What is Digital Venturis 466 capable of?
Although I’m not so many years old (21, to be precise), I’ve been interested in the history of the IT industry for quite a long time. Until recently, I had enough experiments with virtual machines, but after reading the article “Experiment: What can be squeezed out of a Pentium 166 megahertz?” I finally decided to do what I had been thinking about for a long time, namely to buy some old machine for experiences. I was lucky: by the word “ rarity” on the forum site, there was a fresh advertisement for the sale of the computer Digital Venturis 466 produced by the now defunct company DEC, also known as Digital Equipment Corporation, the owner of which I soon became for as much as 110 rubles. Will I be able to catch up and overtake the author of the above article? Details under the cut.
The Digital Venturis 466 is a 1994 model, and the copy that came into my hands was released in February ninety-five. At that time, its estimated price in Russia was a little over a thousand dollars. This computer is assembled on the basis of a processor from AMD, Am486DX2-66, a representative created in 1993 to compete with the Intel line Am486. What is interesting about this line? Well, for example, by the fact that AMD was 4 years behind Intel in copying their own processors. But at the same time AMD processors had high frequencies and good opportunities for overclocking. Just like Intel processors, and like any modern processor, they are attached to the motherboard with the help of a ZIF socket, which allows almost without any effort to insert and remove the processor. Before that, at best, the processors had to pick out a screwdriver, and sometimes they were completely soldered to the motherboard. But above all, in comparison with processors of previous generations, a huge jump in performance is noticeable with the naked eye. It is now possible to safely use a computer released 10 years ago, and in those years, technology developed by leaps and bounds, and it can be said that there was a gulf between various generations of processors. For example, to run Windows 95, at least the 386th processor is required, and to run on Windows 98 it is already the 486th. The older models of the 486th, which have a built-in math coprocessor, allow you to play games like Warcraft II, Heroes of Might and Magic, Duke Nukem 3D without brakes, and with the help of some tricks you can already listen to mp3. Also, as far as I know, such a phenomenon as emulation of gaming consoles on PC originated precisely at the time of the 486th processor, at least it is already pulling the NES emulator (which is an unofficial clone known to us as “ Dandy"). Moreover, being equipped with a network card, a computer with such a processor makes it possible now, in 2012, to read Habrahabr, which I will definitely discuss in more detail below.
')
To me the computer got into the floor working condition. First of all, it was necessary to install some operating system, and since I wanted to squeeze the maximum out of it, the choice fell on Windows 98 SE. Yes, Windows 95 has lower system requirements, but even the archiver is difficult to find for it, not to mention everything else, and such things as the need to manually configure the network, etc. In addition, there is such a thing for Windows 98 as KernelEx, but for Windows 95 it is not. That is, to start some Firefox 13 will not work. Installing Windows 98 on such a computer is not such a trivial task as it may seem at first glance. First of all, it's worth mentioning that the hard drive is only 420 megabytes in there, which is slightly less than required only for placing the installation files. There was no CD drive either. And when it appeared, it turned out that its initialization occurs only after loading the OS, and the BIOS does not see it (as it turned out later, the universal PLoP boot loader solves this problem). However, by the time the drive was purchased, I had already managed to break the hard drive: once I had to drop it, it stopped working after 10 minutes. I had to search for missing components, and when I started, I could not just stop. As a result, a writing CD-drive was installed, HDD with a capacity of 2 gigabytes, the processor was replaced with DX4-100, which, by the way, aimed at increasing the bus frequency of shamanism with jumpers, was overclocked to 120 megahertz (bus frequency x 3). By the way, the second-level cache is located on the motherboard here, it can be finished with such chips in DIP packages:
What was done. Increasing the cache size from 128 to 256 KB has a positive effect on performance. Also, the speed can be increased (albeit slightly) by changing the cache type from write-through to write-back . It is also worth saying that initially the processor did not cool in any way at this computer, there was not even a radiator, and since such jokes no longer work with the DX4, I had to reinvent the cooling myself. The radiator was removed from some Pentium MMX and barbarously crafted with a hacksaw, and the forty-millimeter cooler was removed from the cooling system of the DEEPCOOL chipset. Actually, at first I just wanted to put it on the processor, but, yes, I was too lazy to check the dimensions before the purchase.
To all this, an authentic, three-button serial mouse has been added:
Another Intel network card was installed under the ISA slot (and the others are not available), and the amount of RAM was increased from 8 to 36 megabytes (two strips of 16 + 4 embedded). And although the motherboard supports up to 68 mb, I couldn’t manage to find 72-pin Simm 32 megabytes. In principle, 36 MB for Windows 98 is enough.
