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My Ultimate M919

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First post, by sebaz_ri

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Hello!
I have collected 486/Pentium/II/III motherboards, one of each type

Now i´m trying to optimize (for now)only the M919 486 system. I can use only those parts:

Motherboard:PCChips M919 v3.4 b/f with 10/16/1996 BIOS update
CPU:AMD 5x86 133MHz ADZ or IBM 5x86-100HF
Cache:none
RAM:16MB
Graphics Card:Trident 9685 PCI
Sound Card:ESS ES1869 ISA
LAN: Realtek RTL8139 PCI
Case:"Baby AT" 😁
OS:Windows 95B & MS-DOS

Major BIOS performance settings:
DRAM read:2WS
DRAM write:1WS

I´m very unhappy with my 3Dbench result of 69.4, or somewhat like that. I´ve seen some posts of udam_u and rg100 showing impressive results of 100+ in 3dBench, while my 486 sys is so far of these results

Please let me know how i can optimize this 486 so the fast settings were enabled

Regards!

Reply 1 of 12, by sliderider

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sebaz_ri wrote:
Hello! I have collected 486/Pentium/II/III motherboards, one of each type […]
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Hello!
I have collected 486/Pentium/II/III motherboards, one of each type

Now i´m trying to optimize (for now)only the M919 486 system. I can use only those parts:

Motherboard:PCChips M919 v3.4 b/f with 10/16/1996 BIOS update
CPU:AMD 5x86 133MHz ADZ or IBM 5x86-100HF
Cache:none
RAM:16MB
Graphics Card:Trident 9685 PCI
Sound Card:ESS ES1869 ISA
LAN: Realtek RTL8139 PCI
Case:"Baby AT" 😁
OS:Windows 95B & MS-DOS

Major BIOS performance settings:
DRAM read:2WS
DRAM write:1WS

I´m very unhappy with my 3Dbench result of 69.4, or somewhat like that. I´ve seen some posts of udam_u and rg100 showing impressive results of 100+ in 3dBench, while my 486 sys is so far of these results

Please let me know how i can optimize this 486 so the fast settings were enabled

Regards!

Those guys were using a 5x86 overclocked to 160-200 mhz and a ton of other hardware tweaks and optimizations to get those scores. It's like extreme overclocking to get the best 3D Mark scores, only using very old hardware. Because of variances in manufacturing, even if you assemble a system identical to theirs and use all the same tweaks there is no guarantee that yours will be as fast. Old hardware like that also may not last very long if you intend to keep using it in that configuration due to the fact that parts deteriorate over time and extreme overclocking causes them to deteriorate even faster. If it was me, I'd only do testing at those speeds just to see how much I could squeeze out of it but then dial it back a bit for everyday use since replacement parts are getting expensive and hard to find.

Reply 2 of 12, by leileilol

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I run mine in 160mhz and get 71.4.

I also use 1 WS for DRAM Read. Pro: faster in Quake. Con: hardlocks on soft reset.

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long live PCem

Reply 3 of 12, by sebaz_ri

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Now i have changed the video card to a S3 ViRGE PCI and the 3dBench result is 83.3 with the IBM 5x86-100HF overclocked to 120 using the undocumented bus settings

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Reply 4 of 12, by sebaz_ri

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Speedsys on my M919

898583077143764c744a41351cd308918c1ff94b10ad0bd17d8dc514fb55e6756g.jpg

Reply 5 of 12, by feipoa

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This is about right for a 5x86-120; I also get 66.2. In terms of system performance, you're being held back by a lack of L2 cache. Your system and video memory bandwidth seem a little low.

Plan your life wisely, you'll be dead before you know it.

Reply 6 of 12, by sebaz_ri

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feipoa wrote:

This is about right for a 5x86-120; I also get 66.2. In terms of system performance, you're being held back by a lack of L2 cache. Your system and video memory bandwidth seem a little low.

What settings are you using? 40x3 or 60x2, i'm using 60x2, 2WS/1WS

Reply 7 of 12, by feipoa

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40x3

Video bandwidth: 29.1 MB/s
Memory bandwidth: 121 MB/s
L1: 173 MB/s
L2: 68 MB/s
RAM thru-put: 48 MB/s

RAM: 0ws/0ws
Cache: 2-1-1-1

Since you needed to slow down your RAM, it almost defeats the point of running at 60 MHz. I wonder how you'd score with some cache?

Last edited by feipoa on 2011-10-07, 02:35. Edited 1 time in total.

Plan your life wisely, you'll be dead before you know it.

Reply 8 of 12, by leileilol

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I use 40x3 as well, seems to be the fastest way to run those things IMO. The lack of cache isn't so bad. i've seen Pentium 75s (theoretical official performance equivelant) perform worse with no cache

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long live PCem

Reply 9 of 12, by feipoa

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Pentium75? According to U4B, the Cyrix 5x86-120 is about a Pentium 86. Other literature rates it about a Pentium 90.

Plan your life wisely, you'll be dead before you know it.

Reply 10 of 12, by leileilol

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OH I THOUGHT IT WAS AM5x86 MY BAd

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long live PCem

Reply 11 of 12, by sebaz_ri

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Quick upgrade!

I upgraded the RAM to 32mb and now i can use 1ws/0ws but the problem is... how i can know if the ram is EDO or FPM?

Reply 12 of 12, by feipoa

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I usually find that non-EDO RAM (or FPM RAM) won't work for long, or at all, if you check the EDO option in the BIOS. I also find that FPM RAM works better with faster cache/RAM wait states.

Plan your life wisely, you'll be dead before you know it.