VOGONS

Retro 486 VLB Build

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First post, by whisker58

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My insane hobby. I ended up documenting my build journey with photos. I probably should build a proper post for Vogons. For now, I put it on my own website: https://warthan.org/ I went a little over-the-top. I've got stuff in there that's completely unnecessary. I wouldn't call it a hot-rod, but I may just have to do racing stripes. The hardware is done and I think I'll run it open-case (which technically is a no-no). Two of the OSes are done. The last piece I'm missing is a worthy CRT, and I am also considering a Checkmate retro monitor, or building something with an Arcooda panel. Let me know what you all think. 😀 I could use some monitor tips.

Reply 1 of 1, by Shponglefan

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I don't recommend the Checkmate monitor for PC use.

It's a 5:4 panel so any 4:3 resolutions will have letterboxing (black bars top and bottom). The panel is only 60Hz so DOS VGA resolutions will result in frame skipping.

And, imho, the worst issue is the excessive image smoothing applied at non native resolutions. It completely destroys pixel details at lower resolutions. Even CRT monitors look sharper than the Checkmate monitor. And there is no option to turn off the image smoothing.

This largely a result of the fact the stock internals with the VGA is basically just a glorified TV. It even comes with a remote!

For PC use you are better off with either a real CRT, or an older 4:3 LCD monitor. Something like a Dell 2007FPb is a much better option. I picked up one at a thrift store last year for 15 bucks.

Haven't used any Arcooda monitors so don't know how they handle scaling at non native resolutions. They are 60Hz panels so again there will be frame skipping for DOS VGA resolutions.

Pentium 4 Multi-OS Build
486 DX4-100 with 6 sound cards
486 DX-33 with 5 sound cards

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