840av: System 7.5.5, 7.6 or 8.1 ?

[zackl]

Howdy all -

I've read here and there that 7.5.5 is the best optimized for the '040s, wondering what you think will run the fastest on an 840av that will be used primarily for retro-gaming?

Appreciate any input!

Z

 

[Unknown_K]

Depends on the games you want to play.

 

[Byrd]

7.5.5 is buggy and crash-prone; OS 8.1 should run pretty much any 68K game bar the older B&W and early colour games on an 840AV. It also supports large HFS+ volumes, and your 840AV should be kitted out with a nice fast HD

7.6 is also a consideration, but no HFS+ support.

 

[uniserver]

faster 040's anything 33mhz+

I'v installed one of those 10K u320 modern hard drives, i sell, with OS 8.1.

To me, it seems like 8.1 was a "good by old friend", were going to give you one last solid release in your honor.

Just like with PPC, 8.6 is like hello future, let's get this party started properly.

My Quadra 700 has 7.6, but Screams running 7.1

 

[volvo242gt]

7.5.5 is ok. Think it has more to do with extensions and control panels that may not be exactly compatible. My IIfx is pretty stable with 7.5.5 on it. It's also the last version that will let you drop to 24-bit addressing if necessary. 7.6 sounds nice, but I've yet to have a computer with it installed. 8.1 worked pretty well, though, but, isn't very compatible with early games, hence the need for 7.5.5...

-J

 

[Byrd]

When running older games on later 68K Macs, I've never found enabling 24-bit addressing, or setting "more compatible" '040 caching actually helped with running games on later '040 Macs. They were simply too different to be compatible with old games. Hence 7.6 for speed and 8.1 for slightly more modern, usable software.

 

[Bunsen]

If you have an installer for 7.6.1 (it's not a free download from Apple) and a machine capable of running it, 7.5.x isn't even in the running. It's a buggy, crashy mess. 7.6.1 is far superior in just about every way.

8.1 is also nice, but maybe a little top-heavy on an 040. Give it plenty of RAM if you do use it.

 

[zackl]

Excellent, thanks all for the replys - I wound up settling on 7.6.1 and will report back