https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-J229FzKXk&t=398s

LinusTechTips had a video on the original xbox dev kits , dunno if that might help ya or not.

Hello. The CPU in the original Xbox console isn't exactly a PIII-733 as it has half of the L2 cache. Some of the later Intel chipsets for Pentium III supports RDRAM which is significantly faster than SDRAM.

Lastly, games on the Xbox have specific optimizations that aren't found on PC platform because of "fixed" hardware in consoles. So don't except a 1:1 experience.

Gmlb256 wrote on 2023-02-11, 13:47:

Hello. The CPU in the original Xbox console isn't exactly a PIII-733 as it has half of the L1 cache. Some of the later Intel chipsets for Pentium III supports RDRAM which is significantly faster than SDRAM.

Lastly, games on the Xbox have specific optimizations that aren't found on PC platform because of "fixed" hardware in consoles. So don't except a 1:1 experience.

Thanks for the input. I'm aware that games won't run 1:1 but it's to see theoretically what similar pc hardware would produce as a fun experiment.

I've never seen the point on doing such things since no one would want to do such things at the time but whatever floats your boat. If you are trying to match monetarily then keep in mind the xbox sold at a loss and the console itself is not where the money is made.

Don't make any assumptions off the build you build since that's not what PC gamers were using. PC gamers were and are using all types of different hardware and if they were going to build a new system it wouldn't be to match xbox hardware but to suit what they needed which may or may not exceed xbox hardware depending on what they built and what software they were using.

I think I remember someone getting Windows 98 working on the original XBOX (without emulation) but I doubt there was any working GPU drivers.

Here is what I as an enthusiast was using during that time, note that I've never been too crazy. I do my research and my what makes sense for my needs and budget and don't go to extremes. So people that are crazy stupid with money could always build better systems.

Feb 28 2001 to 3-2-2001?

POS Proview 15" Monitor
Coolercase "Extreme-XS" w/ 431W PSU
2XP3-700E@966 v1.85 138Mhz bus X 7 1/4
2X Alpha FC-PAL6035MUC Heatsinks
Abit VP6
4X128m=512M Mushkin Rev3 @133
Hercules 3D Prophet 2 GTS 64M 220C/360M Bios v3.15.00.12
PCI2/SoundBlaster Live! Platinum 5.1 with LiveDrive
PCI3/Hollywood Plus Decoder Card
PCI4/Hauppauge WinTV Theatre
PCI5/NetGear FA310TX
Floppy 3.5"
PMIDE1/IBM 75GXP 45GB DMA/100 (OPS,Apps,Games)
SMIDE2/Pioneer 16X Slot DVD-105F
SSIDE2/Plextor 12X10X32A CDR v1.08
PMIDE3/IBM 75GXP 45GB DMA/100 (RAID,Video)
PMIDE4/IBM 75GXP 45GB DMA/100 (RAID,Video)
Rounded 66 IDE Cables
Cambridge SoundWorks DTT3500 Digital Speakers
Windows 2000 Professional slipstreamed SP1
Service Pack 2, RC 2.52
Nvidia 7.52 Drivers w/6.50 cpl
Directx 8.0a
Via 4.29Beta Drivers (No Busmaster)

May 8 2001

Sony 21" E500
Coolercase "Extreme-XS" w/ 431W PSU
2XP3-1000@1125Mhz v1.70 150Mhz bus X 7 1/4
2X Alpha FC-PAL6035MUC Heatsinks
Abit VP6
4X128m=512M Mushkin Rev3 @150mhz
Hercules 3D Prophet 2 GTS 64M 200C/333M Bios v3.15.00.13.01
PCI2/SoundBlaster Live! Platinum 5.1 with LiveDrive
PCI3/Creative DXR3 Decoder Card
PCI4/Hauppauge WinTV Theatre
PCI5/NetGear FA310TX
Floppy 3.5"
PMIDE1/Plextor 16X10X40A CDR
PSIDE1/IBM 75GXP 45GB DMA/100 (BACKUP)
SMIDE2/Pioneer 16X Slot DVD-105F
SSIDE2/NONE
PMIDE3/IBM 75GXP 45GB DMA/100 (RAID0=OS/APPS/GAMES)
PMIDE4/IBM 75GXP 45GB DMA/100 (RAID0=OS/APPS/GAMES)
Windows 2000 Professional slipstreamed SP1/Whistler ProfessionalBeta 2 Build 2462
Nvidia 12.10 Drivers
Beta 2 D3D drivers
Directx 8.1 Build 579
Via 4.30 Drivers (No Busmaster)

