VOGONS


Phil's Ultimate VGA Benchmark Database Project

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First post, by Mau1wurf1977

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Get your test benches ready, whip out your CPU coolers, start overclocking: It's time to do some benchmarking!

Introduction

Hello everyone,

I'm Phil, also known as Mau1wurf1977 on various sites (VOGONS, OCAU, Whirlpool, Dosforum, QuestStudios, Vintage Computer Forums...).

3 years ago I wanted to to create a collection of benchmark results to help retro computer builders check that their system is running correctly, but also to guide slow-down projects and answer questions of the nature: What games will I be able to run on my computer with L1 cache turned off? This resulted in the 3DBENCH database on VOGONS.

My goal is to:

  • Make benchmarking as easy as possible. All benchmarks will be provided and I wrote a batch file and all you have to press is 1 - 5
  • Everything is pre-configured. No confusion about sound / no sound / detail / screen size
  • Make submission as easy as possible. Users submit their results themselves via a Google docs document
  • Two sections: One for stock systems to help others check their systems. One for overclocking and having fun (anything goes)

YouTube video explaining everything

Click to watch the video

So with this project we will be expanding the benchmarks and using the following:

SUPERSCAPE BENCHMARK 1.0c or 3DBENCH2

This version scales nicely with faster machines, all the way from a 386DX to a Pentium 3.

f0Nk5fOm.jpg

PCPBENCH /VGAMODE

Also scales very nicely and is a good addition to 3DBENCH2.

vQshD27m.jpg

DOOM

A classic and scales very nice as well. We will be using full screen to make the benchmark more demanding.

FKjLsesm.jpg

QUAKE

A9mWLvAm.jpg

Download the benchmarks and batch files

http://www.philscomputerlab.com/dos-benchmark-pack.html

Easy to use set and forget menu:

vlcsnap-error087_orig.png

Submit your results

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lvF9n … dit?usp=sharing

  • You can't enter a FPS value for Doom as this will be automatically calculated. You need to enter the realticks value.
  • Please try to complete all sections to help other users when they build a system.
  • For the overclocking (anything goes) section, please complete all sections and document performance relevant modifications, such as BIOS settings, performance improving utilities, hardware mods...
  • I will sort the table regularly and publish a PDF document on a weekly basis

OQDaYQAl.png

Last edited by Mau1wurf1977 on 2014-09-12, 18:48. Edited 13 times in total.

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Reply 1 of 495, by badmojo

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Hi Phil I'm Rob and I like old computers 😀

Fantastic effort mate, I've been meaning to benchmark my various retro machines and this will make things very easy, and being able to compare my results with others around the world on a level playing field is a big bonus.

Results incoming.

Life? Don't talk to me about life.

Reply 2 of 495, by Mau1wurf1977

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Thanks Rob 😀

Download link to FASTVID

FASTVID improves VGA performance on Pentium Pro and Slot 1 machines:

http://www.mdgx.com/umb.htm#FVD

There are similar utilities for other CPUs. So if you happen to have one, please share and document.

I've also attached the file to this message for archiving purposes.

Attachments

  • Filename
    FASTV110.ZIP
    File size
    1.26 MiB
    Downloads
    508 downloads
    File comment
    FASTVID which improves performance on Pentium Pro and Slot 1
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

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Reply 3 of 495, by Mau1wurf1977

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Added this to the first post:

YouTube video explaining everything

Click to watch the video

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Reply 4 of 495, by 5u3

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Wow, nice work! I'm sure this will yield nice results to work with. 😉

One comment about FASTVID: Since the benchmarks only use standard VGA modes, it is in most cases not necessary to load FASTVID or similar tools. Standard VGA always has the framebuffer at the same address, so the BIOS usually already sets a MTRR covering the VGA framebuffer.
However, there are systems where these tools might still be needed, for example if you have a fast K6 on an old Socket 7 board which doesn't recognize the CPU properly.

Reply 5 of 495, by Mau1wurf1977

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5u3 wrote:

One comment about FASTVID: Since the benchmarks only use standard VGA modes, it is in most cases not necessary to load FASTVID or similar tools. Standard VGA always has the framebuffer at the same address, so the BIOS usually already sets a MTRR covering the VGA framebuffer.
However, there are systems where these tools might still be needed, for example if you have a fast K6 on an old Socket 7 board which doesn't recognize the CPU properly.

I did a run on a Gigabyte BX2000 and FASTVID greatly improved the performance. I put each results in the database.

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Reply 7 of 495, by Mau1wurf1977

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GL1zdA wrote:

What about adding Quake?

OMG figured it out.

I'll quickly replace the ZIP file and everything 😀

Last edited by Mau1wurf1977 on 2014-01-02, 14:59. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 9 of 495, by Mau1wurf1977

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F2bnp wrote:

You are awesome Phil, you have helped this community immensely over all these years!

