Trashbytes wrote on 2023-07-08, 15:26:

Nexxen wrote on 2023-07-08, 15:23:

https://overclockers.ru/lab/show/77627_2/retr … -pro-socket-8#4 […]
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Trashbytes wrote on 2023-07-08, 14:58:

The Pentium Pro OD was the same setup as used in the Pentium II Xeon unlike the Pentium II retail CPUs the PPOD had the cache running at full CPU speed, the 333 PPOD should in theory run faster than a PII 333 due to the faster cache. The only catch I guess is the lack of a 100Mhz bus and no AGP, but I do love the Pentium Pro OverDrive CPUs.

https://overclockers.ru/lab/show/77627_2/retr … -pro-socket-8#4

Looks like it if you check results.
It's a very interesting article and the author has more (click on his username).

He even goes as far as putting S8 cpus on S8-to-Slot1 adapters.
https://overclockers.ru/lab/show/102888/retro … i-final-istorii

I want one of them Socket 8 to Slot 1 cards.

I think they come $50 a piece.
IIRC the seller is on Vogons and posted about it.

Edit: https://www.cpushack.com/2020/09/09/finding-t … f-the-socket-8/

Nexxen wrote on 2023-07-08, 15:28:

I think they come $50 a piece. IIRC the seller is on Vogons and posted about it. […]
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Trashbytes wrote on 2023-07-08, 15:26:

Nexxen wrote on 2023-07-08, 15:23:

https://overclockers.ru/lab/show/77627_2/retr … -pro-socket-8#4 […]
Show full quote

https://overclockers.ru/lab/show/77627_2/retr … -pro-socket-8#4

Looks like it if you check results.
It's a very interesting article and the author has more (click on his username).

He even goes as far as putting S8 cpus on S8-to-Slot1 adapters.
https://overclockers.ru/lab/show/102888/retro … i-final-istorii

I want one of them Socket 8 to Slot 1 cards.

I think they come $50 a piece.
IIRC the seller is on Vogons and posted about it.

Edit: https://www.cpushack.com/2020/09/09/finding-t … f-the-socket-8/

Holy hell some of the benchmarks on a late BX board is quite something.

man, 2 hours old, and i'm very late to this thread.

That said, I really want to put some water on the fire of popularity of these chips. I want to go back in time when these were cheap...

What kind of software would be the optimal showcase for this kind of CPU, something floating point heavy maybe?

Short answer? NT4 and CAD. but honestly, a late dos gaming rig is about par for the coarse.

Pentium Pro has always been really special to me.

I have one that runs Windows NT 3.51 that will get some fun upgrades soon 😀

What is this? Pentium Pro agit-prop thread???
😀

doublebuffer wrote on 2023-07-07, 16:41:

Anyone here have any experience with Pentium Pros? There seems to be very little info on the internet, most saying they are useless for anything 16-bit, is that really true or an urban legend?

'Useless' is a bit of a broad statement.
What happens is that the register renaming scheme introduced on the Pentium Pro has issues with 'partial registers' (the 8-bit and 16-bit registers, like al, ah, ax etc). Its internal registers are all 32-bit, so any partial register gets renamed to a 32-bit internal register.
When you then access a larger register again (eg eax), it has to recombine the partial registers (al, ah, ax and the unnamed top 16-bits of eax) again.
This causes a stall of the pipeline.
The issue exists both in 32-bit and 16-bit code, but in 16-bit code basically everything is a partial register.

In the Pentium II they introduced a workaround for this:
They implemented a flag to indicate the special case that the entire register was zero before a partial register was renamed. This means that it can skip the recombination step, so performance is much better in that case.
Still that didn't help legacy code that much. It mainly worked when code was specifically compiled to zero registers before use.

doublebuffer wrote on 2023-07-07, 16:41:

Originally they were probably aimed towards workstations and servers, but could they be paired with some nice video card to get a decent era-appropriate (1995ish) gaming experience?

Sure.
I have a Pentium Pro 200 machine, which is a Compaq Deskpro XL6200.
It's basically just a high-end desktop system, with regular PCI slots (AGP didn't exist yet), SCSI and IDE controllers and such.
So you can put a decent PCI 3D accelerator in there.
Mind you, in those days, you'd run Windows 98 for gaming, which is partly a 16-bit OS, so performance is not optimal on a Pentium Pro.
My system only has 64 MB, so it won't run Windows 2000 or XP very well. But Windows 98SE gets the job done reasonably well.

