Pentium III 800-1.4GHz
Motherboard with a AGP slot
512-1.0GiB RAM
nVidia GeForce 2 / ATI Radeon 7xxx
Any Creative PCI sound card
Windows 98SE

As Halo is mentioned, the very minimum of a video card you can use is a Geforce256 / Radeon 7200 / Matrox Parhelia. All PowerVRs and Voodoos are off the table.

dominusprog wrote on 2024-07-11, 21:06:

Pentium III 800-1.4GHz Motherboard with a AGP slot 512-1.0GiB RAM nVidia GeForce 2 / ATI Radeon 7xxx Any Creative PCI sound card […]
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Pentium III 800-1.4GHz
Motherboard with a AGP slot
512-1.0GiB RAM
nVidia GeForce 2 / ATI Radeon 7xxx
Any Creative PCI sound card
Windows 98SE

If you want one of those, you might be better off looking for a well-designed (i.e. without onboard junk) large OEM system like a Dell Dimension 4100... every time I've looked for PIII motherboards, at least the ones with ISA slots seem to be very expensive nowadays.

A GF4 MX might be an acceptable alternative to a GF2?

VivienM wrote on 2024-07-11, 21:35:

dominusprog wrote on 2024-07-11, 21:06:

If you want one of those, you might be better off looking for a well-designed (i.e. without onboard junk) large OEM system like a Dell Dimension 4100... every time I've looked for PIII motherboards, at least the ones with ISA slots seem to be very expensive nowadays.

A GF4 MX might be an acceptable alternative to a GF2?

I was thinking about an athlon but I don’t know which model would be the best option and I saw a lot of really expensive socket 370 motherboards, like 5x the price of a p4, and I couldn’t even find one with agp slot, PCI cards are hard to find but Agp ones here is really easier and cheap

It can be a P3/P4 or later machine. Until S1366, driving is smooth. It can be packed on a modern machine, but it requires practice. RAM over 512MB is also ok with Loew Driver. GEF2 is already expensive, but GEF4TI replaces it well and faster. Win98 has a driver to GEF7900.
It is not worth buying a brand machine as it contains non -standard components that are not replaced or expensive in case of error.

DarthSun wrote on 2024-07-11, 22:02:

It can be a P3/P4 or later machine. Until S1366, driving is smooth. It can be packed on a modern machine, but it requires practice. RAM over 512MB is also ok with Loew Driver. GEF2 is already expensive, but GEF4TI replaces it well and faster. Win98 has a driver to GEF7900.
It is not worth buying a brand machine as it contains non -standard components that are not replaced or expensive in case of error.

Ok so what about a p4 , 512mb ( I saw someone saying you need to patch win 98 to use more ram) and a GF4 mx( I found some selling here really easy) ?
The only decent looking motherboard I found for p4 was an Asus P5VDC-MX with agp slot, can I run 98 and play some dos game and “newer” games like halo ? Or the Pentium 4 is too much for win98 to be easy on compatibility?

Monketech wrote on 2024-07-11, 22:12:

DarthSun wrote on 2024-07-11, 22:02:

It can be a P3/P4 or later machine. Until S1366, driving is smooth. It can be packed on a modern machine, but it requires practice. RAM over 512MB is also ok with Loew Driver. GEF2 is already expensive, but GEF4TI replaces it well and faster. Win98 has a driver to GEF7900.
It is not worth buying a brand machine as it contains non -standard components that are not replaced or expensive in case of error.

Ok so what about a p4 , 512mb ( I saw someone saying you need to patch win 98 to use more ram) and a GF4 mx( I found some selling here really easy) ?
The only decent looking motherboard I found for p4 was an Asus P5VDC-MX with agp slot, can I run 98 and play some dos game and “newer” games like halo ? Or the Pentium 4 is too much for win98 to be easy on compatibility?

512MB ram is okay, if you want to go above it, you need Loew Master Ram Driver.
GEF4MX I think it will be good.
Not much is for P4, it works properly with it, up to 4+GHz...will. On a modern machine, it's okay over 5GHz.

Perfect, I will aim for a p4 and this specs, just in case, which amd processor would be similar ( if I find one) ? If it worth it
Thanks for the help guys !

DarthSun wrote on 2024-07-11, 22:02:

It is not worth buying a brand machine as it contains non -standard components that are not replaced or expensive in case of error.

In the case of the Dell machines, though, other than having the proprietary power connector (a fix for which is well documented...), they're about as 'standard' as you can get. Intel motherboards with no onboard anything, AGP/PCI slots, etc. And they seem to be way cheaper than building your own...

Monketech wrote on 2024-07-11, 22:12:

The only decent looking motherboard I found for p4 was an Asus P5VDC-MX with agp slot, can I run 98 and play some dos game and “newer” games like halo ? Or the Pentium 4 is too much for win98 to be easy on compatibility?

I don't know if you want that board, it's a Via chipset...

