sliderider wrote:

"Budget considerations aside"

I wasn't aware that $40 for a 6800U or $30 for a 6600GT was so high it would put someone in the poor house. 🙄

And, no, your other assumption is wrong. I always recommend the GeForce 6 over the GeForce FX simply because it is a huge step up in performance for not a lot of money over the price of an FX card and because the FX cards are documented to be problematic with DX9 games and with high levels of detail turned on. Also, the GeForce 6 is the last card with a Windows 98 driver, so if you're building a Windows 98 system, go with GeForce6, if you're building a 2K or later system then go with a Radeon X800/X850 because they are faster. It is also very CPU dependent which card to go with. I wouldn't put a x1950 Pro or GF 7950 with a system from the early DX9 time frame simply because it would be bottlenecked by the CPU but it might be appropriate for a later system.

$40 can be overpriced depending on the market when one can go for as little as $10 after ship then again paying up 2500 Euros for a single V56k is on the high side.

archsan wrote:

Yes the FX series have support for paletted texture though I'm not sure if it's through dedicated hardware pipeline or emulated through shader in the driver (my guess would be the latter). A little background surrounding this issue here and here.

Interesting. So support for palettized textures was added later on. Yeah I really wonder how much hardware support for this is present in any GeForce. TNT 1/2 do not support it at all AFAIK. Riva 128 does though I think.

sliderider wrote:

"Budget considerations aside"

I wasn't aware that $40 for a 6800U or $30 for a 6600GT was so high it would put someone in the poor house. 🙄

Actually, I meant the price of current gen cards included. Add some extra to that $40 (but still under $100) and you can get a current gen DX 11 card that's also DirectX 9 compatible, if your target is DirectX 9 games. Because all DirectX 9 games I know can be installed in at least Win XP, there is no absolute need for Win98 on this front. Which means it's better to optimize the Win9x rig for backward compatibility instead, that's the point.

Of course, the current-gen card is meant for a current platform as well (sufficient CPU etc) so it's not directly related to OP. Forgive me then, for assuming that computer enthusiasts who invested a lot of energy on "retro rigs" will have another "current" machine somewhere in their cave. (Also forgive me for going too early in assuming that current gen stuff will be just as retro in the next ten years... I admit I didn't play a lot of modern games thinking that I'd just retro-to-the-max them someday 😁)

As for this "retro" machine on-topic, well, there are other things than speed. Just because "the GeForce 6 is the last card with a Windows 98 driver" doesn't mean it's the best for everyone. There are compatibility concerns also, and often it's more important for people building retro rigs to play games from pre-2000 era.

That's all I'm saying, my friend. 😀

swaaye wrote:

Interesting. So support for palettized textures was added later on. Yeah I really wonder how much hardware support for this is present in any GeForce. TNT 1/2 do not support it at all AFAIK. Riva 128 does though I think.

Radeons don't have it also. GF 1-4 suppposedly have it in hardware, if I'm not mistaken. But I'll take it the easy way: If you want real paletted texture for sure: go Voodoo. It'll always be there... 😁

Archsan:

I started losing interest in most PC games right around the time that DX9 went mainstream. TRON 2.0, Mafia, and the newer iterations of IL-2 Sturmovik are the only DX9 games that will likely see any action on my legacy Win98SE rig. The FX 5900 Ultra should be sufficient for all of those, since I last played those games on a GF3 Ti500 and they all ran pretty decent on that card too.

My biggest concerns are with two older flight sims:

Red Baron 3D with the unofficial Full Canvas Jacket mod and other community-created mods. This game is the reason I'm keeping the Voodoo 2 cards in the machine. I also bought a copy of Independence War years ago and I'd like to finally try it out. Again, I need the Voodoo 2 cards for that.

European Air War. As I mentioned before, this game is known to have problems with the GeForce 6800GT. It also has problems with the Radeon 9800XT, but a recent fan-made patch seems to have corrected the Radeon issues. Anyway, I wanted a system that can run it in its original glory with some FSAA. The 5900 Ultra should be perfect for this.

I actually have a semi-modern PC with a Phenom II X2 560 at 3.3ghz. On Black Friday, I got an EVGA 560Ti for it. I'm going to turn this one into my (soon to be) legacy WinXP machine. Although, this one can run Win7 really well too, so I may set it up for dual-booting. Anyway, this PC is good for anything DX9 and later.

I really think it's a good idea to build several legacy boxes to meet your needs for various "eras" of PC gaming that interest you. My old P200 with a Diamond Monster 3D Voodoo 1 card is also purpose built: EF2000 v2.0 Gfx+, MechWarrior 3D 3DFX, Archimedean Dynasty, and some old DOS games. I know there has been some progress with DOSBox and EF2000, but really, those 3 games still cannot be run well without a real, original Voodoo card.

Anyway, it looks like this thread is winding down, so I thought I'd let everybody know that I've decided not to use the Antec Basiq 350W power supply. See the other thread for details. Mostly, I really don't want any nagging thoughts about power issues in the back of my mind while using this PC. So, I ordered a 600W Rosewill PSU that provides 45A on the 5V rail. I'm also going to use the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra for the primary video.

I'm really looking forward to this new build. I've never really been into benchmarks or anything, but if anybody is interested and they can tell me how to do it, I'll run some and post the results.

Thank you all for your thoughts, opinions and insights! This site is a fantastic resource!

Thanks again!

I'm interested in hearing how your favorite games run in the 5900. Let us know how it all works out.