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First post, by mattrock1988

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Hello fellow VOGONS fans,

So I finally took the plunge and built a Windows 98 SE based gaming PC, using mostly new-old stock quality parts.

Build Specifications:

BIOSTAR M6VLR Socket 370 Motherboard
Pentium III-S Tualatin @ 1.26 GHz
A-TECH 256 MB PC-133 memory
LeiDisk 8 GB Flash on IDE module
Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 PCI (don't laugh - it works just fine)
Rosewill RC-100 USB 2.0 PCI card (with front-port header!!)
Creative Sound Blaster AWE64 Value CT4520 ISA
DreamBlaster S1 WaveTable module connected via MPU-401 gameport
Sony DVD-ROM / CD-RW combo drive
Sony 1.44 MB floppy
GoTek floppy emulator
Windows 98 SE /w Unofficial SP3
APEX Black mATX case w/ carry handle

So for some background, my goal with this machine was to build the best "all-rounder" Windows 9x machine that would also be solid for DOS gaming from the mid 90s on. After finding the BIOSTAR motherboard from an estate sale on eBay in new condition, I decided to give it a shot, and I'd say I've done rather well for myself.

Although the ISA slot on this build is bridged over PCI (like most motherboards of the era were), it evidently supports DMA without issues. The VIA chipset on the mobo has been surprisingly stable after installing the 4in1 driver pack, with very few hiccups along the way, aside from managing IRQs, which turned out to be easy once I disabled all IRQ hooks from the BIOS and left that rodeo to Win9x PnP capabilities.

Yeah, the case is black and un-90s like... but I am more of a function-over-form type of guy, and this case has a handy carry handle on it, making it easy to lug around at will.

A big shout out and special thanks to HighTreason and Phil at Phil's Computer Lab for all their awesome YouTube videos and inspiration to get back into this game. 😎

If you guys have any questions or comments, please feel free to indulge me. 😀

UPwzhIN.jpg .............. 9JBI2zH.jpg

Retro PC: Intel Pentium III @ 1 GHz, Intel SE440BX-2, 32 GB IDE DOM, 384 MB SDRAM, DVD-ROM, 1.44 MB floppy, Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4600 AGP, Creative SoundBlaster AWE64 Gold, Aureal Vortex 2
I only rely on 86box these days. My Pentium 3 PC died. 🙁

Reply 2 of 14, by mattrock1988

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RacoonRider wrote:

The case looks suspiciously like bigger brother of the toaster on the background 😁

Brilliant!

Retro PC: Intel Pentium III @ 1 GHz, Intel SE440BX-2, 32 GB IDE DOM, 384 MB SDRAM, DVD-ROM, 1.44 MB floppy, Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4600 AGP, Creative SoundBlaster AWE64 Gold, Aureal Vortex 2
I only rely on 86box these days. My Pentium 3 PC died. 🙁

Reply 4 of 14, by mattrock1988

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Private_Ops wrote:

No internal shots? Come on now.. show us the goods! 😎

How about these apples?

eiAonOr.jpg

pCbDtOD.jpg

Retro PC: Intel Pentium III @ 1 GHz, Intel SE440BX-2, 32 GB IDE DOM, 384 MB SDRAM, DVD-ROM, 1.44 MB floppy, Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4600 AGP, Creative SoundBlaster AWE64 Gold, Aureal Vortex 2
I only rely on 86box these days. My Pentium 3 PC died. 🙁

Reply 6 of 14, by RacoonRider

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exact wrote:

Classic early 2000s case, indeed. I would prefer a FX 5200 Ultra.

Why? What's ultra about FX5200? There are a lot of great options for a machine like this including Ti4200 and Radeon 8500, but FX5200 is here because it does its job well and it's not a matter of speed anyway, am I right? And it has DVI, the answer to the problem of VGA signal filtering issues.

Reply 7 of 14, by exact

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RacoonRider wrote:
exact wrote:

Classic early 2000s case, indeed. I would prefer a FX 5200 Ultra.

Why? What's ultra about FX5200? There are a lot of great options for a machine like this including Ti4200 and Radeon 8500, but FX5200 is here because it does its job well and it's not a matter of speed anyway, am I right? And it has DVI, the answer to the problem of VGA signal filtering issues.

Some people would use a Geforce FX because nostalgia. Sure, it does the job. But the Ultra is simple the better 5200. You can play 2002-2003 games in okay quality with the Geforce FX 5200 Ultra, don't try it with the Geforce FX 5200.

