Studiostriver wrote on 2025-01-01, 23:44:

It would be cool finding compatible new computer case but its so hard finding one that has openings for floppy and CD drive.

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases … /focus-g/black/

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/pop/

Grem Five wrote on 2025-01-02, 02:26:

Studiostriver wrote on 2025-01-01, 23:44:

It would be cool finding compatible new computer case but its so hard finding one that has openings for floppy and CD drive.

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases … /focus-g/black/

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/pop/

Thank you kindly. I`ve found it in my country, price is bit big but its cool design. I just wish its completely white and not white with black metal plate in front. Nevertheless nice solution.

Hi guys. I recently found new old stock case for old computers, and wanted to show you how it looks know. 😀 I`ve found recently new old stock case never used and opened with original package.

I have something similar.

CPU:Tualatin 1.13 GHz
Motherboard : MSI 815EPT Pro-R
GPU: Powercolor Radeon X800XT
SDRAM 512MB 133mhz
Sound card: SB Live 5.1
ALi USB2 PCI

PcBytes wrote on 2025-06-29, 20:49:

I have something similar. […]
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I have something similar.

CPU:Tualatin 1.13 GHz
Motherboard : MSI 815EPT Pro-R
GPU: Powercolor Radeon X800XT
SDRAM 512MB 133mhz
Sound card: SB Live 5.1
ALi USB2 PCI

It is indeed sweet configuration. You have awesome GPU.

I have dual 1.4 Ghz Tualatins paired with an HD 4650 AGP, 4 GB PC133 ecc and an 128 gb SSD on an IDE to SATA adapter. It's screaming fast with XP.

Still your setup is pretty good. My 98 machine was cobbled together with similar parts, though I used an early socket 478 board with PC133 and a GeForce 6200, later updated to an X1300 pro.

emu34b wrote on 2025-06-29, 23:04:

I have dual 1.4 Ghz Tualatins paired with an HD 4650 AGP, 4 GB PC133 ecc and an 128 gb SSD on an IDE to SATA adapter. It's screaming fast with XP.

Still your setup is pretty good. My 98 machine was cobbled together with similar parts, though I used an early socket 478 board with PC133 and a GeForce 6200, later updated to an X1300 pro.

My machine is dual boot, it has 98 SE and XP SP3, thats why specits middle of the road so to speak, i`ve found a way to work with most DOS games on Nvidia 6600 GT which i see most people having hard time, and picture quallity is such a bliss compare to older cards.
I mean i`m little bit weird dude, i use big 40" tv screen via DVI to HDMI converter and big resolutions looks amazing, it make me revisiting my past much more enjoyable.

nVidia 6600 GT will have compatibility issues in Windows 98 due to having to use driver that is too new. You would have to use a PCI and AGP graphics card to get good compatibility for both Windows 98 and XP.

nVidia 6600 GT is for early Windows XP era only until 2003. 7600 GT + faster CPU can extend it to 2004. Going beyond that requires either a very fast CPU or GPU.

Games from 2003-2004 started to be very demanding, my PIII 900 coverage ends in 2002.

If you buy ESS Solo 1 you should be able to use it for DOS as well as you have VIA chipset.

I would add two fans below PSU to help blow air out of the case. I would also add a small 60mm fan to 6600 GT. I have 2 heatsinks from 2 passive cooled 6600 GT because they overheated and died.

AlexZ wrote on 2025-06-30, 18:54:

nVidia 6600 GT will have compatibility issues in Windows 98 due to having to use driver that is too new. You would have to use a […]
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nVidia 6600 GT will have compatibility issues in Windows 98 due to having to use driver that is too new. You would have to use a PCI and AGP graphics card to get good compatibility for both Windows 98 and XP.

nVidia 6600 GT is for early Windows XP era only until 2003. 7600 GT + faster CPU can extend it to 2004. Going beyond that requires either a very fast CPU or GPU.

