Hi Evert!

Long post but I do my best to answer some questions.

- L1 cache BIOS option missing

I have the same board. It simply doesn't have a BIOS option for L1 cache. Not a big deal, you can just get a command line tool to do this through software 😀

- Turning L2 cache on / off with L1 on does very little. On a K6-2+ or K6-III+ it's hardly noticeable on the K6-2 measurable but hopeless at really slowing things down.

- Multipliers

As you mention, the K6-2 has 2.5 as the lowest multi and the K6-2+ and K6-III+ have 2x as the lowest mutli

- Voltage

I always set the voltage to default + 0.1V for extra stability. Clocking it lower usually gives you room to lover the voltage and therefore power consumption but it means you need to stress test to be sure it's stable. Cooling shouldn't be an issue with this chips though.

- Games

Space Quest, Wing Commander and similar older games should work fine with L1 and L2 cache disabled.

For a bit of extra speed for example for somewhat newer VGA adventures but that still have timing issues like Space Quest 4 leave L1 off but turn L2 on.

Anything beyond that should work fine with all caches enabled.

Tomb Raider will need a Voodoo card to run smooth. Even a 600 MHz K6-2 isn't fast enough for Tomb Raider in high resolution.

- Clock speed

While SS7 is very flexible, at the higher end it has no candle against a Pentium III setup. This is one reason why I prefer to run my K6-III+ at 66x6 = 400 MHz with the option to downclock to 133. There is very little difference between the chip running at 400 MHz vs 600 MHz. Other system inefficiencies are holding things back.

If i remember correctly the K6-2 do have the 2x multiplier but mapped to the 2.5x setting.

Thanks for all the advice Phil!

- L1/L2 Cache:

Could you perhaps tell me what CL tool I am supposed to use to turn the L1/L2 cache off? I assumed you meant SetMul, but it doesn't look like it supports any of my configurations, or does it?

- Voltage:

Thanks, I'll just run it at default levels.

- Clock speed

I looked at the video you put on YouTube recently and it looks like turning the L1&L2 caches on/off has a much greater impact on performance than the actual clock speed. Is this true? If this is the case, I'll strongly consider a 66x6 = 400MHz setup like you suggested.

Now, I've been looking at some similar configs and I saw something interesting on a YouTube video. This guy made some custom Windows 98SE Startup Menu that allows him to switch between Windows 98SE and DOS 7.1 (DOS Mode). Would doing something like this be worthwhile or should I just stick to using plain DOS?

I'm not going to be able to get a 3DFX Voodoo (1,2 or 3) anytime soon, so guess we'll have to put that on the TODO list somewhere. Another thing I completely forgot to ask is about the SIL 3512 card. I've read up about them and I'm under the impression that you don't need any drivers for them to install DOS or Windows 9x. Is this true?

Beplan jy ook om 'n MT-32 aan te sluit Evert?

PeterLI: Haha, nee, het nooit een as kind gehad nie en glo nie ek sal veel mis nie. Nooit gedink ek sal Afrikaanse mense op Vogons kry nie.

Translation for those who do not understand Afrikaans (just so people don't think I'm rude):

PeterLI: Evert, are you planning on attaching a MT-32 too?
Evert: Haha, no, I never had one as a child and I don't believe I will miss much. Never thought I'd meet other Afrikaans people on Vogons.

I've attached a few tools for the AMD mobile chips. To enable / disable L1 Cache in DOS command prompt use CPUCACHE.COM. It's easy to use

CPUCACHE tells you the status of L1 Cache
CPUCACHE OFF turns it off
CPUCACHE ON turns it on

Yes, Cache has the biggest impact on slowing down the processor. Processor a little bit. But let's put it this way, if your chip struggles with a game at 400 MHz, overclocking it to 600 MHz isn't going to make the game run smooth. Here a faster Pentium III system is needed.

Installing MS-DOS 6.22 is the easiest but Windows 98 SE and using MS-MODE is more popular / useful. I made a guide covering setting up such a system. All files are available for download as well: http://www.philscomputerlab.com/ms-dos-mode-tutorials.html

For sound use the AWE64, it will make life very easy because everything works with it 😀

PS: For today I've got planned an Article / Video comparing AMD K6-2 with K6-2+ and K6-III+ looking at performance but also impact of cacheable size.

