A period correct windows 98 computer could be BX440 motherboard with a Pentium-ll@400mhz
this was a common configuration computer manufactures were putting in their high end workstations.
if you had this type of computer you were probably in the top 20% or better.

CharlieFoxtrot wrote on 2025-05-14, 16:35:

vvbee wrote on 2025-05-14, 16:24:

Period-realistic build for 1998: K6-2 300 Riva 128 32 MB SDRAM […]
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Period-realistic build for 1998:
K6-2 300
Riva 128
32 MB SDRAM

P2 or something like 300a isn’t any less realistic build for 1998 than a K6-2. I got P2-400, 128MB, G200, Live! that summer, unfortunately just probably days away before 300a was released. And it wasn’t anything that was obscenely expensive at that time, bought it with a student loan 🤣

Those components alone would've been about 2500 euros adjusted for inflation. I didn't pay that much for an entire PC with monitor etc.

Probably typing the same information I've typed here 20 times before, but my Gateway G6-400 was purchased in early 1999 and I remember the Pentium III 450 and 500 JUST being available at that time (with a large markup vs the PII 400). The specs of the PC as shipped:

Windows 98 (First Edition)
PII 400
Gateway 440BX board (no AGP slot)
Integrated Velocity 128 \ Riva 128 8MB (dedicated memory)
Integrated Creative AudioPCI
64MB PC-100
6.4GB Quantum HDD
CD-ROM (can't remember the speed...)
LS-120 SuperDisk
15" Gateway CRT

I believe it was around $1800 US back then... probably around March or April of 1999.

Still have the computer with almost all original hardware, and all the CDs.

At the time my brother was using a Pentium 200 MMX with 96MB EDO, Sierra Scream'n 3D Verite 1000 and some kind of Sound Galaxy or SB16. Both were totally usable, though obviously not the same speed for certain tasks. Once the Voodoo3 2000 PCI cards started entering the picture though... things really started improving fast. 😁

Regarding RAM in 1998, by late 1998 high end systems (including gaming rigs) typically advertised 128MB of RAM.

In Dec 1998 CGW's "no holds barred" gaming rig advertised 256MB of RAM. I also found a Dell ad in PC Magazine's Dec 1998 issues advertising a system with 256MB of RAM.

Would that have been more RAM than really needed at the time? Probably. But there is precedent for 256MB systems in 1998.

vvbee wrote on 2025-05-15, 05:27:

Those components alone would've been about 2500 euros adjusted for inflation. I didn't pay that much for an entire PC with monitor etc.

Yeah, that is quite right. About the same many current enthusiasts are nowadays willing to pay for their flagship graphics card alone.

I also bought new 17” monitor to go with it and because I had set my budget for the system, I pondered whether to choose a little bit slower CPU, less RAM and get Voodoo2 added to the package. In the end I decided to go with that setup and throw in my old V1 from my Pentium 90@120 for that glide compatibility. I checked what I paid for the whole shebang adjusted in inflation and it was around 3200€. That system was close to the best consumer level PC you could reasonably get besides the CPU being notch down from the best available at the time, so the perf/price ratio certainly wasn’t optimal.

If you went with slower CPU and less RAM, you’d get Slot 1 setup significantly cheaper than that. Without a doubt, if 300a would’ve been available at the time when I got the system, I would’ve picked it instead of that P2, saved significant amount of money and gotten better performance out of it when overclocked.

Edit: just for the sake of curiosity, I checked what I paid for my 386SX-20 system in 1991. Oddly, adjusted for inflation it was just 10% cheaper than the Slot 1 system 7 years later. And it definitely didn’t represent high end and didn’t have any expensive options added. 386DX, not to mention 486 systems really were expensive those days and that slot 1 system of mine looks like a cheapo compared to those high end systems of 1990-91.

Mid 1998 no holds barred, according to a local magazine:
Pentium II 400
Voodoo 2 SLI + Millennium II
64 MB SDRAM
ASUS P2B
AWE 64

They say the machine is 2.4 times the gaming speed of a reference Pentium MMX 200 system, so in a sense it's about 50% correct relative to the period experience.

Well. I did not pay that much for my Pentium-11@400 computers back in 1998
My first computer I put togeather

Specs:
Abit BH6 bx440 motherboard ( about $75 )
Pentium-ll@400 CPU ( about $100 )
Enlighten PC case
32mb RAM
I used this when Win98 was first released

About a year later I purchased my first NEW HP Kayak workstations
from an online auction site.

Specs:
HP Kayak workstation XAs
Single Pentium-ll@400
BX 440 motherboard
256mb ECC RAM
4gb IDE hard drive
Matrox millennium video card
Bundled with Win98 and WinNT 4.0
Purchase price about $700

HP Kayak XU
Dual Pentium-ll@400
256mb ECC RAM
BX440 motherboard with onboard SCSI
(2) Seagate Cheetah 4gb SCSI hard drives
Matrox millennium video card
Windows NT 4.0
Purchase price about $1000

Refurbished Sun Microsystems 20-inch ( Sony tube CRT ) $100
No one wanted these monitors unless you had a Sun computer
Or used a Special video card in you PC that supported these monitors

New Sony 20-inch G200 CRT ( $250 )

leileilol wrote on 2025-05-15, 03:01:

I hate Nvidia, and PowerVR slipped their SG off this year (THANKS A FUCKIN LOT NEC) so i'd have to suggest Rage Fury 128. 😀 (not to be confused with Rage Fury 128 Pro, Rage Fury Maxx, Xpert 2000)

Rage128 (Rage4) 1998 has best DVD playpack support, also Rage XL (Rage3) is from 1998 and its DVD playpack is also good. Rage128 is nice option! Rage 128 Pro is bit better, but it is from year 1999 already, not 1998. ATi Rage XL AGP has 3DCIF API support and from Mach64 cards, its fastest ATi card. Has even Windows 3.1 support and best suited for Win9xOS. Add remote wonder or AIW versions of Rage128 or Rage Pro and you have Media Center setup, just add DVD drive + ATi MMC6.30 software. Both are DX6 cards, Rage128 of course is faster and has newer hardware, if it was my choice i would go for Rage128 non Pro or Rage128 AIW with your 1998 retro build.

vvbee wrote on 2025-05-15, 15:00:

Mid 1998 no holds barred, according to a local magazine: Pentium II 400 Voodoo 2 SLI + Millennium II 64 MB SDRAM ASUS P2B AWE 64 […]
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Mid 1998 no holds barred, according to a local magazine:
Pentium II 400
Voodoo 2 SLI + Millennium II
64 MB SDRAM
ASUS P2B
AWE 64

They say the machine is 2.4 times the gaming speed of a reference Pentium MMX 200 system, so in a sense it's about 50% correct relative to the period experience.

It may be that P2-450 wasn’t an option yet when I bought my system so P2-400 was actually the best P2 CPU available at that time. I just checked that 300a was released week earlier than p2-450, which was released 31st August 1998 and I definitely bought that computer a bit earlier than that as I’m 100% sure that 300a wasn’t yet available. It was also during the summer pause I bought the system, so these facts point to July.

One of my school mates got P2-350 around the same time I bought mine, but he also got Voodoo2 with it and I was a bit jelly for his system and somewhat regretted some of my decisions (should’ve opted slower CPU, cheaper monitor etc and gotten that V2). I can’t remember all of his specs, but I recollect that they were otherwise similar-ish and about the same price overall.