After installing the system, it turned out that the existing ALS 120 sound card on a Realtek chip is not capable of properly processing sound in a significant part of games running under Windows, and if it is capable, the quality of this sound leaves much to be desired. I must say that I never liked Realtek, and on my work computer I’ve got a year bought in 2004 SB Audigy 2 ZS, which I, in general, am quite pleased with. That is, you understand why the decision was quite logical on my part, and in this computer insert a sound card from Creative, some legendary Sound Blaster. I found the Sound Blaster AWE64 GOLD on the forum ad, and the ad was almost a year old, the seller had already managed to move, and for several days could not find this card. It is unlikely that he seriously expected that someone would buy it at all. But when the card finally turned out to be with me, I realized that I was not mistaken. Of course, the sound here was clear and wonderful, there were no problems with it, but what surprised me the most was how the PnP technology worked at the time of Windows 98 and the ISA interface: I wasn’t required any additional actions after the first power up The system found a new device and installed the driver itself. Even in the days of XP, this did not always work.
By the way, if you think that I did not try to run any of the “lightweight” linux distributions on a sim unit, then you are mistaken. Tried, but alas ... Damn Small Linux, some old version of Puppy, Tiny Core - all of them, after some hesitation, reported errors and refused to work. I think that the sticking point could be the built-in S3 video card or the built-in IDE controller. One way or another, Windows 98 was installed. To reduce memory consumption with the help of the 98lite program, the win98 graphical environment was replaced with that of win95, as a result, the net memory consumption of the system was reduced from 24 to 16 MB.
After this, Windows 98 is more like Windows 95. It is immediately apparent that the quick launch panel is missing:
But if it is still possible to live without a quick launch bar, it is unlikely without a browser. The best option for such a system would be K-Meleon : it is not too old (the latest version was released in 2010, this is not Netscape 4.72 to you), is compatible with Windows 98 and works well on the hardware described.
I promised to show you Habrahabr?
No extra processes.
You can relax and read someone's cozy zhezhechechku.
However, firefox is also here. But he sometimes slows down.
You can play Duke.
Or listen to mp3. 320 kbps on our shoulders.
To transfer the screenshots made for this article using a floppy disk would, of course, be a mockery, but the disk will do for something else. Everything is recorded very quickly.
Finally, I will give the testimony of the program AIDA64:
System BIOS for more than two years. Need to update.
All such topics end the same way.
The Digital Venturis 466 is a 1994 model, and the copy that came into my hands was released in February ninety-five. At that time, its estimated price in Russia was a little over a thousand dollars. This computer is assembled on the basis of a processor from AMD, Am486DX2-66, a representative created in 1993 to compete with the Intel line Am486. What is interesting about this line? Well, for example, by the fact that AMD was 4 years behind Intel in copying their own processors. But at the same time AMD processors had high frequencies and good opportunities for overclocking. Just like Intel processors, and like any modern processor, they are attached to the motherboard with the help of a ZIF socket, which allows almost without any effort to insert and remove the processor. Before that, at best, the processors had to pick out a screwdriver, and sometimes they were completely soldered to the motherboard. But above all, in comparison with processors of previous generations, a huge jump in performance is noticeable with the naked eye. It is now possible to safely use a computer released 10 years ago, and in those years, technology developed by leaps and bounds, and it can be said that there was a gulf between various generations of processors. For example, to run Windows 95, at least the 386th processor is required, and to run on Windows 98 it is already the 486th. The older models of the 486th, which have a built-in math coprocessor, allow you to play games like Warcraft II, Heroes of Might and Magic, Duke Nukem 3D without brakes, and with the help of some tricks you can already listen to mp3. Also, as far as I know, such a phenomenon as emulation of gaming consoles on PC originated precisely at the time of the 486th processor, at least it is already pulling the NES emulator (which is an unofficial clone known to us as “ Dandy"). Moreover, being equipped with a network card, a computer with such a processor makes it possible now, in 2012, to read Habrahabr, which I will definitely discuss in more detail below.