JUL 20 2001

Monitor =Sony E500 21"
Speakers =Creative Soundworks DTT3500 Digital
Mouse =Microsoft Intellimouse PS/2
Joystick =Microsoft Precision Pro
Gamepad =Microsoft Sidewinder Original
Keyboard =Generic 104k Keyboard
Case =Coolercase "Extreme-XS" MidTower w/ 431W PSU
Motherboard=Abit VP6
Processor =Dual P3-1000@1125Mhz v1.75 150Mhz bus X 7.5 1/4
Cooling =2X Alpha FC-PAL6035MUC Heatsinks
Memory =4X128m=512M Mushkin Rev3 @150mhz
Video =Hercules 3D Prophet 3 200C/460M Bios v3.20.00.10
Floppy =3.5"
MOBO CONTROLLER
PMIDE1/Pioneer 16X Slot DVD-105F
PSIDE1/EMPTY
SMIDE2/Plextor 16X10X40A CDR
SSIDE2/EMPTY
HPT370 RAID CONTROLLER
PMIDE3/IBM 75GXP 45GB DMA/100 (RAID0=GAMES/VIDEO)
PSIDE3/EMPTY
PMIDE4/IBM 75GXP 45GB DMA/100 (RAID0=GAMES/VIDEO)
PSIDE4/EMPTY
PCI1/Hauppauge WinTV Theatre
PCI2/Adaptec 29160N Ultra160 SCSI (ID7)
ID6 IBM Ultrastar 36LZX 18.3GB Ultra160 (2KAS,2KAPPS,WHAS,WHAPPS)
ID5 IBM Ultrastar 36LZX 18.3GB Ultra160 (BACKUP)
PCI3/SoundBlaster Live! Platinum 5.1 with LiveDrive
PCI4/Realmagic Hollywood +
PCI5/NetGear FA310TX
Windows 2000 Advanced Server slipstreamed SP2/Whistler Advanced Server Beta 2 Build 2462
Nvidia 14.20 Drivers
Directx 8.1 Built 648
Via 4.32 AGP Drivers

Dec 1 2001

MotherBoard, CPU, Ram, Video, Monitor:

------------------------------------------------------

* Dual Pentium III 1ghz (overclocked to 1166mhz solid & stable)

* Abit VP6-R SMP/Dual CPU motherboard with YT Modified bios HPT370 2.0.1024 BIOS

* HighPoint 370 onboard striping/mirroring ATA-100 capable

* 768mb CORSAIR SDRAM PC-150 CAS2 speed set Cas/3 & Turbo mode

* Asus v8200 T5 Deluxe (Geforce 3 Ti500) 240C/500M v3.20.00.18 Bios

* 21" Sony E500 75hz refresh rate @32-bit "True-Color" 1280x1024

Disks:

------------------------------------------------------

SCSI CONTROLLER Adaptec 29160N Ultra160 (ID7)

* 1 IBM Ultrastar 36LZX 18.3GB Ultra160 (C:,D:,E:,F:,G smile 1gb FAT16 partition for OS boot files, 2 4gb NTFS partitions for NT4 Workstation, 2 4GB FAT32 partitions for Windows 9x.

* 1 IBM Ultrastar 36LZX 18.3GB Ultra160 (H:,I:,J:.K 😀, 4 NTFS Partitions, Windows 2000 Professional/Windows XP Professional

* 1 Ol' Floppy 3.5"

* Pioneer 16X Slot DVD-106S DMA/66 1.22 Bios

* Plextor 24X10X40A ATAPI CDR DMA/33 1.01 Bios

* IBM 60GXP 61.5GB DMA/100 (GAMES) HPT370

* IBM 60GXP 61.5GB DMA/100 (IMAGES) HPT370

* IBM 42GB DMA/66 (BACKUP) Onboard mobo controller

Sound & Multimedia:

------------------------------------------------------

* Soundblaster Audigy Ex

* Creative Soundworks DTT3500 Digital

* Hauppauge WinTV Theatre (Currently out of system)

* Realmagic Hollywood Plus Decoder Card

Input Devices:

------------------------------------------------------

* Generic 104k Keyboard

* Microsoft Intellimouse Optical SE

* Microsoft Precision Pro Joystick

* Microsoft Sidewinder Gamepad Original

Telecommunications & Networking:

------------------------------------------------------

* NetGear FA310TX

* 1394 Firewire on Audigy EX

* 4 USB ports

Cooling & Case + OS makeup:

------------------------------------------------------

* Coolercase "Extreme-XS" MidTower w/ 431W PSU (2 Fans on top of case, 2 fans on side of case, 2X Alpha FC-PAL6035MUC Heatsinks on processors, Outake fan on inside of case.

