First post, by lutiana
Looking for some advice on my 1999 gaming build.
What I have:
BIOStar M7MKA Motherboard
AMD K7 600Mhz CPU (soon to be the AMD K7 700Mhz CPU with the faster 512kb of L2 cache).
256Mb PC-100 RAM (1x128mb 2x64Mb)
SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 (SB0010)
3Com 10/100Mbit 3C905 NIC
Here's where the need for advice comes in 😁
1. What GPU should I go with. I have a Voodoo3 3000, a Viper V770 (TNT2 Ultra) as well as some newer cards (GeForce FX5700LE, FX5500, some MX-400 and MX-440 GPUs). I don't think the 5xxx series cards make sense, as this board is only AGP2x, and those cards are all 8x from what I gather. So I am thinking it's a toss up between the Voodoo and the Viper. I am also not opposed to looking for a better performing card from the era, and the GPU is the one place I would be willing to push past 1999 by a few years to get better over all performance.
2. What OS? I am toying with Window ME, but I may just stick with 98SE, as it's generally a better, albeit older, OS. Windows 2000 is an option as well, though I think the 9x core is a better way to go.
3. I have not really decided what games I'll end up playing on this thing yet, but figure mostly titles between 1998 - 2000 or so. I also need some sort of virtual optical drive solution (thinking Alcohol 52% if I can find an old enough installer, but Daemon tools might work too).
4. Any other "must have" hardware for this build?
On a related note, I installed Windows ME with the Voodoo card, and then all the Window ME updates and patches. The system is quick, but I cannot for the life of me get either Alcohol 120% or Daemon tools to install and work (when they install and you reboot, the system hangs and I have to go into safe mode and do a system restore to get it up and running again), and this is why I am thinking to ditch ME for 98SE.