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Reply 8 of 14, by RacoonRider

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Just noticed there is no AGP port... Now I 100% get the choice of the videocard 😀 It was either that or low-end Radeon 9000 or 6200. And 5200 wins when it comes to compatibility.

Reply 9 of 14, by mattrock1988

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RacoonRider wrote:

Just noticed there is no AGP port... Now I 100% get the choice of the videocard 😀 It was either that or low-end Radeon 9000 or 6200. And 5200 wins when it comes to compatibility.

Yep! No AGP certainly isn't the greatest thing in the world, but this motherboard ticks off SO MANY other checkboxes for me in my perfect motherboard, that I decided to go for it anyway.

And yeah, for an FX series GeForce on PCI, this is probably the best it's gonna get without compromising on compatibility.

Retro PC: Intel Pentium III @ 1 GHz, Intel SE440BX-2, 32 GB IDE DOM, 384 MB SDRAM, DVD-ROM, 1.44 MB floppy, Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4600 AGP, Creative SoundBlaster AWE64 Gold, Aureal Vortex 2
I only rely on 86box these days. My Pentium 3 PC died. 🙁

Reply 10 of 14, by xjas

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Nice build! I really like the look of that case, it doesn't look dated at all & the carry handle is tops. Good job keeping it all black

Weird seeing a P3 board without AGP - was it intended for the industrial market or what? Even my dual-370 server board had AGP.

twitch.tv/oldskooljay - playing the obscure, forgotten & weird - most Tuesdays & Thursdays @ 6:30 PM PDT. Bonus streams elsewhen!

Reply 11 of 14, by mattrock1988

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xjas wrote:

Nice build! I really like the look of that case, it doesn't look dated at all & the carry handle is tops. Good job keeping it all black

Weird seeing a P3 board without AGP - was it intended for the industrial market or what? Even my dual-370 server board had AGP.

Hi xjas,

From what I understand, the M6VLR is a cost-reduced variant of another model motherboard from BIOSTAR. They opted for an integrated Trident Blade3D chip in lieu of a proper AGP slot.

The lack of AGP is disappointing, but for my particular needs, the PCI bus will more than suffice. Like I mentioned earlier, this build is nearly perfect in every other way, so I really can't complain. 😀

Thanks for the compliments on the case and setup. The design is both practical and stylish for this kind of system, I think.

Retro PC: Intel Pentium III @ 1 GHz, Intel SE440BX-2, 32 GB IDE DOM, 384 MB SDRAM, DVD-ROM, 1.44 MB floppy, Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4600 AGP, Creative SoundBlaster AWE64 Gold, Aureal Vortex 2
I only rely on 86box these days. My Pentium 3 PC died. 🙁

Reply 12 of 14, by mattrock1988

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Also, here are a few screenshots from this PC.

i7JEq3w.jpg

nspreNh.jpg

u9qg2fS.jpg

Retro PC: Intel Pentium III @ 1 GHz, Intel SE440BX-2, 32 GB IDE DOM, 384 MB SDRAM, DVD-ROM, 1.44 MB floppy, Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4600 AGP, Creative SoundBlaster AWE64 Gold, Aureal Vortex 2
I only rely on 86box these days. My Pentium 3 PC died. 🙁

Reply 13 of 14, by chinny22

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Yeh not ya run of the mill build. No AGP, DOM, It keeps things interesting here 😀
I like the black case. The 2 Floppy drives look suit it real well, plus no yellowing problems and better cooling.
Nice build all round! If the PCI video card can play all your games the way you want then its a non issue really.

Reply 14 of 14, by mattrock1988

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chinny22 wrote:

Yeh not ya run of the mill build. No AGP, DOM, It keeps things interesting here 😀
I like the black case. The 2 Floppy drives look suit it real well, plus no yellowing problems and better cooling.
Nice build all round! If the PCI video card can play all your games the way you want then its a non issue really.

Thanks chinny22!

The DOM is a generic Chinese manufactured model device that isn't the fastest flash disk I've encountered (in fact I suspect it might be made to the same NAND flash used in cheaper USB 2.0 flash drives). However, I love how it generates virtually no heat and noise, unlike older hard drives would.

Retro PC: Intel Pentium III @ 1 GHz, Intel SE440BX-2, 32 GB IDE DOM, 384 MB SDRAM, DVD-ROM, 1.44 MB floppy, Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4600 AGP, Creative SoundBlaster AWE64 Gold, Aureal Vortex 2
I only rely on 86box these days. My Pentium 3 PC died. 🙁

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