I just bought a 486dx2 pc that runs like a 386. I went into the bios & the external/internal cache memory was set to disabled. I enabled these options & the speed is about 10% better. How do I know how much internal/external cache memory I have? Also DRAM Write Burst is disabled. I was scared to enable it because I wasn't sure what it meant. Is there anything else in the bios I can change to speed things up a bit. The bios says, ROM ISA BIOS CMOS SETUP UTILITY AWARD SOFTWARE And a pile of options that I dont quite understand. Thanks for your help.

Its a 486-DX2 processor then it usually has 16K Cache. External cache is not intergrated in the processor and can be added via an Processor Daughter Board. Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) The type of semiconductor-based memory usually used for a computer’s main RAM. DRAM chips incorporate capacitors that lose their charge over time, so they require the computer to continually rewrite or "refresh" the information they store. This is in contrast to SRAM chips which maintain their information without requiring refreshes. Both these types of RAM provide volatile data storage. DRAM chips are cheaper and store more information than SRAM chips, however accessing information in DRAM takes more time. DRAM Write Burst (Sounds Painful Doesnt it?!) I wouldnt enable it, since certin features in BiOS can cause damage to the computer if it isnt compatible with the hardware (i.e. Enabling External Cache and you dont have external cache.) Maybe you should do a Google Search: Award ISA BIOS Guide Hope this helps. EsysteNet

Whoa thanks for the help EsysteNET. I downloaded a complete manual that has everything about my cmos setup on it & what the settings should be.

One thing you might do is DISABLE PARITY CHECKING if you have such an option. Failed parity checking can cause "ROM BIOS FAILURE System Halted" computer crashes, and you have to always use parity memory chips when it is enabled as well. (This parity thing started when all non parity memory was for MACs, but by the time EDO memory got here almost all of it was non parity.)

my 486 dx2 has a 256kb cache, also that's the smallest cache i have seen on 486.