6 ms·

The 486 killer app was DOOM. It was butter-smooth at 20 fps if you also had a VLB graphic card. The 486 DX2 66MHz was the target platform for gaming during al

The 486 killer app was DOOM. It was butter-smooth at 20 fps if you also had a VLB graphic card. The 486 DX2 66MHz was the target platform for gaming during almost two years (1992-1994). That was an huge achievement back in the days to be at the top that long.

throwaway_20357 6mo ago
Doom was released end of '93. In 1992 most of us were in the 286 -> 386 upgrade wave and a 486-33 was easily at $2.5k+ ($5.5k in today's terms). The 486 DX2 66 was a good choice even 1994-1996.
- simmons 6mo ago
  Yes, the latest chips were very expensive back then, and out of reach for most people who would continue buying new computers with older chips. (As opposed to how most people today buy an iPhone or a Mac or whatever with the latest semiconductor technology.) I got my 25MHz 386 in 1991, over two years after the 486 was announced, and I had one of the fastest computers of anybody in school... for a short time.
- intrasight 6mo ago
  My boss then - who's still a very dear friend - purchased a work computer to play Doom. He was already mentally checked out of that job and was looking for his next opportunity. Spent a lot of time at work playing Doom and got quite good at it. I think it was 1994. It was a loaded 486 with the best 17" CRT monitor money could buy at the time. I think he spent over $7000.
blitzar 6mo ago
They need to bring back the turbo button.
- einr 6mo ago
  You’re in luck! https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/product/info/computer-chassis/flp02/ https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/product/info/computer-chas...
  - blitzar 6mo ago
    How could I possibly forget the lock!
- KellyCriterion 6mo ago
  ++1
einr 6mo ago
The DX/2 66 is a true legend of a chip. It was so good. The final nail in the coffin for the Amiga and for 68k. I love the Amiga, but it just didn’t Doom. Before it, you could claim that a 68040 was kinda-sorta keeping up with the 486 and that the nicer design and better operating systems of other computers made up for the delta in raw performance, but the DX/2 66 running Doom was the final piece of proof that the worse-is-better approach of using raw CPU grunt to blast pixels at screen memory instead of relying on clever custom circuitry was winning. Faced with overwhelming evidence, everyone sold their Amiga 1200s and jumped ship to that hated Wintel platform.
- darkwater 6mo ago
  At that point in time I would not have called it Wintel yet. That started after Windows 95, IIRC.
- whizzter 6mo ago
  As I noted in my other comment (1), in 1985 Amiga OCS bitplane graphics (separate each bits of a pixel index into separate areas) was a huge boon in 2d capability since it lowered bandwidth to 6/8ths but made 3d rendering a major pain in the ass. The Aga chipset of the 1200/4000 stupidly only added 2 more bitplanes. The CD32 chip actually had byte-per-pixel (chunky) graphics modes but the omission from the 1200 was fatal. Reading in hindsight there was probably too many structural issues for Commodore to remain competitive anyhow, but an alt-history where they would've seen the needs for 3d rendering is tantalizing. 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47717334 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47717334
  - einr 6mo ago
    The CD32 chip actually had byte-per-pixel (chunky) graphics modes but the omission from the 1200 was fatal. I agree. Unfortunately, even with chunky graphics and/or 3D foresight, 68k would still have been a dead end and Commodore would still have been mismanaged into death. It’s fun to dream though…
    - actionfromafar 6mo ago
esafak 6mo ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VESA_Local_Bus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VESA_Local_Bus for the younger crowd.
busfahrer 6mo ago
I wonder, I wonder where one could find a good book about the software architecture of that game… oh, well
alex_suzuki 6mo ago
I distinctly remember having a Strike Commander poster in my bedroom saying “Strike really flies on a 486 DX/2”. Fond memories indeed.
KellyCriterion 6mo ago
...and with 8 MB (-eight- for the youngsters ;-) RAM you were absolutely the king ruler :-D
rwmj 6mo ago
Slightly before DOOM came out, the killer 486 app for me was Fractint (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractint https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractint)
raw_anon_1111 6mo ago
My first Intel based PC was actually a 486DX/2-66 “Houdini” card for my PowerMac 6100/60 in late 1994. It had a SB16 daughtercard and could either share RAM with the host Mac or use a 32MB dedicated SIMM. I added a dedicate SIMM when prices dropped to $300 for it.

