Hi there, senrew, looks like we're after similar goal--building a pure Win9x gaming box. I posted this on my own thread just hours ago.
archsan wrote:...you may find useful info from a surviving Win9x user-base on MSFN. Try this link for general Win9x hardware compatibility and this link for latest motherboards that support/have drivers for Win98. They have been my resource for configuring my 'final' Win9x system, so i recommend the site for anyone building a new PC for Win9x.
I'd like to dedicate a thread just for this purpose alone, but will make do with this post for now...
As for specifying any hardware requirements/specification, I think it's best to view things from the application side. In your case this is Win9x games (games for Windows 95/98/Me)-- and to breakdown them to more workable details:
Graphics APIs:
Direct3D 1-4 (early versions), but mostly are ver. 5, 6, 7, and 8
OpenGL 1.x
3dfx Glide (as said, there are Voodoo1 vs 2 vs Banshee/3/4/5 issue)
Speedy3D/Rredline (Rendition)
PowerSGL (PowerVR)
Sound APIs/extensions:
DirectSound
A3D 1.0, 2.0 (there is also 3.0 with Vortex2)
EAX 1-2, EAX 'AdvancedHD' 3.0 (i don't know of Win9x-only games that support EAX 4.0)
I recommend a newer board/CPU combo like the VIA K8x800-based mobo (AGP) + AMD K8/9-generation for a boost in raw power. As you seems to like P3 more than P4, i'd suggest a Core 2 Duo if you want to go Intel (only single core will be used for Win98 though), you can find a recommendation for Win98-compatible motherboard on the second link above. This is especially if you like to go for newer things and max out the performance of (most) Win9x games. And you may also use newer SATA drives (with a few issues to address, please read the first link)
On graphics, i'd recommend a Geforce FX series. I read that an FX5600/5800 has DX7/8 hardware, while on FX 5700/5900 and ATI 9600/9700/9800, DX7/8 units are 'rerouted' to their DX9 units. I can't confirm yet if it won't cause any problem with older DX 7-8 games (i've used a Radeon 8500 for Win98 before).
The Geforce FX series is also recommended over 6 series by Zeckensack for glidewrapper, because of its hardware support for 8-bit palletized texture. Another plus for a retro Win9x machine, i suppose. NVidia, at least in the past, usually has better OpenGL drivers than ATI (CMIIW), so it's another plus. (don't get me wrong--i actually really like ATI cards--9700 in particular)
Adding a V1 or V2 (with workarounds for older glide games) is always an easy option. As for the other renderers, usually there is a Glide version or D3D/OpenGL version of the game. It's up to you to decide if you want support for the other minor renderers.