Alright, so I pulled the trigger on a K6-III+ for 25$ shipped. At this point I am committed!

I have scoured ebay looking for motherboards. I have found a VIA MVP3 and an Ali V for about the same price.

This is a Jetway J-542B Ali V Chipset
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Jetway-J-542B-Socket … 0YAAOSwrBxavTZ6

Shuttle HOT-591P VIA MVP3 Chipset
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Shuttle-HOT-591P-AGP … wUAAOSw2N1Z3NIC

Which one should I get you thing?

The Jetway has a better layout for long PCI cards.

Look up their manuals to see what FSBs they can do - my AOpen X59 doesn't go below 60 and that is a bit of a drag.

I'd get the Shuttle. One extra ISA slot can come in very handy for things like MIDI interface or multiple sound cards. Since you're intending to use a Voodoo3, you shouldn't need to worry about fitting a Voodoo2 in the PCI slots.

Aside from that, note that while each board provides a PS/2 mouse connector, you'll need an adapter of some kind to use it.

Bah.. those two boards are expensive. I won't even pay that much for an ASUS P5A or P5A-B.

And that shuttle one may only have 512KB L2 cache. With Anything other than ALI for the chipset you really want 1MB or more L2 cache.

Here is a cheaper MVP3 based board that has 1MB L2 cache.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tean-tn2-94v-o-p5vb3 … ng/112871196758

And here is another:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Socket-7-motherboard … MM/253482748269

cyclone3d wrote:

Bah.. those two boards are expensive. I won't even pay that much for an ASUS P5A or P5A-B. […]
Show full quote

Bah.. those two boards are expensive. I won't even pay that much for an ASUS P5A or P5A-B.

And that shuttle one may only have 512KB L2 cache. With Anything other than ALI for the chipset you really want 1MB or more L2 cache.

Here is a cheaper MVP3 based board that has 1MB L2 cache.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tean-tn2-94v-o-p5vb3 … ng/112871196758

And here is another:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Socket-7-motherboard … MM/253482748269

Mmmm admittedly I didn't do benchmark comparison between MVP3 boards with 1MB and 512KB cache, but I doubt it makes much difference with K6-III/+ processor. BTW the luckystar board is only equipped with VP3 chipset and 512KB cache.

mothergoose729 wrote:

Alright, so I pulled the trigger on a K6-III+ for 25$ shipped. At this point I am committed! […]
Show full quote

Alright, so I pulled the trigger on a K6-III+ for 25$ shipped. At this point I am committed!

I have scoured ebay looking for motherboards. I have found a VIA MVP3 and an Ali V for about the same price.

This is a Jetway J-542B Ali V Chipset
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Jetway-J-542B-Socket … 0YAAOSwrBxavTZ6

Shuttle HOT-591P VIA MVP3 Chipset
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Shuttle-HOT-591P-AGP … wUAAOSw2N1Z3NIC

Which one should I get you thing?

Did you miss my tip to look on amibay.com and vcfed.org marketplace? You say "affordable" but are prepared to pay over twice the going rate for these pretty uninspiring boards...

lazibayer wrote:

cyclone3d wrote:

Bah.. those two boards are expensive. I won't even pay that much for an ASUS P5A or P5A-B. […]
Show full quote

Bah.. those two boards are expensive. I won't even pay that much for an ASUS P5A or P5A-B.

And that shuttle one may only have 512KB L2 cache. With Anything other than ALI for the chipset you really want 1MB or more L2 cache.

Here is a cheaper MVP3 based board that has 1MB L2 cache.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tean-tn2-94v-o-p5vb3 … ng/112871196758

And here is another:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Socket-7-motherboard … MM/253482748269

Mmmm admittedly I didn't do benchmark comparison between MVP3 boards with 1MB and 512KB cache, but I doubt it makes much difference with K6-III/+ processor. BTW the luckystar board is only equipped with VP3 chipset and 512KB cache.

You are right about the Luckystar motherboard.. oops.

lazibayer wrote:

cyclone3d wrote:

Bah.. those two boards are expensive. I won't even pay that much for an ASUS P5A or P5A-B. […]
Show full quote

Bah.. those two boards are expensive. I won't even pay that much for an ASUS P5A or P5A-B.

And that shuttle one may only have 512KB L2 cache. With Anything other than ALI for the chipset you really want 1MB or more L2 cache.

Here is a cheaper MVP3 based board that has 1MB L2 cache.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tean-tn2-94v-o-p5vb3 … ng/112871196758

And here is another:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Socket-7-motherboard … MM/253482748269

Mmmm admittedly I didn't do benchmark comparison between MVP3 boards with 1MB and 512KB cache, but I doubt it makes much difference with K6-III/+ processor.

