New 486 pc

[HercTNT]

I have wanted to build a 486 pc similar to what i owned 16 years ago for a long time. I can say i now have just that. I recently built the following:
amd 5x86 155, 128megs of edo ram, shuttle hot-433 motherboard, stb lightspeed 128 video card, sound blaster awe32 with 8meg of ram, 8gb disk on module hard drive,  win95 osr2. it has taken me six months to slowly put together the parts i needed to make this machine do what i want. it has been a very long time since i have built and old at machine. I ask that any other enthusiast chime in on their setups and tips and tweaks. Please help me make this the best it can be. so far i have about 15 dos games installed and all working in win95. anyone needing any info on how to setup a classic gaming machine, dont be afraid to ask, i will help any way i can. unfortunately this machine is not fast enough to play pce games.................its only drawback

[Jibbajaba]

That's awesome, man.  I have a DOS machine set up at all times, as well.  Used to be a 486 DX4/100 but I upgraded it to a P90.  I forgot the amount of RAM, but either 32 or 64 megs.  I believe it has a 2 gb hard drive.  I don't know what the video card is, as it's just an old seemingly generic ISA card, but I'd like to replace it.  The cherry on top though is my Gravis Ultrasound card.  I had to mow a lot of lawns when I was a teenager to buy my first GUS, but it was worth it. 

Chris

[Mishran]

Brings back memories of my first "real" gaming pc, which I bought back in '93. A Packard Bell 486SX/33 upgraded to a DX/66, 4MB of RAM upgraded to 64MB, 2X CD-ROM, and a 320MB hard drive which was later replaced with a 6.4GB. Played a shit ton of Ultima and Doom on that machine. Finally went to the ol' recycle bin in the sky in '03. Been DOSBOXing ever since... just isn't the same.

[ProfessorProfessorson]

You'd prob be in awe at all the old hardware I have, and the builds I use. Give me some time, a day or two, and I will do a better post here that may give you some ideas.

[GohanX]

486 is a little too old school for me, but I did build a PC a few years back specifically to run Wing Commander Privateer since I couldn't get it to run on my normal PC. It had a Cyrix 686 MX and an Awe 64 in it, shit was pimp

I just got to thinking, "a few years back" was...like... 2000 or so. Getting old.

[ProfessorProfessorson]

I dont know if you care to spend the money, but the Awe64 does have a tad better sound quality then the AWE32. Up here in my room I have that Gateway 2000 tower that uses a Awe32 and a Pentium 100mhz cpu and a Dos install. I think the graphics card is a S3 or Matrox Pci card, don't remember which. If all you planned to run is Dos games a straight Dos install might suit you better then Windows 95, but I don't know what all you plan to run. My other Dos system is a dual boot Dos/Windows 98 build. Specs are:
AMD K6-III @ 400 mhz
Epox SS7 motherboard EP-MPV3G2
AWE64 soundcard
3DFX Banshee AGP
256 megs ram
two Quantum Fireball hard drives (one for Dos, one for Win98)
DVD drive
350 watt psu
Chen Ming ATX-103B case modified (perfect cut) to have a air intake area at the top for a 80mm fan











Most of my Dos gaming is really handled by this system, since its basically fast enough to handle all the later more demanding Dos titles like Quake or Chasm: The Rift just fine. Really though I have a lot of decent boxes in my parts storage area, like a complete Packard Bell Pentium 150 tower. Also have a few empty AT cases, probably about 25 different ISA sound cards, normal cases, motherboards, etc. The only stuff I don't have is old 486 and prior, as I wont use anything slower then a Pentium 1, and most 486 and prior I come across the motherboards are ruined from leaky batteries.

