Shponglefan wrote on 2026-05-18, 16:10:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-05-18, 15:47:

That could be a requirement. Especially as the PicoGUS is an ISA card. That would mean having to sacrifice my Yamaha OPL3 card.

That could be a challenge then. Retroweb only lists a few Socket A boards with more than one ISA slot.

This is one reason I went the Pentium 4 route. The P4 motherboards that have ISA slots usually have at least two.

Hmm. But yeah, I did notice with those Socket A mobos that they only have the one ISA slot. I suppose, the ideal thing to do, would be to get a Socket A motherboard with the one ISA slot, which is all I've got now anyway, and preferably a motherboard that isn't going to break the bank. And then much later down the line, invest in one of the industrial P4 motherboards. Finding a deal is going to take some time anyway.

Another option if you're limited to only one ISA slot is a sound card that can cover more bases.

That's one reason I use the Orpheus II in my P4 build. It's like having three sound cards in one slot. And fortuitously there is another batch being made and available for order.

Shponglefan wrote on 2026-05-18, 16:36:

Another option if you're limited to only one ISA slot is a sound card that can cover more bases.

That's one reason I use the Orpheus II in my P4 build. It's like having three sound cards in one slot. And fortuitously there is another batch being made and available for order.

Oh, wow. Cool. Yet another toy to add to my ever growing list of things to get for a retro PC. :p The price sure is steep though, so again, it's one of those things I'd likely get further down the road. Also, I have no experience with a Gravis Ultrasound. I know the official website gives a warning saying it's for experienced users only. But yes, it would definitely have to be for one specific build.

Shponglefan wrote on 2026-05-18, 15:08:

I suppose one caveat about those boards is if you need more than one ISA slot. Dunno about Socket A, but I know Tualatin boards with multiple ISA slots are rare and expensive.

Not when they're a 440BX board with a modded BIOS.. 😏

Shponglefan wrote on 2026-05-18, 16:36:

Another option if you're limited to only one ISA slot is a sound card that can cover more bases.

That's one reason I use the Orpheus II in my P4 build. It's like having three sound cards in one slot. And fortuitously there is another batch being made and available for order.

I've kinda been feeling like the Orpheus II has become a bit of an overly expensive/complicated solution to a problem that the PicoGUS has grown to almost entirely solve for way less money (and IRQs!) 🤷‍♂️

Mike_ wrote on 2026-05-18, 14:46:

You can get faster Athlon XPs than 2000+, basically anything that has a 266MHz FSB should work unless the board in question has some quirks.

I was under the impression that KT133A capped out at 133x12.5 without mods

NeoG_ wrote on 2026-05-19, 03:40:

Mike_ wrote on 2026-05-18, 14:46:

You can get faster Athlon XPs than 2000+, basically anything that has a 266MHz FSB should work unless the board in question has some quirks.

I was under the impression that KT133A capped out at 133x12.5 without mods

My Gigabyte GA-7ZXE worked straight out of the box with Athlon XP 2200+, which has 13.5x multiplier, so that must be some board specific limitation rather than chipset itself. Plus if it was chipset rather than board, mods likely wouldn't help.

ubiq wrote on 2026-05-19, 00:59:

I've kinda been feeling like the Orpheus II has become a bit of an overly expensive/complicated solution to a problem that the PicoGUS has grown to almost entirely solve for way less money (and IRQs!) 🤷‍♂️

They have different capabilities though. The Orpheus II is functionally three discrete sound card with genuine hardware. It supports various i/o options that the Picogus doesn’t including individual audio in/out, digital audio out, joystick port, cd and PC speaker audio interfaces, and has support for a wider range of IRQ and DMA options.

I see these devices as being more complementary since the PicoGUS can emulate additional sound options the Orpheus II doesn’t cover.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-05-18, 17:48:

Oh, wow. Cool. Yet another toy to add to my ever growing list of things to get for a retro PC. :p The price sure is steep though, so again, it's one of those things I'd likely get further down the road. Also, I have no experience with a Gravis Ultrasound. I know the official website gives a warning saying it's for experienced users only. But yes, it would definitely have to be for one specific build.

The Orpheus II is manufactured on a limited basis, so there may not be another batch after this latest round. Otherwise random ones may pop up on eBay from time to time, but there aren’t many of them out there, so they are a rare card to have.

GUS support is rather specialized. There were some games that use the proper GUS capabilities (hardware mixing) like the early Epic Megagames games (Epic Pinball, Jazz Jackrabbit, One Must Fall 2097). It was also used a lot with music trackers and the demo scene of the early 90s.

It is a niche sound option, not entirely necessary but interesting to explore to see what early 90s sound was like.

ubiq wrote on 2026-05-19, 00:59:

Shponglefan wrote on 2026-05-18, 16:36:

Another option if you're limited to only one ISA slot is a sound card that can cover more bases.

That's one reason I use the Orpheus II in my P4 build. It's like having three sound cards in one slot. And fortuitously there is another batch being made and available for order.

