Tali wrote on 2021-01-24, 14:54:

Just to test if it still works, I took Bard (Am5x86), as it is the closest to what I had back then (Cyrix DX2-66@80), even if a bit faster, but still it's technically a late 486, and installed Visual Basic 5 (that's what came with VS and that's what I was using back then), MS Office 97 and Winamp 1.0.

Winamp set to play via DirectSound, with mp3 codec configured to "486", 22 KHz. mp3 used was exactly from the time, 128 kbit, I still remember encoding those with bladeenc. I was able to listen to music while installing both and certainly after Word and VB were installed. There would be stuttering when heavy disk access happened (though could be remedied with larger file buffer; yet I wouldn't do that since at the time I had only 16 megs of RAM and would be unable to dedicate a quarter of it to music). When editing the program (even in visual mode, adding buttons and stuff), when writing in Word (adding tables, etc), and when switching between both, playback was fine. About the only time it would produce hiccups after install was when compiling the program.

Unfortunately at this time I couldn't test Photoshop, 3.0 wouldn't install on Windows 95, and after I tried installing it, I've been getting random crashes (was fine until then). I may try to reinstall the system sometime next week, but for now I might have to settle with Word 97 and VB 5.0.

5x86 vs DX80 makes a world of difference with MP3 playback right off the bat. Regardless, what you say you did is still an impossible feat. The memory footprint alone is insanely higher than 16MB and the archaic hard drive caching would make mp3 playback (or using Word withoug going insane) impossible. Photoshop and Studio would be even worse. Compiling would be right out the window.

Have you people see this:
https://youtu.be/6Jj97NXgHw4

I have some NEW games for testing.
Everything is working fine so far. No problems with this build.

Wing Commander 3 on a 486DX2? Maybe in VGA. For SVGA: Good luck 😀

appiah4 wrote on 2021-01-27, 12:09:

Wing Commander 3 on a 486DX2? Maybe in VGA. For SVGA: Good luck 😀

Yes, I am actually testing WC1 and WC2.

As far MP3 playback goes. I the 486 computers that performed good use 32-bit data transfer.
So if you are running Win3x you need to enable 32-bit data rate.
Also a CF card make a big difference.
But this is NOT true to time period.
So the bottle neck is not the CPU but the data transfer rate from the harddrive or cdrom.

A typical MP3 file is a few megabytes. The data transfer rate required for playback is typically less than 1MB per minute. Even PIO mode 0 is faster than 1MB per second.

jmarsh wrote on 2021-01-27, 18:10:

A typical MP3 file is a few megabytes. The data transfer rate required for playback is typically less than 1MB per minute. Even PIO mode 0 is faster than 1MB per second.

The issue is not data read speed at all, it is FP intensive audio decoding that the 486 completely sucks ass at.

appiah4 wrote on 2021-01-27, 20:19:

jmarsh wrote on 2021-01-27, 18:10:

A typical MP3 file is a few megabytes. The data transfer rate required for playback is typically less than 1MB per minute. Even PIO mode 0 is faster than 1MB per second.

The issue is not data read speed at all, it is FP intensive audio decoding that the 486 completely sucks ass at.

Yes, but it needs to cache files somewhere ?
Is it using disk space for caching ?

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2021-01-27, 20:46:

appiah4 wrote on 2021-01-27, 20:19:

jmarsh wrote on 2021-01-27, 18:10:

A typical MP3 file is a few megabytes. The data transfer rate required for playback is typically less than 1MB per minute. Even PIO mode 0 is faster than 1MB per second.

The issue is not data read speed at all, it is FP intensive audio decoding that the 486 completely sucks ass at.

Yes, but it needs to cache files somewhere ?
Is it using disk space for caching ?

With 16mb RAM caching is fine unless you are also trying to compile or run photoshop as the poster dubiously claims in which case it will still be the least of your many concerns..

appiah4 wrote on 2021-01-27, 20:19:

The issue is not data read speed at all, it is FP intensive audio decoding that the 486 completely sucks ass at.

Of course we know that, I was pointing out the required data transfer rate would be so tiny that claiming the disk access rate had any influence is just silly.

I found that if I increase the buffer size in MPXplay.INI. MP3s play better with less CPU usage.

Just like LGR’s wood grain 486. This is my Rock Solid go to 486 computer.
It plays all my old DOS games and programs just fine.

Hey Guy,
What Graphics card could I add to this computer for nicer game play ?
Currently I am using the VLB Cirrus Logic 5429 ( 2mb ).
What is the Best DOS game play video card for 1883/94 ?

Hey Intel486dx33, Nice build! Your case is very similar to mine internally. Mine is also very thick steel which beats the cheap tin rubbish you sometimes get. Can I ask, what is that program you use to show the computer information and speed of everything? I would like to run that on mine and see what it says.

PS, you could try wood-graining your computer. I did mine after seeing LGR's wood-grain 486 😁:

Woody72 wrote on 2021-04-11, 10:48:

Hey Intel486dx33, Nice build! Your case is very similar to mine internally. Mine is also very thick steel which beats the cheap […]
Show full quote

Hey Intel486dx33, Nice build! Your case is very similar to mine internally. Mine is also very thick steel which beats the cheap tin rubbish you sometimes get. Can I ask, what is that program you use to show the computer information and speed of everything? I would like to run that on mine and see what it says.

PS, you could try wood-graining your computer. I did mine after seeing LGR's wood-grain 486 😁:

Sure, I picked up this DOS bench pack from Philscomputerlab.com
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/dos-benchmark-pack.html

Just download, extract to your PC and then burn to a CDR.
Put in your 486 and xcopy all the files to your PC and run from PC.
If you run from cdrom it might not run accurately.
# xcopy /e/s D:*.* C:\dosbench\

If I ever wood grain this case I will use some nice real wood veneer.

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2020-05-02, 08:08:

I have a NEW video card.
Cirrus logic 5429 with 2mb ram.

What is the correct dram for this video card ?

Woody72 wrote on 2021-04-11, 10:48:

Hey Intel486dx33, Nice build! Your case is very similar to mine internally. Mine is also very thick steel which beats the cheap […]
Show full quote

Hey Intel486dx33, Nice build! Your case is very similar to mine internally. Mine is also very thick steel which beats the cheap tin rubbish you sometimes get. Can I ask, what is that program you use to show the computer information and speed of everything? I would like to run that on mine and see what it says.

PS, you could try wood-graining your computer. I did mine after seeing LGR's wood-grain 486 😁:

What do you think about Cherry Red real wood Veneer ?

Very nice, get 'er done 😄.

I have some NEW stuff for the 486.
Media Vision sound cards ( 1992 /93)
S3 VLB video card , Diamond Stealth 24 ( 1993 )
Cirrus logic 5428 VLB video card ( 1993 )
Another Vega VLB MB.
etc....