Games from 2003-2004 started to be very demanding, my PIII 900 coverage ends in 2002.

If you buy ESS Solo 1 you should be able to use it for DOS as well as you have VIA chipset.

I would add two fans below PSU to help blow air out of the case. I would also add a small 60mm fan to 6600 GT. I have 2 heatsinks from 2 passive cooled 6600 GT because they overheated and died.

So far, all games i tried runs fine. I had only one bug on old 2d DOS games where it wont show the video at all, but pressing ctr+del and later return to game fix things completely , pretty weird ay but it works. 😀
I played Civilization, Doom, Dune 2, Ceasar III, Diablo and it all runs fine so far.

And for Audigy 2 ZS, it work with DOS games too. I`ve found drivers from Vogons and tutorial how to enable it working.

So far i basically play games from 1995 to 2002/3 and they all work fine.

And you are correct, i need two fans which i plan to add in a future, possibly quietest possible.

This is a good example, many of us focus on trying to avoid compatibility issues when 99% of games are fine and will never come access the issue in real life.
Your hardware is pretty much right at the end of Win98 support. That's going to give you the best chance in XP.
And if it's doing everything you need of it then great!

Try Thief 2, Fifa (99, 2000, 2001, 2002), Nhl (99, 2000, 2001, 2002), NBA, Need for speed (3, 4, Porsche) with modern patch. Play the game for 5 minutes instead of just going to main menu. I think it was DirectX 5/6/7 games that had problems with driver newer than 45.23.

AlexZ wrote on 2025-07-01, 06:23:

Try Thief 2, Fifa (99, 2000, 2001, 2002), Nhl (99, 2000, 2001, 2002), NBA, Need for speed (3, 4, Porsche) with modern patch. Play the game for 5 minutes instead of just going to main menu. I think it was DirectX 5/6/7 games that had problems with driver newer than 45.23.

I will try Thief 2 someday, but i`m not into sport games knowdays, i used to play it as kid, know i feel nothing . I tried Need for speed once, and it ran just fine , but i havent played it too much, first two levels.
I knew i had to go through arsenal of driver, and none seems to be working even displaying desktop colors fine etc, but spotted 2/3 drivers which were decent enough, yet i explored further and found one on which everything runs just fine, and workbench results are the best i ever had.
Stats could not compete with previous cards i used , 9700 PRO (256 and 128mb model as well), 9250, 9550 etc.

Studiostriver wrote on 2025-06-30, 10:52:

emu34b wrote on 2025-06-29, 23:04:

I have dual 1.4 Ghz Tualatins paired with an HD 4650 AGP, 4 GB PC133 ecc and an 128 gb SSD on an IDE to SATA adapter. It's screaming fast with XP.

Still your setup is pretty good. My 98 machine was cobbled together with similar parts, though I used an early socket 478 board with PC133 and a GeForce 6200, later updated to an X1300 pro.

My machine is dual boot, it has 98 SE and XP SP3, thats why specits middle of the road so to speak, i`ve found a way to work with most DOS games on Nvidia 6600 GT which i see most people having hard time, and picture quallity is such a bliss compare to older cards.
I mean i`m little bit weird dude, i use big 40" tv screen via DVI to HDMI converter and big resolutions looks amazing, it make me revisiting my past much more enjoyable.

That's not too weird, haha. If it works for you, then it's fine. You don't need to have an old CRT or general old monitor to enjoy some old games.

As for my 98 machine, I wasn't using it to play any DOS games at the time it had the 6200 (I have a Pentium 166 laptop for that) so my experience was pretty excellent all things considered.

emu34b wrote on 2025-07-02, 18:43:

Studiostriver wrote on 2025-06-30, 10:52:

emu34b wrote on 2025-06-29, 23:04:

I have dual 1.4 Ghz Tualatins paired with an HD 4650 AGP, 4 GB PC133 ecc and an 128 gb SSD on an IDE to SATA adapter. It's screaming fast with XP.

