Intel486dx33 wrote on Yesterday, 12:53:

My two cents. […]
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My two cents.

1) get a CF card reader. I like the one from startech
2) get a network card 3com 3c509 combo or Intel pro-10
3) get a faster CDROM 4x or faster, I use a 52x
4) get some good modern desktop speakers with subwoofer. 2.1

Preferably get Two CF card drives. One for OS and the other for storage.
With a removable CF card you can swap out operating systems quickly
And backup your files quickly also
I use the network card to backup my 486 to my home NAS
I just map a drive and then quickly copy over the files to a folder on my NAS
I use a WI-FI extender to connect my network card to my WI-FI router.
TP-link or Linksys Wi-Fi extenders work great with the 3com 3c509
Windows 3x and Win95 was designed for networks
Windows 95 was designed to support the 486dx-33 CPU.
I think Win95 is the best OS for the 486.
With the CF card you can push your CPU, Video card, Nrtwork card, CDROM. Etc to the limits
Basically the CF card will allow you to run your computer components to its optimal.

Forget about period correctness if you want to get the most out of your components
For me the CF card, 3c509, and Fastest CDROM drive is a must and I use this in all my 486 builds.
They can run Win95 well, Play Video CDs, Run Office 97, etc.
Anything windows 95 can do the 486 can do it.

Also with the adayional CF card you can backup your OS to the CF card then to it to your
Windows-10 computer and burn the files to a CDROM this way you will have a hard drive image
Of you 486 build so you can preform a quick restore from CDROM disk using the xcopy command.

Hey, I found the fastest way to install Windows 3.11 to a 486 is to use the Gateway 2000 computer Restore
CD version 3 it has Win3.11 on it and DOS 5.0 you might be able to download it from CDROM archive website.

These are some good points, but I don't use this machine enough to warrant the effort. It's just something I play with every few months when I'm feeling nostalgic.

That may change in the future though, I will consider what you said.