Reply 20 of 32, by LunarG
- Rank
- Oldbie
Just thought I'd add some of my own thoughts here.
Via MVP3 wasn't such a bad chipset back in the days as some people seem to think. It was for a long time the recommended SS7 chipset, as long as you had up-to-date 4-in-1 drivers and such installed correctly.
The AOpen AX59Pro board was a solid performer back then, I remember Tom's Hardware Guide recommending it, and possibly also Anandtech if I remember correctly. I had one back then in a K6-2 300MHz system, and had very few problems. My system was in fact pretty stable, even compared to a friend's PII system. I also use an AX59Pro board in my current K6-III system and I'm actually surprised how well it performs.
Benchmark performance compared to "perceivable performance" isn't always one and the same, as benchmarks tend to focus on worst case scenarios. Playing Quake II, Quake III and Unreal on the K6-III using a Voodoo 2 or even Matrox Millennium G400 MAX offers pretty smooth gameplay at moderate resolutions. Granted, moving above 1024x768 on Direct3D/OpenGL will completely kill performance, but for 800x600 it runs smoothly enough with either graphics solution. I've not tried Half Life on this system, as I never really liked that game, but as I could run it acceptably on the K6-2 300MHz with Voodoo 2 back in the days, I'm pretty sure it would run alright today as well. If you expect constant 60fps with max settings @ LCD native resolutions, then you'll just have to resort to modern hardware. For period correct systems, you need to expect period correct performance. Back in those days, most hardware websites would consider 30fps "perfectly smooth gameplay". Yes, we've got spoiled over the years 😉
I'd say stick with that system, just keep your eyes open for a Voodoo 2 or Voodoo 3 card (I'm sure something will come along with some patience) and you'll get tons of fun out of a nice build like that.
Oh, and it sounds like you might not have updated the BIOS to the 2.36 release? Seeing as you're having trouble with larger hard drives. I'm currently using an 80GB Seagate on mine. Wouldn't even detect it at all before updating the BIOS.
WinXP : PIII 1.4GHz, 512MB RAM, 73GB SCSI HDD, Matrox Parhelia, SB Audigy 2.
Win98se : K6-3+ 500MHz, 256MB RAM, 80GB HDD, Matrox Millennium G400 MAX, Voodoo 2, SW1000XG.
DOS6.22 : Intel DX4, 64MB RAM, 1.6GB HDD, Diamond Stealth64 DRAM, GUS 1MB, SB16.