don't worry, you can even run quake2 on your 386 machine, you just need:
387 fpu
32mb ram
ati mach64 vga card
500mb harddisk
windows95

Ok, so a FPU could be recommend to have? Ram shouldnt be the problem here. Can place 20MB in it (have it over here) Vga could be a good choice..
I have a seagate IDE 1.7GB drive in it..

you said you don't have a fpu yet? its critical for games so no wonder your doom is running like slideshow.
and if your 80386 is 40mhz then it must be from amd because intel only released 80386 up to 33mhz. therefore yours must be paired with 80387-40mhz from amd aswell.

FPU won't do you much good. There are only a handful of games that use it and doom is not one of them. Games that make use of the FPU include sim city, scorched earth, falcon 3.0 and nearly every 3d game after and including quake (which will always be a slideshow on a 386 no matter what) .

It really depends on your goals. Do you want a 386 for historical or collectors purposes? Then keep it. If you want a box that simply plays dos games and has ISA slots then all you need is a 486, or even a socket 7 or slot 1 machine which can be coaxed to work with the vast majority of games.

Super Socket 7 machine is what you need 😀

Fast enough for Doom, Duke Nukem 3D + 3DFX Voodoo and once you disable the L1 and L2 cache you have a 386.

its the beginning of the end. I have my 386 and i LOVE IT. I have the beginnings of a super 486 and a super socket 7. I have a slot A for voodoo2 era games and a dual socket A for just quake 3. I have more fun with the hardware than the actual games. If all you care about is the games, there is doxbox.

luckybob wrote:

its the beginning of the end. I have my 386 and i LOVE IT. I have the beginnings of a super 486 and a super socket 7. I have a slot A for voodoo2 era games and a dual socket A for just quake 3. I have more fun with the hardware than the actual games. If all you care about is the games, there is doxbox.

I think I have to agree. I get more enjoyment of tracking down the hardware and building the machine, then constantly fiddling and tweaking them, then I do out of playing the games

Of course the games are good to, but they're more of a bonus. 😀

DonutKing wrote:

FPU won't do you much good. There are only a handful of games that use it and doom is not one of them. Games that make use of the FPU include sim city, scorched earth, falcon 3.0 and nearly every 3d game after and including quake (which will always be a slideshow on a 386 no matter what) .

It really depends on your goals. Do you want a 386 for historical or collectors purposes? Then keep it. If you want a box that simply plays dos games and has ISA slots then all you need is a 486, or even a socket 7 or slot 1 machine which can be coaxed to work with the vast majority of games.

Actually its for both, historical and playing games on it.. Iam think iam better off with a 486 DX 2 or DX 4 66Mhz..with VLB.. I know some games require more speed, but i can always use them on a Pentium 200Mhz mmx socket 7 rig iam been busy on.

Dont get me wrong, i like the 386- 40mhz very much, but it is in some way just a little bit limited in some way.. because most games require just a little bit more speed.. And its hard to find a really speedy graphics card for, and there aint no motherboards with VLB and 80386 processor in use..
Most boards, (if they have an option for 386 or 486 and VLB) require to use the 486 processor to get the VLB slots working, and are disabled when using an 386 processor..

noshutdown wrote:

don't worry, you can even run quake2 on your 386 machine, you just need: 387 fpu 32mb ram ati mach64 vga card 500mb harddisk wi […]
Show full quote

don't worry, you can even run quake2 on your 386 machine, you just need:
387 fpu
32mb ram
ati mach64 vga card
500mb harddisk
windows95

Good luck finding a Mach64 ISA for a reasonable price.

sliderider wrote:

noshutdown wrote:

don't worry, you can even run quake2 on your 386 machine, you just need: 387 fpu 32mb ram ati mach64 vga card 500mb harddisk wi […]
Show full quote

don't worry, you can even run quake2 on your 386 machine, you just need:
387 fpu
32mb ram
ati mach64 vga card
500mb harddisk
windows95

Good luck finding a Mach64 ISA for a reasonable price.

actually i have one, but just a cut down version with 2mb dram, not 4mb vram. i got it really cheaply though.😠
and i have nowhere to use it, the oldest platform i have is super socket7.