Having tried to build a Win98 system on a similar vintage AMD platform with a similar southbridge (maybe not the exact same), all I will say is - go PATA. I went absolutely nowhere while having any SATA devices; turn off the SATA and use all PATA devices and it works fine(ish). 98SE is very, very picky about expecting an IDE controller at particular memory addresses...

Monketech wrote on 2024-07-12, 00:24:

Perfect, I will aim for a p4 and this specs, just in case, which amd processor would be similar ( if I find one) ? If it worth it
Thanks for the help guys !

AMD: SocketA Barton, which approaches the Prescott. It also depends on how much performance the goal is. Titles running under Win98 go well with a smaller clock P4 or Thorton proc.

Halo CE will look like crap on anything below a GeForce 3, since it needs pixel shaders to properly render most of its graphical effects. And no, a GeForce 4 MX card won't do, since that's basically an overclocked and rebadged GeForce 2. My suggestion would be a fast Pentium 4 or an Athlon 64 system with either a Radeon 9600 XT or a GeForce 4 Ti 4200, at the very minimum. Best would be a Radeon X800 series card, if you can find one cheap, but that's getting harder nowadays.

As for the sound, you want EAX 3 for Halo CE, which means a Sound Blaster Audigy at the very least. Preferably an Audigy 2 or ZS. This will limit your DOS game compatibility quite a bit, but later titles like Doom, Duke3D and Quake should still work fine.

On that note, stretching a DOS/Win98 build beyond 2001 games means you need to make some compromises. Hardware that's powerful enough to run stuff from 2002 and onward at acceptable frame rates may have some compatibility issues with older Win9x and DOS titles. And PCI sound cards are suboptimal for DOS, while being needed to properly experience EAX capable games.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-07-12, 03:26:

Halo CE will look like crap on anything below a GeForce 3, since it needs pixel shaders to render its graphical effects correctly. And no, a GeForce 4 MX card won't do, since that's basically an overclocked and rebadged GeForce 2. My suggestion would be a fast Pentium 4 or an Athlon 64 system with either a Radeon 9600 XT or a GeForce 4 Ti 4200, at the very minimum. Best would be a Radeon X800 series card, if you can find one cheap, but that's getting harder nowadays.

As for the sound, you want EAX 3 for Halo CE, which means a Sound Blaster Audigy at the very least. Preferably an Audigy 2 or ZS. This will limit your DOS game compatibility quite a bit, but later titles like Doom, Duke3D and Quake should still work fine.

On that note, stretching a DOS/Win98 build beyond 2001 games means you need to make some compromises. Hardware that's fast enough to run stuff from 2002 and onward at an acceptable frame rate may have some compatibility issues with older Win9x and DOS titles. And PCI sound cards of any kind are suboptimal for DOS, while being needed to properly experience EAX capable games.

I haven't played with Halo CE yet, but if must have need a relatively high machine, i'd rather try the S775+NV6800GT.
The UT2004 also runs under Win98, if it is set to Max, it will require the above configuration.
Essentially, when we look at Win98, I don't have to take out a retro machine for a while, as the Ryzen+7900gs combo also runs nicely on Win98(7900 of secondary videocard on system+1 rotated sblive).

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-07-12, 03:26:

Halo CE will look like crap on anything below a GeForce 3, since it needs pixel shaders to properly render most of its graphical effects. And no, a GeForce 4 MX card won't do, since that's basically an overclocked and rebadged GeForce 2. My suggestion would be a fast Pentium 4 or an Athlon 64 system with either a Radeon 9600 XT or a GeForce 4 Ti 4200, at the very minimum. Best would be a Radeon X800 series card, if you can find one cheap, but that's getting harder nowadays.

As for the sound, you want EAX 3 for Halo CE, which means a Sound Blaster Audigy at the very least. Preferably an Audigy 2 or ZS. This will limit your DOS game compatibility quite a bit, but later titles like Doom, Duke3D and Quake should still work fine.

On that note, stretching a DOS/Win98 build beyond 2001 games means you need to make some compromises. Hardware that's powerful enough to run stuff from 2002 and onward at acceptable frame rates may have some compatibility issues with older Win9x and DOS titles. And PCI sound cards are suboptimal for DOS, while being needed to properly experience EAX capable games.

After some digging, I discovered that GeForce FX5200 are really easy and the cheapest option, but I think I will go amd for cpu bc p4 on 478 is hard to find and I don’t think the early 775 is optimal , but I’m on vacation, I will start buying parts when I get back home
At dos games I’m not that concerned bc all the dos games I’m playing on my p3 is working fine with the integrated sound of my motherboard so i think it will work with others pci cards

VivienM wrote on 2024-07-12, 00:40:

Monketech wrote on 2024-07-11, 22:12:

The only decent looking motherboard I found for p4 was an Asus P5VDC-MX with agp slot, can I run 98 and play some dos game and “newer” games like halo ? Or the Pentium 4 is too much for win98 to be easy on compatibility?

