Yeah, some of these guys could improve those 486 scores.

Well, this depends what you want to do with the retro hardware.
For some people it is a cheap opportunity to do some retro overclocking.

Though if you are more into archiving/preserving stuff overclocking is a no-go.
There is hardware that is not replaceable at all. Taking the chance of setting specs way beyond limits and risk burning it would be a loss.
Also who would be interested anyway if there is no second system existent for comparison anymore?

elianda wrote:

.
Though if you are more into archiving/preserving stuff overclocking is a no-go.
There is hardware that is not replaceable at all. Taking the chance of setting specs way beyond limits and risk burning it would be a loss.

Of course there is a risk with overclocking and I'd venture to say that the people who would join the club would understand those risks involved.

elianda wrote:

.Also who would be interested anyway if there is no second system existent for comparison anymore?

I'm sorry, I don't understand the question

i don't want to blow up my 486 🙁

What OS'es will work with hwbot?
We can run benchmarks just fine, but don't you have to submit the results?
Or will screenshots do fine?

You need to post screenshots and be able to run a version of cpuz that supports validation. I've submitted a score using win98 just fine

Well, better not use 98. Super pi should be of version 1.5XS and it's mandatory. 1.5XS won't run on 98. The same for wPrime 1.55. But Pifast will run on 98.

I would be glad to see new retro benchers around there! 😀
The best way to identify old CPUs will be putting not only CPU-Z but TestCPU and CHKCPU - they work better with old hardware.

Nobody will force you to overclock anything except speed rage when someone beats you score. 😀

Anyway - it's a great idea!

Well, better not use 98. Super pi should be of version 1.5XS and it's mandatory. 1.5XS won't run on 98. The same for wPrime 1.55.

I wonder if perhaps 98SE with KernelEx would work... it doesn't magically fix all compatibility issues, but it does allow a good number of 2k/XP-only programs to run.

Old Thrashbarg wrote:

Well, better not use 98. Super pi should be of version 1.5XS and it's mandatory. 1.5XS won't run on 98. The same for wPrime 1.55.

I wonder if perhaps 98SE with KernelEx would work... it doesn't magically fix all compatibility issues, but it does allow a good number of 2k/XP-only programs to run.

That's a bright idea, I never thought of that!
Anyway, I'd already noticed the newest SuperPi wouldn't work on 9x (thus my search for a modded version of SuperPi that worked in 9x and supported fractions of a second, but it won't validate).

elianda wrote:

Well, this depends what you want to do with the retro hardware. For some people it is a cheap opportunity to do some retro overc […]
Show full quote

Well, this depends what you want to do with the retro hardware.
For some people it is a cheap opportunity to do some retro overclocking.

Though if you are more into archiving/preserving stuff overclocking is a no-go.
There is hardware that is not replaceable at all. Taking the chance of setting specs way beyond limits and risk burning it would be a loss.
Also who would be interested anyway if there is no second system existent for comparison anymore?

Only someone who really doesn't care about old hardware. I'm kinda in the middle, leaning more towards the preservationist side 😉
I wouldn't mind overclocking if the parts I use are parts I have multiple spares of and look fairly used anyway (I won't try overclocking using a CPU for instance that doesn't even have a scratch).
I'd NEVER try overclocking on my Cyrix 5x86-133, it's irreplaceable to me, but I wouldn't mind overclocking the AMD variant too much, provided I don't burn up a motherboard.
Also I won't typically try overclocking parts that for me, have no reason to be overclocked (like a Coppermine 750, why overclock that if you can get a Coppermine 1000 for peanuts?), but to me, overclocking partly fills in the desire for knowledge on behalf of the "what if?" question!

What IF AMD had released a AMD 5x86-200?
What IF Intel had released a Pentium MMX Tillamook 400Mhz?
What IF there was an official Deschutes 366?

This is a small part of what interests me 😀

I think o/cing or modding your old hardware unless you have an abundance of spares or it's a part you couldn't care less about, is bound to lead to tears. I've messed up countless slotkets and motherboards doing wire mod and tualatin conversions when they were common. Now that they're not so (common)- I've learned my lesson.

I wonder if perhaps 98SE with KernelEx would work... it doesn't magically fix all compatibility issues, but it does allow a good number of 2k/XP-only programs to run.

Nice idea! I've downloaded it but didn't have time to check.

I don't like shelf hardware - it shouldn't be used 24/7 but it shouldn't be on the shelf to wipe dust off for years. Short tests from time to time and lots of nostalgia during this - that's how I look at this.

I think you better define what retro x86 time frame you target.
Just for example, if you take 8086 to about 486DX-33
Win98 with KernelEx and CPU-Z is no option at all.
Even if you install Win95 on a 386 CPU-Z won't give you really useful information.
Realize that these kind of programs are made for much more modern systems.
Same applies to SuperPi. While the original SuperPi runs on Windows 3.x with Win32s on a 386SX-16 it still requires a lot of RAM. It is not so easy to equip such a machine with lets say more than 16 MB.
Also take into account that running SuperPi would take ages (weeks to months, especially with FPU Emulation libs).
The modded XS version requires at least a Pentium for sure to use it's high precision timers.

So you can not simply scale the nowadays common programs back in time to old machines, because it will not work.

From the hardware perspective overclocking an old system is much more difficult than just to set some BIOS option. Often it requires to unsolder a clock generator and replace it, if you are lucky it is socketed.

As sgt76 already wrote, modding old stuff is highly risky. I also learned my lesson f.e. on this board:
http://mail.lipsia.de/~enigma/neu/pics/mb_chips_386.jpg
which stayed black/dead after I set once wrong BIOS settings.

elianda, yes it's harder to deal with old h/w and that's why it's more fun 😀

Tests are 32bit so they won't run on 286 and older. Only starting from 386.

I'm a HWBOT member, i mostly overclocked socket 7 cpus. I used a XP version with bare minimum funcionality. Pentium @ 75Mhz with 64MB had no problem running it. It ran using no more than 30MB of RAM if i recall correctly.

I'm a member and keep "planning" on getting actual scores up there, I keep getting distracted. 😜

I am going to make a vogons hwbot team for those who are already members. If anyone else wants to join in they can.

Sorry about bringing back a dead post
But we do have a team.

http://hwbot.org/team/vogons/

You can also post speedsys scores on hwbot!

http://hwbot.org/benchmark/speedsys/

Your need Windows NT or 2k for most of the 2d (cpu) benchmarks. But 9x will work with 3dmark.

Doesn't make much sense as the submit text fields do not know most of the components I enter for oldschool stuff. And it does allow only components that are in the it's internal database (e.g. for CPU).