Jo22 wrote on 2022-07-17, 06:50:

Ah yes, the magic eye! Wonderful piece of technology. Wished it was still installed in modern day radios! 😍

Nixie tubes are also cool ones. Those would look great inside CPU speed indicator 🙂

ThinkpadIL wrote on 2022-07-17, 04:47:

It is interesting that some people even after 30-40 years are still looking for the same painful way to play those old games. Now you have the money and old hardware is quite cheap, why not buying the best possible configuration for your childhood game? Why to suffer the same old pain? 🙄

Because the "pain" is part of the fun, if not the fun itself 🤣
Sometimes making things work properly as they should is more rewarding that playing that specific game itself 😁
What can I say, time changes, I consider this more of a hobby for whenever I get some free time, I'm pretty sure that all of us have modern PCs for other things too.

Harlock wrote on 2022-07-17, 10:02:

Because the "pain" is part of the fun, if not the fun itself XD Sometimes making things work properly as they should is more re […]
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ThinkpadIL wrote on 2022-07-17, 04:47:

It is interesting that some people even after 30-40 years are still looking for the same painful way to play those old games. Now you have the money and old hardware is quite cheap, why not buying the best possible configuration for your childhood game? Why to suffer the same old pain? 🙄

Because the "pain" is part of the fun, if not the fun itself 🤣
Sometimes making things work properly as they should is more rewarding that playing that specific game itself 😁
What can I say, time changes, I consider this more of a hobby for whenever I get some free time, I'm pretty sure that all of us have modern PCs for other things too.

Making things work properly it is tinkering and it is ok, but when gamers trying to play their vintage games on hardware that isn't capable of running it on full throttle it is already some kind of masochism. 🙄

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-07-16, 22:57:

Jumperless Socket 7 (not super) motherboards which allow changing the multiplier in the BIOS are very rare. And while it's entir […]
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Tetrium wrote on 2022-07-16, 20:02:

You might as well go for a Pentium MMX 233 as you can easily underclock it to 166MHz.

Jumperless Socket 7 (not super) motherboards which allow changing the multiplier in the BIOS are very rare. And while it's entirely possible to use jumpers to downclock the CPU, that's not exactly convenient. Especially if you need to do it whenever you encounter a speed sensitive game.

Azarien wrote on 2022-07-16, 21:49:

Pentium MMX 166 MHz was only introduced in 1997, and by 1999 it was pretty much obsolete... those were different times indeed.

Yeah, technology was moving at a rapid pace back then. To be fair, you could still play 3D games from '98 on that machine (with a Voodoo1 or a Voodoo2) just not at 60+ FPS which we consider the norm nowadays. But if you're satisfied with 25-30 FPS instead (as most of us were back in the day) that is quite doable.

Installing a P1 MMX 233 @166MHz requires the exact same effort as installing a P1 MMX 166 @ 166MHz 😜

Tetrium wrote on 2022-07-17, 12:41:

Installing a P1 MMX 233 @166MHz requires the exact same effort as installing a P1 MMX 166 @ 166MHz 😜

I don't think you understood what I meant.

Let's say you're running an MMX 233 at full speed for playing Quake 2. After finishing that game, you want to downclock it to 166 MHz in order to play something speed sensitive like Descent. To do that, you need to physically move the jumper to a different position, unless you have a (very rare) jumperless socket 7 motherboard.

Of course, this might possible on some super socket 7 boards, but people who have those generally use a K6-2+ or a K6-3+ since those CPUs offer a wider slowdown range.

I have a pentium 1 (not MMX) @120 MHz. I had to turn l1 off to be able to play One Must Fall so it is probably a little too fast for and optimal DOS build. But you can probably make due if you like tinkering with slow down utilities.

Joakim wrote on 2022-07-17, 15:27:

I have a pentium 1 (not MMX) @120 MHz. I had to turn l1 off to be able to play One Must Fall so it is probably a little too fast for and optimal DOS build.

That game doesn't need the L1 cache disabled on a Pentium 120, it has a slider in the options to adjust the speed.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-07-17, 12:50:

Let's say you're running an MMX 233 at full speed for playing Quake 2. After finishing that game, you want to downclock it to 166 MHz in order to play something speed sensitive like Descent. To do that, you need to physically move the jumper to a different position, unless you have a (very rare) jumperless socket 7 motherboard.

Of course, this might possible on some super socket 7 boards, but people who have those generally use a K6-2+ or a K6-3+ since those CPUs offer a wider slowdown range.

