Hello guys,
Been watching from the "shadows" for a while. I thought it's about time I
post my first thread in🏧 here since I need some help deciding on some parts.
So question
is, I want to build a high performance and🏧 stable Windows 98SE computer, mainly focused
on running old games and software.
I will try to make it as simple as🏧 possible:
- The
games I want to run are from the '95-'03 era.
- DirectX 8.1 compatibility is a must
since I🏧 want to run some games like Halo for example that need it.
- No Windows XP, the
rig focuses on Win🏧 98 only.
- I don't really care that much about DOS compatibility
since I only want to run some of the🏧 classics like Duke, Wolfenstein and Doom.
- AGP 8x
Support, I'm not fond of the idea of running PCI Graphic Cards🏧 with Windows 98.
- I
don't really care that much about period correctness but Socket 939 for example seems a
bit🏧 too much for Win98 imo.
I already have a Socket 462 Athlon XP 2200+ rig which runs
pretty stable. Games work🏧 alright but not exactly how I would like them to ( Mainly
because of the GPU: Radeon 9600 SE 🤣🏧 ) and the other parts also aren't necessarily
great.
There is also an Async between the CPU, Mobo and RAM FSB🏧 frequencies and this
annoying bug with the current Mobo: sound crackling in some games which as far as I
have🏧 researched may come from some incompatibilities with the VIA KT400 Chipset. I
thought maybe another Socket A build ( but🏧 this time with a Barton 3200+, nForce 2
Chipset, FSB Sync between parts and a powerful Graphics Card ) should🏧 do the trick. I
have also found some pretty decent Socket 462 Mobo's I can start with like: GIGABYTE
GA-7N400E,🏧 GA-7VA, GA-7N400SL, 7VT600P-RZ but only two of them support 400 Mhz FSB for
the Barton 3200+ which is kind of🏧 mandatory for running everything in sync. The Barton
3200+ is also a bit too expensive where I live (40 EUR)🏧 and I'm really starting to
question if it is worth it or not + having to wait for other deals🏧 and parts to
appear.
While looking into some Socket 754 Parts, I have only stumbled upon parts that
that either have🏧 what I need but PCI instead of AGP, SATA only etc. or cheap low end
ones but which got AGP🏧 and IDE ports for example.
If I go the 754 Route, I will
probably pair it with an Athlon 64 3200+🏧 CPU which AFAIK can also have some
compatibility issues with Windows 9x hence it being too new and then having🏧 to turn off
various BIOS features and will also have to wait and find a decent Mobo that has an🏧 AGP
port and which also isn't unjustifiably expensive.
But now I cannot decide if I should
stick with Socket A again🏧 or cross the line into the XP territory with the Socket
754/939 but this time for Win98 and risk headaches🏧 with downclocking or configuring
things to work with each other.
What do you guys suggest ?
Thanks for all your
input.
bootsec7or