I have a Pentium Pro 1Mb 200 system that I paired with a PCI MX400, 8Mb Voodoo2 and a AWE64 Gold, its a rock solid late DOS early Win95 system that can throw some early 3D gaming around.

I had the Floppy version of 95 sitting around doing nothing, seemed like the perfect fit for a Pentium Pro box !

Been thinking of throwing a Overdrive in it but at that point I may as well just build a Slot 1 98 Rig, I wonder if its possible to overclock the 200 to 233.

Nexxen wrote on 2023-07-08, 21:32:

What is this? Pentium Pro agit-prop thread???
😀

Conspiracy to hike up PPro prices even more!

Trashbytes wrote on 2023-07-15, 12:34:

I had the Floppy version of 95 sitting around doing nothing, seemed like the perfect fit for a Pentium Pro box !

Win95.. Ah, the memories! I've had a few Windows 95 CDs..
One served me well for playing Frisbee with my little sister, another one turned into a shiny wall clock. 😂

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2023-07-15, 12:37:

Nexxen wrote on 2023-07-08, 21:32:

What is this? Pentium Pro agit-prop thread???
😀

Conspiracy to hike up PPro prices even more!

They seem to be rising quite fast all on their own, have watched the PP 200 1Mb models climb to about double what they were a year ago.

Jo22 wrote on 2023-07-15, 12:38:

Trashbytes wrote on 2023-07-15, 12:34:

I had the Floppy version of 95 sitting around doing nothing, seemed like the perfect fit for a Pentium Pro box !

Win95.. Ah, the memories! I've had a few Windows 95 CDs..
One served me well for playing Frisbee with my little sister, another one turned into a shiny wall clock. 😂

I know its rather antiquated 🤣 but 98Se is rather overused and I already have a nice 98 rig ...seemed such a waste to not do a Floppy install ..."27 Discs later"

That reminds me I should sanitise the floppy drive in that rig ...dont want the Win95 STD to infect other more important Discs.

Youtube has videos where they trash heaps of PPros... so painful to watch. They get maybe 50 cent worth of gold from each, destroying a 100$ cpu in the process.

doublebuffer wrote on 2023-07-15, 13:05:

Youtube has videos where they trash heaps of PPros... so painful to watch. They get maybe 50 cent worth of gold from each, destroying a 100$ cpu in the process.

This is the modern consumer society.

"Saving Pentium Pro Society"

Could work?

"Hoarding Pentium Pro Society"

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2023-07-15, 16:12:

"Hoarding Pentium Pro Society"

Keep it down... "They" must not understand the plan. 😀

This is a very old topic, unfortunately gold is gold, history isn't.
We can write haikus in remembrance.

I just recently did a blacktop build, overclocked it to 233MHz and stuck voodoo2 sli in there. Really great performance under windows 98SE

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2023-07-15, 16:12:

"Hoarding Pentium Pro Society"

It really chapped my ass to pay what I did for the OD processors I did get last week. I honestly did not expect to win them, but I bid and won so I girded my loins and paid. I mean, they are NIB, and I have a burning desire to open the boxes and use them.

maxtherabbit wrote on 2023-07-15, 18:11:

I just recently did a blacktop build, overclocked it to 233MHz and stuck voodoo2 sli in there. Really great performance under windows 98SE

EHH... IMHO the Voodoo 1 is more appropriate for a p-pro in terms of matching cpu and gpu power. I'd personally pair a V2-SLI setup with a Pentium 3, but if you're happy, it doesn't really matter what I think.

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2023-07-07, 16:44:

Graphics card for Pentium Pro build Dual Pentium Pro Build Thread A NOT-SO EPIC Dual Pentium Pro Build […]
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Graphics card for Pentium Pro build
Dual Pentium Pro Build Thread
A NOT-SO EPIC Dual Pentium Pro Build

Article about extreme overclocking and modding: https://overclockers.ru/lab/show/77627/retrok … um-pro-socket-8

You forgot this big beast of a setup:

Bitchin' dual p-pro setup

luckybob wrote on 2023-07-15, 18:32:

EHH... IMHO the Voodoo 1 is more appropriate for a p-pro in terms of matching cpu and gpu power. I'd personally pair a V2-SLI setup with a Pentium 3, but if you're happy, it doesn't really matter what I think.

Voodoo 1 will not perform anywhere near this level