I have a very similar build, Same CPU, M/B and Soundcard, and close enough GF 6800 Ultra.
I built it as my "end of the road" Win98 build as it's about as late as you can go with official unmodified drivers.

Truth is it makes for a better XP build. Nothing in 98 needs that much power and if it does it'll work in XP anyway and a few games simply aren't compatible with the 6800.
I rarely use my one but I enjoy owning it. Even today I prefer AGP and PCI-E feels just a bit too new

chinny22 wrote on 2025-11-07, 03:50:

I have a very similar build, Same CPU, M/B and Soundcard, and close enough GF 6800 Ultra. I built it as my "end of the road" Win […]
Show full quote

I have a very similar build, Same CPU, M/B and Soundcard, and close enough GF 6800 Ultra.
I built it as my "end of the road" Win98 build as it's about as late as you can go with official unmodified drivers.

Truth is it makes for a better XP build. Nothing in 98 needs that much power and if it does it'll work in XP anyway and a few games simply aren't compatible with the 6800.
I rarely use my one but I enjoy owning it. Even today I prefer AGP and PCI-E feels just a bit too new

That ultra card is a nice one...

I use xp as it s era appropriate, most parts are 2003 2004... I also have 2 win9x machines already.

I built this machine as it was pretty much one of the last agp era builds.

It runs most games and it s very snappy and also very stable.

This is not my only win xp 32 bit machine. I also have a 2009 2010 machine built as the end of the 32 bit system. That one is more modern, but still old, and I ve made that for crysis.

I must clear my build/test decks and check out my 775dual-VSTA and HD3650 AGP - aiming for an XP retro, maybe a dual boot with Vista for some DX10 action from the GPU. TBH I've been putting off the possible bad news on the untested board

Matth79 wrote on 2025-11-07, 16:40:

I must clear my build/test decks and check out my 775dual-VSTA and HD3650 AGP - aiming for an XP retro, maybe a dual boot with Vista for some DX10 action from the GPU. TBH I've been putting off the possible bad news on the untested board

Would not even bother with the Costa or win 7.

Xp 32 bit all way.

Update on this , I have removed the GPU to go into another PC... I am awaiting on a MONSTER agp gpu for this... Will update as soon as I have pics and receive it in the post...

bitzu101 wrote on 2025-11-06, 12:58:

Mobo: Asus p4p800-e Deluxe Cpu: intel pentium 4, 3.2 GHz northwood Ram: 2gb ddr 400 Gpu: leadtek 6800gt agp Storage: 1x 32gb ssd […]
Show full quote

Mobo: Asus p4p800-e Deluxe
Cpu: intel pentium 4, 3.2 GHz northwood
Ram: 2gb ddr 400
Gpu: leadtek 6800gt agp
Storage: 1x 32gb ssd + 1x 120gb maxtor hdd
Optical: dvd rw
Psu: antec 430w bronze
Sound card: audigy 2 zs
WiFi card: tp link something
Cooler: akasa after market

I have a soft spot for this generation of computers. It is almost the same as my retro PC at its core. I currently use a P4C800-E and 3.0GHz Northwood, but I do have a spare P4P800-E and 3.2GHz Northwood... My card is the 6600GT - the special Gigabyte passively-cooled one with VIVO. I actually bought it to make use of the VIVO feature back in the day, and transferred a large portion of my childhood video tapes to digital format.

RAM, Sound card and WiFi card are exactly like yours. I never had an SSD in that system, but I do remember that it started with a 120GB Maxtor drive for boot and a 250GB one for storage. The drives have since been upgraded to a pair of larger-capacity Seagates. And I have two PATA LG DVD-RWs. Back when optical media was king having two drives sped up burning/reading/testing processes.

It s a hero build... and my new gpu for it will be a ATI radeon hd 3850 with 512mb or gddr3 😁

Made a lot more sense , as the 6800 works with windowsn 9x so it s more fitting to stay in my win 9x pc and this new monster to go into my XP build 😁....

I bet it can even play HL2 at 60fps with my 1600x1200 monitor.

Time? Is it really that time again?

Radeon hd 3850 agp installed, gddr3 512mb vram.

And this pc is now complete.

