agent_x007 wrote on 2026-06-06, 13:50:

Can't you just change hardware profiles from single Windows 98 installation ?

AFAIK, the problem is that the Creative Drivers install their own version of the A3D.DLL file. So if you want to run both cards on a single Windows 98 install, you also need to run a script to swap A3D.DLL files depending on which card you want to use.

Having two different W98 installs gets around that issue.

SScorpio wrote on 2026-06-06, 14:10:

I suggest getting things up and running with your current GPU first. I use an FX 5500 in mine and haven't felt the need to get a Voodoo. I still have a Voodoo 1 in my Pentium DOS system if I get the itch. GLIDE wrappers work fine if I have a game that isn't its best in Direct3D.

Oh, I’m not buying it out of necessity. In fact, the FX 5950 Ultra would be technically superior in pretty much every game. I’m getting the Voodoo to scratch a 30-year-old itch. My 13-year-old self really wants it 😅

About the two partitions: I also want to use DX 7 with the Aureal and DX 9 with the Creative, which I doubt I could do with just different hardware profiles? (I don’t know exactly how those would work but I assume if I have a single installation of Win98, then I would also have a single installation of DX)

Ancillary question—and I realize I’m venturing into complexity creep territory here, which is precisely why I pose the question before I even try it.

Could I, on the Aureal/3dfx partition, also install the GeForce FX drivers and dynamically enable/disable each graphics card depending on which one I want to use?

Or will Win98SE eat me alive for even thinking of the possibility?

The reason I’m asking is that I’d like to play AquaNox on the Aureal partition for A3D 2.0, but that particular game would benefit greatly from running on the FX instead of the Voodoo (most other games on that partition have a Glide path and would work great on the Voodoo)

With Win98 you are only able to use 3d acceleration on whichever video card the BIOS sets up as primary. You may or may not be able to change which video card is primary in the BIOS settings. The Voodoo 1 & 2 are exceptions to this because they are 3d only and don't have a video BIOS so aren't considered as video cards.

You can enable or disable different sets of cards using the Hardware Profiles feature and Windows will put up a boot menu asking which profile you want to use.

Also the Voodoo 5 5500 PCI is so much more expensive than the AGP version that you could easily build a second computer for less than the extra price for the PCI version, and just use a KVM to switch between the systems. Would have to be an older motherboard that supports 3.3v AGP though.

onethirdxcubed wrote on 2026-06-07, 18:53:

With Win98 you are only able to use 3d acceleration on whichever video card the BIOS sets up as primary. You may or may not be able to change which video card is primary in the BIOS settings. The Voodoo 1 & 2 are exceptions to this because they are 3d only and don't have a video BIOS so aren't considered as video cards.

You can enable or disable different sets of cards using the Hardware Profiles feature and Windows will put up a boot menu asking which profile you want to use.

Also the Voodoo 5 5500 PCI is so much more expensive than the AGP version that you could easily build a second computer for less than the extra price for the PCI version, and just use a KVM to switch between the systems.

This is good information, thank you. So regardless of what I do with partitions or hardware profiles, I need to always get into the BIOS to alter that setting. Provided, of course, that my BIOS has it. If it doesn’t, I’m kinda screwed? I hope the P4C800-E Deluxe has that option.

Hardware Profiles are very interesting as they would elegantly solve my issue, if I understand them correctly. So I could have two partitions, and one of them could have two hardware profiles. Is that correct?

I’m painfully aware of the cost of the V5 PCI, having just bought one. I can’t make a second PC with a V5 AGP cause I’m already using a KVM switch for this build and my WinXP machine. I have no more desk real estate to accommodate more computers, unfortunately.

There are always options, you could get a 4-channel KVM switch or use Shuttle SFF machines or use removable hard drive trays.

You'll probably want some kind of mixer to combine the outputs of all the sound cards and send the correct one to your speakers.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the Win98 OS partitions need to be both less than 127gb and within the first 127gb of the drive. Even though SweetLow has made patches to support 48-bit LBA, this doesn't help for the DOS based aspects of Win9x which includes the boot loader and you will run into problems if booting off a larger partition than this.

My HDD is 160Gb, so individual partitions would definitely be smaller than 127Gb. If push comes to shove, I can replace the 160Gb HDD with a more period-correct 74Gb Raptor.

Unfortunately my desk could not accommodate more computers even if I had a 4-way switch, so I’m very committed to the 2 PC solution. If I can pull this build off, it will be epic. If I can’t, I’ll stick with the GeForce FX and two partitions for the sound cards and sell the V5. It will be painful to know for a brief moment I owned a V5 but I couldn’t use it, but I’ll make do.

Right now, I’m trying to find out if my motherboard allows you to select the primary graphics adapter. If it does, problem solved 🤗

If you're using a 160GB drive, you will need to patch Win98 regardless of the partition size. The issue with Windows 98 addressing drives larger than 128GB has to do with the total physical drive size, not just the partition size.

I can't remember the exact BIOS setting I used in a previous Win98 build but it's something like which graphics card to enable first, selections are AGP and PCI. If you set this up to use AGP first and _also_ set up a hardware profile in Win98 with the AGP card's drivers, and then boot into it with PCI enabled first and set up a matching hardware profile with the PCI card's drivers, you'll be good to go. I did this myself with an NVidia/Voodoo5 build and it worked great.

Shponglefan wrote on 2026-06-07, 21:09:

If you're using a 160GB drive, you will need to patch Win98 regardless of the partition size. The issue with Windows 98 addressing drives larger than 128GB has to do with the total physical drive size, not just the partition size.

