Core 2 Duo E6700 + GTX 260 (with 2x 2GB RAM, if they work on your board).
If that E6700 is PDC (and not C2D), you should be able to OC it a bit (assuming board allows CPU multiplier control).

What would you say is your most demanding XP game?
Personally I have a LGA775 and GTX590 and honestly nothing comes close to pushing any of the hardware to the limit, so some of your mid range cards may be fine.

I don't really see the point of overclocking old hardware. If you need more performance just upgrade.
I like Intel/Nvidia because driver stability. I also don't limit myself to period correct so would put the fastest card I have.
But I also like playing with old hardware so with the left over parts build the AMD + SLI setup. Even it was just for a short time then pull apart and sell.

In general a C2D will be faster than the Athlon 64. You really need a Phenom II x2 to keep up with the C2D clock for clock. That's my experience. I've built and benchmarked a ton of LGa775 and AM2+/AM3 builds.

I would go for AMD if computer have AGP slot for graphics card.

Otherwise 8800GTS and Intel sounds cool retro computer for XP era.

I have thoughs about to stick with core2duo and use 8800gt single slot so i can have more pci slots for example good soound card etc .

XAZXGG wrote on 2024-03-10, 21:57:

I just want stable no blue screen reliable machine that can run for days with no restart so...would my windows XP be more stable with core duo or athlon 64x2 ...

If that's the case, definitely stick to the Intel motherboard here.

While both Intel and AMD CPUs are rock-steady for Windows XP (and in general), the motherboard's chipset(s) play an important role as well.

Intel chipsets are among the most stable and reliable, at least back in the day (cannot say the same about modern stuff.) Anything from the 900 series is right from the late XP era and very mature.
On the other hand, nVidia chipsets after nForce 3 are pretty terrible for reliability. nForce 4 is borderline OK only if given ample cooling. nForce 500 series and especially anything from the 600 and 700 series is bumpgate dumpster fodder.
So while I do like MSI boards, and that K9N SLI Platinum would make for a really cool XP build, I can't recommend it for long-term reliability. Perhaps if you had cool-running video cards and provided the chipset(s) lots of good cooling, it might last long enough. In terms of CPU power, though, the Intel board is in the lead again: the E6700 is roughly equivalent to an X2 6000+. That being said, X2 5600+ & 5700+ are not too far behind it (even 5200+ is close.) The E6300 is a little weaker and more or less inline with the 4400+. For gaming, the E6700 would probably give you the best FPS. But if you intend to use programs that might benefit from more than 2 cores, then having the option to go with a quad core like the Q6600 would be another plus. Just keep in mind that the Q6600 is a bit of a hot-runner and uses a good chunk of power more than the dual cores, particularly under load. The one thing I do like about the AM2 AMDs is that they lend themselves nicely to under-volting, even in OEM motherboards without any options in BIOS (I use Crystal CPUID for this). When not doing anything CPU-intensive, I idle my X2 6000+ to 2.4 GHx @ 1.175V (IIRC) bump it up slightly to 2.8 Ghz @ 1.25V for more CPU-intensive stuff. This shaves off a good 15-20W of the TDP and it runs a lot cooler.

As for video cards, I personally like the "upper" mid-range stuff like GeForce 9600 GT and Radeon HD4670. These are a decent match for the power of the older Core 2 and AMD X2 CPUs while not being too power hungry either. Otherwise, 8800 GTS 320 is a classic from the late XP era... but power-wise and temperature-wise, it's a bad boy. Would certainly have to use the CoolerMaster PSU with any of the higher-end GPUs, as that might be a more reliable option in the long term. The MS "500W" might be a generic capable of no more than 200-250W total, so running it with a high-power GPU like the GTX260... and especially a Q6600... might = POW! 🔥

Oh and BTW, avoid the GeForce 7900 GS/GT cards - those are very likely to fail, being from the bumpgate era and all. Same with the 8800 GTS 320. Only water cooling or extreme aftermarket coolers can keep these alive.

