VOGONS


Building A Windows 98 SE Machine

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Reply 80 of 221, by Skyscraper

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I would not spend much more than $100 on this kind of build.

After a quick look at your list ... this will not be cheap... perhaps $500 - $1000.
Most of these components will not keep their value so you will never get even close to your money back.
I am pretty sure that I talk for most members with Windows 98 systems when I say that not many get everything right in their first build.
Perhaps you run into random compatibility issues with the GF 6800 ultra or whatever, no big issue if you paid $10 for it... but if you paid $280...

If I were you I would try to find a simular system complete.
You should be able to buy such a system for much much less.
And if the system needs upgrades you at least have something to work with.

New PC: i9 12900K @5GHz all cores @1.2v. MSI PRO Z690-A. 32GB DDR4 3600 CL14. 3070Ti.
Old PC: Dual Xeon X5690@4.6GHz, EVGA SR-2, 48GB DDR3R@2000MHz, Intel X25-M. GTX 980ti.
Older PC: K6-3+ 400@600MHz, PC-Chips M577, 256MB SDRAM, AWE64, Voodoo Banshee.

Reply 81 of 221, by Tetrium

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Skyscraper wrote:
I would not spend much more than $100 on this kind of build. […]
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I would not spend much more than $100 on this kind of build.

After a quick look at your list ... this will not be cheap... perhaps $500 - $1000.
Most of these components will not keep their value so you will never get even close to your money back.
I am pretty sure that I talk for most members with Windows 98 systems when I say that not many get everything right in their first build.
Perhaps you run into random compatibility issues with the GF 6800 ultra or whatever, no big issue if you paid $10 for it... but if you paid $280...

If I were you I would try to find a simular system complete.
You should be able to buy such a system for much much less.
And if the system needs upgrades you at least have something to work with.

I agree with this.

This is one of the reasons I suggested building a s370 Coppermine rig, these parts should be a lot cheaper and easier to get as everyone seems to be going for Tualatin atm.

In my 9x Pentium 3 rigs the fastest card I used in there was a Geforce 3 Ti200 and I was perfectly satisfied with it. For newer games I'll simply use one of my XP rigs instead 😀

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 82 of 221, by The Serpant Rider

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I might go with p3 tualatin with this motherboard that you mentioned. Which is better for purchasing ODD and HDD and FDD with cables in my country or Ebay (Shipping is the factor for being expensive...)?

Speakers, case (possibly Cooler Master's) ,mouse and keyboard will be used or leftovers in my house (not on Ebay).

Are the unofficial SPs support with Win 98 SE Korean version (I have full official updates for it)?

P.S. Purchasing Win 98 SE in Korea is only $10 🤣 (DSP ver)
Can you give an advice for buying CRTs?

ОСЕНЬЮ

Когда сквозная паутина
Разносит нити ясных дней
И под окном у селянина
Далекий благовест слышней,

Мы не грустим, пугаясь снова
Дыханья близкого зимы,
А голос лета прожитого
Яснее понимаем мы.

Афанасий Фет, 1870

Reply 83 of 221, by Tetrium

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The Serpant Rider wrote:
I might go with p3 tualatin with this motherboard that you mentioned. Which is better for purchasing ODD and HDD and FDD with ca […]
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I might go with p3 tualatin with this motherboard that you mentioned. Which is better for purchasing ODD and HDD and FDD with cables in my country or Ebay (Shipping is the factor for being expensive...)?

Speakers, mouse and keyboard will be used or leftovers in my house.

Are the unofficial SPs support with Win 98 SE Korean version (I have full official updates for it)?

P.S. Purchasing Win 98 SE in Korea is only $10 🤣 (DSP ver)

I went ahead and did some hypothetical shopping on my own, with a limited budget in mind.

I found this set with s370 motherboard (will not work with Tualatin, but the board is made by the almighty mister Intel himself), CPU and memory for a lot cheaper then what you are intending to get 😀
I have 2 of these boards and I think they are quite wonderful and also idiot proof (the BIOS is limited, so no overclocking, but this board simply worked which is what you should be looking for considering your limited experience in building these rigs).
By the looks of the standard Intel cooler, it looks like the CPU is quite a fast one (Intel wouldn't put such a large HSF on a Celeron 633 now would they? 😜 ).

Also shipping is cheap for your country.

Getting parts for a retro rig isn't all about finding the wanted parts anymore, but also about getting the job done within a reasonable budget.
Heck, for the parts you listed, you could build a brand new rig!

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 84 of 221, by The Serpant Rider

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Using some new componetns would be reasonable for it as I watched your posts.

Things that might using some modern features: ATA/IDE HDD, Case (Coolermaster's), speakers, mouse, keyboard

Buy List: http://cart.payments.ebay.com/sc/add?ssPageNa … 238323137,qty:1 (Do you think AWE 64 Gold is good choice for it?)

ОСЕНЬЮ

Когда сквозная паутина
Разносит нити ясных дней
И под окном у селянина
Далекий благовест слышней,

Мы не грустим, пугаясь снова
Дыханья близкого зимы,
А голос лета прожитого
Яснее понимаем мы.

