Most of the vital parts like CPUs and video/sound cards will be brought over to Canada from where I am right now. Anything I don’t currently own will be underlined.

“Uno-DOS”

CPU: Either Intel Pentium MMX 166/233 MHz or AMD K6-2+ 500 MHz
GPU: 3DFX Voodoo 1 + S3 Virge DX
Sound: ES1898F (+ YMF719E-S? Maybe PicoGUS?)
Motherboard: Pretty much any Socket 7 motherboard (ATX highly preferable)
with enough PCI slots and at least 2 ISA slots (3 would be better)

I named this one “Uno-DOS” purely because I wanted to make a funny Uno pun, but looking at it again, I found that it can actually also be interpreted as “the one to rule them all” in a way, when it comes to DOS gaming.

Pentium MMX CPUs are highly flexible in terms of processing power, meaning that not only they can operate under their stated 166/233 MHz, but can go as low as ~15 MHz by, for example, disabling motherboard cache, or by certain software like Setmul. That would allow me to play 386/486-era games, especially speed-sensitive ones like Wing Commander I. Currently, I am not yet sure which I would put in, 166 or 233 - I guess it would depend on which can go as slow as it gets. While even older XT-era games are not exactly a priority, I’ve seen videos of them running on an MMX.
TODO: do more research, also look into undervolting.

After some hard thinking, however, I'm getting closer to a conclusion that a Super Socket 7 motherboard might end up being more desirable for my goals because of two reasons, the first one being that these mainly come with an ATX power input, meaning that I would avoid having to fiddle around with an ATX-to-AT adapter.
TODO: do more research on these, see if we even have any need for the -5V rail that modern ATX PSUs lack.

The second reason is that these motherboards support the AMD K6-2+ that I have. The K6+ series are desirable for a reason - there are numberous reports that show that K6's are just as flexible as the Pentium MMX line (if not moreso), so despite the fact that mine boasts 500 MHz, it would actually be a more viable option if I end up leaving the Voodoo 2 in the build - more below.

Now, here’s the kicker - it ain’t just me, EVERYONE is after Super Socket 7 motherboards, so naturally they’re rare and expensive these days. So, unfortunately, it all comes down to what will net me a better deal on eBay or wherever.

Even though the S3 Virge graphics cards were absolutely trashed in reviews at the time for them being ABYSMAL at rendering 3D graphics, they’re actually very good for 2D graphics in DOS games, so much so that the S3 cards of that era are regarded as some of the most reliable and compatible ones for DOS.

The 3DFX Voodoo is legendary for bringing in good 3D accelerated graphics in PC games. One would say that PC gaming as it is, with all the graphics advancements to this day, can be partially attributed to 3DFX. They are what made stuff like texture filtering, colors and framerate important. I’d be foolish not to put a Voodoo into this build, as certain games either look better or outright work exclusively with that card because of the Glide API. However, as of 2023 that became debatable - while certain DOS Glide games could be forced to work with Voodoo 2, some remained stubbornly Voodoo 1 exclusive until 2023, when someone managed to make these games pretend that a V2 is a V1. TODO: do more research, test, compare, and pick one.

TODO: add more stuff here, emphasize why exactly I would even put these soundcards.
The Yamaha OPL3 chip is considered to be the gold standard for FM music in DOS games (not to be confused with General MIDI). The ESS chips, while capable of emulating OPL3, sound a bit different. That is, until a recent 2025 emulation of ESFM, ESS’s take on FM music, in DosBox. Even if natively it’s supported in very few games and one demo, it certainly sounds interesting.
Demo of what ESS ESFM is capable of
At Doom's Gate OPL3 Remake

PicoGUS is a modern card that emulates Gravis UltraSound, Sound Blaster 2.0 / AdLib (OPL2) and CMS/Game Blaster using a Raspberry Pi chip. It’s like killing 3 birds with one stone! No need to spend a ton on genuine GUS and AdLib cards! It even emulates a CD drive! I’d love to put all three of these into the build - each one would have its use.