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Sharing my (lucky!) hardware finds and asking advices for Windows 98SE build

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First post, by isagpci

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I've acquired three old PC as-is for a cheap price:

  • Asus SK8N with an AMD Athlon 64 FX-51, no GPU
  • Intel D865GBF with an Intel Pentium 4 3.00 GHz, GPU: HD 3850 (AGP)
  • MSI KM2M Combo-L (MS-6738) with an AMD Athlon XP 2200+, GPU: ATI Rage 128 Pro 16MB

I had to troubleshoot two of them as they were not POST-ing initially (the two first of the list) but after figuring out that a stick was dead on the first, and reseating both the RAM and the processor on the second, all three are working perfectly! Which is wonderful! I was super happy. I feel that I got quite lucky and got relatively rare hardware. Now I'm pondering how to put them to their best use.

One of my intent getting those old PC (without knowing the specs as the sellers were not aware of them) was to build a Windows 98SE machine.
As great as the HD 3850 seems, it doesn't seem to work with Windows 98SE (or did someone succeed to make it work with unofficial drivers?). I could do an XP machine (or a dual boot), but I feel that I could do a more modern XP machine with better processors and GPU. Apart from a collector value (one of the best AGP card), what would be the best use case for that card?

I also own a Voodoo 2 (my trusted own I kept for years as I was loving that card so much, I couldn't get rid of it). Could I use somehow the HD 3850 just as a basic VGA screen and still use the Voodoo 2 for gaming on Windows 98SE or does it require proper ATI driver support to do that?

My current intent was to try to get the Windows 98SE build with the Asus SK8N and Athlon 64 FX-51 and using the HD 3850 + Voodoo 2. If the HD3850 really can't be used on Windows 98SE I might end up splitting that in two PC and run with:

  • Asus SK8N and Athlon 64 FX-51 and HD 3850 for Windows XP/2000
  • MSI KM2M with Athlon XP and ATI Rage 128 Pro + Voodoo 2 (This build is very similar to the build I had in the past so I think it should be fine on W98SE).

Am I right to think that the Athlon 64 FX-51 is better than the Pentium 4 despite seeming weaker? I remember the P4 to be rather not liked. I don't expect to use the 64bit part of the FX-51 as I had bad memories for the compatibility of applications and drivers on Windows XP 64 bit.

Both the SK8N and the D865GBF have SATA ports, so I'm intending to try to use modern SSD with them (unless that's also a bad idea?).

Don't hesitate to suggest me different mixes of those configurations! I'd gladly take advices. I also own a TNT2, Asus 7200 (Geforce 2 MX 400 based), and a SoundBlaster Live 5.1 (SB0220).

Reply 1 of 3, by acl

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The Athlon FX is indeed better than the pentium 4. This early Athlon64 socket 940 can be a very powerful windows 98 system. I would personally pair it with a Radeon 9700/9800 pro for a period correct setup. But should work with any GPU from a year before or after.
I would nlt go up to the hd3850 agp because the drivers will not be available for W98 and the cpu would be underpowered for it anyway.

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Reply 2 of 3, by isagpci

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Thanks for your answer and for confirming the choice of the Athlon 64. So there are no modified drivers for the HD 3850? I was hoping as it seems similar era Nvidia cards have modded drivers that maybe I had missed one for the 3850. I tend to prefer Nvidia over ATI (ATI drivers were so bad at that time, with every version randomly working well or not on specific cards). I'll still keep an eye if I see a 9700 or 9800 for cheap in my area.

Browsing this site today, I've seen that there are modded drivers for Windows 98 of more modern Nvidia cards but people says that the 7XXX version is a bit unstable. I might take a look for a 6XXX version if they are not too bad.

Reply 3 of 3, by Trashbytes

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isagpci wrote on 2023-12-30, 00:12:

Thanks for your answer and for confirming the choice of the Athlon 64. So there are no modified drivers for the HD 3850? I was hoping as it seems similar era Nvidia cards have modded drivers that maybe I had missed one for the 3850. I tend to prefer Nvidia over ATI (ATI drivers were so bad at that time, with every version randomly working well or not on specific cards). I'll still keep an eye if I see a 9700 or 9800 for cheap in my area.

Browsing this site today, I've seen that there are modded drivers for Windows 98 of more modern Nvidia cards but people says that the 7XXX version is a bit unstable. I might take a look for a 6XXX version if they are not too bad.

98 doesn't have any support for unified shader GPUs, the last official GPU for 98 from ATI was the X850 XT PE and the last official one from nVidia was the 7800GS (You can get a 7900GS and 7950GT working via modded 7800GS drivers), any GPU made after these ones dont have 98 drivers and even modded ones wont work.

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