It can still be done on a budget but it is getting less and less easy to do and with compromises that make the builds less attractive overall especially should one have to make do without a 3DFX card. The prices and profiteering is making things worse so people have to miss out which is sad as the cost of these build slowly creeps towards that of modern gaming systems.

Out of the boards I had to choose from I have decided on using my ASUS TXP4-X ATX motherboard.

Not Super Socket 7, no 100-MHz bus, no AGP, Intel 430TX Chipset

Modded BIOS for K6-II/III+ CHECK

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/sock7/4 … x/txp4x-101.pdf

Max clock speed will be 400-MHz (6x multiplier, 66.66-MHz bus)
Min clock speed will me 133-MHz (2x multiplier, 66.66-MHz bus)

CPU multiplier, L1 Cache enable/disable and L2 Cache enable/disable will be changeable on the fly in software

L3 Cache (motherboard cache) will be disabled in BIOS and left that way.

You can even build and configure a DOS compatible game pc using a cheap S462 motherboard (or slot 1/S370/S478) with a BIOS that allows you to disable the caches and lower the CPU clock speed (not on PIII and P4):

https://youtu.be/K5vYD0JMD_A

Lots of people on this forum keep thinking in their narrow boxes (with their expensive ISA sound cards and motherboards), but with minor tweaks more recent hardware can be turned into something that is usable for DOS gaming.

SpectriaForce wrote:

You can even build and configure a DOS compatible game pc using a cheap S462 motherboard (or slot 1/S370/S478) with a BIOS that allows you to disable the caches and lower the CPU clock speed:

https://youtu.be/K5vYD0JMD_A

Lots of people on this forum keep thinking in their narrow boxes (with their expensive ISA sound cards and motherboards), but with minor tweaks more recent hardware can be turned into something that is usable for DOS gaming.

DOSBox is real cheap...

DOSBox is a great program but I still prefer hardware with Windows 98 SE.

I have not been fond of any Slot1, etc. systems for older DOS games. Maybe it's just my bad experience with such things.

Primary video card is locked in stone now. DELL, STB Nitro 3D v1.3, S3 Virge/GX, 4MB, PCI video card. Looks good, was cheap and very compatible. Honestly I'm not sure anything can beat S3 on compatibility. So as long as the particular card has a good output then rock'n'roll. It will also pair nicely with a Voodoo or Voodoo II should I ever decide but most likely not.

I am still deciding on a secondary card but more likely not. This box is for DOS and some early Windows stuff that isn't 3D anyway. If it's 3D I'd rather have it on a faster system anyways. K6-II/III+ is NOT very fast. It cannot handle Thief 2 even with a Voodoo 3 3500.

It's gonna see a lot of Command & Conquer and Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Probably some Warcraft, Diablo, etc. Not to mention Dune 2 (this game is a definitely speed sensitive), Doom, D3D and have the ability to explore older titles without headache.

Hamby wrote:

SpectriaForce wrote:

You can even build and configure a DOS compatible game pc using a cheap S462 motherboard (or slot 1/S370/S478) with a BIOS that allows you to disable the caches and lower the CPU clock speed:

https://youtu.be/K5vYD0JMD_A

Lots of people on this forum keep thinking in their narrow boxes (with their expensive ISA sound cards and motherboards), but with minor tweaks more recent hardware can be turned into something that is usable for DOS gaming.

DOSBox is real cheap...

Dosbox is like masturbation, good enough, but the real deal is more satisfying.
Most of my "pleasure" is not playing the games, it is building the system, the satisfaction of overcoming all possible problems.
Of course playing the games are also good.

.legaCy wrote:

Dosbox is like masturbation, good enough, but the real deal is more satisfying.
Most of my "pleasure" is not playing the games, it is building the system, the satisfaction of overcoming all possible problems.
Of course playing the games are also good.

Right... so then why build an overpowered system and cripple it?

SpectriaForce wrote:

You can even build and configure a DOS compatible game pc using a cheap S462 motherboard (or slot 1/S370/S478) with a BIOS that allows you to disable the caches and lower the CPU clock speed:

https://youtu.be/K5vYD0JMD_A

Lots of people on this forum keep thinking in their narrow boxes (with their expensive ISA sound cards and motherboards), but with minor tweaks more recent hardware can be turned into something that is usable for DOS gaming.

I am going to build some of these. This sounds like a great idea.
I am tired of working with old electronics most of which don't work.
Building one of these should lasts 5 years or more.
You can build one for about $100
Got a NEW motherboard for $30

The box is being crippled the right amount to emulate a 486 and crippled a little more for a 386. There are quite a few games that it will need to run at full speed.

That newer TimeMachine from Phil is not nearly as compatible as his older stuff. The K6-II/III+ is way more tunable. The one mentioned above is either a fast 386 or just really fast. No 486 or varying speed in 386/486/586 modes.

This is more of what I am talking about, with obvious deviation.

