eightbit Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 15 minutes ago, leech said: One of the worst things about this era of PC is the case design. Those hunks of metal that slide over with the top and two sides as one piece always made me miss the plastic cases of the Atari and Amiga wedge systems. Sorry, can't agree. Too many broken wedge cases over the years. Brittle old plastic. Give me METAL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 (edited) 2 minutes ago, Keatah said: Yes those suckadickus. Always had trouble aligning 3-sided covers, desktop or tower. But I always prefer the spacious open PC case compared to Amiga/Atari. This one is built very well, but I know what you mean. This one slides the top and sides like butter...just a well created case. Edited May 17, 2022 by eightbit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 I forgot to add that this motherboard has the cool mouse driven AmiBIOS with various themes (Army, Pastel, etc). Overkill for a BIOS but I have to salute them for doing it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 51 minutes ago, eightbit said: This one is built very well, but I know what you mean. This one slides the top and sides like butter...just a well created case. My build is a BabyAT and I feel like I could cut myself on it. I got the NLX case, just waiting for the board /riser, as I wanted a desktop stule as it would have a smaller footprint than a tower (even a BabyAT). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 54 minutes ago, eightbit said: Sorry, can't agree. Too many broken wedge cases over the years. Brittle old plastic. Give me METAL! Well, my first computers were the 800xl, which is still solid after all these years, and a Mega STe, didn't have a wedge system until I bought a friend's 1040ST... which one of these days I should fix... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 (edited) 4 minutes ago, leech said: My build is a BabyAT and I feel like I could cut myself on it. I got the NLX case, just waiting for the board /riser, as I wanted a desktop stule as it would have a smaller footprint than a tower (even a BabyAT). My plan for this build initially was to obtain a desktop case in nice condition. I wanted a real AT desktop case however (this is a very early i430 based board) and I was not going to settle otherwise. Well, I never did find anything to my liking and some that would have "done the job" were way overpriced. I knew this case as I had used it for the 486 build and it was quite nice. When I checked with the seller he had one left so I took it for $80 (and $40 shipping!) and I am glad I did. New old stock cases are great. I like the fresh start! Edited May 17, 2022 by eightbit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 16 minutes ago, leech said: Well, my first computers were the 800xl, which is still solid after all these years, and a Mega STe, didn't have a wedge system until I bought a friend's 1040ST... which one of these days I should fix... I have to say the 800XL and absolutely the original 800 were two of the most solid/sturdy wedge style computers I have ever owned. Oh, and the Apple II's (originals). Those are some tanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 20 minutes ago, eightbit said: My plan for this build initially was to obtain a desktop case in nice condition. I wanted a real AT desktop case however (this is a very early i430 based board) and I was not going to settle otherwise. Well, I never did find anything to my liking and some that would have "done the job" were way overpriced. I knew this case as I had used it for the 486 build and it was quite nice. When I checked with the seller he had one left so I took it for $80 (and $40 shipping!) and I am glad I did. New old stock cases are great. I like the fresh start! Nice! The NLX I got said it was NOS as well. Still waiting on the board / riser to show up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Torrax Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 13 hours ago, eightbit said: I recently tested Genecyst and Nesticle on my 486 DX4/100 and I can tell you that Genecyst with default settings does NOT run good. And this is no slouch of a machine either. Maybe tweaking the settings would gain some better performance but it was just not worth it to me to investigate it further. Back in the day I was running that on I think a P133 or P166 when it started running like a real Genesis in terms of performance. Nesticle on the other hand runs perfectly on the DX4-100. Have you tried Steve Snake's original KGen or KGen98 releases for Genesis/MD emulation? Not sure if they will work on a 486 as they might need the MMX extensions found in the later Pentiums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Torrax Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 (edited) Before switching over to a Pentium I system my last upgrade to my 486 motherboard was an AMD Am5x86-P100 X5-160 ADZ (Am486 DX5 160MHz). It was the sweetest 486 compatible processor I had ever used back then along with 32MB of ram. Just need to dig around to see if I still have it stashed somewhere. Edited May 17, 2022 by Torrax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDW Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 On 5/6/2022 at 6:39 PM, eightbit said: Ahh, finally have a case coming so this build is coming soon! I ended up purchasing one more of the same new old stock case I used with the 486 build. It was the last one and I just received a work bonus so perfect timing. I have some parts together already for this (in no particular order): 1. Diamond Monster Voodoo 1 2. Diamond Monster Sound PCI with Diamond MIDI board addon 3. Creative CT6610 Permedia 2 PCI video card (4MB I believe) 4. 