First post, by Regressed93
Ok, so I have been working on this part list for over two months now bouncing the gpu, cpu, motherboard and ram around trying desperately to piece together a truly "High End Windows 98 Gaming Pc" to scratch my retro gaming itch and to provide me with endless hours of Nostalgia filled joy, and I must say even for the 90's, one was truly spoiled for choice.
I would like to clarify what I am defining by "High End" as it can become unclear as to exactly what I am in pursuit of.
So when I say "High End", I mean the absoloute best of the best of the best, the hardware that only the rich of the time could afford, for example , if the 386 was the affordable version of the 486(I know it's the sucessor, I'm trying to make my point) then the 486 is a high end cpu, you get the point.
OH, and I'm looking to keep period apprropriate, seeing as Windows 98's Extended Support ended in 2006, I said to myself "I shall not choose any parts beyond 2006, I desire to keep the authenticity of this build in check"
Anyways, down below is the part list, I just copied it from my Google Docs Document and is formatted in a way that makes finding the part easy for me(Prices are from Ebay listings largely and are in AUD), also for clarity I will explain my reason for choosing each part.
High-End Windows 95/98 Gaming Machine
CPU/Cooler/Motherboard Combo: Asus P4P8T REV 1.02 Socket 478 Motherboard With Intel Pentium 3.00 GHz Cpu - $85.05
>Where to begin, It goes without saying when it comes to games More GHz IS better so naturally I gravitated towards that 3GHz, I wanted to include a Dual Core CPU but many sites and threads say Windows 98 CANNOT use more than one core andsome sites and threads say Hyperthreded cpus can actually harm Windows 98's performance, I would like further context on these two matters so I can understand better.
Memory: 1GB Kit (2x512MB) Kingston DDR1 RAM PC3200U 400MHz CL3 Kvr400x64c3ak2/1g - $17.47
>Correct me if I am wrong but isnt Windows 98 a 32-Bit Operating System, which means it SHOULD be able to handle up to 4gb or Memory?
>Anyways, Many threads and sites say while Windows 98 can RUN with more memory, out of the box it will only handle 1gb so I chose the fastest 1gb DDR1 Kit I could find.
Operating System and Core Programs Drive: Samsung 60GB 5400rpm IDE, ATA, PATA Internal Hard Disk Drives - $8.67
>My inner modern PC Builder Instincts were figting so hard when choosing this, I know for a solid fact that PATA/IDE is far slower than SATA, and even in the HDD space 5400rpm is slow compared to 7500rpm, but this is where my lack of knowledge in Old-School PC Hard Drives really shows.
Video Games Drive: Samsung HM121HC 2.5 120 GB /5400RPM/8M/IDE-PATA Hard Drive For laptop HDD - $26.99
>I like having my games all installed for convenience so I doubled up on the boot drives Storage.
Video Card: Creative Geforce4 TI 4600 128MB AGP - $512.48
>I DESPERATELY wanted to put a 3DFX Voodoo 5 in this, I wanted a system powered with 3DFX, but sadly even 3DFX's best was no match for Nvidia's best, so naturally I chosen Nvidia's best.
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster 16 PCI CT5807 Sound Card - $50.00
>Sound Blaster 16, Iconic, Notorious, And I simply HAD TO HAVE IT in this build.
Power Supply: Corsair TX850M 850W 80 Plus Gold 850W ATX Black - $254.48
>I'm still tryna find a time period appropriate PSU, this is moreso placeholding.
Case: NEW TECHMEDIA AT PENTIUM BAREBONE TOWER SYSTEM 1.44, MB I/O PORTS KB USB MOUSE - $319.50
>Three words, Big Beige Case, nuff said.
Optical Drive: Genuine ASUS SATA CD DVD±RW IDE Rewriteable Optical Drive DRW-20141LT - $39.90
>Optical Drives have been and shall continue to be relevant so long as there is media on disks, when EVERYTHING on ALL physical media is available digitally, then I will annex an optical drive.
>Sorry, I am a big time advocate for Optical drives so naturally I go into Optical Drive defence mode.
>But in all seriousness, you don't build a Windows 98 Gaming PC without one because back then, you actually needed one.
Operating System: Brand new genuine Windows 98 Second Edition Operating System CD-ROM and key - $145.00
>Can't have a High End Windows 98 Gaming PC without the Windows 98 SE Operating System now can I?
Zip Drive: Iomega Zip 100 drive ATAPI IDE - tested and working - $99.99
>Pointless drive I added because, Why the hell not?
5.25” Floppy Drive: Floppy Disk Drive 5 1/4 inch Chinon FZ-506 1.2 Mb - $119.00
>Even more Pointless drive added because why the hell not?
Total(Without Postage): $1,678.53
Total Postage: $557.51
Total(With Postage): $2,236.04
So yeah, Clearly I have an obsession with Filling all the expansion slots denoted by the 5.25" and Zip drives, and yeah it's clear my knowledge in retro hardware is VERY limited, BUT I am nothing if not eager to learn more on a subject I am interested in, provided someone is willing to educate me on the subject matter.
So I would like to get some second thoughts, alternative opinions, reccomendations, etc, also If your reccomending to me, can you PLEASE explain the reccomendation to me so I can better understand, it would mean alot to me, I am hoping that by the time Mid 2023 comes along I will have this part list refined so I can jump in and go on a shopping spree, buy the parts and when they arrive, embark on my personal journey to build my High End Windows 98 Gaming PC, I just hope my patience holds out.