Tualatin

My favourite for DOS gaming would be Pentium 2/3 Deschutes/Katmai (pretty much the same thing). Rock solid platform, and runs about every 90's DOS game perfectly.

My favorite is probably the Pentium MMX 200-233MHz. They seem to be a very good sweet spot for early windows gaming and runs pretty much all dos games except for the few that are speed dependent.

bristlehog wrote:

Pentium II Overdrive PODP66X333, the fastest CPU to use with system native to ISA. Some say that there are ways to install a Tualatin into a Socket 8, but I haven't found any yet.

There was this, actually.

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cpu/125-powerleap-pl-proii/

MUCH faster than a PII Overdrive.

Is this intended for Coppermines?

bristlehog wrote:

Is this intended for Coppermines?

I've only ever seen them sold with 700mhz Celerons installed, so I'm guessing they were designed for Coppermines. I think you would probably be pushing your luck if you tried to use a Lin-Lin adapter on top of one of these to get a Tualatin to work.

I'll second the Celeron 300a. It arrived at a very affordable price, and an easy over-clock @ 450 beat down anything I could hope to acquire at that point. In a time when upgrades seemed to be necessary every few months the C300a held it's own for quite a bit.

Pentium Pro.

A huge leap forward when it came out in 1995. Paved way for the PII, PIII, Tualatins, Pentium M and Core architecture.

Pentium Pro here too.

The 80286 and 80486DX33, Pentium 90/166/200/233 and Pentium III 800 for nostalgia. 😀

The last Pentium Pro I used was a DEC... that was 16 years ago 🙁

If I would have to choose: Deschutes core Pentium II 400 (Pre week 31 1998). Because;
-Multiplier unlocked.
-I like slot 1, for easy CPU swapping and tinkering.
-Half speed L2 cache is fine for gaming.
-Does 66/100/133 FSB and MTRR LFB Write combining, which is a must for hi-res framerates.
-Does not run hot. Has heat spreader with cache cooling pads.

1st place: PIII 750 Coppermine slot1 100MHz FSB.
Because: Suites in my slot1 AT mobo and I can play any game from early DOS to early 2000's (except those with speed issues). All the hardware fits in an AT case, must have for nostalgia.
2nd place: 486DX2/66.- No comments xD

K5,K6 and K6-2,Duron

Very hard to answer ...

I'd put the DX4 100 Intel Write Back on the first spot.
Then probably The Athlon Classic Slot A, any of the 500-700MHz range.
And I'd close the podium with the FX Athlon line, socket 940 and 939.

runner ups : 1MB ppro, the Pentium 2 line, the P3S.

Tualatin and Dothan but the K6 as well K7 are close behind.

Intel DX4-100. Always had a soft spot for these as it was in my first computer.

I'd have to say though that the Pentium 3 1.4Ghz Tualatin is a beast and the perfect retro cpu in my opinion. Fast enough for all dos games and later windows games as well.

Pentium Pro here as well. I used a PPro 200 machine O/C'ed to 233 with a PCI Voodoo 3 2000 in 1999 because of, uh, cash flow problems and I played Janes WW2 fighters on it constantly. I was quite amazed at how capable it was even then.

retrofool wrote:

... played Janes WW2 fighters on it constantly....

Still a great sim..

486SX33 - relatively cheap in '93 when I got it thanks to Intel's marketing tactics at the time. Nothing I was interested in needed a maths co-pro anyway - going with the SX saved a couple of hundred bucks and it was quick enough for DOOM, which was all that mattered.