VOGONS


First post, by AkBKukU

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Building an all new computer from 20 year old parts for the Windows 98 20th Anniversary.
qJN29E8.jpg

Here is a video of the build: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM5uNxtT0Mk

Here are the specs of The New Windows 98 PC:
OS: Windows 98 Second Edition
CPU: 1GHz Tualatin Pentium III
GPU: Voodoo 5 5500 64MB
RAM: 512MB 133MHz SDRAM
HDD: Western Digital 120GB 7200RPM EIDE
PSU: EVGA 450BT 450W
MOBO: Intel D815EEA2U(after using it, I don't recommend this board)
CDD: Memorex 8xDVD+RW/+R 10xCD
FDD3.5: Teac FD-235
FDD5.25: Teac FD-55
Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Live! 5.1
Case: Inwin Q500N (3rd revision I believe)
Monitor: Hyundai ImageQuest V770+
Keyboard: Microsoft Natural Keyboard
Joystick: Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2
Gamepad: Microsoft Sidewinder game pad
Mouse: Microsoft Cordless Wheelmouse

This was a wild ride. The Voodoo 5 was DOA (Voodoo 5 5500 AGP Compatibility Problem) and nearly derailed the whole project...twice. The motherboard doesn't seem to support two floppy drives (Intel 815e Chipset Motherboard Shows Only One Floppy Drive) as well. I never had both drives working in it. I still need to do some more testing (linux) to figure out if I can put a different BIOS on it to support that properly. I also wanted to show POD running instead of NFS but it has some problems running, especially in Glide mode with the Voodoo5. And another problem was that I couldn't get the gameport on the sound card to work. I need to try using the VXD drivers still to see if that makes a difference. The struggle is part of the fun, although maybe not recapping a Voodoo 5 level of struggle.

Reply 3 of 9, by AkBKukU

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I haven't added it all up yet for a final total but it was roughly $700 USD. I spent about 2yrs planning this so I was able to wait for good deals on what I wanted. There were also several parts that I got a thrift stores and some that were free-to-a-good-home. So a full ebay spree would be quite a bit more.

Reply 5 of 9, by AkBKukU

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I installed the drivers for it that came on the CD(It took some effort to kill the annoying popup after the install). The VXD drivers are more of a last hope. I tried quite a lot of troubleshooting.

Reply 7 of 9, by AkBKukU

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I haven't tried putting that card in another system or a different card in this one. That is on my list of things to try as well. I definitely have plenty of parts, and possibly another SB Live! 5.1 to try swapping out.

Reply 8 of 9, by canthearu

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I agree, the struggle is half the fun. Getting it setup the way you want.

Dealing with all the weirdness of some of the hardware.

In terms of being able to mess around with it, modern computers and operating systems don't have that much to do. Just plug it together, install it and everything works. While great and all, it misses some of the enjoyment of working it all out and getting to work piece by piece.

Very cool project!

That voodoo 5 might not be brand new .... the section shown on the video looks like it has been totally reworked, so don't understand how it could be brand new out of the box. But still, it is a Voodoo 5 and I wouldn't be terribly surprised to find that getting one new in box would be virtually impossible. And it was definitely worth recapping and saving, so good work on that!