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Best '86/'286 PC for VGA graphics

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mrarkus

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Dec 11, 2017
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I am looking to get an early 16-bit class (nothing over '286) PC that had good implementation of VGA, preferably small and quiet, and with ability to mount a CF card for storage. So far I came up with Tandy 1000RLX, but I'm not sure I want to dive into all the fun Tandy quirks, even though RLX is a lot better than the older gen of Tandy machines.

What are some other machines that could fit this bill? I looked at the PS/2 50Z, but besides size, I'm not finding any MicroChannel adapters that I could use CF/SD cards with. Thanks for any feedback!
 
mrarkus said:
I am looking to get an early 16-bit class (nothing over '286) PC that had good implementation of VGA, preferably small and quiet, and with ability to mount a CF card for storage. So far I came up with Tandy 1000RLX, but I'm not sure I want to dive into all the fun Tandy quirks, even though RLX is a lot better than the older gen of Tandy machines.

What are some other machines that could fit this bill? I looked at the PS/2 50Z, but besides size, I'm not finding any MicroChannel adapters that I could use CF/SD cards with. Thanks for any feedback!
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Personally and FWIW, I wouldn't build a 286. There's not much reward or payback there unless of course, you are working on a project of some sort. You might want to consider a 386/16 which are relatively plentiful, inexpensive, and will give you a performance edge over the 286. Also, you would at least be able to run Windows 3.1.
 
I think standard VGA is enough to run real DOS game on 80286.

I played Battle Storm (by Titus) with VGA (320x200, 256 colors) mode on 80286-6 MHz.
It keeps 60fps with standard VGA mode on real DOS.

But I don't recommend to run SVGA mode on 80286.
(The perfomance is slow on 80286 with SVGA)
 
Agreeing with Agent Orange here. The only "small" 286 I remember seeing much of was the Mitsubishi/Unisys mini-AT fron the mid-1980s, and those machines have BIOS issues (like a lot of early clones, Mitsubishi wrote their own BIOS). The small "pizzabox" machines from around 1990 were all generally 386SX/16s or 386SX/20s.
 
How about the PS/2 Model 30 286 in roughly the same size as the Model 50? Or perhaps the pizza box style Dell 220 (20 MHz 286)? Both had 3 16-bit ISA slots, IIRC. There were other small form 286 desktops with similar ability but much less common than the standard AT sized cases.
 
I wouldn't get a Tandy machine for this unless you're wanting to play Tandy graphics and/or tandy sound games on it.

I guess it depends on what the OP wants to do with it. Most of the popular VGA era DOS games were targeted at 386 or 486 class machines.
 
I'm really trying to stay away from 386 and higher, although I understand that VGA is probably not a good match for it speedwise. The reason is a bit strange, but after almost 30 years I found a half-finished game that I was working on, and I want to complete it, within the same constraints as I had back then. Call it a personal challenge :)
 
I like the Tandy RLX too, but opted for the TL/3 because it has 4 expansion ports, rather than just the one. A Paradise VGA card, a Soundblaster 16, and a Roland clone work great in it. Lots of 286 era stuff supports those cards, so you may want to consider having room for them down the line. Tandy’s don’t fit full length expansion cards, but I’ve never had the need to add one, the benefit of that is that the machines aren’t that deep, and fit well on a narrow desk.

A regular TL has 5 expansion slots, but a slower CPU and lacks the PS/2 ports. Wikipedia has a good breakdown of the Tandy 1000 models if you want to dig deeper.

You’ll need a Lo-tech CF / XTIDE though, as these machines either lack a hard drive controller, or have a MFM type that won’t support CF adapters. (God I wish somebody would make a CF to MFM adaptor!)
 
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Agent Orange said:
Personally and FWIW, I wouldn't build a 286. There's not much reward or payback there unless of course, you are working on a project of some sort. You might want to consider a 386/16 which are relatively plentiful, inexpensive, and will give you a performance edge over the 286. Also, you would at least be able to run Windows 3.1.
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AGREED

I have a few 386’s from the Tandy 2500 line. They are 386SX cpus and if you turn the turbo off, you get beefy 286 level performance, but keep the benefits of additional RAM and 16bit ISA slots that support some great VGA card options. They also have standard IDE controllers, so adding CF is a breeze.
 
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The 386SX was slower than the 286 at the same clock speed. Though if a 386 has a turbo setup which could be clocked to about 8 MHz, it would perform close enough to a 8 MHz AT that it would be fine for testing a 286 game.
 
Very small 286 desktops pop up on eBay from time to time. 386SX is more common in that format. Remember that PC sales grew exponentially from the early to mid 1990s. By that time 286 was already near obsolete.

An alternative is to get a 286 notebook and hook up an external monitor and keyboard. That may work. For some reason 286 notebooks are relatively common and cheap on eBay compared to desktops.
 
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Agent Orange said:
Personally and FWIW, I wouldn't build a 286. There's not much reward or payback there unless of course, you are working on a project of some sort. You might want to consider a 386/16 which are relatively plentiful, inexpensive, and will give you a performance edge over the 286. Also, you would at least be able to run Windows 3.1.
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A 286 does run Windows 3.1. I have it on mine. And a super VGA card works great in Windows on a 286. I use 800X600 in 15 bit color in Windows 3.1 with my WD 15-bit high color card (that's right 15 bit not 16). It seems the 286 is always wrongly given a bad rap.
 
It seems the 286 is always wrongly given a bad rap.
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I think that's because a lot of people had 8 and 10 mhz 286's. When I had a kid we had a 16 Mhz one, and we did lot on that. Windows 3.1, pcgeos, etc. I remember watching my dad download KEEN4E.ZIP.

I'd really like to get my hands on a 20mhz 286; I think that's the fastest they ever made.

I currently have a 12 mhz 286 board I bought from someone on the forums here. I was hoping to get it running at 16, but it kept crashing. I almost got it stable at 14mhz. I might try again now that I know what to look for, but I found the battery leaked. So I'll clean it carefully and see if it still comes up. Yeah, I should had got rid of the battery back then. but when I got it, it was not leaking and still worked fine. Oh well. Hope I didn't kill it.
 
carangil said:
I'd really like to get my hands on a 20mhz 286; I think that's the fastest they ever made.
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Actually AMD had a 25MHz version. I had one shoehorned into a machine at a job years ago (when most other folks had 386/33's). Darn impressive.
 
norm8332 said:
A 286 does run Windows 3.1. I have it on mine. And a super VGA card works great in Windows on a 286. I use 800X600 in 15 bit color in Windows 3.1 with my WD 15-bit high color card (that's right 15 bit not 16). It seems the 286 is always wrongly given a bad rap.
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Norm, the net is full tales of folks who did just that. But, I don't think it wasn't meant to be. Every reference that I've ever seen shows the 386 as the minimum processor. Nice project for 'show & tell' I suppose. Also, no one is giving the 286 a bad rap here. You just get more bang for the buck from a 386 if you're building from scratch.
 
Agent Orange said:
Norm, the net is full tales of folks who did just that. But, I don't think it wasn't meant to be. Every reference that I've ever seen shows the 386 as the minimum processor. Nice project for 'show & tell' I suppose. Also, no one is giving the 286 a bad rap here. You just get more bang for the buck from a 386 if you're building from scratch.
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Windows 3.1 runs on a 286 but prefers a fast one with a lot of memory. Windows for Workgroups 3.11 needs a 386. A quick check shows that in 1991 the 286/16 would save about $600 compared to a 386sx so plenty of budget left over to increase memory a bit.
 
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