Best DOS = Diamond Speedstar64 ISA
Best WIN = ATI Mach64 VRAM ISA

Thx…
Windows 3.11 or Win95??

why would you want to torture yourself with win95 on a 386? x3

While you could get Win95A itself running pretty nicely on a 386 with 16MB, there would be not a lot of "Win95" specific stuff that wouldn't bog it down to a crawl. So mostly a Win95 386 would just be for running older and newer Win 3.11 stuff that works on 95. There's maybe a 2 year overlap of "Games that don't need so much CPU that they're okay on 386 but also run in Win95 DOS prompt" but that is only a portion of games in that period. So again, rather limiting in that respect. More should run with a boot to full 95 DOS mode though, but nothing that a 386 likes should NEED 95 DOS, so it's just an obstacle to earlier game compatibility that is not necessary.

If you don't want to spend crazy money on a Mach64 or ET4000AX, any of the Cirrus Logic cards in the CL-GD542x and CL-GD543x series are good cards.
They come in ISA and also VLB formats, on the off chance your 386 board has a VLB slot.
Cards above CL-GD5426 have some limited 2d hardware acceleration, CL-GD5422 and CL-GD5424 are merely quick SVGA cards.

If you're not feeling particularly picky about performance, practically any Cirrus Logic card is a good pick, down to the oldest ones.

Win95 on a 386 can be an enjoyable experience as a toy but if you want to play any games under Windows you'll want to be under 3.11. Any Windows game you can feasibly run on a 386 won't require Win95.

Ok, how can I know if my board has a VLB slot?
I have a 386 SX at 25mhz
I don't think you need to install Windows 95

My motherboard chipset.
is vlb¿?

Odds are your 386sx board is Isa only. Vlsi is the chipset a few lines up it shows your bus type as ISA.

Error 0x7CF wrote on 2022-04-29, 17:43:

If you don't want to spend crazy money on a Mach64 or ET4000AX, any of the Cirrus Logic cards in the CL-GD542x and CL-GD543x ser […]
Show full quote

If you don't want to spend crazy money on a Mach64 or ET4000AX, any of the Cirrus Logic cards in the CL-GD542x and CL-GD543x series are good cards.
They come in ISA and also VLB formats, on the off chance your 386 board has a VLB slot.
Cards above CL-GD5426 have some limited 2d hardware acceleration, CL-GD5422 and CL-GD5424 are merely quick SVGA cards.

If you're not feeling particularly picky about performance, practically any Cirrus Logic card is a good pick, down to the oldest ones.

Win95 on a 386 can be an enjoyable experience as a toy but if you want to play any games under Windows you'll want to be under 3.11. Any Windows game you can feasibly run on a 386 won't require Win95.

Those Cirrus Logic chips, sure.
And, if by any chance you can get hold of one without paying through your teeth, consider one with ET4000 or Western Digital WD90C31, both very fast.

But, the best card for your system is one you can obtain and that runs stable.
Judging by the photo of your rig, it seems you're all set there - I mean, it does make a picture, right?
What's in there now? How do you know it's no good?
Don't forget you're deliberately running 1980s tech. It's supposed to be slow. No point investing in a fancy ISA card, that won't turn a 386SX into something very special. Some may make a difference on a medium 486, but are wasted on this machine.

I'd say, if you want to pimp that thing in any way, get four more MB of RAM. Some few games will actually thank you for that, so will Windows.

Nice desktop, though. Some day, you should find a 3D print for that front lid. Never heard of Inves - Spanish brand?

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:08:

Odds are your 386sx board is Isa only. Vlsi is the chipset a few lines up it shows your bus type as ISA.

Uhm, the point about the VLB is to be 32 bit.
The point about a 386sx is to run on a 16 bit only board.
Just sayin' 😉

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:21:

Uhm, the point about the VLB is to be 32 bit. The point about a 386sx is to run on a 16 bit only board. Just sayin' ;) […]
Show full quote

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:08:

Odds are your 386sx board is Isa only. Vlsi is the chipset a few lines up it shows your bus type as ISA.

