VOGONS

A good graphics card with no money limit but widely available

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First post, by AxeMan

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Hello everyone, in 2 months time I finally managed to build a new win98se computer.

I got the 1.8ghz Northwood p4, P4P8000-X motherboard with Via Chipset, Palit Geforce 5200fx 128mb, 2x256 mb ram, Sound Blaster 0060 sound card, 40gb Seagate, Microsoft Multimedia keyboard 1.0a, A4tech 4d ball mouse, Philips mms 221 speakers, Philips 107 e06 monitor.

But the thing is, no matter what I try, my 5200 is seen as a PCI card instead of AGP. I tried installing hundreds of different drivers in hundreds of different ways and the result is the same. I don't have any friends around that has knowledge about retro gaming so I turned to infamous Chatgpt and it says the Via chipset on my motherboard is known to have some compatibility issues with some of the gpus, seeing them as pcis. Half Life in 800x600 resolution runs at around 15 fps in some of the crowded areas. Even the crusaders of might and magic stutters. That made me angry. Now I'm looking for a new card that has no problem with my via chipset and can run late 90's games.

But I also want to play Morrowind. So help me with the graphics card that can play Morrowind and will not have any problem with late 90's games such as Worms 2, Heretic 2, Crusaders of Might and magic, Thief 2, Outcast, Settlers 4, Quake 2, Stonekeep, Dune 2000 etc.

I have no money limit. But let's set the roof at 70 dollars. If I really like the card I can go up to 100.

Thanks in advance!

Reply 2 of 14, by The Serpent Rider

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Radeon 9600 Pro/XT

I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.

Reply 3 of 14, by AxeMan

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kixs wrote on 2025-08-17, 09:44:

Get Geforce 4 4200Ti 128MB.

I really want that card but not available for sale in my country right now.

Reply 4 of 14, by The Serpent Rider

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You can also try finding GeForce FX 5700 or GeForce 6600.

I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.

Reply 5 of 14, by Takedasun

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AxeMan wrote on 2025-08-17, 08:52:

I got the 1.8ghz Northwood p4, P4P8000-X motherboard with Via Chipset,

Here is an intel chipset.
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/asus-p4p800-x

AxeMan wrote on 2025-08-17, 08:52:

Half Life in 800x600 resolution runs at around 15 fps in some of the crowded areas.

In the first Half-Life, the Geforce FX5200 should show more than 100fps

I would first find out why the Geforce FX 5200 is not working properly.

Reply 6 of 14, by Repo Man11

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For diagnostic purposes I would install Windows XP and see if everything works properly. If yes, then you should be able to get it working with 98SE with different driver(s).

After watching many YouTube videos about older computer hardware, YouTube began recommending videos about trains - are they trying to tell me something?

Reply 7 of 14, by AxeMan

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sorry, mine is p4v800-x

Reply 8 of 14, by Takedasun

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AxeMan wrote on 2025-08-17, 16:16:

sorry, mine is p4v800-x

What drivers were installed in Windows98SE?

Reply 9 of 14, by AxeMan

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First I installed via 4in1 drivers, then I installed the 81.98 nvidia driver, and then the sound card. But when I see the pci I formatted the whole system and this time I installed 56.64. Still pci.

Reply 10 of 14, by Takedasun

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AxeMan wrote on 2025-08-17, 18:05:

First I installed via 4in1 drivers

the version?

Reply 11 of 14, by fosterwj03

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Try an older Nvidia driver (one from the 40-series or 50-series might work better). The later drivers can have issues of one sort of another. Philscomputerlab.com has many of the Windows 9x drivers. Make sure your card is on the supported list as shown on Phil's website when you select a different driver.

Reply 12 of 14, by fosterwj03

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You can also check the list of System Devices in the Device Manager to make sure you have the AGP bridge listed as an installed device.

Then, list the devices by connection to make sure the FX 5200 falls under the AGP bridge.

Reply 13 of 14, by AxeMan

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Hello everyone, just a quick heads up and info for the people who encounter the same problem as mine and search it on the internet:

It was the Via Chipset all along. Instead of a motherboard with a via chipset like mine, I bought the asus p4p800-vm - this motherboard has the intel chipset. And problem solved. Now the nvidia forceware 56.64 sees my card as agp8x and half-life runs smoothly in direct3d.

Thanks for the help guys, I can now sleep in peace.

Reply 14 of 14, by Socket3

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AxeMan wrote on 2025-08-18, 18:38:

Hello everyone, just a quick heads up and info for the people who encounter the same problem as mine and search it on the internet:

It was the Via Chipset all along. Instead of a motherboard with a via chipset like mine, I bought the asus p4p800-vm - this motherboard has the intel chipset. And problem solved. Now the nvidia forceware 56.64 sees my card as agp8x and half-life runs smoothly in direct3d.

Thanks for the help guys, I can now sleep in peace.

your video card shows "pci mode" when no chipset drivers (VIA 4in1) are installed - or when 4 in 1 is incorrectly installed.

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