I've kinda been feeling like the Orpheus II has become a bit of an overly expensive/complicated solution to a problem that the PicoGUS has grown to almost entirely solve for way less money (and IRQs!) 🤷‍♂️

Does the Orpheus II allow for redbook audio CD images like the PicoGUS does, too? Because that's one of my draws to the PicoGUS.

Shponglefan wrote on 2026-05-19, 06:48:

The Orpheus II is manufactured on a limited basis, so there may not be another batch after this latest round. Otherwise random o […]
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DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-05-18, 17:48:

Oh, wow. Cool. Yet another toy to add to my ever growing list of things to get for a retro PC. :p The price sure is steep though, so again, it's one of those things I'd likely get further down the road. Also, I have no experience with a Gravis Ultrasound. I know the official website gives a warning saying it's for experienced users only. But yes, it would definitely have to be for one specific build.

The Orpheus II is manufactured on a limited basis, so there may not be another batch after this latest round. Otherwise random ones may pop up on eBay from time to time, but there aren’t many of them out there, so they are a rare card to have.

GUS support is rather specialized. There were some games that use the proper GUS capabilities (hardware mixing) like the early Epic Megagames games (Epic Pinball, Jazz Jackrabbit, One Must Fall 2097). It was also used a lot with music trackers and the demo scene of the early 90s.

It is a niche sound option, not entirely necessary but interesting to explore to see what early 90s sound was like.

Ahh, that's too bad. I doubt I'll have the funds spare any time soon to invest in one.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-05-19, 10:27:

Does the Orpheus II allow for redbook audio CD images like the PicoGUS does, too? Because that's one of my draws to the PicoGUS.

The rebook audio support on the PicoGUS is for its cd rom emulation. It emulates a cd rom drive so you can use it with cd images.

The Orpheus II doesn't emulate a cd drive. Rather it has a physical cd audio connector designed to connect to a cd rom drive for playback of redbook audio from physical cds.

So far the ABit A8-KT7A is looking like a possibility, though I've only found one on eBay so far. I've not seen any of the other options listed on eBay.

Shponglefan wrote on 2026-05-19, 11:32:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-05-19, 10:27:

Does the Orpheus II allow for redbook audio CD images like the PicoGUS does, too? Because that's one of my draws to the PicoGUS.

The rebook audio support on the PicoGUS is for its cd rom emulation. It emulates a cd rom drive so you can use it with cd images.

The Orpheus II doesn't emulate a cd drive. Rather it has a physical cd audio connector designed to connect to a cd rom drive for playback of redbook audio from physical cds.

Ahh, of course. But yeah, the PicoGUS would be preferred first for that reason alone. And with it being cheaper.

NeoG_ wrote on 2026-05-18, 09:50:

Looking around it basically seems like your options are a tualatin 1.4/athlon xp 2000+ which are about the same speed for ISA native or a P4 specialty board witha DMA enabled ISA bridge chip. I think an XP 2000+ seems like the least wallet burning option.

So, does the Athlon XP 2000+ allow you to tweak the speed/multiplier in the BIOS? Does it have that capability like the Pentium 4 does? Thanks.

I've also read something about P4s having masked DMA, which doesn't make them suitable for DOS gaming. Is that the case with Athlon XP 2000+ motherboards with ISA slots?

I've also come across a post on Tom's Hardware of someone recommending my motherboard - an Abit BE6-II - with a Powerleap IP3/T adapter so a Pentium III Tualatin 1400 can be mounted. Not sure how good/reliable that is. Or even what a Powerleap IP3/T adapter is. I'm guessing it's some sort of slotket...?

Anyone...? The more info I gather and learn, the better prepared I'll be.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-05-22, 12:40:

I've also read something about P4s having masked DMA, which doesn't make them suitable for DOS gaming.

I haven't run into that issue. I suspect it's referring to chipsets without proper DMA support natively. This is the reason for boards with PCI-ISA bridge chips. In my own setup i've tested over 50 DOS games and everything has worked.

Personally I think there is a lot of misinformation about Pentium 4's and DOS.

Shponglefan wrote on 2026-05-23, 13:03:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-05-22, 12:40:

I've also read something about P4s having masked DMA, which doesn't make them suitable for DOS gaming.

I haven't run into that issue. I suspect it's referring to chipsets without proper DMA support natively. This is the reason for boards with PCI-ISA bridge chips. In my own setup i've tested over 50 DOS games and everything has worked.

Personally I think there is a lot of misinformation about Pentium 4's and DOS.

Thanks for the response. Oh, okay. I'm not sure where I read that now, whether it was here, Reddit, or some other forum. It may have been on Tom's Hardware. But doing another Google search, I came across Phil's thread here. It sounds as though there are quite a few benefits to having one. And that more compact systems can be made. Now I'm debating something. I still have the original 98 system I bought off eBay from 2-3 years ago I use as a test build. Now I'm considering selling the motherboard in that and getting either a mini or micro motherboard that supports Pentium IV. I would just have to forget about ISA for that setup and stick to PCI with maybe a wavetable module.