I really suggest looking for nForce 2 Ultra 400 instead. It will be a snappier system. There is something about VIA chipsets that always seems slightly sluggish to me (perhaps their IDE controller).

If you want to consider VIA, I would look for a board with KT333. That's a nice setup with a lot of Win9x flexibility since you can run Voodoo5 (AGP 2x) but also have lots of CPU speed.

swaaye wrote:

I really suggest looking for nForce 2 Ultra 400 instead. It will be a snappier system. There is something about VIA chipsets that always seems slightly sluggish to me (perhaps their IDE controller).

If you want to consider VIA, I would look for a board with KT333. That's a nice setup with a lot of Win9x flexibility since you can run Voodoo5 (AGP 2x) but also have lots of CPU speed.

Thing is, I already have a MSI KT880 Delta http://us.msi.com/product/mb/KT880-Delta-Seri … ml#/?div=Detail. I suppose I could look around for a nForce 2 Ultra 400 board instead -- have any suggestions? I already have a XP 3000+ and a GF4 Ti4600 or 6800 Ultra. My 440BX system can handle all Glide games no problem.

Well, I just ordered a Epox EP-8RDA+ for $23 shipped; not a bad price since all other nForce2 400 Ultra boards from Asus, MSI and Gigabyte are going for $40+ on the eBay.

Just watch for dodgy capacitors. Broads from that period are known to have problems.

NJRoadfan wrote:

Just watch for dodgy capacitors. Broads from that period are known to have problems.

Seller says the manufacturer repaired the board and installed brand new, hi-rel caps. 😊

I have a similar board. EPoX 8RDA3I Pro.
Rock stable and all-around awesome, I think you'll love it 😀. Although, I don't see much point in such late Athlon XP hardware, late socket 478 stuff usually trumps it. And you don't get AGP 2x, so no Voodoo 5 for ya.
It was a great first-time experience for me though, always heard awesome things about Nforce2.

F2bnp wrote:

I have a similar board. EPoX 8RDA3I Pro.
Rock stable and all-around awesome, I think you'll love it 😀. Although, I don't see much point in such late Athlon XP hardware, late socket 478 stuff usually trumps it. And you don't get AGP 2x, so no Voodoo 5 for ya.
It was a great first-time experience for me though, always heard awesome things about Nforce2.

Yeah -- I can't wait. I was excited about the KT880; but after reading more about the nForce 2 400 Ultra, I see why it was so awesome. What do you guys think about a video card? I can go with either a GF4 Ti 4600, 6800 Ultra, 9800 Pro, etc, etc. I have a stock of many graphic cards from that era, especially a V5 (wont be using!). Maybe throw in a V2 just for fun?

Hudson187 wrote:

Seller says the manufacturer repaired the board and installed brand new, hi-rel caps. 😊

EPoX has been out of business for many years. Even if it was an old warranty repair, I doubt they used quality stuff.

Hudson187 wrote:

Yeah -- I can't wait. I was excited about the KT880; but after reading more about the nForce 2 400 Ultra, I see why it was so awesome. What do you guys think about a video card? I can go with either a GF4 Ti 4600, 6800 Ultra, 9800 Pro, etc, etc. I have a stock of many graphic cards from that era, especially a V5 (wont be using!). Maybe throw in a V2 just for fun?

I'd go with the 6800 Ultra, for its awesome speed and generally low performance impact when using AA & AF (using both will kill perfomance on GeForce 4 cards). There's also a wide range of AA modes and it works with Win98SE if you want to use it 😀

Either 6800 Ultra or 5900 Ultra. FX series has support for pallettized textures if that is useful to you. They both have similar anti-aliasing and anisotropic filter features. Obviously 6800 is considerably faster.

swaaye wrote:

Either 6800 Ultra or 5900 Ultra. FX series has support for pallettized textures if that is useful to you. They both have similar anti-aliasing and anisotropic filter features. Obviously 6800 is considerably faster.

At work right now, so I can't check -- does the 6800 Ultra support Fog Table emulation?

Hudson187 wrote:

At work right now, so I can't check -- does the 6800 Ultra support Fog Table emulation?

Yes it does. Note that Radeon cards do not.