ElectricMonk wrote:

Kinda surprised you didn't use an AMD DX4-100. Those outperformed the intel DX4-100s, and even some of the early Pentiums, at a much cheaper price point (back in the day).

They certainly did not, and there's no mileage variation in that.

Artex wrote:

I guess my preference would be to either use a standalone MIDI card like the SCC-1/1A or an external module like the SC-55 MKII […]
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• 4 x Roland MPU-401AT's
• Roland MT-32 (Gen 1)
• Roland CM-64
• Roland CM-32L
• Roland CM-500
• Roland LAPC-I
• Roland RAP-10
• Roland SC-55
• Roland SC-55 MKII
• MIDI Daughterboards: Roland SCD-15/SCB-55, DB50XG, NEC XR385, SCD-10/SCB-7
• Standalone MIDI Cards - Roland SCC-1, SCC-1A

I guess my preference would be to either use a standalone MIDI card like the SCC-1/1A or an external module like the SC-55 MKII with one of the MPU-401ATs. Maybe I could use the MT-32 with one of the MPU-401ATs on the DX2-66?

Wow, what an awesome problem to have 😀

With the two Sound Canvas, the Rap-10 and the CM-500 you have 4 Roland GM devices 😀

The CMS cards (how nice) would be better suited for 386SX machines. Is this something you might be interested in down the track?

To be honest you can do so many things with your parts, it's really hard to make a choice...

You can slow down machines by disabling caches and turning them into a 386. But is this really what you want?

PS: Now you know why I moved away from having dedicated machines, to everything being tucked away and have two test bench setups. I just quickly put together a system for whatever project I'm working on. I do have one dedicated machine though, my Super Socket 7 time machine. But everything else is in anti static bags packed away and waiting to be picked 😀

sunaiac wrote:

ElectricMonk wrote:

Kinda surprised you didn't use an AMD DX4-100. Those outperformed the intel DX4-100s, and even some of the early Pentiums, at a much cheaper price point (back in the day).

They certainly did not, and there's no mileage variation in that.

Then I stand corrected. My humblest apologizes. 😢

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

You can slow down machines by disabling caches and turning them into a 386. But is this really what you want?

Hey Phil-- good to see you alive in this thread!

To be honest, not really.. I built these machines to play games that play well on this hardware as it is... I have a couple older 386-based machines (and early 25Mhz 486SX systems) in which I could always throw these CMS-based cards. I'm more willing to use GS/GM and MT-32 oriented hardware for games that will run well on these boxes.

Emulation is 100% out of the question as well - no DOSBOX in this arena.

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

You can slow down machines by disabling caches and turning them into a 386. But is this really what you want?

Wasn't there a utility that slowed down your PC to a certain speed, but didn't disable caches, or limit it to 386 speeds? I'm blanking on the name, but I remember having to use it in Win98s DOS mode on a P2-300. And this was long before I heard of DosBox, so it wasn't it.

This is gonna bug me, until I remember the name... 😠

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

*EDIT*

If I get around to it, and find a free site to upload clips, I can use BASSMIDI to show you the differences between stock Roland MT-32, Stock AWE64 GOLD, stock Roland GS, and GUS specific music samples, compared to some of the huge soundfonts found now like SGM (there's even a 128MB OPL3 FM Synth soundfont! o_0)

Don't get me wrong my friend - my SS7 time machine never leaves my side (literally!). It's stacked up there on the top left and is usually powered up 24-7. 😀

There are a few. Moslo? Throttle?

They do work, but not as clean as turning off the caches. You get joystick drifting and other issues. Especially for extreme slowdowns.

Artex wrote:

Don't get me wrong my friend - my SS7 time machine never leaves my side (literally!). It's stacked up there on the top left and is usually powered up 24-7. 😀

OMG

They are twins!!!

That is so cool! For a moment my brain was like "what is my PC doing in that photo?" 🤣

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

They are twins!!!

I actually ordered a different Gigabyte case but the dbag company sent me the wrong one (yours). They wanted to charge me a restocking fee to send it back and i had to pay for shipping so I said "eff it" and kept it. I still like it but I should've paid more attention to the reseller rating. Here's the one I WANTED to get...

Gigabyte GZ-X5

Artex wrote:

I actually ordered a different Gigabyte case but the dbag company sent me the wrong one (yours).

That's even cooler! The universe or some higher power pulling strings? 😀

Artex wrote:

Don't get me wrong my friend - my SS7 time machine never leaves my side (literally!). It's stacked up there on the top left and is usually powered up 24-7. 😀

OMG, that's a thing of beauty! *sheds single tear*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur0WtduA2XI

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

There are a few. Moslo? Throttle?

They do work, but not as clean as turning off the caches. You get joystick drifting and other issues. Especially for extreme slowdowns.

THANK YOU! It was moslo. That was going to bug me all day.

I was unaware of the joystick drift issue, but I usually used it for really old DOS adventures, so that's probably why I didn't notice.

I get a weird mouse cursor drift in certain games in DosBox recently, too. I'll have to make a list, and ask the DB forum.

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur0WtduA2XI

At least my internals are (somewhat *cough*) different as well as my external bays. 😀

Mine has changed a little since the video. DFI board, two optical drives and that same HDD bay that you got 😀

Hey Artex, is that a HP dc5700 on the bottom left? I have the same exact system waiting for a fresh install of XP and donation to a friend xD with a xw4600 sitting on top of it waiting for a power supply!

ODwilly wrote:

Hey Artex, is that a HP dc5700 on the bottom left? I have the same exact system waiting for a fresh install of XP and donation to a friend xD with a xw4600 sitting on top of it waiting for a power supply!

Actually a dc7800 loaded up to the brim with memory and a Core2Quad, Windows 8.1 and a SSD. I use it when I work remotely via Citrix. Seems to run pretty well for being as old as it is. I actually inherited it for free when my father's business upgraded all their machines.

ElectricMonk, you might find interest in these threads,
The Ultimate 486 Benchmark Comparison
Phil's Ultimate VGA Benchmark Database Project

There is quite a bit of data out there which indicates the Intel DX4's having a clock-for-clock advantage over the AMD DX4/X5's.

feipoa wrote:

There is quite a bit of data out there which indicates the Intel DX4's having a clock-for-clock advantage over the AMD DX4/X5's.

Reminds me that the first 486 cpu I tested was an IT's ST DX2 80... At that time I was like "damn what a piece of crap, 486 processors can't even keep up with games of their era, that's lame !" 🙄 Then I bought true Intel DX2 and DX4... 😳 🤣

darksheer wrote:

feipoa wrote:

There is quite a bit of data out there which indicates the Intel DX4's having a clock-for-clock advantage over the AMD DX4/X5's.

Reminds me that the first 486 cpu I tested was an IT's ST DX2 80... At that time I was like "damn what a piece of crap, 486 processors can't even keep up with games of their era, that's lame !" 🙄 Then I bought true Intel DX2 and DX4... 😳 🤣

All 486 before the DX4 should perform around the same at same clock speed.
What you might have experienced, is a bad motherboard which divides PCI speed with 40MHz FSB, making everything but the CPU slower.