Thank you! Means a lot 😀

CHANGES:

QUAKE

A9mWLvAm.jpg

Download the benchmarks and batch files

Unpack and type BENCH.zip which you can download here: https://www.mediafire.com/?4riihr1m9iui13v

Easy to use set and forget menu:

ZtvchNKl.jpg

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Reply 10 of 495, by kixs

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5u3 wrote:

Wow, nice work! I'm sure this will yield nice results to work with. 😉

One comment about FASTVID: Since the benchmarks only use standard VGA modes, it is in most cases not necessary to load FASTVID or similar tools. Standard VGA always has the framebuffer at the same address, so the BIOS usually already sets a MTRR covering the VGA framebuffer.
However, there are systems where these tools might still be needed, for example if you have a fast K6 on an old Socket 7 board which doesn't recognize the CPU properly.

Just tested on Celeron 800 (Acer laptop). Fastvid improves results from 5 to 50% even in VGA mode. I guess it all depends on the motherboards BIOS because on other platforms I didn't get any imprevements in VGA mode, only in VESA modes.

Requests are also possible... /msg kixs

Reply 11 of 495, by Mau1wurf1977

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Thanks for submitting the results!

Had to put the sheet on view to add protected areas. The DOOM FPS column is now locked (because it calculates the value based on realticks) and so are the headers. The document is back to be editable.

Added some 486 results and removed all Slot 1 results because they were missing the Quake results. Might do some more benchmarks tomorrow, but I hope people start entering results over the weekend.

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Reply 12 of 495, by keropi

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awesome, nice to see this project going... will update with the quake score in a jiffy 😀

🎵 🎧 PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 13 of 495, by Geoman

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Thank you very much for the effort!

Unfortunately, the Doom-Benchmark does not work as intended: there is no gameplay displayed(like in the youtube-video)
but only these results:
file.php?id=13429

9956 realtics cannot be...

Attachments

  • Filename
    Foto.JPG
    File size
    432.36 KiB
    Downloads
    1 download
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

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Reply 14 of 495, by sandmanx

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This is a great excuse to get some of my retro systems up and going again. I've got a pile of 486 and Socket 7 CPUs to try out.

One I'm curious about is a 486 I have that's labeled: It's ST 486DX2-80. I also have a Cyrix Dx2-80 as well as a AMD 5x86 133, and a real Intel 486DX50.

In the Socket 7 world I have a K5, K6(which I removed the heat spreader on and got it to overclock another speed grade bitd), K6-2(several speed grades, and even an Engineering sample @350MHz), P54,P55, and Cyrix MII.

Filename
486-s7.jpg
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81.28 KiB
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No downloads
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Some P54, P55, and 486
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception
Last edited by sandmanx on 2014-01-02, 20:18. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 15 of 495, by 5u3

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5u3 wrote:
One comment about FASTVID: Since the benchmarks only use standard VGA modes, it is in most cases not necessary to load FASTVID o […]
Show full quote

One comment about FASTVID: Since the benchmarks only use standard VGA modes, it is in most cases not necessary to load FASTVID or similar tools. Standard VGA always has the framebuffer at the same address, so the BIOS usually already sets a MTRR covering the VGA framebuffer.
However, there are systems where these tools might still be needed, for example if you have a fast K6 on an old Socket 7 board which doesn't recognize the CPU properly.

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

I did a run on a Gigabyte BX2000 and FASTVID greatly improved the performance. I put each results in the database.

kixs wrote:

Just tested on Celeron 800 (Acer laptop). Fastvid improves results from 5 to 50% even in VGA mode. I guess it all depends on the motherboards BIOS because on other platforms I didn't get any imprevements in VGA mode, only in VESA modes.

Huh, I didn't expect that, at least not on the Intel platform (even the early Pentium II CPUs have MTRRs, unlike the early K6 CPUs). BIOSes seem to be worse than I thought...
So, if you are unsure, bench with FASTVID loaded of course. And thanks to Mau1wurf1977 for not forgetting to mention this feature. 😉 On faster machines, the MTRRs have more impact than anything else.

Reply 16 of 495, by Mau1wurf1977

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Geoman wrote:

9956 realtics cannot be...

Yes that's the output of whatever was saved last in RESULT.TXT.

I would delete the entire BENCH folder and unzip it again.

If the menu system still doesn't work you can try some things manually:

Go into the DOOMS folder

type DOOM.EXE and see if the game runs

TYPE DOOM.EXE -timedemo demo3 and see if the timedemo runs

if no score is displayed

type

DOOM.exe -timedemo demo3 > result.txt

And after the benchmark

type

type result.txt

Last edited by Mau1wurf1977 on 2014-01-02, 23:40. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 17 of 495, by Mau1wurf1977

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sandmanx wrote:

This is a great excuse to get some of my retro systems up and going again. I've got a pile of 486 and Socket 7 CPUs to try out.[/attachment]

That's awesome. You have some more "exotic" CPUs which are always very interesting to see where they end up at!

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Reply 18 of 495, by Geoman

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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:
TYPE DOOM.EXE -timedemo demo3 and see if the timedemo runs […]
Show full quote
Geoman wrote:

9956 realtics cannot be...

TYPE DOOM.EXE -timedemo demo3 and see if the timedemo runs

if no score is displayed

type

DOOM.exe -timedemo demo3 > result.txt

And after the benchmark

type

result.txt

I will try that - thank you! 😀

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Reply 19 of 495, by Mau1wurf1977

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My bad. The command to output a text file is to type:

type result.txt

😀

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