Windows 9x/Windows NT4 Workstation.Windows²ººº Pro Service Pack #2/XP QUAD

Nvidia 23.10 Reference Drivers

DirectX 8.1 Build 881 /Windows 2000

Directx 8.1 Build 810 /Windows XP

Via 4.35 AGP Drivers

Quake 3 1.30

demo four

Everything to the MAX

320X240 scores are set to the minimum.

R_SMP0/1

16b

320x240 =144.0/156.0

400x300 =128.1/148.8

512x384 =127.7/149.1

640x480 =127.1/148.4

800x600 =126.5/147.7

856x480 =130.7/151.0

960x720 =126.8/145.3

1024x768 =125.5/143.5

1152x864 =124.6/138.2

1280x1024=121.1/127.6

1600x1200=107.7/103.1

2048x1536= 74.1/ 67.3

32b

320x240 =144.0/156.0

400x300 =129.1/149.5

512x384 =129.1/149.5

640x480 =128.7/148.9

800x600 =127.9/147.4

856x480 =132.1/151.6

960x720 =128.0/143.8

1024x768 =126.1/140.1

1152x864 =124.1/131.6

1280x1024=116.5/116.9

1600x1200= 97.5/ 89.4

2048x1536= 70.1/ 64.3

2-28-2002

Monitor =Sony E500 21"
Speakers =Creative Soundworks DTT3500 Digital
Mouse =Microsoft Intellimouse Optical SE
Joystick =Microsoft Precision Pro
Gamepad =Microsoft Sidewinder Original
Keyboard =Generic 104k Keyboard
Case =Coolermaster ATCS-110 w/Enermax EG651P 550W PSU
Motherboard=Abit KR7A-RAID
Processor =AMD Athlon XP 2000 @1666mhz 133X12.5
Cooling =Alpha PAL8045
Memory =Corsair 256MB DDR XMS2400 CAS2 (2 DIMMS)
Video =Asus v8200 T5 Deluxe (Geforce 3 Ti500) 240C/500M v3.20.00.18 Bios
Floppy =3.5"
MOBO Controller
PMIDE1/Pioneer 16X Slot DVD-106S DMA/66 1.22 Bios
PSIDE1/Empty
SMIDE2/IBM 60GXP 61.5GB DMA/100 (BACKUP2)
SSIDE2/Plextor 24X10X40A CDR DMA/33 1.01 Bios
HPT370 CONTROLLER
PMIDE3/Maxtor L080J4 80GB DMA/133@133 (OS)
SSIDE3/IBM 60GXP 61.5GB DMA/100 (BACKUP1)
SMIDE4/Maxtor L080J4 80GB DMA/133@133 (GAMES)
SSIDE4/Maxtor L080J4 80GB DMA/133@133 (IMAGES)
PCI1/EMPTY
PCI2/Soundblaster Audigy Ex
PCI3/EMPTY
PCI4/NetGear FA310TX NIC
PCI5/EMPTY
PCI6/Hauppauge WINTV Theatre
Windows 2000 Pro slipstreamed SP2/Windows XP Pro (2000 Main OS)
Nvidia 27.20 Reference Drivers
DirectX 8.1 Build 881 /Windows 2000
Directx 8.1 Build 810 /Windows XP
Via 4.37 4-in-1

I'll explain my motivation a bit. I've always been hardcore into pcs and desired the latest and greatest that suited my needs. But often I would go to a friend's house and play games with them on their xbox and have the time of my life despite the much inferior hardware. I really came to respect the xbox and honestly as far as consoles were concerned it had the best looking games. Just compare Far Cry Instincts to Far Cry on PC and its certainly no push over.

