am5x86 p75 vs P24T

[RichM499]

I might try it tomorrow with 33mhz FSB instead of the 40mhz FSB I have now, but I think the issue is because of the rustic nature of the card, and might is a strong word. I kinda enjoy that it's a decelerator. It's useful if I ever want to slow someone's computer down.

 

[PP Mguire]

I have a few Live! 5.1 cards and they are great for taking the sound load off the CPU all the way up to XP. Worked great from my Pentium 2 to my AXP 2600+. By the time I got to Athlon 64 it didn't make much of a difference.

 

[RichM499]

I'll check about a better sound card, but the Yamaha I have now seems to work great for an ISA card. Perhaps I can find a nice PCI card that without the rust.

Edit: I was able to get my Promise Ultra ATA 100 card installed and it's working now. That should improve hard drive performance for my 8GB drive. Interestingly; some of the newer DirectX revisions offer less performance than the older ones for some reason. I just bought a Voodoo 5 5500 PCI so I can try to bring my overpowered 486 to the ridiculously overpowered label. I needed the VSA100 chips for some future specialized scientific work, and they are getting rarer, so I picked it up despite not knowing if it will work in this old 486 (I suspect it does, I mean, 3dfx was known for listening to smart science people like me about stuff like that). I am so excited!! 24.4FPS in QuakeGL currently.

Edit 2: Do you think an ESS Audiodrive would perform better with DirectSound than a Yamaha OPL3 based card? I kinda don't want to test it, but I can't let you guys down on this. I gotta run the science on it later just so I can check.

Edit 2.1: My system wouldn't boot with the ESS Audiodrive installed, so I will not be testing that one.

Edit 3: QuakeGL with the lights off is similar to X-Files with the lights off. It seems like a great idea at first, then you start getting sucked in and *BAM*, that's when the terror hits you in the face. It's the test of a true scientist. Can you survive hard mode?
P.S. It doesn't count for a full Quake experience unless you have an original disc so the soundtrack can play. Trent Reznor outdid himself on the sounds in that game.


I am running Tomb Raider 2 in 1600x1200, QuakeGL in 640x480, Forsaken in 1024x768, and Turok in 640x480 with only some slowdown when the screen is full of objects or scenery. Hexen II is playable at 1600x1200.

 

[RichM499]

I was able to get QuakeGL up to 20FPS with the sound on by removing my Yamaha OPL3 and installing a Media Vision Thunder board (it's the one with a IDE CD header and Analog Devices chip. It is MPU401 capable and perfectly emulates Sound Blaster Windows Sound System and Yamaha OPL3, so I will stick with that one) I would have edited my prior post, but I couldn't find the edit button. I have attached a couple of screenshots. Hexen II is running 1600x1200, Tomb Raider II is in 1600x1200, and QuakeGL is running in 640x480 because any time I increase the resolution above 640x480 it crashes, but maybe I can fix this with different drivers. When I get my Voodoo 5 5500 I will update this thread with some pictures and benchmarks to see if there is any difference between Voodoo 3 3000 or if my games will be completely limited by the processor. I believe I will get more performance out of the dual VSA100s with any game that fits mostly in the frame buffer, so once the games load I think they will fly at a great speed, but I will need to run the science on it to be sure.

Just FYI these games are perfectly playable. Tomb Raider II doesn't even really slow down on heavy scenes, but QuakeGL and Hexen II will slow down a little on heavy scenes because you have so much technology coming at you.

Edit: I will not be testing my P24T (also known as Pentium Overdrive 83mhz) until I can get my ALI motherboard running. I have so far been unable to find any documentation on the board. I will post a picture of it for help with identification when I can find an appropriate forum (maybe this one? I donno; I'm not a bear). I tested it in my SIS496/497 based board, and it was roughly half as fast as my AM5x86 p75 @ 160mhz, which is surprising because I thought the Pentium Overdrive had a far superior FPU capable of outperforming a higher clocked 486 chip. I guess Pentium isn't all it's cut out to be, but I will need to really run the science on that one in my ALI chipset board.

 

[PP Mguire]

I used to have the 5500 PCI and AGP. I wound up getting rid of the PCI because the bus was pretty restrictive and held it back. Wish I still had it, but was a decision I made a while ago. The AGP card can actually handle quite a bit with some good cooling and a good OC. Just don't try OCing the VRAM too much because it becomes unstable quickly. With the different sound card you could probably try clocking up the FSB again to increase performance with that PCI 5500.

 

[RichM499]

Well, here is the pictures of the Voodoo 5 5500. I was unable to get it working in my 486 machine, but I will try with the ALI board. It didn't want to boot at 40mhz bus, so later I will try 33mhz, but I think the problem is related to the PCI slot not delivering enough power for the system to turn over with a Voodoo 5 installed. I am certain I could modify the slot to fix it (I could try forcing more or less voltage to the slot to see if it wants to POST), but I don't want to hard mod anything until I try it in the ALI board, and if I do end up modifying anything it will be with one of the two Chaintech 486 boards I own. I am still excited to own it because it's a piece of computer technology history, and I have a very special purpose for it later, but I was hoping it would work right away. I guess Voodoo 3 3000 will suffice for now!

This gives me a good reason to try to get that ALI board running to see if it will POST with my Voodoo 5 installed.

Edit: If this thing absolutely refuses to POST in a socket 3 motherboard, then it gives me a reason to build a Pentium Pro machine.

Edit 2: No POST with 33mhz FSB. I will try it again in my ALI board, and if that fails I'll need to build a new system around the Voodoo 5 5500 or try modifying one of my Chaintech boards. Well, at least my 486 has a nice Avenger in it! If I end up building a new system around this card, I am thinking it will be a Pentium Pro or an Athlon (Thunderbird).

 

[PP Mguire]

PCI shouldn't need to provide voltage because the molex handles the card's power needs. It could just be a v1/2.0/2.1 issue. That was another reason why I went AGP but then when I got better AGP boards I had an issue with it only being 2x and not being able to run in 4x/8x boards.

Edit: Actually those fans look aftermarket. Was it a sealed box or a used card?

 

[RichM499]

I think you're right about the PCI standard. They changed something with the 3.3v / 5v operation from 1.0 to 2.0 standard. I will need to do some research, but I still believe I can get it working with a hardware mod. I bought this card from an Ebay auction. The guy said he attached the aftermarket fans and used it for a workstation computer. The card is in great physical condition, and the fans spun up when I plugged it in, so it is getting some power. I am honestly looking forward to researching the old PCI standards. I kind of expected this result. I had the same problem trying to get a Radeon 7500 working in the board.

Edit: According to Wiki (I know, this isn't the best source of info) PCI 1.0 used 5v signaling and PCI 2.0 used 3.3v signaling. I think this is the source of my problem, and if I can find a way to force the voltage down to 3.3v it may work.

Don't worry you guys. I'll run the science on this thing proper. It's just going to take me some time to get a compliant system set up.

Edit 2: With 64MB ram installed I get 19.2fps in QuakeGL, but with 32MB installed I get 20.3FPS. That's 1.1FPS difference just from putting some extra ram in. I suppose this is normal.

 

[PP Mguire]

Probably strain on the old memory controller.

As to PCI, yup. More than likely not working as it's made to not work under unideal conditions. The actual load of the card gets it's power from the molex though. Those fans look way beefy. The fans on my card aren't the best and I can't get much of an OC out of the old VSA chips.