n3xu5 wrote:I'm considering building one of three possible machine configurations for 9x-Xp gaming. Either a P3 Tualatin 1.4, a dual P3 Tual […]
Show full quote
I'm considering building one of three possible machine configurations for 9x-Xp gaming. Either a P3 Tualatin 1.4, a dual P3 Tualatin 1.4, or a P4 3.2-800 Northwood.
-512mb-1gb memory depending on the cpu config.
-SB Live 5.1
-Windows Xp
If this is going to be a Win XP build then all of the above configurations suck- Especially the Tualatins, single or dual. (edit: ok, maybe the NW doesn't suck too hard- just remember to give it enough ram) Sorry but that's the hard truth. You'll be really limited by the motherboards/ ram. I ran XP on my 1.6ghz/ 512mb Tually system for a while doing benchmarks and stuff, but it was painfully slow by modern standards. For Win98 though it's a beastly system.
n3xu5 wrote:1. Are there any incompatibilities of running 1996-2001 games with a faster processor?
Nope. Faster = better for games in that time frame.
n3xu5 wrote:2. From the previously listed three, which cpu config would be better for gaming (no internet) on windows 96-2004 titles?
For XP? Northwood by a mile. A64 or Core 2 by 100 miles. Phenom/ Core i, probably 6 million miles.
n3xu5 wrote:3. Most of the games (i'm interested in) around 2002-2004 recommend playing with a 800Mhz-1Ghz+ processor, how would the Tualatin fair up at stock speeds with games from that 2 year span?
Games from that era were notorious for understating their cpu requirements, primarily to enlarge their potential market base by duping non savvy consumers into thinking their P3 (which many people had at the time was capable of running the latest DX8/9 titles).
Have a look at this list of popular games from 2002-2004 with recommended CPU requirements per the developer's claims.
2002
Age of Mythology Athlon 1Ghz
Beach Life Pentium III 800Mhz
Dungeon Siege Pentium II 333Mhz
Grand Theft Auto III Pentium III 450Mhz
Heroes of Might and Magic IV Pentium II 300Mhz
Mafia: City of Lost Heaven Pentium III 700Mhz
Medal of Honour Allied Assault Pentium III 450Mhz
Medieval: Total War Pentium II 350Mhz
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 Pentium III 800Mhz
Neverwinter Nights Pentium III 800Mhz
No One Lives Forever 2 Pentium III 1000Mhz
Star Wars II Jedi Outcast Pentium III 500Mhz
The Elder Scrolls 3 Morrowind Pentium III 800Mhz
Unreal Tournament 2003 Pentium III 1000Mhz
Warcraft III - Reign of Chaos Pentium III 600Mhz
2003
Age of Mythology - The Titans Athlon 1Ghz
Call of Duty Pentium III 600Mhz
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Pentium III 800Mhz
Halo: Combat Evolved Pentium III 733Mhz
IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles Pentium III 1000Mhz
Max Payne 2 Pentium 4 1.7Ghz
Need for Speed Underground Pentium III 700Mhz
Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark Pentium III 800Mhz
Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide Pentium III 800Mhz
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Pentium III 800Mhz
Rise of Nations Pentium III 500Mhz
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Pentium 4 1.6Ghz
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pentium III 800Mhz
Warcraft III- Frozen Throne Pentium III 600Mhz
XIII Pentium III 700Mhz
2004
Call of Duty: United Offensive Pentium III 600Mhz
Far Cry Pentium 4 2.0Ghz
Half Life 2 Pentium 4 2.4Ghz
IL-2 Sturmovik: Ace Expansion Pack Pentium III 1000Mhz
IL-2 Sturmovik: Pacific Fighters Pentium III 1000Mhz
Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth Pentium 4 2.0Ghz
Need for Speed Underground 2 Pentium III 933Mhz
Painkiller Pentium 4 2.4Ghz
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within Pentium III 1000Mhz
Sacred Pentium 4 1.5Ghz
Sid Meier's Pirates! Pentium 4 2.0Ghz
Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines Athlon 1.2Ghz
Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War Pentium III 1000Mhz
World of Warcraft Pentium 4 1.3Ghz
Most run like arse and look like arse on a P3, Tualatin or no Tualatin (2003 titles start slowing down, 2004 titles definitely limited all round). The chip is moderately powerful, but motherboard, ram, slow bus, etc, issues really drag things down.
Far Cry, HL2 and Vampire The Masquerade can make even a well sorted A64/ Prescott/ Pentium D system sweat.
n3xu5 wrote:4. I've been considering running a Geforce 4 ti4400 and possibly a pair of Voodoo 2's in SLI, will the ti4400 be a better performer in glide titles than V2 SLI?
Glide is 3dfx's proprietary API, so they're not directly comparable. Where Direct X is supported, the Ti is miles better in speed and quality. Example NFS: PU, V2 SLI only supports 800x600. It runs speedily enough with no hiccups, but at that low res, no AA, and 16 bit colour. The ti runs the same games with all the bells and whistles at 1280x1024 32 bit with AA.
Still fun to run it in Glide with the V2s though- but this is for nostalgia freaks only.
n3xu5 wrote:5. Is Directx 8 backwards compatible with DX-5,6,7, etc?
Yup.
n3xu5 wrote:6. I'm considering the ti4400 because I've read Nvidia is reported to have a higher success rate of backwards compatibility with older gaming. Would this be a good "end of period" card to max most games prior to 2003?
Good card, using one myself. But on a Win98 system because for XP you're really better off going for something more modern.
n3xu5 wrote:...if you have any suggestions or would do something differently please feel free to share.
If you're serious about building, then you're really looking at two systems here. One Win98 system with a Ti and V2 SLI for 96-01 games. And one XP rig, fast as you can build for 2002-2004. Minimum, probably a highly clocked Northwood/ 1gb ram/ GF 6800.
Just my 2 cents.