SoftMPU works well (with the proviso about support with DOS extenders) and should be no problem on a physical level. However, I think you'll find that your requirements will result in a flawed compromise. Titles that require performance in excess of a P3 are going to be bottlenecked by most video cards that still have native driver support for Windows 3.1.

gdjacobs wrote on 2020-04-10, 22:12:

SoftMPU works well (with the proviso about support with DOS extenders) and should be no problem on a physical level. However, I think you'll find that your requirements will result in a flawed compromise. Titles that require performance in excess of a P3 are going to be bottlenecked by most video cards that still have native driver support for Windows 3.1.

I read a thread here on Vogons that there is a hacked SVGA driver which will allow almost any card to work in Windows 3.x. I have yet to test it, though it looks promising. I wouldn't install Athlon XP era games on this particular box; it is just to ensure maximum performance of Windows 98SE and games like Deus Ex, Hitman 1, and the like. I have a separate Athlon XP system with Windows XP for that particular era.

It sounds like SoftMPU will work for me. Any protected mode games will probably use a daughterboard. I found the thread about the AWE64 legacy card, so I am hoping to buy one of those when they are released, as it would solved a myriad of issues for me.

I forgot to mention that I also want an Athlon XP system for retro gaming for large hard drive support, SATA support, etc..

The original idea was to have systems with parts true to their respective eras. However, I am in my 40's and was in a motorcycle accident in 2016, so tinkering with systems is a chore and parts are getting rare and expensive. I just want to enjoy the games from 1980-onward with minimal hassle, but while still having that PC experience that emulation doesn't provide.

I still have fun with DOS. I managed to get 621k with a bunch of TSRs loaded. It feels great, like beating a game.

Scythifuge wrote on 2020-04-11, 05:47:

I forgot to mention that I also want an Athlon XP system for retro gaming for large hard drive support, SATA support, etc..

The original idea was to have systems with parts true to their respective eras. However, I am in my 40's and was in a motorcycle accident in 2016, so tinkering with systems is a chore and parts are getting rare and expensive. I just want to enjoy the games from 1980-onward with minimal hassle, but while still having that PC experience that emulation doesn't provide.

I still have fun with DOS. I managed to get 621k with a bunch of TSRs loaded. It feels great, like beating a game.

Well, the Athlon machine should work well with XP and Win98. I suspect Win3.1 and early DOS might be a stretch. ACPI based slowdown tools like Throttle might help.