gen_angry wrote on 2023-05-22, 14:41:
This is kind of showcasing one issue with asking for 'general advice' with retro PC building. You'll get pulled everywhere with suggestions based on so many people's experiences.
In either case, any of the suggested builds over the past 6 pages should do you well. Lots of choice and options, it really just comes down to what's most available in your area/market.
Indeed. There's so many generations of hardware now , all with their own perks and their own oddities, limitations and character. It's difficult to understand everything right away if you start with basically zero real knowledge of retro pc hardware. Wiki won't give you this (but I do consider wiki a good way to start as stuff like the parts tables I find quite useful).
And there not being a straight-up single answer is probably a good thing, or else that optimal bit of hardware would probably end up where 3dfx is now, wanted and out of reach of many.
So there's lots of choice.
Reiterating one important point with an Athlon XP build, make sure your chosen supply has at least 30+ amps on the +5V rail (at minimum). They didn't do the 'shift CPU to 12v' thing like P4s did so using any modern supply on it will have issues (some boards did use the P4 header but they can be difficult to find, most S462 boards don't have one).
The PSU 5v thing is imo the most important drawback of sA. The limited CPU cooling solutions may be considered another (not all CPU HSFs that can mechanically fit, will be fit to be matched with all sA CPUs and it's not easy to create a DIY solution for this).
P4 and A64 are perhaps the easiest to get used to for someone who is new to retro pc computing as these are not only chronologically but also mechanically the closest resemblance to more modern hardware. Heck I even bought a CPU cooler for an LGA775 board this year brand new in the shop even though this board is already super old by todays standards. Many LGA775 and s939 boards have most of the things that modern motherboards still have, like PCIe (yes some will have AGP instead), SATA (beware certain VIA board revs though, one of the quirks of this gen hardware), (reasonably) modern PSU connectors, fan connectors, USB, the only thing missing are things like 4p fan connectors and M.2.
These are the generations of hardware that people who are pretty new to retro computing (but know to some extend how modern PC components work) will be most familiar with, yet can be used for win9x to a certain degree.
Systems based on these platforms may be a good starting point. Especially LGA775 should be reasonably widely available.
One other idea one might see as a fitting general advice is to go with an intermediate step first and first go with an older AM2-ish or early 115x rig using WinXP first (one with a real old fashioned BIOS instead of the UEFI stuff) if only just to get the hang of things (and because hardware of this era is probably also a bit more expendable). WinXP should be much easier to grasp compared to Win9x and is a good intermediate step between current gen and 9x-based Windows OS's.
Chances are you already have your older rig just sitting around doing nothing. Go ahead and (try to) install WinXP onto that. It's not as easy as it used to be (though I wouldn't call it hard. At worst it's a challenge because of SATA drivers or activation issues or something).
Or try using a virtual machine first if one is unsure of oneself.
I know most will probably not want to mess with an intermediate system. There is no one jacket that will fit everybody right away at the first try.