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

Cheap and K6-3 don't go together. I was lucky to find a board cheap but in hindsight i haven't needed to slow that system down to play the games i play.

If it wasn't for my interest in vintage hardware i would have gone for something nore conventional and disabled the caches in the bios and/or used something like moslow

My time machine is a 486dx 33Mhz. I can slow it down by disabling any combination of turbo, L1 and L2 cache. I can slow it down to 386, 286 or XT speeds. I think it is a very good dos computer if you don't care that much about windows.

Hard to beat pcem+pcbi and dosbox.

K6s -- while nice -- jump from a ~486DX33 straight to a Pentium 133. To me that leaves a lot to be desired... especially not having DX2-66, Pentium ~90 speeds. You could always swap in a Pentium 233MMX CPU in there to tune to those speeds but it isn't convenient. I prefer VIA CPUs for this reason... way more flexible. It's also much easier to pop in Slot 1 CPUs/slotket cards.

vvbee wrote:

Hard to beat pcem+pcbi and dosbox.

Or 86box... I have multiple 86box configs. 286, 386, a couple of 486 ones (one has a Gravis Ultrasound), and a couple of Socket 5/7s for OS/2 Warp and 95.

I have 4 Super socket 7 motherboards to build from. I have one built already with AMD K63+ 500mhz.
But I think it will be nice to have some of these AMD Socket A builds too. So I bought 3 of these motherboards for future builds. Socket 7 motherboards are all but gone and too expensive selling for $150 for a good used one.
You can find these AMD socket A motherboards for $30 each and CPU’s are inexpensive.

oeuvre wrote:

vvbee wrote:

Hard to beat pcem+pcbi and dosbox.

Or 86box... I have multiple 86box configs. 286, 386, a couple of 486 ones (one has a Gravis Ultrasound), and a couple of Socket 5/7s for OS/2 Warp and 95.

86box should implement a cool 3d expansion, too.

Intel486dx33 wrote:

I am going to build some of these. This sounds like a great idea. I am tired of working with old electronics most of which don't […]
Show full quote

SpectriaForce wrote:

You can even build and configure a DOS compatible game pc using a cheap S462 motherboard (or slot 1/S370/S478) with a BIOS that allows you to disable the caches and lower the CPU clock speed:

https://youtu.be/K5vYD0JMD_A

Lots of people on this forum keep thinking in their narrow boxes (with their expensive ISA sound cards and motherboards), but with minor tweaks more recent hardware can be turned into something that is usable for DOS gaming.

I am going to build some of these. This sounds like a great idea.
I am tired of working with old electronics most of which don't work.
Building one of these should lasts 5 years or more.
You can build one for about $100
Got a NEW motherboard for $30

I've seen that motherboard for sale as well, what for brand capacitors does it have? It's so cheap that it can't be any good. I rather buy a board that costs me € 100 with good capacitors that I don't have to replace than a cheap board with bad capacitors. Why? Because recapping with quality capacitors by someone who knows what he does and has the right equipment can easily cost you > € 100. Low ESR polymer Panasonic Oscon's are not cheap. I've had someone let recap my PCChips, Soltek and QDI boards, it was necessary and not cheap. You should never save money on a motherboard and a power supply unless you have good reasons.

squareguy wrote:

The box is being crippled the right amount to emulate a 486 and crippled a little more for a 386. There are quite a few games t […]
Show full quote

The box is being crippled the right amount to emulate a 486 and crippled a little more for a 386. There are quite a few games that it will need to run at full speed.

That newer TimeMachine from Phil is not nearly as compatible as his older stuff. The K6-II/III+ is way more tunable. The one mentioned above is either a fast 386 or just really fast. No 486 or varying speed in 386/486/586 modes.

This is more of what I am talking about, with obvious deviation.

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

You can also take a slot 1 motherboard with an extensive BIOS (e.g. Asus P3B-F), install a PII Klamath and start experimenting with the multiplier and caches.

SpectriaForce wrote:

squareguy wrote:

The box is being crippled the right amount to emulate a 486 and crippled a little more for a 386. There are quite a few games t […]
Show full quote

The box is being crippled the right amount to emulate a 486 and crippled a little more for a 386. There are quite a few games that it will need to run at full speed.

That newer TimeMachine from Phil is not nearly as compatible as his older stuff. The K6-II/III+ is way more tunable. The one mentioned above is either a fast 386 or just really fast. No 486 or varying speed in 386/486/586 modes.

This is more of what I am talking about, with obvious deviation.

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

You can also take a slot 1 motherboard with an extensive BIOS (e.g. Asus P3B-F), install a PII Klamath and start experimenting with the multiplier and caches.

I thought disabling caches in a P2 always makes the cpu pretty much useless. At least that happened with my P2B board and 300Mhz klamath. I can change the multiplier to make it bit slower, but when I disabled cache it made the cpu useless pretty much.