VOGONS


Looking to build or buy a DOS ONLY gaming platform

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First post, by EscapeVelocity

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My first computer was a no name, 486SX-25 with a retail add on Aztech Sound Galaxy NX II sound card, and a Trident something or other Video Card....I also added a CD-ROM using the connection on the Sound Galaxy. Forget the amount of RAM. But that system is long gone.

So looking for tips.

Im especially interested in the late 80s to early 90s DOS games. I want maximum DOS compatability and focus. Windows is not a concern.

DOS - Ill need a copy of DOS, perhaps Norton Utilities 7.0 and/or PCTools Utilities 7.0. Dr. DOS 5.0 or MS-DOS 5.0 Im thinking. What say you?

Video Card - Ive been reading here and elsewhere, and Im thinking of getting a Diamond as that is what I wanted back in the day....

Earlier Diamond Speedstar series
64 and eariler Diamond Stealth series

particularly the Tseng or S3 variations

Sound Card -

Sound Blaster 2.0 or Pro
Some combination to get Roland Midi and LA - perhaps SCC-1 with MT-32. The MPU-401 interface cards are exorbinantly high priced.

Motherboard? Im clueless. Need help here.

CPU - Im thinking AMD 386DX-40 or Intel 486 DX266 or maybe 486 DX4100. Then there is the Cyrix 5*86 DX4133. Need guidance here.

RAM - At least 16MB. Need guidance here.

CD-ROM - Any brand and speed recommendations?

5.25" and 3.5" Floppys

I would like a Turbo button to reduce speed to 8ish MHz. Particularly interested in information about this.

Also would like a case with the speed showcased in LEDs on the front, but that may be asking too much.

I would also like to build or buy another system for Windows 95/98. But first things first.

This site is fantastic. Thanks for the great information and sharing your expertise.

Last edited by EscapeVelocity on 2011-02-12, 23:54. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 151, by EscapeVelocity

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Almost forgot, looking to get a Viewsonic or Mag Innovision monitor as well.

Probably will look into buying a complete old system and then adding some components.

The system I will focus on the Case, Motherboard, CPU, and Ram.

Ill acquire the OS and Utilities separately, probably as most old systems come sans OS discs.

Then add on Sound, Video Graphics Accelartor, and I/O cards of my choosing.

Install a 5.25" Diskette and CD R if need be.

Last edited by EscapeVelocity on 2011-02-12, 23:26. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 2 of 151, by EscapeVelocity

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Thinking of trying to get a PCI/ISA motherboard with EIDE Hard Drive interface.

Dell Dimension or Optiplex, Gateway 2000, IBM PS/1 or Aptiva, Compaq Deskpro, Hewlitt Packard, Packard Bell, Zenith Data Systems seem to be the best bets.

Havent seen too many Falcon Northwest, Micron or Polywell systems.

This guy recommends a Gateway Pentium 120 or Dell Optiplex GXPro 200.

http://www.oldskool.org/guides/oldonnew/friendlyboxes

Here is some information on Roland Sound Cards...

http://members.chello.at/theodor.lauppert/games/roland.htm

Wikipedia Roland Sound Canvas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Sound_Canvas

Games and the Gravis UltraSound

http://members.chello.at/theodor.lauppert/games/sc-gus.htm

Wikipedia Gravis UltraSound

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravis_Ultrasound

Wikipedia Sound Blaster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_blaster

Wikipedia Diamond Video Cards...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Multimedia

Wikipedia S3 Video Cards

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S3_Graphics

Wikipedia Tseng Video Cards

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tseng_Labs

Wikipedia Cirrus Logic Video Cards...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tseng_Labs

Wikipedia Trident Video Cards

Last edited by EscapeVelocity on 2011-02-13, 00:24. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 3 of 151, by EscapeVelocity

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Logitech Wingman or Wingman Extreme

CH FlightStick or FlightStick Pro

JoySwitch

PC ProPad

ThrustMaster PFCS

ThrustMaster WCS

Good List of ThrustMaster Products

http://www.empirenet.com/f2comp/products.htm

Reply 5 of 151, by EscapeVelocity

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My favorite magazine from that era...

Available up to 1995 and counting from Computer Gaming World Museum....via pdf files. Information on Sound Cards and peripherals.

http://cgw.vintagegaming.org/galleries/index. … =0&pub=0&id=500

Reply 6 of 151, by leileilol

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DOS - don't bother hunting specific old versions, just get a MS-DOS 6.xx variant and forget about it

Video card - S3 Trio 64v+ 2MB PCI should be enough for everybody.

Sound card - get a SB16. Some may even suggest a Waveblaster daughterboard for it, too

CD-ROM - Just snag a Creative. 24x+ and faster probably.