Still your setup is pretty good. My 98 machine was cobbled together with similar parts, though I used an early socket 478 board with PC133 and a GeForce 6200, later updated to an X1300 pro.

My machine is dual boot, it has 98 SE and XP SP3, thats why specits middle of the road so to speak, i`ve found a way to work with most DOS games on Nvidia 6600 GT which i see most people having hard time, and picture quallity is such a bliss compare to older cards.
I mean i`m little bit weird dude, i use big 40" tv screen via DVI to HDMI converter and big resolutions looks amazing, it make me revisiting my past much more enjoyable.

That's not too weird, haha. If it works for you, then it's fine. You don't need to have an old CRT or general old monitor to enjoy some old games.

As for my 98 machine, I wasn't using it to play any DOS games at the time it had the 6200 (I have a Pentium 166 laptop for that) so my experience was pretty excellent all things considered.

I consider maybe trying in future some PCI cards, just to see if they gonna outperform 98SE on benchmark, then i consider getting maybe adding newer AGP just for sake experimenting. 😀 If it not work well , then i can always return to safe territory.
PCI F5200 128bit shoud be nice to check. You know i`m mostly in rpgs, rts and adventure games, and for more demanding 3D games like Morrowing i tend to run them in XP anyway, most seems to run smoother.
If those super old games behave weird, i also considering maybe getting more simple machine like your laptop, Pentium 1 mmx 230mhz for older titles just for sake having slower machine, but still i`m not 100% sure.
Time will tell, so far i`m having fun. 😀

Studiostriver wrote on 2025-07-03, 12:29:

Oh yeah, there are new manufactured 5200 PCI models recently and could get cheap. Who knows how it will work , but i`m willing […]
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Oh yeah, there are new manufactured 5200 PCI models recently and could get cheap. Who knows how it will work , but i`m willing to try it. Worst could happen is that it would not work well and thats it. 😀
I tried so much different drivers and with some i had terrible results, with some pretty good on XP with 6600 GT. Nedless to say the only agp card on which i could run Wizardry 9 without freezing due to bad graphic card performance. This game is just directx 7, but so demanding for there old systems, and needless to say it looks beyond amazing compare to HIS 9600 256 XT model i used before.

I`m just sad it wont display 640x480 resolution at all on 98SE (i use dual boot machine), all other resolutions runs amazing! Why, i have no clue really, but i could not try too much drivers for 98x, if memory serves me well only 4 or 5. On most it runs terribly even desktop display, but on one i use know it works pretty good, except above mention problem.

Anyway i am willing to try this MSI ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO 512MB DDR2 AGP. I know it has no support for 98x, that is why i wanted to order fx 5200 PCI to see if i can have good compabillity with both os on different cards.
Thanks for response, i really enjoy listened other peoples experiences as i`m alone in my town who is into retro computers and consoles.

That's how i ultimately ended up splitting 98 and XP. I mean my 98 machine still dual boots XP for convenience and i may still run something quirky in XP if it refuses to run on newer hardware, but having 2 separate systems with 2 different AGP cards ends up being easier, at least for me.

XP games can benefit from faster, newer card like 6600GT or even 7600GT, while 98 games benefit from compatibility FX series offer.

Arguably even that might not make a lot of sense - XP can work on much newer systems, like LGA1155, PCI-e GTX6nn-7nn, etc. And while some compatibility issues with older games do exist - majority of stuff works wonderfully.

If you enjoy max settings, higher resolutions, etc (as i do) - FX5200 may not be all that good for you, even in 98. And having 2 cards in one system can/will create its own quirks/issues.

Also yeah, SSD is always a good idea. Even 98 performs visibly faster.

I personally ended up with 3 machines for the period of games and hardware i was interested in:

- Mid-range socketA. 2200+ athlonXP, VIA KT333, 1GB DDR, FX5900XT, audigy2zs. This is 98/XP dual boot.

- High-end SocketA. 3200+ athlonXP, nforce2, 2GB DDR, 7600GT, audigy4. XP only.