I don't know if you want that board, it's a Via chipset...

Having tried to build a Win98 system on a similar vintage AMD platform with a similar southbridge (maybe not the exact same), all I will say is - go PATA. I went absolutely nowhere while having any SATA devices; turn off the SATA and use all PATA devices and it works fine(ish). 98SE is very, very picky about expecting an IDE controller at particular memory addresses...

So VIA chipsets are trouble, which one should I search? Is SiS chipset good?

Monketech wrote on 2024-07-13, 03:44:

After some digging, I discovered that GeForce FX5200 are really easy and the cheapest option,

I don't recommend a FX5200. It will be a slow experience with low budget FX series...

Here some comparisons.

Comanche 4 Benchmark, 1024x768x32:
Geforce 4 Ti 4200 - 46,93 fps
Geforce 3 - 35,37 fps
Geforce FX 5200 - 30,65 fps

Comanche 4 Benchmark, 1280x1024x32:
Geforce 4 Ti 4200 - 44,86 fps
Geforce 3 - 30,08 fps
Geforce FX 5200 - 23,57 fps

Halo – Combat Evolved Benchmark , 1024x768x32:
ATi Radeon 9800 Pro - 53, 46 fps
Geforce FX 5900XT - 48,42 fps
Geforce 4 Ti 4600 - 32,97 fps
Geforce FX 5700 - 29,93 fps

Halo – Combat Evolved Benchmark , 1280x1024x32:
ATi Radeon 9800 Pro - 35,52 fps
Geforce FX 5900XT - 32,92 fps
Geforce 4 Ti 4600 - 21,66 fps
Geforce FX 5700 - 19,56 fps

Halo: Combat Evolved System Requirements:
VIDEO CARD: 32 MB Video Card, T&L Capable
TOTAL VIDEO RAM: 32 MB
DIRECTX VERSION: 8.1

Halo: Combat Evolved Recommended Requirements
VIDEO CARD: 64 MB DirectX 9.0 compliant Video Card with Hardware T&L
TOTAL VIDEO RAM: 64 MB
PIXEL SHADER: 2.0
VERTEX SHADER: 2.0
DIRECTX VERSION: 9.0

melbar wrote on 2024-07-13, 11:37:

I don't recommend a FX5200. It will be a slow experience with low budget FX series... […]
Show full quote

Monketech wrote on 2024-07-13, 03:44:

After some digging, I discovered that GeForce FX5200 are really easy and the cheapest option,

I don't recommend a FX5200. It will be a slow experience with low budget FX series...

Here some comparisons.

Comanche 4 Benchmark, 1024x768x32:
Geforce 4 Ti 4200 - 46,93 fps
Geforce 3 - 35,37 fps
Geforce FX 5200 - 30,65 fps

Comanche 4 Benchmark, 1280x1024x32:
Geforce 4 Ti 4200 - 44,86 fps
Geforce 3 - 30,08 fps
Geforce FX 5200 - 23,57 fps

Halo – Combat Evolved Benchmark , 1024x768x32:
ATi Radeon 9800 Pro - 53, 46 fps
Geforce FX 5900XT - 48,42 fps
Geforce 4 Ti 4600 - 32,97 fps
Geforce FX 5700 - 29,93 fps

Halo – Combat Evolved Benchmark , 1280x1024x32:
ATi Radeon 9800 Pro - 35,52 fps
Geforce FX 5900XT - 32,92 fps
Geforce 4 Ti 4600 - 21,66 fps
Geforce FX 5700 - 19,56 fps

Halo: Combat Evolved System Requirements:
VIDEO CARD: 32 MB Video Card, T&L Capable
TOTAL VIDEO RAM: 32 MB
DIRECTX VERSION: 8.1

Halo: Combat Evolved Recommended Requirements
VIDEO CARD: 64 MB DirectX 9.0 compliant Video Card with Hardware T&L
TOTAL VIDEO RAM: 64 MB
PIXEL SHADER: 2.0
VERTEX SHADER: 2.0
DIRECTX VERSION: 9.0

Well I didn’t think it would be that slower, thanks man, I will search for other one

Im almost giving up on running halo but any hardware older than a p4 will be almost impossible to find or really expensive ( it’s cheaper to build a p4 with a 9600 than buying a agp motherboard for my p3)
I think I will build a pc similar to Darthsun, it’s the only hardware I was able to actually find to buy , I couldn’t find any GeForce 4 above the MX

Your P3 750 is already pretty powerful Win9x box. The missing AGP sucks but if it's playing all your other games fine then it's no big deal.
Rather then having 2 Win98 PC's I would focus on a XP PC, Hardware will be cheaper and easier to find and probably you're more demanding 9x games like Halo will run fine in XP as well.
Plus it opens up the next generation of games as well