There were some IBM Pentiums that did not include cache, certain PC 340 models did not have any installed but could be added iirc

I bought an IBM PC Series 340 Pentium 133.

-ben

monsterbaldy wrote on 2020-05-30, 22:45:

I bought an IBM PC Series 340 Pentium 133.

-ben

This one?

Look at the upper right-hand part of the board. This photo shows a motherboard with PLB cache (fast!), the two rectangles soldered above the CPU. If your board shows 0kB cache, it doesn't have those. The question is what is above that. This pic shows space for 8 cache sockets - but they're not there as it already has PLB. Does your board have those sockets? If so, you need 8x 256kb (or 512kb) SRAM. If not, I hope you like soldering...

Note that the SiS5511 chipset was slow at the best of times (10% slower than i440FX with same cache), and the difference in mem performance between async cache and no cache is only about 12%

Ah ok, I'll check when it arrives. I think it's very possible it has neither, but I'll check and report back.

However, if this is going to be a DOS only computer and the most advanced game I am going to run is Doom 2, do I care about this?

monsterbaldy wrote on 2020-05-30, 23:21:

Ah ok, I'll check when it arrives. I think it's very possible it has neither, but I'll check and report back.

However, if this is going to be a DOS only computer and the most advanced game I am going to run is Doom 2, do I care about this?

No cache on a Pentium is asking for a BAD time! Welcome to slowcity, and not in the good way 🙁
I have a Compaq P90 machine in storage without cache and even upgraded with a P120 it was just dreadful in the longrun. Okay i guess for Doom though.

That SIS chipset though. My Compaq had a...UMC chipset i think. Whats with OEMs in the Socket 5 era not using Intel? I mean, cheaper obviously, duh.
But i allways kinda associated non Intel chipsets in the early Pentium era to be kinda...trash?

I add myself to this discussion for a reason. Some time ago I had created a post where I wondered why in vogons there was no section like a market but made in the manner of vogons, it means very beautiful and refined computers as each of us has. THIS IS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE! I wrote this post now because the user has already bought the computer so that it doesn't look like a sales post.

I was just giving away an IBM P133, but not a computer that (I hope not for the user) seems to be scarce. In addition to being very well kept, my pc was an HX chipset (you know what means), cost module for the cache, all the multipliers and the frequencies to get from P75 to P200, S3 onboard and more ... in short, a nice computer. Instead, he had to look for it outside the fan forum and took what he found ... it is much easier to find very well equipped computers among us in the forum than outside. Think about it ...

SodaSuccubus wrote on 2020-05-31, 05:07:

[...]

No cache on a Pentium is asking for a BAD time! Welcome to slowcity, and not in the good way 🙁
I have a Compaq P90 machine in storage without cache and even upgraded with a P120 it was just dreadful in the longrun. Okay i guess for Doom though.

There are vastly more advanced DOS games than Doom2. Look at it this way: with L2 cache, you have the option to disable to get lower performance. Without L2 cache, you're stuck at your performance without options. I ran into DOS games that were too slow on my P100 on i430FX with PLB (probably same speed as a P133 on this board with async), and I'm a 4x strategy gamer, not an FPS player...

That said, don't overestimate the impact of asyc cache. It only adds about 10% onto mem performance. Nice, but not earth-shattering.

That SIS chipset though. My Compaq had a...UMC chipset i think. Whats with OEMs in the Socket 5 era not using Intel? I mean, cheaper obviously, duh.
But i allways kinda associated non Intel chipsets in the early Pentium era to be kinda...trash?

Not quite, it's all to do with timing. Intel's i430FX blew everything else away when it was released in mid 1995, but before that Intel's i430NX was their only So5 option and it was an appalling slug. This is SiS' second generation Pentium chipset and although 10% slower than i430FX is easily 20% faster than i430NX, with support for PLB cache and EDO DRAM. So before i430FX became available, this was one of the faster options, faster than Intel's best offering. As this was an early-mid 1995 system, it's actually a quite rational choice.