Афанасий Фет, 1870

Reply 85 of 221, by Skyscraper

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This is an example how I would spend my money using my local "Ebay" to do a Windows 98 build from scratch.

All things below are stuff I actullay bought for the prices I list if not stated otherwise
Most of the stuff are things I do not use at all at the moment but some of it will be used in the future.

A bundle with 2x socket 478 montherboards with CPUs, 1.9 GHz Willamette + 2.4 GHz Northwood.
Also included: a Geforce4 MX, a Geforce 3, 2x256 mb SDR memory, 2x256 DDR memory, cables and CPU heatsinks.
Price 19 SEK + 59 SEK for the shipping = $3 + $9. (19 SEK was the starting bid, my bid was the only bid).
This was very cheap but sometimes socket 478 bundles do not get sold at all. The key is to wait until you find a good deal.

An old box with an old power supply.
Less than $10 in your local classifieds, in my case free.

A Soundblaster Live!.
The going rate around here is $1 if they get sold att all. With shipping lets say $5.
I have never bought a Live! but I have gotten them as freebies when I bought other stuff.

An Optical drive and a floppy drive. In my case free but lets say $10.

A 40 GB IDE drive. I paid $3 each last time I bough IDE drives but with shipping lets say $10.

This way you can build a simular system to the one you are planning to build but instead of spending $500 you spend $50.
Wait for great deals and do not just buy the best right away 😀.

All of the above stuff can also be found in electronic waste dumpsters if you have access to them.

Last edited by Skyscraper on 2014-02-25, 01:08. Edited 3 times in total.

New PC: i9 12900K @5GHz all cores @1.2v. MSI PRO Z690-A. 32GB DDR4 3600 CL14. 3070Ti.
Old PC: Dual Xeon X5690@4.6GHz, EVGA SR-2, 48GB DDR3R@2000MHz, Intel X25-M. GTX 980ti.
Older PC: K6-3+ 400@600MHz, PC-Chips M577, 256MB SDRAM, AWE64, Voodoo Banshee.

Reply 86 of 221, by kithylin

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One thing I don't think folks have mentioned here, in general 98se works good with up to a 20GB or 40GB drive, however most P3 motherboards come with 2 IDE/ATA channels onboard (1 physical controller feeding both connections) What you can actually do, is start out with one 40GB drive, and then later add a second one, then later add a third, if you find you need more room, and end up with a total of 120 GB of storage, just not all on one drive. And it would likely be more compatible overall. You can actually connect up to 3 drives and 1 ODD. And if you run out of room and need even more storage, you can always get a PCI-IDE card cheap and add 4 more drives some day, if you really needed to for some reason. I don't see you needing more than 40GB for a long time no matter how many games you load in.

Reply 87 of 221, by The Serpant Rider

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I see. Is Cool Master has suitable case for Win 98 SE? How about CRT monitor?

ОСЕНЬЮ

Когда сквозная паутина
Разносит нити ясных дней
И под окном у селянина
Далекий благовест слышней,

Мы не грустим, пугаясь снова
Дыханья близкого зимы,
А голос лета прожитого
Яснее понимаем мы.

Афанасий Фет, 1870

Reply 88 of 221, by Space Cowboy

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The Serpant Rider wrote:

Buy List: http://cart.payments.ebay.com/sc/add?ssPageNa … 238323137,qty:1 (Do you think AWE 64 Gold is good choice for it?)

Hm, so you get the Tualatin, but for what MB? It's a good price and a good start.

Tetrium wrote:

I found this set with s370 motherboard (will not work with Tualatin, but the board is made by the almighty mister Intel himself), CPU and memory for a lot cheaper then what you are intending to get 😀

Intel just don't have the ... flavor 😀 I would never get an intel board - well ... may be if it's something like their 975X Bad Axes 😀 But in any other case - I would bet on Abit, DFI, Epox, Asus, Gigabyte (in that same order).

Check this board: http://www.anandtech.com/show/706

Or any other boards with KT133/KT133A with ISA slot (you want the AWE64 Gold).

I know we discuss the Tualatins here, but ... you want a gaming rig, right? This will cover a much wider range of possibilities. Windows 98SE? No problem. Windows XP? Why not? Easy to set up. Easy to use. ATA 100, AGP 2x/4x, 6PCI, 1 ISA ...

Get a CPU with unlocked multiplier (there are tons of Athlons - cheap as hell), and you can make it run faster or slower. All in BIOS. If I was to start from a scratch - that's the board I would choose.

By the questions you ask, I can say you don't have much experience. This board will make it much easier for you. It's a good starting point.

Reply 89 of 221, by The Serpant Rider

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Link for this board: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Abit-KT7A-Socket-A-VI … =item4d193e49c5

How should I type for these multiplier unlocked AMD CPUs on Ebay(AMD 64 Barton 2.33GHz)? I only found 2 CPUs...
Are those ODD good to purchase?: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-NEC-16X-IDE-DVD- … =item3f29746cb0, http://www.ebay.com/itm/SONY-DDU1615-16X-H-H- … =item1c3bebd33a, http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-CRX330E-DS-48x-C … =item2336896639

P.S. Shipping fee to my country is ridiculously expensive... They are diffrent from modern produtcts xd.

