First post, by ux-3
- Rank
- Oldbie
I am trying to put together an older DOS pc. By reading some of the articles here, I gathered some hints and problems already, but I would like some advice to my specific problem too.
I plan to run all Dos games on an xp3200+ using dosbox whenever this works well. I also plan to test the games in a more authentic environment first, then moving them to the dosbox emulation if pleasing results can be obtained there. Else they will have to run on the authentic dos PC. Although my first DOS PC was an Atari PC1 (is it really that long ago?), I don't want to go retro all the way. I am planning for win98se as OS, using it's dos version.
My oldest candidate for mainboard would be the Biostar MB-8500 TAC-A Ver.3 AT-Board.
It does support a Pentium 200-S cpu, which I have. The nice thing is, that it has an undocumented jumper setting for 33 MHz fsb. This combined with 1,5 multi gives a cpu speed of 50 MHz. Only two jumpers are involved to set the machine at 50, 100 and 200 MHz. This can conveniently be done with the turbo and green switch. The 33 MHz bus helps some dos games that do fail otherwise, notably the joystick in aces of the pacific. (But this game runs well on dosbox, so it is not really an argument for the biostar). The Biostar (like all other boards here) is patched to accept 120GB HDDs. It uses an Intel FX Triton chipset, along with 256k 2nd level cache. It has four ISA slots and 3 PCI slots, none shared. It has a PS/2 mouse connector. I have 64 MB RAM (4 sticks x 16 MB) for it. That is it's cache limit and more seems rather useless. Thanks to the abundant space around the socket 7, the CPU can be passively cooled with the huge heatsink from an "arctic copper silent 2". The board shows no battery, but has an ODIN chip!
My second alternative would be the Asus TX 97-E (also AT-Form and socket 7), also patched for 120GB HDD. From my point of view, the differences are as follows:
PRO: 512k cache, faster intel TX chipset with Ultra DMA-33 (and USB), accepts my P233 MMX CPU as well as faster AMD CPUs, 4 PCI and 3 ISA, shared. Stable up to 83 MHz fsb, regular Li-Battery.
CONS: No 33 MHz fsb, so the speed range starts at 75 MHZ with Pentium-S and at 100 MHz with Pentium MMX. No room around the socket for an oversized heatsink.
The third alternative is a complete PC by Packard Bell, using an integrated Mini-ATX formfactor mainboard with super socket 7. The board itself uses the SiS 5595 along with SiS530. It comes with a K6-2 500, but can also run the 233MMX or the P200. The fsb goes only down to 66 MHz, so 100 MHz (66x1.5) is the slowest speed I can get. Cache limit is at 64 MB. 3 PCI Slots, one ISA Slot, shared! However, the onboard sound by ESS, the Solo 1, works well in native Dos. The Onboard Vga can be disabled. The Bios is minimalistic and does not allow the disabling of any cache. While many of the specs seem to speak against this one for dos, its high CPU speed makes it possible to run 3dfx games or more demanding win9x-only games on it too.
And the last alternative is a complete PC by Medion, using an integrated Mini-ATX mainboard with Slot1. The board comes with Intel ZX chipset, a P3 450, onboard TNT2 m64 and SB AudioPCI 64V (can be disabled). It has only 3 PCI slots. Though the onboard Nvidia TNT2 cannot be disabled, I was able to put in a Voodoo3 and run it using the bios option "boot from PCI first". I would also have a locked P2-233 cpu which will fall back to 133 MHz if the multiplier is set to high. So I could go as low as 133 MHz with this one. I also have a P2-350 for it. Nice thing: In Windows, I can use softfsb to switch the fsb from 66 in 8 increments to 133. Nicely, all components play along up to 133. That gives the 350 a range from 233-466 and the 450 will go from 300-600. The bios allows to disable both caches.
Now that I have told you about the mobos I have to choose from, I will brief you on the VGA options. First big point: I am using a TFT, wich requires me to adjust refresh rates and which seems to require a decent output signal. All my cards are PCI since no board has an AGP slot!
Vesa 2.0 cards: ATI 2 mb card, I have dos software to set refresh rates in all resolutions.
Vesa 3.0 cards: Viper330 4mb, 3D-Blaster Banshee (16MB), Voodoo3 2000 (16MB). All vesa 3 cards can be configured using vbehz.
And of course there are the SLI Creative Labs Voodoo2 (not so good on a TFT though).
As far as sound goes, I have less choice:
There is my favorite ISA legacy card, an ESS Audiodrive with 688 chip, only jumpers no drivers in dos. Worked with every game so far… I also picked up the later ISA ESS 1868F card with pnp, and I do have the dos configuration utility (for IRQ etc),dos drivers are not needed, I think. I do also have a PCI ESS Solo-1. My latest salvage is a huge old ISA SB 16 SCSI, which has an adaptec SCSI 6360L Chip on it. I have not inquired much into this card yet, so I can't tell how comfortable it can be configured… perhaps someone knows more?
I also intend to use a USB-2 Pci Card for backup with Ghost, so one slot needs to be considered for that one. Another slot is needed for LAN, either PCI (100) or ISA(10).
I am turning in circles. There is a valid case to be made for almost any machine, but I need to make a choice eventually. I am grateful for any PRO or CON argument you may have. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.
Thanks and have a nice Xmas
Edit: Packard Bell has a shared ISA Slot, changed that in the description
