Ok.... seems the upgrading advice has gone nowhere.

So i've decided to put this machine like it was back in my 486 dx4-100mhz days(my 1st computer/mar-1996).... keep the biostar motherboard(486 mb/cpu is gone), keep the WIN95c (only DOS6.22 back then), keep the 1.7gb HDD(original 850mb HDD is gone), reduce cpu speed from 200mhz to 100mhz, keep the original cirrus logic cl-gd 5446 1mb PCI videocard, reinstall the original OPTI 82c-931 ISA soundcard, reduce the amount of edo memory from 64mb to 8mb , keep the 40x cdrom (original 4x cdrom is gone), and knock my self out with some good old fashion mid 90s gamming action that kept me content.

Bige4u wrote on 2021-05-31, 16:11:

Ok.... seems the upgrading advice has gone nowhere.

Considering your requirements the most sensible update would have probably been an ET6000 and a Voodoo Graphics. But both demand a premium and aren't among the cards you said you already have.
The Virge cards of which you already have one are not bad for 2D speed though quality depends a lot on the individual card. For 3D you can forget about them when you already have a 200MHz Pentium. Most games will run and work better in software mode than accelerated by the Virge.
The sound card options are more a question of preference imho.
I don't understand why your consequence is to downgrade the machine though.

The FM synth on that OPTi 82C931 is kinda bad. Older OPTi cards had either a genuine OPL3 chip or a 1:1 copy (which sounds identical to the real thing), but with the 931 model they started using their proprietary OPTi FM solution instead, which isn't so great. I'd get either an earlier OPTi model, an ESS 1868F or a Yamaha YMF71x card.

As for the graphics, definitively go for the Virge. Since it's a DX model, it should deliver somewhat tolerable performance (~20 FPS) in S3D capable DOS games like Tomb Raider and Terminal Velocity, especially if you overclock it. And it's very compatible with 2D games. A Voodoo card can be added on top for DOS Glide games and early Win9x 3D gaming, but they are quite expensive nowadays.

Personally, I would also replace the mechanical hard disk with a CF to IDE adapter for silent operation and faster access times. Also, there is no need to physically remove RAM sticks if you're running into problems with games that don't work with 64 MB. Simply create a ramdisk and have it use up all the excess memory.

Thanks for the suggestions.... but speaking of an ealier model of the OPTI ISA soundcard, would this suffice? < pictured >

Bige4u wrote on 2021-05-31, 19:03:

Thanks for the suggestions.... but speaking of an ealier model of the OPTI ISA soundcard, would this suffice? < pictured >

Yup, the 82C930 model is good. You can read my full review of it here: OPTi 82C930 review

BTW, the card in the picture has a genuine OPL3 chip, but it also appears to have an integrated wavetable of some sorts for General MIDI music. I would be interested in hearing how that sounds.

EDIT - it appears to be the AdMOS QDSP QS700, 1MB ROM, 32 voices. It probably sounds like this.

Unfortunately i dont have any video/sound capture equipment.... i wouldnt even know where to begin if i tried.

I never planned on doing any heavy 3D gaming on my 200mhz WIN95 system, if any, thats what my "rig in sig" is for, figure a good solid 2D 2mb pci videocard would be more than adequate, i thinking now my S3 4mb is perhaps overkill.

If i planned on going with the ESS AudioDrive ES-1869F ISA soundcard as another option, will that do as well? < pictured >

Bige4u wrote on 2021-05-31, 20:08:

I never planned on doing any type of 3D games on a 200mhz WIN95 system, thats what my "rig in sig" is for, figure a solid 2D 2mb pci videocard would do, i think my S3 4mb is overkill.

As mentioned before, S3 cards have excellent compatibility with 2D games in DOS. More details here.

As for 3D gaming under DOS, there are certain games that support the S3D API which is used by Virge cards. It can be fun to experiment with that, even if the performance isn't quite stellar. I wouldn't use the Virge as a 3D card under Win9x though.

If i planned on going with the ESS AudioDrive ES-1869F ISA soundcard as another option, will that do as well? < pictured >

In my experience, ESS sound cards have better SBPro compatibility than OPTi cards. They are also generally less noisy. However, ESS cards use their proprietary ESFM solution for music. This sounds very nice, but it's still slightly different from genuine OPL3. That said, ESFM is much better than Creative's CQM or OPTi FM, at least to my ears.

If you're interested in a comparison, see here: OPL3 vs. ESFM vs. CQM vs. SBLive

Just for chits and grins.... heres the OPTI 82C 931 "WAVE MASTER 32" sound card that actually came with my 486 dx4-100mhz system, looks to have a wave table built in.

I agree with the previous posters. An S3 ViRGE has a dedcent 2D quality with some little bit of 3D (as a gimmick, on Win9x).

Personally, I prefer the good old S3 ViRGE 325 due its stability and compatibility. It also has overclocking potential (default settings too moderate).
No patchs needed for S3D games. Good compatbility to S3 Trio64+ chip and its drivers. VGA BIOS can be upgraded to VBE 2.x quite easily, if necessary.

That's why it was included on the expensive S3 Gloria graphics card, by the way - as a rock solid VGA core.

On the other hand, the Matrox cards weren't bad, either.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrox_Mystique

I finally decided on a PCI card to use for win95/dos 2D gaming.... Number9 S3 Virge325 2mb

Bige4u wrote on 2021-06-01, 23:13:

Just for chits and grins.... heres the OPTI 82C 931 "WAVE MASTER 32" sound card that actually came with my 486 dx4-100mhz system, looks to have a wave table built in.

If you'd been running DOS on the machine, that wavetable would have been a good reason to go for this card rather than the other. Under Windows however you can use a software synth (which will also be better than that low-end QSR) so it's not an argument.

From what i remember, i think i was having issues with my OPTI 931 card... hence the switch over to the SoundBlaster16 card which i had bought retail back in the late 90s.