Anand did back in the day:
https://www.anandtech.com/show/211/3

With 350MHz K6-3 the difference between 0MB L3 and 2MB L3 is about 12%. But... the higher the multiplier, the lower that figure would be. Running a K6-3+ at 550MHz I'd be surprised if the difference between 512kB and 1MB would be measureable, let alone noticeable.

BTW the luckystar board is only equipped with VP3 chipset and 512KB cache.

Yep.

That other one is misidentified and is actually a very nice board, it's a DFI P5VB3+, with full K6+ support with a beta BIOS supplied by DFI - although if it's not up to date already, finding that now DFI is dead could be a challenge.

dionb wrote:

Anand did back in the day: https://www.anandtech.com/show/211/3 […]
Show full quote

lazibayer wrote:

cyclone3d wrote:

Bah.. those two boards are expensive. I won't even pay that much for an ASUS P5A or P5A-B. […]
Show full quote

Bah.. those two boards are expensive. I won't even pay that much for an ASUS P5A or P5A-B.

And that shuttle one may only have 512KB L2 cache. With Anything other than ALI for the chipset you really want 1MB or more L2 cache.

Here is a cheaper MVP3 based board that has 1MB L2 cache.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tean-tn2-94v-o-p5vb3 … ng/112871196758

And here is another:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Socket-7-motherboard … MM/253482748269

Mmmm admittedly I didn't do benchmark comparison between MVP3 boards with 1MB and 512KB cache, but I doubt it makes much difference with K6-III/+ processor.

Anand did back in the day:
https://www.anandtech.com/show/211/3

With 350MHz K6-3 the difference between 0MB L3 and 2MB L3 is about 12%. But... the higher the multiplier, the lower that figure would be. Running a K6-3+ at 550MHz I'd be surprised if the difference between 512kB and 1MB would be measureable, let alone noticeable.

BTW the luckystar board is only equipped with VP3 chipset and 512KB cache.

Yep.

That other one is misidentified and is actually a very nice board, it's a DFI P5VB3+, with full K6+ support with a beta BIOS supplied by DFI - although if it's not up to date already, finding that now DFI is dead could be a challenge.

That DFI board looks great. I saw that on the listings too, but I passed over it because I couldn't figure out what board it was.

The VIA board is the VP3 chipset and the description said that one of the DIMM slots was broken. Plus being from Lucky Star, I just felt better about Jetway and Shuttle. IDK.

I checked the message boards you linked dionb, and I couldn't find any parts I was looking for. I haven't been able to connect to amibay much at all.

I have been using that board reference, and it has been really helpful. So I am reading what you all wrote... and doing lost of research. Sound cards at the moment. So confusing 😕 .

Yup. There's so many options for sound cards, and none of them are perfect. Some chipsets that are generally inexpensive and worth looking into:
Opti 929 or 930
ESS 688/1688/1868/1869
CS423x (not CS4235)
YMF-71x

gdjacobs wrote:

U7DCP - Ultima VII DOS Cache Patch
Nice, although I still think TR12 registers offer smoother scaling than K6-2+.

Whether that's the case, we can say from the download counter that performance in ultima 7 isn't a mainstream retro concern.

In case of using ymf7x4 sound card, I think the use of an sbpro is redundant as they have roughly the same compatibility, however an sb16 could be appreciated for 16 bit audio

Deksor wrote:

In case of using ymf7x4 sound card, I think the use of an sbpro is redundant as they have roughly the same compatibility, however an sb16 could be appreciated for 16 bit audio

The SB Pro gives you ADPCM which the YMF-PCI doesn't have. One option might be coupling the SB Pro with an ES137x, although I haven't checked if the DOS drivers are compatible with the Ensoniq patch for Crusader: No Remorse. I mention Crusader because it's one of the few titles capable of using an SB16 to it's full capability. The Ensoniq route would get you the same results.

Woohoo! I just scored a Voodoo 3 3500 for 75$ shipped at auction!!!!

Sure a Voodoo 3 2000 is 95% as good and I could have saved maybe 10$, but it is always nice to be able to have the best 😀.

My build is coming together! So far I have:

AMD KIII+ 450mhz: 25$
DFI Socket 7 Board: 50$
128mb PC133 CL2: 10$
Voodoo 3 3500: 75$
Aztech AZT2320 ISA Sound Card: 20$
IDE to SD Card Adapter + 128gb SD card: 54$

Parts I still need:
IDE Optical Drive: ~25$
Suitable Case: ~20-50$
Power Supply: ~20-40$
Gotek Floppy Emulator: 30$
8GB flash drive: 8$

Total estimated price: 336$ - 387$ USD

I probably could have saved maybe 50$ if I bargain hunted more aggressively, but overall I am satisfied.