If you have an AT case you could always put that turbo switch to good use. Though a P55 1.5x(3.5x) single jumper change could make it 2.0x (133Mhz), going to 2.5x (166Mhz) would be two jumper changes.

SScorpio wrote on 2022-07-17, 17:41:

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-07-17, 12:50:

Let's say you're running an MMX 233 at full speed for playing Quake 2. After finishing that game, you want to downclock it to 166 MHz in order to play something speed sensitive like Descent. To do that, you need to physically move the jumper to a different position, unless you have a (very rare) jumperless socket 7 motherboard.

Of course, this might possible on some super socket 7 boards, but people who have those generally use a K6-2+ or a K6-3+ since those CPUs offer a wider slowdown range.

If you have an AT case you could always put that turbo switch to good use. Though a P55 1.5x(3.5x) single jumper change could make it 2.0x (133Mhz), going to 2.5x (166Mhz) would be two jumper changes.

This sounds like a good customization project for some switches and an empty drive bay cover 😀

ThinkpadIL wrote on 2022-07-17, 04:47:

Making things work properly it is tinkering and it is ok, but when gamers trying to play their vintage games on hardware that isn't capable of running it on full throttle it is already some kind of masochism. 🙄

Oh well, I kind of agree with that.

SScorpio wrote on 2022-07-17, 17:41:

If you have an AT case you could always put that turbo switch to good use. Though a P55 1.5x(3.5x) single jumper change could make it 2.0x (133Mhz), going to 2.5x (166Mhz) would be two jumper changes.

That's a nice solution indeed.

My own socket 7 board uses dip switches for CPU configuration, so it wouldn't work there, but it's a solid option for suitable motherboards and cases.

Gmlb256 wrote on 2022-07-17, 17:36:

Joakim wrote on 2022-07-17, 15:27:

I have a pentium 1 (not MMX) @120 MHz. I had to turn l1 off to be able to play One Must Fall so it is probably a little too fast for and optimal DOS build.

That game doesn't need the L1 cache disabled on a Pentium 120, it has a slider in the options to adjust the speed.

Oh cool thanks I never noticed, but I thought it was wired that it would run way to fast on a system it clearly was designed for, mystery solved. 😀

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-07-17, 12:50:

I don't think you understood what I meant. […]
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Tetrium wrote on 2022-07-17, 12:41:

Installing a P1 MMX 233 @166MHz requires the exact same effort as installing a P1 MMX 166 @ 166MHz 😜

I don't think you understood what I meant.

Let's say you're running an MMX 233 at full speed for playing Quake 2. After finishing that game, you want to downclock it to 166 MHz in order to play something speed sensitive like Descent. To do that, you need to physically move the jumper to a different position, unless you have a (very rare) jumperless socket 7 motherboard.

Of course, this might possible on some super socket 7 boards, but people who have those generally use a K6-2+ or a K6-3+ since those CPUs offer a wider slowdown range.

My suggestion is to have it run @166MHz from the get go. This requires the exact same jumper settings as getting a regular P1 MMX 166 (which is rated at 166MHz) to run at 166MHz, except that the 233MHz CPU is simply a better chip because of it's (somewhat) better flexibility, if only because you'll know for sure it has all BF jumpers not locked.
Nobody is talking about running it at 233MHz except for you 😜

I mean I've got a Pentium 233 and it mostly works fine for dos , I just need to disable cache for older stuff.
It can be useful for running late dos games like blood at higher res.

If you want pentium 1 then perhaps a pentium 1 Tillamook 266 would be a fun build?

Other ideas:

a 2.2v cyrix

But k6-3+ is the king of socket 7

As to which one you should choose, pick the one that interests you the most 😀

Harlock wrote on 2022-07-17, 10:02:

Because the "pain" is part of the fun, if not the fun itself XD Sometimes making things work properly as they should is more re […]
Show full quote

ThinkpadIL wrote on 2022-07-17, 04:47:

It is interesting that some people even after 30-40 years are still looking for the same painful way to play those old games. Now you have the money and old hardware is quite cheap, why not buying the best possible configuration for your childhood game? Why to suffer the same old pain? 🙄

Because the "pain" is part of the fun, if not the fun itself 🤣
Sometimes making things work properly as they should is more rewarding that playing that specific game itself 😁
What can I say, time changes, I consider this more of a hobby for whenever I get some free time, I'm pretty sure that all of us have modern PCs for other things too.

Yes Original means bad and like it was...or Maximum how good it could have been. Thats why i own like now...14 Systems >.< and like 6 crt Tvs....9 CRT Monitors...it started small and went insane rly fast.