throwaway_20357 6mo ago

Doom was released end of '93. In 1992 most of us were in the 286 -> 386 upgrade wave and a 486-33 was easily at $2.5k+ ($5.5k in today's terms). The 486 DX2 66 was a good choice even 1994-1996.

simmons 6mo ago
Yes, the latest chips were very expensive back then, and out of reach for most people who would continue buying new computers with older chips. (As opposed to how most people today buy an iPhone or a Mac or whatever with the latest semiconductor technology.) I got my 25MHz 386 in 1991, over two years after the 486 was announced, and I had one of the fastest computers of anybody in school... for a short time.
intrasight 6mo ago
My boss then - who's still a very dear friend - purchased a work computer to play Doom. He was already mentally checked out of that job and was looking for his next opportunity. Spent a lot of time at work playing Doom and got quite good at it. I think it was 1994. It was a loaded 486 with the best 17" CRT monitor money could buy at the time. I think he spent over $7000.

blitzar 6mo ago

They need to bring back the turbo button.

einr 6mo ago
You’re in luck! https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/product/info/computer-chassis/flp02/ https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/product/info/computer-chas...
- blitzar 6mo ago
  How could I possibly forget the lock!
KellyCriterion 6mo ago
++1

einr 6mo ago

The DX/2 66 is a true legend of a chip. It was so good. The final nail in the coffin for the Amiga and for 68k. I love the Amiga, but it just didn’t Doom. Before it, you could claim that a 68040 was kinda-sorta keeping up with the 486 and that the nicer design and better operating systems of other computers made up for the delta in raw performance, but the DX/2 66 running Doom was the final piece of proof that the worse-is-better approach of using raw CPU grunt to blast pixels at screen memory instead of relying on clever custom circuitry was winning. Faced with overwhelming evidence, everyone sold their Amiga 1200s and jumped ship to that hated Wintel platform.

darkwater 6mo ago
At that point in time I would not have called it Wintel yet. That started after Windows 95, IIRC.
whizzter 6mo ago
As I noted in my other comment (1), in 1985 Amiga OCS bitplane graphics (separate each bits of a pixel index into separate areas) was a huge boon in 2d capability since it lowered bandwidth to 6/8ths but made 3d rendering a major pain in the ass. The Aga chipset of the 1200/4000 stupidly only added 2 more bitplanes. The CD32 chip actually had byte-per-pixel (chunky) graphics modes but the omission from the 1200 was fatal. Reading in hindsight there was probably too many structural issues for Commodore to remain competitive anyhow, but an alt-history where they would've seen the needs for 3d rendering is tantalizing. 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47717334 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47717334
- einr 6mo ago
  The CD32 chip actually had byte-per-pixel (chunky) graphics modes but the omission from the 1200 was fatal. I agree. Unfortunately, even with chunky graphics and/or 3D foresight, 68k would still have been a dead end and Commodore would still have been mismanaged into death. It’s fun to dream though…
  - actionfromafar 6mo ago

esafak 6mo ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VESA_Local_Bus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VESA_Local_Bus for the younger crowd.

busfahrer 6mo ago

I wonder, I wonder where one could find a good book about the software architecture of that game… oh, well

alex_suzuki 6mo ago

I distinctly remember having a Strike Commander poster in my bedroom saying “Strike really flies on a 486 DX/2”. Fond memories indeed.

KellyCriterion 6mo ago

...and with 8 MB (-eight- for the youngsters ;-) RAM you were absolutely the king ruler :-D

rwmj 6mo ago

Slightly before DOOM came out, the killer 486 app for me was Fractint (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractint https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractint)

raw_anon_1111 6mo ago

My first Intel based PC was actually a 486DX/2-66 “Houdini” card for my PowerMac 6100/60 in late 1994. It had a SB16 daughtercard and could either share RAM with the host Mac or use a 32MB dedicated SIMM. I added a dedicate SIMM when prices dropped to $300 for it.