Thank you everyone for the help so far (I am sure I will be posting more threads when it comes time to do drivers 😕 ).

Any other thoughts on the build? Think I overpaid?

I hope you got the cable with the Voodoo3 3500. Without it, the card is useless. It's not necessarily better, either. A lot of later model V3 2000s overlocked higher than 3500s.

Another thing, why does everyone use those floppy emulators? What's the point? Especially with later systems like Win98 you can transfer data much quicker using the network.

Same with the optical drive. Why? Using Daemon Tools and disc images is so much more convenient.

The Voodoo 3500 can output VGA with an adapter, so I'll be using that. I don't care about the TV tuner.

I don't expect much more performance out of it compared to overclocking a 2000 or 3000 chip, it is just nice that I don't have too.

I am primarily getting this for DOS with some windows 98, so the floppy drive is really useful. I don't plan to hook it up to any home network.

And you can only emulate the CD drive in windows 98 AFAIK. When booted to DOS mode, you have to use a real optical drive. Correct me if I am wrong (I would like to be). I also have an interested in windows 3.11, which has a fair number of CD based games.

I do plan to use daemon tools for windows 98 CD games though. I am really hoping 127gb drives work on my motherboard (they should) for that reason.

mothergoose729 wrote:

The Voodoo 3500 can output VGA with an adapter, so I'll be using that. I don't care about the TV tuner.

Ugh. Sorry dude, but it's some weird ass special connector. It looks like DVI at first glance, but it isn't. You need the cable that originally came with the card. I know, it sucks, I've been burned by that before.

mothergoose729 wrote:

I don't expect much more performance out of it compared to overclocking a 2000 or 3000 chip, it is just nice that I don't have too.

I am primarily getting this for DOS with some windows 98, so the floppy drive is really useful. I don't plan to hook it up to any home network.

Trust me, networking is the way to go. It's so easy with Win98SE, because you can access FTP servers straight from the Explorer. But let's assume you didn't want that for some reason. Then you can just use USB flash drives using NUSB.

mothergoose729 wrote:

And you can only emulate the CD drive in windows 98 AFAIK. When booted to DOS mode, you have to use a real optical drive. Correct me if I am wrong (I would like to be). I also have an interested in windows 3.11, which has a fair number of CD based games.

I do plan to use daemon tools for windows 98 CD games though. I am really hoping 127gb drives work on my motherboard (they should) for that reason.

Nope, you can mount ISOs under straight DOS/Win 3.11 as well using SHSUCD.

Win98SE USB Mass Storage drivers: http://www.technical-assistance.co.uk/kb/win9 … age-drivers.php
SHSUCD: http://adoxa.altervista.org/shsucdx/

On my k6-2 300 the voodoo 3 2000 could be underclocked considerably without losing performance.

dosgamer wrote:

Ugh. Sorry dude, but it's some weird ass special connector. It looks like DVI at first glance, but it isn't. You need the cable […]
Show full quote

mothergoose729 wrote:

The Voodoo 3500 can output VGA with an adapter, so I'll be using that. I don't care about the TV tuner.

Ugh. Sorry dude, but it's some weird ass special connector. It looks like DVI at first glance, but it isn't. You need the cable that originally came with the card. I know, it sucks, I've been burned by that before.

mothergoose729 wrote:

I don't expect much more performance out of it compared to overclocking a 2000 or 3000 chip, it is just nice that I don't have too.

I am primarily getting this for DOS with some windows 98, so the floppy drive is really useful. I don't plan to hook it up to any home network.

Trust me, networking is the way to go. It's so easy with Win98SE, because you can access FTP servers straight from the Explorer. But let's assume you didn't want that for some reason. Then you can just use USB flash drives using NUSB.

mothergoose729 wrote:

And you can only emulate the CD drive in windows 98 AFAIK. When booted to DOS mode, you have to use a real optical drive. Correct me if I am wrong (I would like to be). I also have an interested in windows 3.11, which has a fair number of CD based games.

I do plan to use daemon tools for windows 98 CD games though. I am really hoping 127gb drives work on my motherboard (they should) for that reason.

Nope, you can mount ISOs under straight DOS/Win 3.11 as well using SHSUCD.

Win98SE USB Mass Storage drivers: http://www.technical-assistance.co.uk/kb/win9 … age-drivers.php
SHSUCD: http://adoxa.altervista.org/shsucdx/

That SHSUCD thing looks sweet, I will definitely have to try that out! Thanks for the tip.

As for the voodoo card, it comes with a P&D adapter, and the ebay seller claims to have tested it:

http://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Voodoo_3_3500_VGA

If it doesn't work I'll have to return it, but if the seller did their due diligence then hopefully it does. Worst case scenario is I will have to buy an adapter myself, but they aren't expensive or hard to find.