It s fast for what it is. The cpu is hyperthreaded, the ram is new, the gpu is super capable... This pc will play any game from 2004 to 2006 at 1600x1200, and this was my goal. The boot drive is a ssd. 32gb, the secondary driver is a hdd 120gb.

It even goes online... Obviously it s rubbish online, but it does work. I placed a tp link wireless adapter in there and with the help of supermium, we'll... U can go on Google, u can search for drivers, etc... YouTube is a bit of a no no... But for drivers or for going onto archive.org it does work.

The sound... We'll... Amazing as well, sb audigy 2 zs, full eax, etc...

Think it s one of the most powerful xp machines, I wish I had this back in the day.

I know the gpu is not period correct for 2004 2006, but in that time there was no gpu to play 1600x1200 at high frames. I had a 6800 gt in this pc before and that struggled at well with anything over 768p....

Hence why I got this gpu.... Oh... Forgot, I also got cod2 in the post, brand new old stock...

That is a really nice setup! I like the board+CPU+GPU combo - in fact both with the 6800GT and the 3850. Just need to get on Facebook Marketplace and find a powerhouse sort of chassis for it - so it looks as good as it 😀

Looks good. So, this is a peak AGP build? Doesn't that CPU bottleneck it? CPU from 2003 and GPU from 2007?

bitzu101 wrote on 2026-07-14, 17:29:

Radeon hd 3850 agp installed, gddr3 512mb vram. […]
Show full quote

Radeon hd 3850 agp installed, gddr3 512mb vram.

And this pc is now complete.

It s fast for what it is. The cpu is hyperthreaded, the ram is new, the gpu is super capable... This pc will play any game from 2004 to 2006 at 1600x1200, and this was my goal. The boot drive is a ssd. 32gb, the secondary driver is a hdd 120gb.

The sound... We'll... Amazing as well, sb audigy 2 zs, full eax, etc...

Think it s one of the most powerful xp machines, I wish I had this back in the day.

I know the gpu is not period correct for 2004 2006, but in that time there was no gpu to play 1600x1200 at high frames. I had a 6800 gt in this pc before and that struggled at well with anything over 768p....

Nice system, the choice of Northwood for CPU is great, the sound card really takes you to another level, congrats.
However I do not want to spoil your enthusiasm, but playing anything after 2004 at 1600×1200 is out of reach for this setup unless you are OK lowering the settings quite a bit.

RetroPCCupboard wrote on 2026-07-18, 21:28:

Looks good. So, this is a peak AGP build? Doesn't that CPU bottleneck it? CPU from 2003 and GPU from 2007?

it does... a bit... but not playing anything that would would strain it so much...

think youtube is more demanding than any game i ve played on this machine.

the gpu is defenetly peak agp. the fastest ever...

i will probably look for a x1950 gpu just in case... something inbetween the 6800 and the 3850...

nd22 wrote on 2026-07-19, 02:12:

bitzu101 wrote on 2026-07-14, 17:29:

Radeon hd 3850 agp installed, gddr3 512mb vram. […]
Show full quote

Radeon hd 3850 agp installed, gddr3 512mb vram.

And this pc is now complete.

It s fast for what it is. The cpu is hyperthreaded, the ram is new, the gpu is super capable... This pc will play any game from 2004 to 2006 at 1600x1200, and this was my goal. The boot drive is a ssd. 32gb, the secondary driver is a hdd 120gb.

The sound... We'll... Amazing as well, sb audigy 2 zs, full eax, etc...

Think it s one of the most powerful xp machines, I wish I had this back in the day.

I know the gpu is not period correct for 2004 2006, but in that time there was no gpu to play 1600x1200 at high frames. I had a 6800 gt in this pc before and that struggled at well with anything over 768p....

Nice system, the choice of Northwood for CPU is great, the sound card really takes you to another level, congrats.
However I do not want to spoil your enthusiasm, but playing anything after 2004 at 1600×1200 is out of reach for this setup unless you are OK lowering the settings quite a bit.

i know some games will not play on 1600x1200 but it s fine... what i have already game wise is working great. i mean , cod 2 works with 1600x1200 , not great , but does work... i will tweak when i have the time , etc...

this is also not my only windows xp 32 bit machine. i have a pcie machine that is (for me) the ultimate xp 32 bit machine... with a quad core , a 680 geforce , etc... if i really need a xp for after 2006...