Uhm, the point about the VLB is to be 32 bit.
The point about a 386sx is to run on a 16 bit only board.
Just sayin' 😉

I understand that. The OP was confusing VLSI with VLB.

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:26:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:21:

Uhm, the point about the VLB is to be 32 bit. The point about a 386sx is to run on a 16 bit only board. Just sayin' ;) […]
Show full quote

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:08:

Odds are your 386sx board is Isa only. Vlsi is the chipset a few lines up it shows your bus type as ISA.

Uhm, the point about the VLB is to be 32 bit.
The point about a 386sx is to run on a 16 bit only board.
Just sayin' 😉

I understand that. The OP was confusing VLSI with VLB.

Ah, I see.
I didn't even know there were 386 boards with VLB. And frankly, I find the notion a bit obscene!

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:35:

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:26:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:21:

Uhm, the point about the VLB is to be 32 bit.
The point about a 386sx is to run on a 16 bit only board.
Just sayin' 😉

I understand that. The OP was confusing VLSI with VLB.

Ah, I see.
I didn't even know there were 386 boards with VLB. And frankly, I find the notion a bit obscene!

There where some very late hybrid chipset boards that you could run a 386 or 486 on that had vlb slots

Well, I use an ET4000 W32 ISA.
Windows 95 runs quite smooth on my 386 SX / 20 computer.
But there are some other goodies in it:
www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=330 ... 5#p1057325

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:46:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:35:

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:26:

I understand that. The OP was confusing VLSI with VLB.

Ah, I see.
I didn't even know there were 386 boards with VLB. And frankly, I find the notion a bit obscene!

There where some very late hybrid chipset boards that you could run a 386 or 486 on that had vlb slots

Well, as long as OP still has both his kidneys, that would be an option. 😜

(even the 4 MB SIMMs are getting scarce and it's probably no fun with 8?)

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:46:

There where some very late hybrid chipset boards that you could run a 386 or 486 on that had vlb slots

Yep. I have one of these, which is why I mentioned it as a possibility. It's a nice board. 256K of L2 cache and VLB slots, plus a bunch of 30-pin sockets makes for a good 386 experience. It even has a 386 soldered on, plus sockets to replace it with a PGA 386 or 486. Unfortunately I can't install a 387 at the same time as a 486sx since they go in the same socket.

I think I remember reading a post here about a 386SX board with VLB as well, but it might have just been some other proprietary slot.

OP isn't likely to have one of those, though. It's likely to be ISA all the way, which probably isn't a problem for a 386sx chip. The pic he sent suggests it's an ISA-only system.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-29, 20:06:

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:46:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:35:

Ah, I see.
I didn't even know there were 386 boards with VLB. And frankly, I find the notion a bit obscene!

There where some very late hybrid chipset boards that you could run a 386 or 486 on that had vlb slots

Well, as long as OP still has both his kidneys, that would be an option. 😜

(even the 4 MB SIMMs are getting scarce and it's probably no fun with 8?)

In the USA, you can still order brand new 30-pin simms as large as 16MB for around $15 a piece.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:21:

Uhm, the point about the VLB is to be 32 bit. The point about a 386sx is to run on a 16 bit only board. Just sayin' ;) […]
Show full quote

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:08:

Odds are your 386sx board is Isa only. Vlsi is the chipset a few lines up it shows your bus type as ISA.

Uhm, the point about the VLB is to be 32 bit.
The point about a 386sx is to run on a 16 bit only board.
Just sayin' 😉

Hehehe, I'm Spanish and it's my computer from the year 1990. But I lost the front door.
I want to install a graphic with at least 1 mb. I have a Cirrus Logic 5402. I think that for Windows 3.11 something simple.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-29, 19:35:

download/file.php?id=136299&mode=view

It would seem that bit is either slang for a measure of liquor or that "zweiunddreissig bit" sounds like something else when said in the right accent of German.

So the literal sense I get is. Windows 95 can do everything with 32 bit, when I drink 32 bit, I think I can do anything. Free form translation and trying to make it funny in English might go... Computers handle everything just by moving around a bit, I can handle anything if I drink more than a bit. ... or something... might get better with more massaging.