Not a useful comment, sorry, just a fun fact. This really looks about the same of my IBM model 55 sx. They seem to have cloned the entire chassis layout/hardware positioning.

Curious though where this may lead.

Somewhat similar motherboard layout to this one:
https://stason.org/TULARC/pc/motherboards/V/V … 86-ASIC-II.html

Looks like this one https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/pcpart … 4203-00-702558b - ah, someone else got there while I was typing
Looks like 5V CPU only, looks like it could accept cache chips but doesn't have any - 4x 32kx8 - would seem that tag is integrated, as there is no mention of a TAG RAM chip
Includes CL5424 VLB VGA, with optional VRAM extension

Would this be able to play DOS games you think?
If I get a sound card...
If so what sound card?

Sound card, how long is a piece of string, do you want wavetable etc.
ALS120, cheap at £14.99, but FM sound not OPL3 and apparently even worse than CQM
The cheaper SB Vibra models also all seem to be Creative CQM rather than OPL3 - it's not terrible, but you'd notice the difference between that and authentic OPL3 FM sound
If you want to use a wavetable daughterboard, maybe avoid Soundblaster as many have the hanging note bug when using one

I can only ever remember owning one ISA sound card, it was a Creative one and thats about all I remember about it as sound wasnt all that important for me back then as I was never really a big into games for the PC (NES, SNES, PSX was mine back then)

I would like to play DooM, Hero Quest, Wolfenstein 3D etc and have them sound good but not break the bank.

I think the best value options are:

Either Yamaha YMF701/711/715/719 (often alternatively termed OPL3-SA)

Or

ESS Audiodrive 1868/69

They are not found as branded cards, but as chips on loads of different brand names. They are both cheap, common and have very good compatibility across a very broad range of DOS games. You really can't go wrong with either.

Genuine Creative Soundblaster 1.0/2.0, Pro and 16 cards arguably (in most cases) have a wider range of compatibility, but they can cost many times more and once you step up to the Soundblaster 16 it's debatable whether many DOS games really take advantage of the 16bit playback.

I had real Soundblaster cards when they came out (a SB 2.0 and then a SB 16), these days I use ESS and Yamaha cards in all my retro builds.

And yes, it will almost certainly be a great machine for the vast majority of a huge range of DOS games, though not later 3d games like Quake.

Perfectly fine for adventures, RPGs, and early 3d games like Wolfenstein 3d, Doom and Duke Nukem 3d.

I've always liked the LPX "pizzabox" sized computers, I can't explain it but the dimensions just seem "nice"
This one is very slim, most support 2x 5.25 drives on top of each other.

Motherboard has already been correctly identified, The page Matth79 linked has the manual and other useful resources.

-As it supports 5V CPU's, I'd keep it with the DX2 66, any game that struggles will really want a Pentium anyway.
-Cache would be a nice upgrade.
-4MB RAM is probably fine but I'd want at least 8-16MB myself.
-Onboard video VL-Bus GD5424 is a fast, compatible card. No need to upgrade this.
-CD drive probably just needs an IDE cable with enough length between the primary and slave connectors. Not needing an IDE connector on your sound card opens up more options.

I think you got a good deal. A 486 DX2 66 with VLB is what many people consider the "classic" 486 setup.
All that remains is choosing a soundcard from one of the already recommend above. You can always find a card on ebay for a good price then search for it's Pro's and cons (as all cards have bad and good points) which are well documented now.

Digging deeper, it looks like the GD5424 is equipped with 512k VRAM (4x 256k x4), upgrading the VRAM with another 4 chips would allow extra modes. 1280x1024 16C, 1024x768 256C, 800x600 64k colour - they may be more useful in Win 3.1 than DOS. it also appears that the GD5424 i can also use a 32 bit memory bus when all 8 chips are present, so may improve the DOS video performance.
Found an ok price for what looks like compatible VRAM and cache RAM at LAKE store on Aliexpress HY534256S-70 for the VRAM ( or get a -60 if the original are -60) and W24257AK-12 for the cache - no idea if they are trustworthy / genuine though

I wouldnt mind running Win3.11 on it.

A Creative Sound Blaster might be a safer bet for me as I know little about this era of computing. I got interested as this era started to end. Its my first 486 system.

It arrived today but Ive not opened up the package yet, Im just waiting on an AT to PS2 adapter cable to arrive so I can check it out.

Where would I get this VRAM from for the onboard graphics?

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2025-04-16, 20:17:

A Creative Sound Blaster might be a safer bet for me as I know little about this era of computing. I got interested as this era started to end. Its my first 486 system.

Sound Blasters are probably the less safe bet as there is a confusing mess of different Sound Blaster cards, with different noise issues, MIDI bugs, etc.

If you do want a Sound Blaster, I'd recommend consulting this list on the different versions: Sound Blaster: From best to worst

But if you want something that would relatively straight forward, clean audio and trouble free, I'd go with the above mentioned Yamaha YMF-71x or ESS cards.

So Creative sound cards were never very good then?

So far this system seems to have arrived dead.
So Ill have to have a long look at it and try and figure out whats wrong with it before I do anything else to it.

Once I get DOS 6.22 loaded Ill know where I am with it.

Nothing.
I have KB, monitor and power plugged in. Power up, the PSU spins up, the Turbo and Power lights light up on the front panel but nothing else.
No output from the VGA port (using an HP M32F monitor).
When I plug the drive in they come to life when I hit the power but thats all.
I swapped out the floppy drive but still nothing...

Not sure if I should return it or work at it...

Unplug everything from the motherboard other than ram and CPU. Try again.

Check for loose connections, chips that may have come loose or anything rattling around the case.

Tried that. The system is quite "modular", in that the CDROM, Floppy are on pull out trays. Nothing rattling about.

Nothing lose, but the PSU seems to give a little crackle on start sometimes.

I dont have an AT PSU to swap it out with.

Something is wrong with the RAM. A picture in the Ebay listing shows a POST screen with 3712KB RAM. On another picture you can clearly see eight 30-pin SIMMs installed.

I removed all the RAM and powered up the PC but nothing.

The RAM sticks are inserted into the slots in the same order as the photo

https://imgur.com/a/udGsw6v

I removed the RAM and powered it up and left it while I took a photo of the RAM, turned to post this and after a few minutes the machine started beeping, multiple slow tones, sounded very sad.
So its not dead dead.

Put them back in groups of 4 of the same type
grouped into 2 alternating types up to 4 and then 8 sticks but nothing.