The quirk I've noticed most about games is that they tended to run in eras. The big ones were 8088, 286-16, 386-33, 486-66, pent-133, p2-233. Those platforms lasted YEARS. So a LOT of games were made for just those machines. That's why my 386 runs at 40. It gives all the games that "require" 33mhz the extra headroom to run flawless. My "486-66" machine will actually be a pod-83 in a 486- VIP board. My p-133 is actually a dual Pentium pro. And so forth.

To me, building a 486-66 is like restoring a Toyota camery. But taking YEARS to craft a flawless speed-demon is a lot more rewarding. Which is going to turn more heads? The Toyota camery or hemi Dodge charger?

Robin4 wrote:

Dont get me wrong, i like the 386- 40mhz very much, but it is in some way just a little bit limited in some way.. because most games require just a little bit more speed.. And its hard to find a really speedy graphics card for, and there aint no motherboards with VLB and 80386 processor in use..
Most boards, (if they have an option for 386 or 486 and VLB) require to use the 486 processor to get the VLB slots working, and are disabled when using an 386 processor..

I don't think that even if you could get a VLB 386 motherboard, and a better card would be a huge performance gain. It's the CPU that limits the system for those games that need that extra bit of speed. I remember when I had a 386/40 in 1994, with a double-speed cd-rom drive, I was trying to play Megarace, and the video and game performance was a bit broken. Then I bought a 6x cd-rom, and there was no big difference. I go and tell that to the computer shop where I bought the cd-rom drive, who happened to be a friend, and tells me that it's the 386 that cannot keep up, not the cd-rom drive. And that moment he gives me for free a 486 motherboard, with an AMD 486DX40 cpu on it to try. I tried that, and it was a huge performance upgrade. The games worked fine since... Then after about six months I upgraded my system to a pentium 100.

Robin4 wrote:

Dont get me wrong, i like the 386- 40mhz very much, but it is in some way just a little bit limited in some way.. because most games require just a little bit more speed.. And its hard to find a really speedy graphics card for, and there aint no motherboards with VLB and 80386 processor in use..
Most boards, (if they have an option for 386 or 486 and VLB) require to use the 486 processor to get the VLB slots working, and are disabled when using an 386 processor..

An ISA ET4000AX shouldn't be that hard to find and is one of the faster ISA cards under DOS. That should be adequate for anything that a 386 can run. The only reason I'd consider you need anything faster is if you are running Windows, in which case try and get a card with GUI acceleration. Under DOS the ET4000 is fine. I really don't think the video card is the limiting factor in your system.

It really depends on what games you want to play - most Sierra and Lucasarts adventures, and Wing Commander are all ideal games for the 386, to name but a few.
It sounds like you are trying to play games that are targeted more at a 486. Use the right tools for the right job 😀

You could try overclocking your CPU but really at the end of the day its still going to be a 386 and even a slow 486 will match/beat it.

luckybob wrote:

Which is going to turn more heads? The Toyota camery or hemi Dodge charger?

Which is going to leave you broke sooner? 😜

luckybob wrote:

The quirk I've noticed most about games is that they tended to run in eras. The big ones were 8088, 286-16, 386-33, 486-66, pent-133, p2-233. Those platforms lasted YEARS. So a LOT of games were made for just those machines. That's why my 386 runs at 40. It gives all the games that "require" 33mhz the extra headroom to run flawless. My "486-66" machine will actually be a pod-83 in a 486- VIP board. My p-133 is actually a dual Pentium pro. And so forth.

To me, building a 486-66 is like restoring a Toyota camery. But taking YEARS to craft a flawless speed-demon is a lot more rewarding. Which is going to turn more heads? The Toyota camery or hemi Dodge charger?

If i try to play the games, winter challange on my 80386 or the games, summer challange in this system. I have a feeling that its a little bit slowing down.. I can it feel the most when i going to horse jumping.. It isnt that speedy anymore if i play in on this rig, comparing to a 486 system..