EDIT: here is the info on my large Pentium 100 Gateway tower.
Pentium 100mhz
S3Trio64 Pci
Creative Awe 32
Seagate 1.2 gb harddrive
plain jane cd-rom drive
64 megs ram
150 watt psu (I think???)
(shot of lower area of the inside, since I needed to pop it open and do some work on it, swapping out case fans, etc)

[SignOfZeta]

Dang. A 486 with 128MB of RAM?  Back in the day that was basically unheard of. Even Win 95 only needed, what, 16MB?

The first time I remember someone getting a computer with 64MB of RAM it was a Pentium Pro, years after 486s were dumpster fodder.

[ProfessorProfessorson]

Dang. A 486 with 128MB of RAM?  Back in the day that was basically unheard of. Even Win 95 only needed, what, 16MB?

The first time I remember someone getting a computer with 64MB of RAM it was a Pentium Pro, years after 486s were dumpster fodder.

Yeah you can get by in Windows 95 with 16 megs of ram, but only with the early stuff. Game wise if you set up your config and autoexec files well for your Dos mode 16 megs will carry you pretty well too for the most part until you start running the more demanding Dos games.

[HercTNT]

Believe it or not the board supports 256 megs of ram. The 128 i got in there now is overkill as it is. Professer, that's a beauty of a collection you got there. I used to collect old machines like that, but no longer have the space. I still cry to this day getting rid of my DFI super socket 7 rig with a mobile k63+ overclocked to 600mhz.
As far as the sound card goes, i'm aware that the awe64 has better sound. The awe32 crackles and pops at times. The awe32 however does all of its audio processing in hardware as the awe64 does not. The awe32 frees up alot of cpu power and it makes a huge difference. The 8gig disk on module also makes for crazy fast load times.

Using windows 95 as a dos gaming platform is working out very well. however i'm not very good with configuring said games for max compatibility. i'm having problems with not having enough dos memory for digital effects in games or sound at all. Prefessor if you have some great tips on setting up win95 for best possible dos gaming, i'm all ears.

[ProfessorProfessorson]

Believe it or not the board supports 256 megs of ram. The 128 i got in there now is overkill as it is. Professer, that's a beauty of a collection you got there. I used to collect old machines like that, but no longer have the space. I still cry to this day getting rid of my DFI super socket 7 rig with a mobile k63+ overclocked to 600mhz.
As far as the sound card goes, i'm aware that the awe64 has better sound. The awe32 crackles and pops at times. The awe32 however does all of its audio processing in hardware as the awe64 does not. The awe32 frees up alot of cpu power and it makes a huge difference. The 8gig disk on module also makes for crazy fast load times.

Using windows 95 as a dos gaming platform is working out very well. however i'm not very good with configuring said games for max compatibility. i'm having problems with not having enough dos memory for digital effects in games or sound at all. Prefessor if you have some great tips on setting up win95 for best possible dos gaming, i'm all ears.

Send me your email address via pm, and I will send you a decent starter set of config and autoexec files, along with cd-drive and mouse dos drivers. You might have to reinstall the sound card, or you can edit in the needed soundblaster text onto the autoexec file. At any rate the set I have should help you free up memory for Dos mode when you exit out of Win95. I've been able to squeeze out/free up about 610k out of the 640 on average. Just depends on the sound card being used.

[HercTNT]

you got it, incoming. my next step is to find a tseng labs et6100 video card.

[kamiboy]

I was going to do this but then my employing company started throwing out old computer hardware by the truckloads and I managed to save a Pentium II PC, and spare parts from another identical unit and took them home.

I also put a Pentium 100 on my desk, it is next to me now, but I don't need it.

Only thing I could wish for is to find a way to pack vintage PC hardware in a tiny, tiny enclosure so that they are not so intrusive and bulky.

[Opethian]

lol I have that same monitor:

[ProfessorProfessorson]

Lol yeah I got mine for like 2 bucks. It looked new, used very little so I jumped on it. I had been wanting to pack away my larger Sony Vga for awhile now so I could use a flat top case for my Super Socket 7 build. The Sony would have been way way too heavy to place on the computer.

[Arkhan]

I have that monitor also, lol.