32MB RAM 5. Pentium 200 6. A bunch of other stuff! This will be fun! I've been hyped up to build this after having a blast with the 486 build...which by the way makes me happy every day Very close to my build 1. Diamond Monster Voodoo 1 2. Generic Soundblaster clone (hoping for a midi setup someday!) 3. ATI Rage Pro for 2D (Started out as my primary 3D card, but retired due to driver issues) 4. 32 MB RAM (Hope to update to 64) 5. Pentium MMX 233MHZ So far I've been limiting myself to locally sourced parts. I like this 95 era build, it's extremely flexible for both early DOS era stuff and later Windows games. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 28 minutes ago, Torrax said: Have you tried Steve Snake's original KGen or KGen98 releases for Genesis/MD emulation? Not sure if they will work on a 486 as they might need the MMX extensions found in the later Pentiums. Very familiar with these emulators. I was there when they were released They won't run on a 486. I don't think proper Genesis emulation is possible on a 486 to be honest. You really don't start seeing proper performance until the late Pentium 1's and then excellent performance in the Pentium II era. But that's OK because emulation is not what I built the 486 for at all. I was just farting around testing a few of Bloodlust's offerings there just to see what happens. I was actually surprised to see Nesticle run perfectly. Remember on a 486 you don't even see proper MP3 decoding until you reach 100MHz I guess you can play around in Dosbox adjusting settings to "make" a computer of any generation and test things to see what works or what does not, but I prefer using actual era machines and being "surprised" at the outcome. I have a 486 DX4-100, P1 200MHz, P3 850MHz, and a P4 2.4GHz. And soon, a PII 400MHz. So I have a good area to work with and mess around. Would I recommend it? No, not unless you are nuts like me! Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 1 minute ago, BDW said: Very close to my build 1. Diamond Monster Voodoo 1 2. Generic Soundblaster clone (hoping for a midi setup someday!) 3. ATI Rage Pro for 2D (Started out as my primary 3D card, but retired due to driver issues) 4. 32 MB RAM (Hope to update to 64) 5. Pentium MMX 233MHZ So far I've been limiting myself to locally sourced parts. I like this 95 era build, it's extremely flexible for both early DOS era stuff and later Windows games. For #2, nothing wrong with that. I find some clones much better than Soundblasters. The card I have in mine is quite rare (Rockwell WaveArtist) and it is *awesome*. It is probably the best ISA sound card I own, and I own a lot including many SB's. I would recommend the Dreamblaster if (hopefully) your clone has a wavetable header. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDW Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 11 minutes ago, eightbit said: For #2, nothing wrong with that. I find some clones much better than Soundblasters. The card I have in mine is quite rare (Rockwell WaveArtist) and it is *awesome*. It is probably the best ISA sound card I own, and I own a lot including many SB's. I would recommend the Dreamblaster if (hopefully) your clone has a wavetable header. I just looked that up - I've been subscribed to Phil'sComputerLab for years but I've never seen this before. I also cracked open my case - I've got ann ESS AudioDrive 1869 which does include a wavetable header. I think you just made me spend $50! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 3 minutes ago, BDW said: I just looked that up - I've been subscribed to Phil'sComputerLab for years but I've never seen this before. I also cracked open my case - I've got ann ESS AudioDrive 1869 which does include a wavetable header. I think you just made me spend $50! If you want the GOOD one its more like $100. The X2GS that has the actual Roland SC samples. I have one and it is superb...very superb. I will be purchasing another very soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDW Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 5 minutes ago, eightbit said: If you want the GOOD one its more like $100. The X2GS that has the actual Roland SC samples. I have one and it is superb...very superb. I will be purchasing another very soon! Now you really have my attention. Good thing I didnt bust out my credit card quite yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 1 minute ago, BDW said: Now you really have my attention. Good thing I didnt bust out my credit card quite yet! This is what you want: https://www.serdashop.com/X2GS It took around 2-3 weeks to arrive to me (in NJ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 I have parts I had from my original machine back in the day. Matrox Millennium II for 2D, Pure3D Voodoo 1 (they had 6mb on board instead of the typical 4) and my SB Awe64, which I upgraded to 24mb of ram... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 How did you do the RAM upgrade? Ebay has this tight little board, but it ships (not to usa) from russian federation. And the Simmconn is ugly ass with all that overhang. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newtmonkey Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 (edited) 9 hours ago, BDW said: I've got ann ESS AudioDrive 1869 which does include a wavetable header. I've got an ESS AudioDrive, not sure which model exactly, but they are really awesome cards... better than a genuine SB in some ways (no MIDI hanging bug, no audio popping). The FM audio is very close to a genuine OPL card though pleasantly different, and MUCH better than the CQM synth used by many of the AWE32 cards. You've got a nice card in there Also recommended (if you don't have an MT32) is the MP32L: https://www.serdashop.com/MP32L It's a Raspberry Pi Hat that emulates an MT32, you can even load it full of different MT32 firmware, and select between new/old MT32 and the CM500 (for the extra sound effects, used by games such as Ultima Underworld). It runs on bare metal Pi, so it takes only a few seconds to start up, just like a real MT32. Edited May 17, 2022 by newtmonkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 13 hours ago, leech said: One of the worst things about this era of PC is the case design. Those hunks of metal that slide over with the top and two sides as one piece always made me miss the plastic cases of the Atari and Amiga wedge systems. Let's be honest here, it's all the ribbon cables of the era that were a pain in the ass and made it hard to put the case back together properly- they always seem to protrude just enough to be a problem. Then you have to press them down and make sure none obstruct the CPU fan. Ugh, thankfully SATA came along and helped a lot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 2 hours ago, zzip said: Let's be honest here, it's all the ribbon cables of the era that were a pain in the ass and made it hard to put the case back together properly- they always seem to protrude just enough to be a problem. Then you have to press them down and make sure none obstruct the CPU fan. Ugh, thankfully SATA came along and helped a lot. Agreed. Cable management is miles forward in this day and age. There are better versions of the IDE and floppy cables made nowadays (if you look close I have a braided style floppy cable in here that I just used because I had one) but yeah, it is certainly a challenge to stuck em away and make it look presentable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wierd_w Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 @eightbit You know that you can copy the contents of the install folder (with setup.exe and all the .cab files) from the CDrom to a folder on the computer, then initiate setup from DOS right? You can install windows 98 second edition without a CDrom drive quite speedily this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 (edited) 8 minutes ago, wierd_w said: @eightbit You know that you can copy the contents of the install folder (with setup.exe and all the .cab files) from the CDrom to a folder on the computer, then initiate setup from DOS right? You can install windows 98 second edition without a CDrom drive quite speedily this way. Yep, I know. I do that with all of my system builds and have been doing it on machines since the 90's. Makes it easy also when an application calls for something in a cab file too...no shuffling for a CD or CD image. The thing is I was prelim testing this and I had NO cd drive at all Well, I do in other systems but I was not about to steal one from any of those. I have one on the way, but I was just eager to play around with the system. Since I have the images for the floppy version of Windows 95B I figured I'd just stick them on a flash drive and use the Gotek to at least get the OS installed. It actually worked out great. The install really didn't take long (since disk swapping just consisted of pressing the "next image" button on the Gotek when necessary) and the install really did not take too long. Afterward I was able to install Daemon Tools and launch ISO and BIN/CUE images of the various installers and stuff I have and install all of the drivers for the video, 3dfx and sound...and Plus! for WIndows 95 because you know I need some Dangerous Creatures! Edited May 17, 2022 by eightbit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 KGEN98 on a 486DX2/66 would get you maybe a frame a minute. (Source: BTDT. Was one of the first emulators I tried.) Genecyst was more than playable on that - though you prolly wanted to run in 320x240x8 mode for speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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