I have a 8088 system, going also build an 80286-16 machine.. I think an earlier 486 66mhz should really been better.. then this 80386-40 system..
I knowing in that time area, the 386-40mhz was skipped sooner when the 486 was introduced.. Most people had an 386- 33mhz in that time area.. And it only had profit because of replacing an 80286 system.. because off it was a ` brain dead` chip because of switch from real mode to standard mode..

What was the difference from 486 DX 2 and 486 DX 4? Is that only the memory bandwith??

I already tried to find an TSENG ET4000AX on ebay. But they are to expensive to me for a graphics card. VLB are easier to get and are more cheaper.. there are only three ET4000AX left on ebay, so i dont have much choose there.

What was the difference from 486 DX 2 and 486 DX 4? Is that only the memory bandwith??

Apart from the obvious 2x/3x different multiplers, The Intel DX4's have 16kb of L1 cache, which the DX2's have only 8KB.
Some AmDX4's have only 8kb L1 cache though.

The extra cache does make a noticable performance difference, in my experience.

Also, most DX4's and later Socket 3 processors require 3.3V, unlike the earlier models which were usually 5V. Overdrive DX4 models had an integrated voltage regulator so they can run at 5V.

Robin4 wrote:

I already tried to find an TSENG ET4000AX on ebay. But they are to expensive to me for a graphics card. VLB are easier to get and are more cheaper.. there are only three ET4000AX left on ebay, so i dont have much choose there.

$15 is expensive?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/140706294619 $15 worldwide shipping Its a late model one too.

That being said... I've seen this lot of tseng cards on ebay for a while now:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/150693418785

If i'm not mistaken, it looks like they have COMPOSITE out! But $120 for 6 cards is a bit of a gamble considering its being sold "as-is". I'd be willing to act as a buyer if I can get people to commit to buying working cards after I tested them. Also, I'm not sure if it is composite OUT or IN or what have you...

The last one, he doesnt send / ship it to the netherlands.. And i dont want to spend that much money on those graphic cards..

Its worth to spend 250 euros for a Roland LAPC-I (because they are rare.., and need to have lucky if one popin out on ebay..)

But as mentioned earlier(donut king and some other said), its clear that the problem is the processor.. So iam looking for an upgrade now...

Dont want to have PCI on that board.. I only need to have ISA slots and a minium of 2 VLB slots.. I dont like to upgrade it to a 486 -100 mhz one or higher.. I also have an pentium 200 Mhz MMX i can use it for the faster games then a 486 66mhz.. is to slow for the games that i want to play on..

And i dont like to use DOSBOX to play games on it..

I like to have old computers for the historical purpose, but i want to use them too. Dont like to only build them and put them in the closet. Then i propably cant build those systems i dont want to use..
The goal here is, i only need a little bit faster system so i can play a larger bunch of older games..

I have a NEC V20 that iam going to use with CGA / EGA games that are really old and need a slow computer.. I can switch it to slow or faster..

The 80286 iam going to build is for games (like wings of fury) that runs to hard on a 80386 computer of faster.. Yes i can switch the cache off. But i dont like it do it often, better said; i dont like to switch the cache off time after time..
I only want to set it up, to play directly without fumble with does things like the cache..

I dont want to make a speedy 486 computer.. It only could a little bit faster..
So i think a 486 DX2 66Mhz would be good enough for my purpose.
And i dont want to hassle with expensive ISA cards that doesnt give a really higher performance..

I red a thread (old one)on vintage-computer. And that guy compared a Mach32 VLB with a Mach64 ISA 16-bit.. And the conclusion seems that the VLB would be a lot faster.. So a other faster ISA card only give you a little bit more performance..an VLB card gives you a lot more..

And i dont want to use PCI, because i have about six ISA cards that wouldnt never fitt in 4 isa slots and 3 pci slots.. So the best bet could be VLB.. And no iam not VLB horny.