Thanks Phil! Yeah, I'm definitely going to use the AWE64, I had a Yamaha YMF-718 on my first computer and it was a pain to get it working with some games, but the midi was quite good.

NZXT Source 220

Similar interior layout. Much cleaner look.

I adore NZXT's cases, but it's totally out of my budget. In my country that particular case costs $90-$100 (if we were to convert the price) and it's just more than I'm willing to spend. Whereas the CM K280 is going to set me back about $35.

Edit: Just an update, I ordered some parts for my build which I will hopefully get by Wednessday / Thursday. I ultimately decided on the Cooler Master K280 case. To prepare for any challenges I bought a couple of molex splitter cables this past weekend.

Just a small update, my other parts for the build arrived yesterday and I assembled everything today. Ultimate I ended up with the following:

- AMD K6-2/500AFX @ 400Mhz (66Mhz FSB 6.0x Multiplier 2.3V VCORE)
- 256Mb PC-100 Hynix Memory (2x 128Mb DIMMs)
- AOpen AX59 Pro Motherboard
- Connect3D Radeon 7000VE 64Mb (AGP 4x)
- Silicon Image SIL-3512 SATA 150 Card (IDE BIOS 4502)
- Creative AWE64 Value
- Rosewill RV-350 (300W ATX V1.3 PSU)
- Cooler Master K280
- 2x Corsair AF120 Quiet Edition Fans running at 7V
- 1x Cooler Master Fan Mounted on the Side Panel (very quiet fan, but pushes very little air)
- Gigabyte 16x DVD-ROM (it has a volume control knob for CDs)
- GOTEK Floppy Drive Emulator
- Vantec Hot Swap Bay

Anyway, I've attached some pictures:

Baie geluk! Geniet dit!

Dankie, ek werk nou al 4 maande hieraan. Baie bly dis verby en dat als werk.

Nicely done!

Nice build!

But it takes me a bit getting used to using such a modern case for such an old motherboard 😜

Thanks guys. Yeah, it was tricky building it into a modern case too, a lot of the power supply cables are too short.

Alright, in an attempt to build something *more* compatible and period correct, I'm in the process of acquiring the following:

• SKY3D Voodoo 1 - 4MB PCI
• S3 Virge 3D/2X 8Mb AGP
• S3 Virge 3D/2X 4Mb PCI

I've also acquired a Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold and a Yamaha YMF-718-s (Audician 32), which I plan to use with SoftMPU and a Roland MT-32 / SC-55. There are a couple of things that still bother me, that I need to sort out:

• How much RAM should I have? I understand that *some* DOS games have problems with more than 16Mb of RAM, the lowest I can currently go is 64Mb. Should I invest in a 16Mb stick of PC-100 RAM or this an old-wives tale?
• I plan on using a Corsair CX430M power supply in this system, since it is modular and its cables can actually reach everything. As far as I know it can supply about 110W to both the 3.3V and 5V line and none of my ISA cards need -5V power. Will this be enough or should I get something that does at least 130W on those two lines?
• Is it worth the money to buy an AMD K6-III+ ATZ CPU? They run a lot cooler and most of the Cache tools work on them, unlike my current K6-2 CPUs.
• Will I run into IRQ conflicts if I use a TP-Link TG-3269 Gigabit PCI Network Adaptor, Silicon Image SIL 3512a SATA 1 PCI controller, the YMF718 and AWE64 on the same system?

Thank you! I'm on the verge of finally completing one of my retro computers after collecting parts over a long period of time.

PSU will be fine. Yes, some games have issues with large amounts of RAM, but there are software solutions and only a few games have issues. That AMD CPU is highly recommended! With resources, make sure you disable anything in the BIOS that you don't need. Printer, serial and so on.

Regarding storage, personally I prefer IDE to SATA adapters, but the SI controller should also work fine. If there are any issues, swapping PCI cards around can often fix things.

Thanks Phil! One last question, is it really worth all the trouble getting a Voodoo 1? Or should I look into using a much more powerful platform?

Evert wrote:

Thanks Phil! One last question, is it really worth all the trouble getting a Voodoo 1? Or should I look into using a much more powerful platform?

Well that's hard to answer. For nostalgic reasons for sure. The V1 is also "easier" to use with older games. With V2 and V3 you often need to apply patches, which can be annoying. The V1 however is quite slow and the image poor, compared to a V3 for example.

Personally, if I can get the game to run on a V3, that's what I will do.