Win98SE without doubts.
For gaming, WinXP-only games can run on higher OSs, but some Win9x games may have problems running on NT based OSs.
LordLao74 wrote on 2026-03-06, 22:53:Hey all, […]
Hey all,
I just got a new old Dell to play with and I'm trying to decide in which direction I'd like to take it. Figured I'd come here for some fun discussion on the topic.
Currently, the Dell has a Socket 478 motherboard with a Prescott Pentium 4 HT 3.0GHz, 512MB DDR-400, integrated audio (probably Realtek, haven't checked), an Intel Extreme Graphics 2 IGP. As it is, the system feels better configured for Windows 98SE where the IGP won't be totally useless. I also don't currently have a reliable Windows 98SE system. I have a Slot 1 Pentium III but it gives me endless software issues (multiple windows reinstalls no idea what its deal is) and my other Windows 98 socket 370 system has been down so long I can't even remember what's wrong with it. For these reasons, I'm sort of tempted to toss Windows 98 on it.
At the same time it'd be fun to upgrade it too into a better Windows XP system. This motherboard lacks an AGP or PCIe slot so PCI is the only option for add-on cards, but I have a PCI ATI Radeon 9250 I could install and I could bump the RAM up to 2GB (only two RAM slots). Probably won't add a sound card to save time on the PCI bus for the GPU. This would let me use the HT features of the processor, which I doubt work well on Windows 98 so I'll likely disable Hyper-Threading if I go the Windows 98 route.
I already have a solid Windows XP system with a Core2Duo E8500 CPU, 4GB RAM, and a GTX 645 GPU. That system is very capable so keeping this one WinXP doesn't really permit me to play anything I couldn't already run on the other system. So I feel like I will end up running games that are more inline with 98 like Monkey Island, Starcraft, Diablo. Most demanding game I'm likely to throw at it is something like Star Wars KOTOR II.
Thanks for your thoughts
well, I have a PGA478 Prescott 4.3ghz they are more popular with XP but mine is running Millennium. Windows 98SE was not happy with unofficial USB support for v2.0 it lagged the system and i found file system support to be slower on much larger disks. I had uninstalled PC health and system restore so it got more responsive. Millennium has a patch that brings better Pentium 4 support than 98se too. I do not recommend a hard disk larger than about 120gb but I have an 80GB. I also used a special patch for larger memory support basically making it run 3GB ram. If you decide to run 9x whether it be 98se or Me with disks over 32gb I suggest seeking out 3rd party defrag and disk checking tools as built in ones can be quite slow. If you can install say 1gb ram and install R.loew's ram patch you can disable virtual memory to get a bit more performance.
I never used DOS much not a terminal kind of person.
leileilol wrote on 2026-03-08, 01:03:Given it's closer to the P4 era, I'd Me it up.
Yes, I've been there myself Me and 98SE had a duel and Me won.
🤣 I’ve got this exact same desktop and it’s been a pain in the butt with the help of a special recovery cd I got win 98se working but I’m unable to get dos functioning but I managed to get a new GeForce gtx 5500 256mb and works nicely in this system and pci audulgy zs2 sound card.
Windows 2000 is better than Xp. Try it
