Stupid Questions (hardware related)

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Ok, my system is now a 6x68 PR200 MX with 128 mb SDRAM (66 mhz), a diamond viper V550 on an intel TX430 motherboard.
What good will installing a K6-2 266 CPu do ? Would the performance increase drastically, or would it be near invisible ?
(what I'm trying to ask here : is the K6-2 architecture a lot more advanced than a 6x68 MX, or is it insigificant ?)

And also, will installing a PCI soundcard free up some CPU time ? (I'm currently using a rather old ISA soundblaster 16 compatible card)

Finally : is a Aopen 24x CDROM drive any good (I'm using it now and I'm wondering if an Asus 40x is a any better)

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>Ok, my system is now a
>6x68 PR200 MX with 128
>mb SDRAM (66 mhz), a
>diamond viper V550 on an
>intel TX430 motherboard.
>What good will installing a K6-2
>266 CPu do ? Would
>the performance increase drastically, or
>would it be near invisible
>?
>(what I'm trying to ask here
>: is the K6-2 architecture
>a lot more advanced than
>a 6x68 MX, or is
>it insigificant ?)

Never heard of a 6x68.. maybe you mean 6x86? :)

It really depends on the brand you're using for that 6x86. If you're using, say, a Pentium II as your 686 processor, the PII will be better than the K6-II, though I don't know if the 200 vs 266 will compensation for that difference.

Realistically, you should just slap down $42 and get yourself a Duron 600 (and $40 for a motherboard for it), or are you the person living in Brazil? Might be harder to get then...

>And also, will installing a PCI
>soundcard free up some CPU
>time ? (I'm currently using
>a rather old ISA soundblaster
>16 compatible card)

No... The only benefit you get by using the PCI is better compatibility (relatively) and the fact that the PCI card can run faster than the ISA.

>Finally : is a Aopen 24x
>CDROM drive any good (I'm
>using it now and I'm
>wondering if an Asus 40x
>is a any better)

Realistically, all CDROMs are pretty much made equal. They're like floppy drives: Cheap, common, and all basically the same. The Asus 40x is only better because of the 40x.

Oh yeah, there are some difference with some. Some have multiple lasers so they only have to spin at a fraction of the speed other CDROMS do and therefore can have better data rate averages.

If you're feeling up to scrounging up the best prices wander on over to www.pricewatch.com and seek out what you need.

-Xotor-

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The important thing about the CPU's is that your motherboard supports 2.2 Volts core, which the K6 requires. I'm not sure about those Cyrix cpu's, but MMX Pentiums use 3.3 V. Also, why get a 266 mhz K6 when you can get a 400 or 450?
And Xotor, I'm not sure what you mean by 'compatibility' when you say that PCI sound cards are better, as old dos games don't work too well on them. ISA cards work everywhere.
 
>And Xotor, I'm not sure what
>you mean by 'compatibility' when
>you say that PCI sound
>cards are better, as old
>dos games don't work too
>well on them. ISA cards
>work everywhere.

PCI as far as compatibility has been the standard for the recent years. Some games even hiccup with ISA drivers and hardware, as I've had a Win95 game do just that (I believe it was War Wind). They are great for DOS games, but as for some Windows ones, not always the best. Old DOS games DO work with PCI, as most sound cards today are reverse-compatible to the common makes back then (makes sense), but games today are not always standard, and V:TM will take a shit on itself guaranteed on the three ISA cards I have.

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>The important thing about the CPU's
>is that your motherboard supports
>2.2 Volts core, which the
>K6 requires. I'm not sure
>about those Cyrix cpu's, but
>MMX Pentiums use 3.3 V.
>Also, why get a 266
>mhz K6 when you can
>get a 400 or 450?
>
>And Xotor, I'm not sure what
>you mean by 'compatibility' when
>you say that PCI sound
>cards are better, as old
>dos games don't work too
>well on them. ISA cards
>work everywhere.

Most cards (like from Creative) come with either DOS drivers or DOS Soundblaster emulators to allow DOS-mode games to use the sound card. The games only need this if they're running in pure-mode DOS, not if they're running in a window.

-Xotor-

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>Most cards (like from Creative) come
>with either DOS drivers or
>DOS Soundblaster emulators to allow
>DOS-mode games to use the
>sound card. The games
>only need this if they're
>running in pure-mode DOS, not
>if they're running in a
>window.

Not to mention a lot of ISA cards are not DirectX certified. Or, at the very least, not programmed *completely* up to the same compatibility standards as most of the newer card, as who the hell is going to use an old card? Exactly.


[font color=orange]
--------------------------------------------
Dennis Leary stole my song! That...asshole!
--------------------------------------------
"Robert, your time has come!"

"OOOH! Wonderful! Wonderful! Thank you, Master!"

"Don't mention it."

*Robert explodes in a shower of sparks*
--------------------------------------------
It's me, Jack Brown! The wind-up ass-hole!
--------------------------------------------

[font color=white]
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and Interplay's stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

http://members.optushome.com.au/fatlotofgood/mm21.jpg

"Naaaah, that leather armor doesn't have anything to do with Fallout.
Let's throw it out and take something from Baldur's Gate."
- Interplay Chimp

=========================
Try Arcanum, by those who brought you the first Fallout:
http://fallout.gamestats.com/forum/User_files/3ac99d9b77bee5ef.jpg
​
 
>Not to mention a lot of
>ISA cards are not DirectX
>certified. Or, at the
>very least, not programmed *completely*
>up to the same compatibility
>standards as most of the
>newer card, as who the
>hell is going to use
>an old card? Exactly.

Heh, the funny part is that I'm still using a legacy ISA SB16 soundcard on my system. I can't take advantage of any of the newer sound effects, and I don't think it even has a wavetable for midi. With hardware prices so low, there's no excuse for not being able to afford a better sound card or more RAM (except for Rambus), etc.

It's kind of annoying that some games require pure DOS instead of being able to work within a DOS box. Those games are not well built, I mean hell, I can run some of the oldest games on my system and they don't require pure DOS.

The only program that I use that requires pure-mode DOS is the DCK DOOM map editor (the best in my opinion), but that program doesn't require sound.

Lemmings 2 required pure-mode DOS, but Lemmings 1 didn't. Go figure.

-Xotor-

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[font size=1" color="#FF0000]LAST EDITED ON May-25-01 AT 06:33AM (GMT)[p]>>>Also, why get a 266 mhz K6 when you can get a 400 or 450?<<
>
>Because i think that the multiplier
>on my motherboard only goes
>to 4x (4x66=264).

AMD K6-2 cpu's from 400 mhz and up have this cool feature, that allows them to run at high internal clocks although the motherboard doesn't have insanely high multipliers. When the multiplier is set to 2x (or was it maybe 1.5x) the processor interprets it as 6, and thus you can run 6x66.6=400, or 6x75=450.

>And I'm pretty sure it supports
>K6-2 CPU's.

I'd still check those voltages if I were you. Only the newest Socket 7 motherboards, and the Super Socket 7's supported 2.2 V. Running it at 3.3 or 2.8 V instead will make it run too hot, though it might work anyway with the proper cooling, but it's not recommended anyhow.
 
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