Thank you all for opinions . I decided to go with ATHLON 64 x2 ,4 gb ram and SLI option . 8800GTS (G80) 320mb SLI . Just for fun factor to play with hardware 😁
I will post my experience for day or two i hope i wont ran in some issues or blown capacitors 😁

Greetings to all , I decided to stick with Intel MBO and core2duo E6700 2.66 and 8800 GT 512mb . Since my AMD build with SLI was kinda buggy glitchy , and its so noisy . Experience is great .

For Windows XP I kept my FX8350 in 2020 when upgraded to 3700x, alongside with 980Ti (has Windows XP drivers) . No need to buy a retro hardware. Works great. I also added Audigy 2 ZS.

I also have an ASUS A8V Deluxe with 4400 Athlon64X2, 9600 PRO and SB Live! 5.1. for Windows 98se and early Windows XP. But If you want only Windows XP era try a modern build with newer hardware that supports XP.

I usually go with Intel. Their chipsets are top-notch, although AMD's 760 series is pretty good as well, as AMD's older days suffered from most boards using third-party chipsets that were anywhere from terrible to mediocre. Intel stuff, especially LGA 775 is usually more prevalent and less expensive. Not at all to say I wouldn't enjoy building an FM2 system or something like that one day.

XAZXGG wrote on 2024-03-10, 21:57:

general purposes of gaming ( games til 2007/ 2008 i think )

GPUs I own : 8800 GT 512mb , Nvidia quadro fx 1800, 9800GTX , ASUS TOP 9800GTX+ , 2x gainward 9600GT 512, 7900GS (but its weak i think ) , 8800 GTS 320mb / 320bit, GTX 260 OEM 1.72gb version , ATI 3850,3650,4850 and a lot more but others are gtx 400 series HD6000's and above and i dont want to use those because i think it would not be periodicaly correct .

If you want to go up to 2008, you have to reconsider give up on period correctness with the graphics card. Some games that late into the XP era demand a very late high-end graphics card if you want to run them in high (for the period like 1600×1200 and 1920×1200) resolution with maxed out graphics settings. Something like a GTX275/280/285. You are better off getting a GTX650 Ti or 750Ti for pocket change. If you limit yourself to average (for the time, like 1680×1050 and 1280×1024) resolution, you can get away with the 9800GTX+, but you can expect sub-60 fps from some games.

For the CPU, the XP era is not particularly demanding, the Q6600 was an adequate CPU well into the 2010s paired with significantly faster graphics cards than anything in the XP era.

XAZXGG wrote on 2024-03-17, 09:31:

Greetings to all , I decided to stick with Intel MBO and core2duo E6700 2.66 and 8800 GT 512mb . Since my AMD build with SLI was kinda buggy glitchy , and its so noisy . Experience is great .

That should be a nice build.

XP lasted a long time. Unless you have a strong emotional attachment to a particular system that you used, my general rule is that it depends on what period--

Early Socket A Athlons were tricky and prone to burn out. Many P4's were hot & inefficient. Not to mention bad caps that affected everything from that time, so I'd just skip builds from the 2001-2004 timeframe unless you are trying to prove something.

< 2001 hardware: Pentium III & Slot Athlon better than K6
2004-2006 : Athlon Barton & Athlon64 > P4
2007-2010: Core2Duo > Phenom or Bulldozer

And the quality of the motherboard chipset is always important.

I also got my hands on P III . Is it okay for 98se build ? or should i go with pentium 2 .
I also have cyrix below 200mhz and 16mb ram not sure what to do with that 🤣

PIII is a great fit for 98se. Even a PII 450 would already be struggling with the likes of Quake 2, you'd have to rely on your XP pc a lot. I have both and sometimes switch them around since Slot 1 makes it easy, I mostly use a 266 P2 because it'll throttle all the way down to 133 for Daggerfall and such. Don't get the wrong idea though, the amount of DOS games which work with a P2 but not a P3 is quite limited. Most later (like 1992< or so) titles are fine on either.