Joystick - 😳 I prefer logitech wingmans

Also - forget about OEM computers. To build a decent DOS ONLY computer takes a decent case. OEMs often have annoying limits (i.e. LOTS LESS BIOS OPTIONS) and built-ins that you have to work around plus building a dos tower non-oem has a more satisfying feeling and you need to find an AT case with a turbo button anyway

apsosig.png
long live PCem

Reply 7 of 151, by sliderider

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You're assuming he has a socket 3 motherboard with PCI slots for the 3D card and those getting a bit thin (and expensive) on the ground these days. Just getting a 386/486 motherboard even with plain old ISA slots these days without destroying your bank account is getting to be tough. Forget about ebay, those guys are the worst. You rarely find those old motherboards cheap anymore. Once in a while you might find an ISA 486 motherboard that maybe has a VL bus slot or two for $30-$40 but more often they are listed for outrageous prices north of $150.

Reply 8 of 151, by EscapeVelocity

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Yeah, prices are outrageous.

Ill be doing some recycle bin dumpster diving as well.

Though I just looked and and a DX4 PCI board new just was snapped up.

If I go the build from scratch route, Ill need guidance on the MotherBoard brand and what not.

Reply 9 of 151, by sliderider

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There's a Hot433 motherboard on ebay right now but it's a regular auction and there will probably be a lot of VOGONers bidding for that one because they are popular for building fast 486 machines for speed runs as they have a lot of overclocking potential.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dumpster-Diving-Shuttle-H … =item20b705d2dd

Reply 10 of 151, by EscapeVelocity

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Yeah I saw that one.

There is also this one that just was snapped up.

http://cgi.ebay.com/486-DX4-100-VLB-VESA-Moth … #ht_4620wt_1051

And this one looks nice but gone...

http://cgi.ebay.com/486-PC-MOTHERBOARD-VL-ISA … f#ht_500wt_1072

Any advice on CPU to get DX2-66 DX2-100, Cyrix 5*86, or AMD's offering?

What Bios do people like?

Ami
Award
Pheonix
Other

Reply 11 of 151, by EscapeVelocity

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I dont mind hunting down specific old software, dos versions, video and sound cards.

This is hobby stuff, so.

I dont have a collection of parts stripped and purchased and collected over the years either.

Reply 12 of 151, by sliderider

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I always used AMD chips. My first Windows PC was a AMD DX2-80. I currently have a AMD P75+ 133mhz looking for a home but I don't have a suitable board for it yet and it needs a little work straightening some of the pins. I also have a board with a Cyrix DX2-80 on it right now but it's packed away. I've never had a 486 board with PCI slots, only 16 bit ISA and VL Bus.

Reply 14 of 151, by EscapeVelocity

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Intel 486 DX2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_80486DX2

Intel 486 DX4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_80486DX4

Cyrix Cx5*86

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrix_Cx5x86

AMD Am5x86

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Am5x86

AMD AM486

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am486

AMD AM386

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am386

Reply 16 of 151, by EscapeVelocity

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Think Id like to run a 33Mhz bus speed....not 40Mhz and not 25Mhz.

Intel DX2 66
Intel DX4 100

AMD DX2 66
AMD DX4 100

AMD 5*86 133

Maybe a Voodoo Banshee 2D/3D Combo Card

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3dfx_Interactive

Last edited by EscapeVelocity on 2011-02-13, 06:35. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 17 of 151, by Mau1wurf1977

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You can do what I did, find a Super Socket 7 system and use FSB and Cache options to slow down the machine.

Some of my projects:

Socket 7 - FSB scaling results with L1 Cache disabled

Initial "time machine" benchmark results

Finding such parts should be cheaper and easier. A good 486 would be my next choice, as they are more flexible regarding speed as a 386. Building a 386 is cool, but quite limited in what you can do with it. So I would only do that if you have a ton of space and are building several machines.

For a perfect 386 project look here: 386DX40 build

IMO tit doesn't get much better. Just read the first two pages, the rest becomes a 386 overclocking fest 🤣

For Sound I recommend a Soundblaster Pro 2.0 and a Roland MPU401 interface (just like in the 386 project from DonutKing).

To cover all your MIDI bases I recommend:

MT-32 (Old)
CM-32L
SC-55

And of course there is DOSBox. It's not unusual that after everything is built, we play our games in DOSBox. It's simply very convenient, you can use all your Roland MIDI gear, new USB joysticks and it's so flexible to configure.

Reply 19 of 151, by EscapeVelocity

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That 386 is sweet, but yeah, Ill probably be working on 2 machines.

A 486 Dos Box and a Pentium Win98.

Or maybe I should just use DosBox?

I guess I can build and then sell if I go DosBox. Itll be fun.

BTW, Ive been having trouble trying to run DosBox. Ill work on it some more.