I just think it would be fun to go back and compare the xbox to its pc equivalent from the time and compare how games would work on it and what concessions developers from the time made to get it to work. Like said before its not going to be a 1:1 comparison but perhaps through tweaks to ini files and other adjustments in the game's settings a similar result can be achieved. Again just a fun experiment. Perhaps a slightly more capable direct x 9 gpu would be better suited for trying to run the more pixel shader heavy games on xbox but I would just have to experiment.

Besides tuned software, I'd think the memory model of the Xbox would make the large difference. On PC, 64MB's already a struggle for new 2000 games.

A similar computer would be like building a Dreamcast PC out of a P3 600 or a AMD K6-3 (CPUs with SIMD extensions) and a PowerVR Neon250 (about the same chip as CLX2) but it'd be not quite up to being the Dreamcast experience as the prettier games designed for DC took advantage of the extensions on the special SH4 to push vectors (i.e. SoulCalibur), and pre-compressed VQ textures which weren't available for PC use in Neon250 drivers. but at least there's the distinct 640x480x16 dithered rendering to compare with a DC on VGA out, as well as some assorted DC multiplats with Windows releases (Sega Rally 2, Trickstyle, Kiss Psycho Circus, PSO, The Grinch, MDK2, etc) as well as some WinCE games that had been ported from windows versions that would be more 1:1 (Starlancer, 4x4 Evo, etc).

leileilol wrote on 2023-02-11, 23:34:

Besides tuned software, I'd think the memory model of the Xbox would make the large difference. On PC, 64MB's already a struggle for new 2000 games.

A similar computer would be like building a Dreamcast PC out of a P3 600 or a AMD K6-3 (CPUs with SIMD extensions) and a PowerVR Neon250 (about the same chip as CLX2) but it'd be not quite up to being the Dreamcast experience as the prettier games designed for DC took advantage of the extensions on the special SH4 to push vectors (i.e. SoulCalibur), and pre-compressed VQ textures which weren't available for PC use in Neon250 drivers. but at least there's the distinct 640x480x16 dithered rendering to compare with a DC on VGA out, as well as some assorted DC multiplats with Windows releases (Sega Rally 2, Trickstyle, Kiss Psycho Circus, PSO, The Grinch, MDK2, etc) as well as some WinCE games that had been ported from windows versions that would be more 1:1 (Starlancer, 4x4 Evo, etc).

You sound like someone who understands this process a little better 🤣. I considered that perhaps a 1:1 copy of the hardware for pc would probably not quite match the xbox being that the pc has a lot more overhead than the consoles and much different optimizations as well. Perhaps it'd be more fruitful to use the general performance and graphical quality of xbox games as a point of reference for finding the closest pc configuration that matches instead. Ultimately I'm trying to compare apples to oranges but the whole process sounds fun to undertake.

Building a PC to match the original Xbox in terms of hardware is a unique and interesting project! Your research and component choices seem well thought out. Here are a few thoughts:
1. CPU and GPU: The Intel Pentium III and NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti4200 are solid choices to mimic the original Xbox's performance. The underclocking adjustments make sense for closer emulation.
2. Memory: Going with PC133 SDRAM is a suitable alternative since the Pentium III didn't support DDR. It's great that you're striving to match the specs as closely as possible.
3. Storage: The Seagate ST310014ACE 10GB 5400RPM hard drive choice aligns with the original Xbox's storage capacity.
For more in-depth discussions and recommendations on PC builds and hardware matching, you can explore https://multitechverse.com/. It's a great community for tech enthusiasts who can provide further insights and advice.

JamyBalys wrote on 2023-11-08, 14:43:

1. CPU and GPU: The Intel Pentium III and NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti4200 are solid choices to mimic the original Xbox's performance. The underclocking adjustments make sense for closer emulation.

One thing to watch for is that the XBOX Gpu can double issue some pixel shader instructions, which means it has more like 12 instructions vs 8 in a PS1.1.

So oddly a down clocked ATI PS1.4 may be a better match to what the XBOX did. We hit these problems with Silent Hill 2, as we tried to use XBOX shaders on PC and doesn't quite fit as you would expect (Technically PS1.3 . would be a closer match but nobody used it, only device to have that profile was Permedia 3 IIRC)

Technically OGL using the register combined extension on GF3/4 could get closer to what the XBOX had, but then most games on PC where using PS1.1 at the time.