First post, by samaron
- Rank
- Newbie
Hi!
I'm new here, and hopefully will get some advice on how to improve my build. The goal is to build a powerful gaming computer, but still be versatile for other purposes. I do enjoy demo scene stuff, tracker music, or just simply tinkering around with old software.
This build was done mostly with parts I already had. Most parts where bought 15ish years ago. What I bought now for the occasion were the Gravis Ultrasound card and an extra Voodoo2 card identical to the one bought "back in the day."
The specs on my computer are the following:
CPU: AMD K6 200MHz MMX
Motherboard: Unknown, probably aOpen. Intel 430TX chipset.
Memory: 256mb PC133 SDRAM
Soundcard: Gravis Ultrasound MAX rev1.8 (1024kb memory)
Soundcard: Creative Soundblaster AWE64 Gold
Display video card: ATi 3D rage II+ DVD 4mb
3D accelerator: 2x Creative 3Dfx Voodoo2 8mb cards in SLI
Network adapter: 3com EtherLink XL PCI 3C900B-TPC, 10 Mbps signalling rate
1.44mb Floppy Drive
1.2mb secondary floppy drive
Pioneer DVD-ROM
aopen CD/RW-ROM
20gb hard drive
I'm running Windows 98 Second Edition in DOS mode (disabled GUI at start up). I do of course have a startup menu with different selections for different situations. The reason I chose to do this is because I found some programs run better under native DOS, while other run better (or must run) under Windows.
I do have some issues, mainly the sound. AS mentioned, I'm using a GUS card. It is awesome for tracker music and stuff like that, but its compatibility is a bit limited when it comes to games. Some games will run with the Sound Blaster emulator, but some doesn't. Any suggestions on how to improve this? I'm thinking of buying a Roland MT-32, as many games supported it (especially thinking of the old Lucas Arts games). Would this help improve the versatility of my systems when it comes to games? I tried setting up a Sound Blaster AWE64 card parallel with the GUS, but couldn't get that to work properly.
Lastly, some pictures!
Quite cramped inside, but everything fits! Have one available ISA slot left.
The case it self isn't anything spectacular. Just a typical generic white case.
The small boot menu I have. Good enough for now, might add more options later on if needed.
The option without drivers for maximum available conventional memory I'm quite happy with. Almost can't get any better.
And, of couse, SLI detected!
Win7: Intel i7-4960X CPU, ASUS Rampage IV Extreme motherboard, nVidia GeForce GTX780Ti x2, 16gb 1866MHz DDR3 RAM, 120gb SSD OS
Win98SE: AMD K6 200MHz CPU, aOpen motherboard, ATi 3D Rage II, Voodoo2 SLI, GUS MAX 1mb, SB AWE64 Gold, 256mb SDRAM, 20gb HDD