Again, this is very good information that I was not aware of. Purchasing that 74Gb drive seems like a very good idea now. I can probably still install everything I want on 74Gb—it was a luxurious capacity for the time. I understand there can be measures to keep the 160Gb drive, but the build is already pretty complex, so if I can simplify something, that’s probably a good idea to do so.

cloverskull wrote on 2026-06-07, 21:10:

I can't remember the exact BIOS setting I used in a previous Win98 build but it's something like which graphics card to enable first, selections are AGP and PCI. If you set this up to use AGP first and _also_ set up a hardware profile in Win98 with the AGP card's drivers, and then boot into it with PCI enabled first and set up a matching hardware profile with the PCI card's drivers, you'll be good to go. I did this myself with an NVidia/Voodoo5 build and it worked great.

Thank you for this.

The question is whether the ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe I’m gonna use has that option in the bios. It was a pretty high end board at the time, so it stands to reason that it did—but I can’t take that for granted. If it does, I can pursue my dream build. If it doesn’t, I’ll have to resell the V5, albeit reluctantly.

Just to add one more option, although the CF card solution seems the best for your case, I would just build two PCs. You can use a KVM switch if you need to share peripherals 🤷

devius wrote on 2026-06-07, 21:16:

Just to add one more option, although the CF card solution seems the best for your case, I would just build two PCs. You can use a KVM switch if you need to share peripherals 🤷

I’m already building two PCs: one with WinXP for more demanding games up to 2007, and this one with Win98 which is essentially going to be 4 time capsules in one machine (if I can pull it off.)

I’ll be using a KVM switch to share CRT, keyboard and mouse between them. I’m considering an ATEN CS1762A for that purpose.

My desk won’t allow for more computers, unfortunately (I’d have a third build with a Matrox Parhelia if I could 😁)

Quickinstall works remarkably well on newer hardware than 98 was meant for.
It has all the annoying patches including hdd.

Another question, this one for the sake of simplifying the build if at all possible:

Has anybody tried the MX300 sound card with DX9? Does it work?

The whole reason I’m chasing two partitions instead of using hardware profiles is to keep Aureal with DX 7. However, if that was not strictly necessary, I could simplify things a great deal by using hardware profiles.

Though that would mean having Creative and Aureal drivers installed simultaneously, so maybe separate partitions remains a good idea.

That said, if MX300 works with DX9, I can plausibly get A3D 2.0 in AquaNox while enjoying the eye candy. If it doesn’t, then AquaNox makes it out of my game list.

AndreaColombo86 wrote on 2026-06-08, 08:12:

Has anybody tried the MX300 sound card with DX9? Does it work?

I think @swaaye has done the most research on that. See here: Re: Aureal Vortex 2 - Positional audio is screwed up through TOSLINK

Ok, so here’s what I thought. I need to know whether I am onto something or just completely crazy 😅

Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that my BIOS does have the option to choose which graphic adapter is primary. If it doesn’t, then I can’t use the V5 at all and the whole point is moot, but I’m gonna find out when the PC gets here.

I’m gonna run with three partitions:

Partition 1
- DirectX 7.0a
- Aureal driver 2041
- Voodoo5 enabled
- Audigy disabled
- GeForce disabled
Partition 2
- DirectX 9.0
- Audigy 2 ZS enabled
- GeForce enabled
- MX300 disabled
- Voodoo5 disabled
Partition 3 (storage)
- Drivers
- Game patches
- Images of the other 2 partitions

This should keep things neatly separated and give me two different environments for two different eras of Win98 gaming.

BUT—there are games that support A3D, and I would therefore want to play on the MX300, but don’t mingle too well with the V5. For example, Quake 3 Arena, NOLF, AquaNox, perhaps even Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force.

For these games, an Aureal/nVidia combo would be much better suited. Enter a different Hardware Profile in the Creative/nVidia partition, where I use the MX300 instead of the Audigy. I’d use a different version of the Aureal drivers to maximize compatibility with DX9 per swaaye’s suggestion (we exchanged DMs).

This would basically cover all the grounds at the cost of being quite complicated overall. But can it work? What worries me most is that a hardware profile would mean having the Aureal and Creative drivers installed simultaneously, even though one would always be disabled.

I could, if push comes to shove, use the third partition for the Aureal/nVidia combination and just save everything on a pendrive…

Or now you’re gonna tell me this whole complexity creep is a crazy idea and I should rethink it entirely 😁

What is special about the dx versions?
Last I checked dx was designed to be additive and I don't think any features have deliberately been dropped in 30 years.
Ie dx 2 = 1 +more
Dx3 =2 +more
Etc.

myne wrote on 2026-06-10, 00:22:

What is special about the dx versions? Last I checked dx was designed to be additive and I don't think any features have deliber […]
Show full quote

What is special about the dx versions?
Last I checked dx was designed to be additive and I don't think any features have deliberately been dropped in 30 years.
Ie dx 2 = 1 +more
Dx3 =2 +more
Etc.

The idea is that the drivers for the Aureal and the Voodoo were developed at about the time DX 7 was a thing (please correct me if I’m wrong; it’s been a very long time 😅) so it is more coherent to use DX 7 in that particular partition. Additionally, I’ve been advised to employ older Aureal drivers with DX 9 because driver 2041 (which I understand is considered the “best” even though it is not perfect and still incurs issues with specific games) doesn’t behave well with it.

So that’s kind of a mix of period correctness and risk minimizing in terms of compatibility.

Regarding the Vortex 2 and DX8/9, @swaaye did a lot of research and testing over the years. See here for some examples:

Stability of 98SE/Vortex 2 with DirectX 8/9
Re: Windows 98 DirectX 9
Re: Aureal Vortex 2 and Windows ME