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Ideal RAM amount for pure DOS

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First post, by clueless1

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What is the consensus for the ideal amount of RAM to put in a DOS 6.22 system? The system in question has a Pentium 120, Voodoo3 2000 PCI, and 48MB. My game library ranges from 1990 to 1995. The most demanding game is Cybermage (the only game I have that runs sluggishly on this system). Every other game runs great. A few old games need me to turn cache/turbo off in the BIOS to keep from running too fast.

I have 4 memory slots, two of which block the bottom ISA slot when filled. I've heard that some games don't like too much RAM, and I'd like to pull 2 sticks out to allow the use of the bottom ISA slot. So is there an ideal amount that would keep the demanding games happy as well as the older titles? My options are 16MB and 32MB.

Thanks!

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
OPL3 FM vs. Roland MT-32 vs. General MIDI DOS Game Comparison
Let's benchmark our systems with cache disabled
DOS PCI Graphics Card Benchmarks

Reply 1 of 4, by alexanrs

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You could just get two 16mb EDO sticks and keep it as a 32MB machine... that being said 16MB is fine for a DOS 6.22 machine. You could also hook up the Turbo switch to the FSB pins and slightly OC the bus to 66MHz on demand, so that way maybe Cybermage will run a bit better.

Reply 2 of 4, by Darkman

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32mb is what you want. not that 16mb is bad for a pure DOS system , but the extra bit of leg room wont hurt.

There will be a few games that wont like 32mb , but that list isn't as substantial, plus you can use programs like HimemX to limit the amount of RAM through software.

Reply 3 of 4, by luckybob

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clueless1 wrote:

What is the consensus for the ideal amount of RAM to put in a DOS 6.22 system?

As much as the board will support, up to 64mb. I've never run into a problem with a game having too much. plus you can use the excess to run everything from ram disk.

It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.

Reply 4 of 4, by clueless1

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Nice comments, thanks guys. I pulled out the two 8MB sticks and left myself 32MB.

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
OPL3 FM vs. Roland MT-32 vs. General MIDI DOS Game Comparison
Let's benchmark our systems with cache disabled
DOS PCI Graphics Card Benchmarks

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