Later on they were also competitive at various levels. Most of the 'trash' reputation came from awful low-end motherboards and CPUs that required running PCI out of spec. Clock-for-clock the ALi Aladdin IV was the fastest So7 chipset, faster even than the i430TX, and with more generous L2 cache options as well. Unfortunately you were stuck with Acer OEM or PC Chips boards if you wanted one. No wonder people prefered nice solid Asus, FIC or Abit with Intel chipset...

AlessandroB wrote on 2020-05-31, 06:12:

I add myself to this discussion for a reason. Some time ago I had created a post where I wondered why in vogons there was no section like a market but made in the manner of vogons, it means very beautiful and refined computers as each of us has. THIS IS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE! I wrote this post now because the user has already bought the computer so that it doesn't look like a sales post.

I was just giving away an IBM P133, but not a computer that (I hope not for the user) seems to be scarce. In addition to being very well kept, my pc was an HX chipset (you know what means), cost module for the cache, all the multipliers and the frequencies to get from P75 to P200, S3 onboard and more ... in short, a nice computer. Instead, he had to look for it outside the fan forum and took what he found ... it is much easier to find very well equipped computers among us in the forum than outside. Think about it ...

Can I buy your computer when the computer I overpaid for arrives and doesn't work? I mean... I hope that isn't the case, but yeah, I would have way preferred to buy from a vogons member.

most IBM boards I found were COAST based, I didn't know they cheaped out that much ^^

monsterbaldy wrote on 2020-05-31, 18:28:

AlessandroB wrote on 2020-05-31, 06:12:

I add myself to this discussion for a reason. Some time ago I had created a post where I wondered why in vogons there was no section like a market but made in the manner of vogons, it means very beautiful and refined computers as each of us has. THIS IS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE! I wrote this post now because the user has already bought the computer so that it doesn't look like a sales post.

I was just giving away an IBM P133, but not a computer that (I hope not for the user) seems to be scarce. In addition to being very well kept, my pc was an HX chipset (you know what means), cost module for the cache, all the multipliers and the frequencies to get from P75 to P200, S3 onboard and more ... in short, a nice computer. Instead, he had to look for it outside the fan forum and took what he found ... it is much easier to find very well equipped computers among us in the forum than outside. Think about it ...

Can I buy your computer when the computer I overpaid for arrives and doesn't work? I mean... I hope that isn't the case, but yeah, I would have way preferred to buy from a vogons member.

selling computer here is not allowed, my post i whis can move some peolple

AlessandroB wrote on 2020-05-31, 20:42:

monsterbaldy wrote on 2020-05-31, 18:28:

AlessandroB wrote on 2020-05-31, 06:12:

I add myself to this discussion for a reason. Some time ago I had created a post where I wondered why in vogons there was no section like a market but made in the manner of vogons, it means very beautiful and refined computers as each of us has. THIS IS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE! I wrote this post now because the user has already bought the computer so that it doesn't look like a sales post.

I was just giving away an IBM P133, but not a computer that (I hope not for the user) seems to be scarce. In addition to being very well kept, my pc was an HX chipset (you know what means), cost module for the cache, all the multipliers and the frequencies to get from P75 to P200, S3 onboard and more ... in short, a nice computer. Instead, he had to look for it outside the fan forum and took what he found ... it is much easier to find very well equipped computers among us in the forum than outside. Think about it ...

Can I buy your computer when the computer I overpaid for arrives and doesn't work? I mean... I hope that isn't the case, but yeah, I would have way preferred to buy from a vogons member.

selling computer here is not allowed, my post i whis can move some peolple

Commercial exchanges are all fun and games until something inevitably goes sour and the drama begins. My understanding is that this is what the mods want to avoid and that's why the no marketplace rules are in place . vcfed.org do have a retro themed for sale section . Finally, as you certainly know there is a certain auction site and also at least one social networking site that either are or have marketplaces .