First post, by Artex
- Rank
- l33t
I thought I'd dive into some of my Socket 3-based systems for these next few "Artex's Build of the Week" iterations. A few of these have been documented in what turned out to be a massive thread, but I know everyone loves pix so here goes!
Round four of my Socket 3 round of builds...
All I can say is that this Asus PCI/I-486SP3G motherboard is a real thorn in my ass - the most painful experience I've had in quite a long time. While the specs (PCI/ISA, Onboard SCSCI, PS/2 header) sound nice on paper, this Intel Saturn II chipset really blows goats.
- It can only do a 25Mhz or 33Mhz external clock - no way to set 40Mhz.
- Pretty much all the jumper settings for various processors & L1/L2 cache settings are incorrect in the manual. Lots of websites are incorrect as well.
- It uses memory interleaving (memory has to be installed in pairs) but memory throughput on this chipset is really terrible.
- You cannot run a Cyrix "M1sc" or Intel OverDrive (P24T) on this board reliably (outside of DOS).
- The Saturn II chipset does not support L1 Write-Back cache (even when using a WB chip like the Intel DX2/DX4 SL), except for a few scenarios (AMD X5-133, and AMD DX4/100 SV8B). The BIOS default is set to WB for L2 cache, but this results in a 5% performance hit unless you install a dirty TAG RAM (Which I've done). I don't think L2 WB works well with memory interleaving either as the cachechk benchmarks really suffered dramatically unless L2 was set to WT.
- BIOS setting for WB vs WT is vague - doesn't say if it applies to L1 or L2 (It applies to L2 after doing some research)
- The native IDE controller is extremely sensitive to various sizes/brands of CF cards. Some require the use of an overlay, others don't - doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. Some require a BIOS setting of NORMAL, others required LBA. Note, the board only has one IDE header instead of two -> DUMB
References:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/alt.com … Uc/_7jzL5BresYJ
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/486S … Hc/12YDyZNExdUJ
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp. … are/X8xJa088xOI
http://www.elhvb.com/mobokive/archive/asus/48 … g/sp3g-cpu.html
http://www.menet.umn.edu/~bob/FAQ/asus-faq
http://markmail.org/message/kckyjqo7gv3aac2m
I finally have it up and running, and STABLE. I've got DOS 7.1 on here with Windows 3.11 as well. I originally threw in my Turtle Beach Monterey (Turtle Beach Tahiti + Rio daughterboard) that worked great in Windows 3.11 but really not so much (at all) in DOS - these cards are meant for audiophiles and not gamers. In Windows though, wow, the card really impressed me on both the PCM and GM side of things.
Since my builds are really geared towards DOS gaming, I figured the Reveal card would work pretty well. It's basically an Ensoniq SoundScape S-2000 clone with 2MB of sample ROM, so the GM sounds fantastic (dare I say better than Rolands SCC-1A, or SCB-55?). It's an interesting card to say the least, using some non-standard ports for PCM output and requiring an IRQ for the General Midi side of things (why??!). The SB emulation kinda stinks for some games, so I may throw in a SB16 or SB Pro in there as well just to ensure compatibility.
Specs:
Case: Generic AT Small Tower
Power Supply: 200W
Motherboard: Asus PCI/I-486SP3G Rev 1.8 Intel Saturn II S8423TX (PCI/ISA) (1994)
Cache Info:
8KB L1 Cache (In Write-back mode)
256KB L2 Cache
Processor: AMD 486 DX4-100 (A80486DX4-100SV8B - 3V - WB Cache)
Cooling: Socket 3 Cooler
Network:
Network Interface Card - 3Com Etherlink III 3C509B-TPO ISA
Storage:
4GB CF Card (CF->IDE Adapter) connected to native controller
GOTEK USB Floppy Emulator
CDROM
Memory:
32MB RAM (2 x 16MB FPM 60ns SIMMS)
Audio:
REVEAL Sound FX 32 Wave (SC600) (Ensoniq SoundScape S-2000 Clone) (2MB ROM) (1995)
Video:
S3 Trio64V+ 2MB PCI
Benchmark Results:
SpeedSys Overall Score: 37.68
DOOM: 2134 gametics in 1950 realtics
Superscape: 68.8 fps
PC Player Bench: 16.3
Quake: 969 Frames 101.1 Seconds, 9.6 FPS
Cache Performance:
CacheChk -d -t6
L1 (16KB) - 102.4 MB/s
L2 (256KB) - 55.8 MB/s
Main Memory Speed - 34.4 MB/s
Effective RAM Access Time (read) - 122 ns
Effective RAM Access Time (write) - 92 ns
CacheChk -d -w -t6
Main Memory Speed - 45.34 MB/s 23.1 ns/byte
Effective RAM Access Time (write) - 92ns
Onto the hardware Pr0n!
My Retro B:\ytes YouTube Channel & Retro Collection