- Late LGA775. C2D E8600, 4GB DDR2, GTX660. XP/7 dual boot. This runs crysis, and also majority of XP games. Still need a soundcard here, still looking for good pci-e one.

So if you want more performance it might make more sense to leave this machine for 98 and build something newer for XP, instead of trying to mess around with newer cards in this system... after all P3 can be quite limiting...

I see Tualatin 1.4 Gghz as still in Windows 98 era as it lacks processing power for Windows XP games.

Your retro rig is only a start. You will find out it doesn't cover all you want and build another one.

Archer57 wrote on Yesterday, 03:51:

That's how i ultimately ended up splitting 98 and XP. I mean my 98 machine still dual boots XP for convenience and i may still r […]
Show full quote

That's how i ultimately ended up splitting 98 and XP. I mean my 98 machine still dual boots XP for convenience and i may still run something quirky in XP if it refuses to run on newer hardware, but having 2 separate systems with 2 different AGP cards ends up being easier, at least for me. I probably should keep this configuration cause early 3D games runs amazing.

XP games can benefit from faster, newer card like 6600GT or even 7600GT, while 98 games benefit from compatibility FX series offer.

Arguably even that might not make a lot of sense - XP can work on much newer systems, like LGA1155, PCI-e GTX6nn-7nn, etc. And while some compatibility issues with older games do exist - majority of stuff works wonderfully.

If you enjoy max settings, higher resolutions, etc (as i do) - FX5200 may not be all that good for you, even in 98. And having 2 cards in one system can/will create its own quirks/issues.

Also yeah, SSD is always a good idea. Even 98 performs visibly faster.

I personally ended up with 3 machines for the period of games and hardware i was interested in:

- Mid-range socketA. 2200+ athlonXP, VIA KT333, 1GB DDR, FX5900XT, audigy2zs. This is 98/XP dual boot.

- High-end SocketA. 3200+ athlonXP, nforce2, 2GB DDR, 7600GT, audigy4. XP only.

- Late LGA775. C2D E8600, 4GB DDR2, GTX660. XP/7 dual boot. This runs crysis, and also majority of XP games. Still need a soundcard here, still looking for good pci-e one.

So if you want more performance it might make more sense to leave this machine for 98 and build something newer for XP, instead of trying to mess around with newer cards in this system... after all P3 can be quite limiting...

I see , but i must admit more demanding games from 98 era runs amazing on XP with 6600 GT. 😀 I could not live without it honestly., i really love dual boot option, XP is just faster and its easier for transfering files beside gaming etc.
And yes, getting SSD is on my priority list.
I`ll probably then get slower machine some day for older DOS games , rather 2D and early 3D, and for newer XP games my "new" computer with i7 runs games pretty much fine.
I honestly have no space to keep all these computer, i live in pretty small appartment, but i enjoy my first retro configuration a lot.

Studiostriver wrote on Yesterday, 10:19:

I honestly have no spave to keep all these computer, i live in pretty small appartment, but i enjoy my first retro configuration a lot.

Well, here is my solution:

Stacking works great and saves a lot of space, just have to be sure the cases are compatible with this and somewhat sturdy. And yeah, some stuff is horribly yellow. One dvd drive is the most impressive case.

But yeah, not overdoing it is important too.

AlexZ wrote on Yesterday, 07:10:

I see Tualatin 1.4 Gghz as still in Windows 98 era as it lacks processing power for Windows XP games.

Your retro rig is only a start. You will find out it doesn't cover all you want and build another one.

Hi, im aware of that, but i dont want to cover it all. Tualatin 1.4ghz (clocked to 1.5) works actually very good for late 98 3D games and early XP titles till 2002/3 here with this card. I should probably only get mini AT for old DOS 2D games. But unfortunately i have no space for more computers. I`m already full with consoles, and since i`m musician and producer music gear takes all the space. We will see what future holds. 😀