')
To me the computer got into the floor working condition. First of all, it was necessary to install some operating system, and since I wanted to squeeze the maximum out of it, the choice fell on Windows 98 SE. Yes, Windows 95 has lower system requirements, but even the archiver is difficult to find for it, not to mention everything else, and such things as the need to manually configure the network, etc. In addition, there is such a thing for Windows 98 as KernelEx, but for Windows 95 it is not. That is, to start some Firefox 13 will not work. Installing Windows 98 on such a computer is not such a trivial task as it may seem at first glance. First of all, it's worth mentioning that the hard drive is only 420 megabytes in there, which is slightly less than required only for placing the installation files. There was no CD drive either. And when it appeared, it turned out that its initialization occurs only after loading the OS, and the BIOS does not see it (as it turned out later, the universal PLoP boot loader solves this problem). However, by the time the drive was purchased, I had already managed to break the hard drive: once I had to drop it, it stopped working after 10 minutes. I had to search for missing components, and when I started, I could not just stop. As a result, a writing CD-drive was installed, HDD with a capacity of 2 gigabytes, the processor was replaced with DX4-100, which, by the way, aimed at increasing the bus frequency of shamanism with jumpers, was overclocked to 120 megahertz (bus frequency x 3). By the way, the second-level cache is located on the motherboard here, it can be finished with such chips in DIP packages:
What was done. Increasing the cache size from 128 to 256 KB has a positive effect on performance. Also, the speed can be increased (albeit slightly) by changing the cache type from write-through to write-back . It is also worth saying that initially the processor did not cool in any way at this computer, there was not even a radiator, and since such jokes no longer work with the DX4, I had to reinvent the cooling myself. The radiator was removed from some Pentium MMX and barbarously crafted with a hacksaw, and the forty-millimeter cooler was removed from the cooling system of the DEEPCOOL chipset. Actually, at first I just wanted to put it on the processor, but, yes, I was too lazy to check the dimensions before the purchase.
To all this, an authentic, three-button serial mouse has been added:
Another Intel network card was installed under the ISA slot (and the others are not available), and the amount of RAM was increased from 8 to 36 megabytes (two strips of 16 + 4 embedded). And although the motherboard supports up to 68 mb, I couldn’t manage to find 72-pin Simm 32 megabytes. In principle, 36 MB for Windows 98 is enough.
After installing the system, it turned out that the existing ALS 120 sound card on a Realtek chip is not capable of properly processing sound in a significant part of games running under Windows, and if it is capable, the quality of this sound leaves much to be desired. I must say that I never liked Realtek, and on my work computer I’ve got a year bought in 2004 SB Audigy 2 ZS, which I, in general, am quite pleased with. That is, you understand why the decision was quite logical on my part, and in this computer insert a sound card from Creative, some legendary Sound Blaster. I found the Sound Blaster AWE64 GOLD on the forum ad, and the ad was almost a year old, the seller had already managed to move, and for several days could not find this card. It is unlikely that he seriously expected that someone would buy it at all. But when the card finally turned out to be with me, I realized that I was not mistaken. Of course, the sound here was clear and wonderful, there were no problems with it, but what surprised me the most was how the PnP technology worked at the time of Windows 98 and the ISA interface: I wasn’t required any additional actions after the first power up The system found a new device and installed the driver itself. Even in the days of XP, this did not always work.
By the way, if you think that I did not try to run any of the “lightweight” linux distributions on a sim unit, then you are mistaken. Tried, but alas ... Damn Small Linux, some old version of Puppy, Tiny Core - all of them, after some hesitation, reported errors and refused to work. I think that the sticking point could be the built-in S3 video card or the built-in IDE controller. One way or another, Windows 98 was installed. To reduce memory consumption with the help of the 98lite program, the win98 graphical environment was replaced with that of win95, as a result, the net memory consumption of the system was reduced from 24 to 16 MB.
After this, Windows 98 is more like Windows 95. It is immediately apparent that the quick launch panel is missing:
But if it is still possible to live without a quick launch bar, it is unlikely without a browser. The best option for such a system would be K-Meleon : it is not too old (the latest version was released in 2010, this is not Netscape 4.72 to you), is compatible with Windows 98 and works well on the hardware described.
I promised to show you Habrahabr?
No extra processes.
You can relax and read someone's cozy zhezhechechku.
However, firefox is also here. But he sometimes slows down.
You can play Duke.
Or listen to mp3. 320 kbps on our shoulders.
To transfer the screenshots made for this article using a floppy disk would, of course, be a mockery, but the disk will do for something else. Everything is recorded very quickly.
Finally, I will give the testimony of the program AIDA64:
System BIOS for more than two years. Need to update.
All such topics end the same way.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/146540/
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