Opinions

1) If you only run a single video card for both operating systems you'll have to compromise between either compatibility for 98 or speed for XP. So not the best option.

2) 2 cards will give you better flexibility. I can't see any arguments there. Personally if I was building a 98+XP I would use AGP the slot for the very fastest card I could get. Even if thats an XP only card. Then just use a PCI voodoo 2 for windows 98. However thats only because anything higher than voodoo 2 in PCI has become hard to find and expensive. Is the glide API important to you? Voodoo 2 would also require the VGA loop back/video switch/multi input monitor*. Maybe a geforce 4 TI or something instead if they are cheaper/easier to find in PCI.

3) Don't know of a better one in PCI. None are perfect, but I'm pretty happy with the Vortex, other than some non critical driver annoyances.

*Just realised running 2 cards you'll need one of those anyway.

Yeah, i figured #2 was it. I also don't have any nostalgia for glide, only interest. So until then a fx5500/5600 pci and a 7800gs wouldn't actually be a bad combo. Ideally I'd get a voodoo 5, but they're $200. Yeah, I notice the voodoo 2 and 3 pci are most in my budget. I'm seeing voodoo 3 2000 pcis for about 30 loose and 80 mint.

I actually tried an agp Geforce 4 ti 4200 in a GA-8I865GME-775-RH motherboard (fairly similar to yours) and it showed graphics corruption for some reason. Worked in a Pentium 3 based mobo. A geforce 5 fx5200 did not have any issues. Not sure if that's relevant to your situation but thought I should mention it.

So anyway maybe an FX would be better the better choice. Only mentioned the 4 ti on instinct because they were fast in the final days of 98 gaming before the majority of gamers moved to XP. Hopefully you get some more responses to your video card question, but I think a fx5500/5600 would work nicely. It would just mean using slightly later drivers.

Very interesting machine.

Personally I see DOS and Windows 9x suits itself well for a hybrid machine, so does XP and Vista. I never thought about joining Windows 98 and XP, IMO these two don't mix very well. Unless you're building a Splinter Cell machine 🤣 , then get a GF4, which should work well enough in Windows 98

Yeah, I'll probably get the highest pci fx I can find if vodoo isn't an option, because my 5950ultra in the agp slot is working fantastic for 98 atm so I wouldn't see why the pci verisons wouldn't. But there are some pretty good deals on voodoo 3's out there atm.

I never thought about joining Windows 98 and XP, IMO these two don't mix very well.

Huh, surprised because on msfn these kinds of builds are pretty common. I guess the communities have very different priorities i.e. pushing limits vs just games. Of course, I'm interested in both 😀

Remember - the PCI version will peform considerably worse. Make a list of the games you wanna play, then see if they have any compatibility issues with GF6+. If not, just get a 6800 or 79x0 AGP card and be happy.

Well final fantasy 7, 8 and build engine games are most definitely games I want to play. So yeah, i'm probably gonna dual setup 😒