed sensitive which the P233 can cover the ones that are want something bit faster then a DX25, eg Wing Commander wants a DX33
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/List_of_ … sensitive_games

For gaming that's the only practical reason for anything lower than a Pentium class dos machine.

very true, and when there are problems DOSBOX is more often than not the best solution - and that will run on lots of modern platforms

at some point a suitable VM and/or emulation will also provide options for a typical circa 2000-2010 PC with 3d card and so on so that we can load up win xp on whatever smart phone, sbc or whatever is in use a few years from now

but meanwhile, for the OP, enjoy what does work on that PC

Thank you for your insight!
I guess nostalgia and authenticity were the main reason I took my mom's old PC. But I think the vast majority of games on my list doesn't really fit to this computer so my expectations where clearly off. Intel's 386DX series was released in '85, yet most of the games I listed are from around '90 - '93. I guess I was a little bit thrown of by the fact that the labels on and in the computer hinted at '92. I suppose it was bought around then and obviously my mom bought it for work, not for gaming.
If I really want to have the authentic experience for these games I guess I have to get an AM386DX-40 or an early 486.

gordon-creAtive.com wrote on 2021-01-22, 16:24:

Thank you for your insight!
I guess nostalgia and authenticity were the main reason I took my mom's old PC. But I think the vast majority of games on my list doesn't really fit to this computer so my expectations where clearly off. Intel's 386DX series was released in '85, yet most of the games I listed are from around '90 - '93. I guess I was a little bit thrown of by the fact that the labels on and in the computer hinted at '92. I suppose it was bought around then and obviously my mom bought it for work, not for gaming.
If I really want to have the authentic experience for these games I guess I have to get an AM386DX-40 or an early 486.

Don't take hardware release dates too seriously. I bought my first PC, a 286, in 1991. PC hardware was seriously long lived in the late 80s and early 90s.

It's like assuming anyone gaming now is using a 3080Ti because they came out last year. Most hardware has a ramp up time and then a long tail where it's used even a generation or two out of date.

Sounds like the PC has a special meaning for you, too.