Payment: http://cart.payments.ebay.com/sc/add?ssPageNa … 264395066,qty:1

What is a good CRT for me?

ОСЕНЬЮ

Когда сквозная паутина
Разносит нити ясных дней
И под окном у селянина
Далекий благовест слышней,

Мы не грустим, пугаясь снова
Дыханья близкого зимы,
А голос лета прожитого
Яснее понимаем мы.

Афанасий Фет, 1870

Reply 90 of 221, by Tetrium

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Space Cowboy wrote:
Hm, so you get the Tualatin, but for what MB? It's a good price and a good start. […]
Show full quote
The Serpant Rider wrote:

Buy List: http://cart.payments.ebay.com/sc/add?ssPageNa … 238323137,qty:1 (Do you think AWE 64 Gold is good choice for it?)

Hm, so you get the Tualatin, but for what MB? It's a good price and a good start.

Tetrium wrote:

I found this set with s370 motherboard (will not work with Tualatin, but the board is made by the almighty mister Intel himself), CPU and memory for a lot cheaper then what you are intending to get 😀

Intel just don't have the ... flavor 😀 I would never get an intel board - well ... may be if it's something like their 975X Bad Axes 😀 But in any other case - I would bet on Abit, DFI, Epox, Asus, Gigabyte (in that same order).

Check this board: http://www.anandtech.com/show/706

Or any other boards with KT133/KT133A with ISA slot (you want the AWE64 Gold).

I know we discuss the Tualatins here, but ... you want a gaming rig, right? This will cover a much wider range of possibilities. Windows 98SE? No problem. Windows XP? Why not? Easy to set up. Easy to use. ATA 100, AGP 2x/4x, 6PCI, 1 ISA ...

Get a CPU with unlocked multiplier (there are tons of Athlons - cheap as hell), and you can make it run faster or slower. All in BIOS. If I was to start from a scratch - that's the board I would choose.

By the questions you ask, I can say you don't have much experience. This board will make it much easier for you. It's a good starting point.

The problem with Athlon is that you'd need a PSU with a good 5v rail. These are hard to find these days (it's virtually impossible to find such a PSU brand new), it's why I recommended against Athlon and Athlon XP

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 91 of 221, by The Serpant Rider

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What about Modern PSU (Seasonic, Enermax)?

ОСЕНЬЮ

Когда сквозная паутина
Разносит нити ясных дней
И под окном у селянина
Далекий благовест слышней,

Мы не грустим, пугаясь снова
Дыханья близкого зимы,
А голос лета прожитого
Яснее понимаем мы.

Афанасий Фет, 1870

Reply 93 of 221, by The Serpant Rider

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Another challenge again.. Can you help me to choose good CRT monitors? How abt 500 watt Seasonic's or Enermax's PSUs?

ОСЕНЬЮ

Когда сквозная паутина
Разносит нити ясных дней
И под окном у селянина
Далекий благовест слышней,

Мы не грустим, пугаясь снова
Дыханья близкого зимы,
А голос лета прожитого
Яснее понимаем мы.

Афанасий Фет, 1870

Reply 94 of 221, by kithylin

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Tetrium wrote:

The problem with Athlon is that you'd need a PSU with a good 5v rail. These are hard to find these days (it's virtually impossible to find such a PSU brand new), it's why I recommended against Athlon and Athlon XP

My AthlonXP system is running on a modern-ish ThermalTake TR2-430, 430 watt power supply with only 24 amps on the +5v line, and it's only an older 64% efficency unit and not "modern" really. And it runs perfectly fine, and even has a 1600 mhz chip running at 1952 Mhz (Even overclocked!) With zero problems what so ever. It's smooth, stable, and runs easy. So all this talk of "Oh you need so much power for 5v for athlons!" is really kind of.. no. You really just need 24-amps on +5v so I've found, and most of the more modern / newer Power Supplies can do that if you just look for em.

Reply 95 of 221, by The Serpant Rider

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So, it's okay to use modern TT, Seasonic, Enermax 430w powered right? What is the best unlocked AthlonXP CPU? I find Sony Trinitron based CRT monitors on What is good monitor for retro PC? and want to know that it fits or not to my rig.

ОСЕНЬЮ

Когда сквозная паутина
Разносит нити ясных дней
И под окном у селянина
Далекий благовест слышней,

Мы не грустим, пугаясь снова
Дыханья близкого зимы,
А голос лета прожитого
Яснее понимаем мы.

Афанасий Фет, 1870

Reply 96 of 221, by Tetrium

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kithylin wrote:
Tetrium wrote:

The problem with Athlon is that you'd need a PSU with a good 5v rail. These are hard to find these days (it's virtually impossible to find such a PSU brand new), it's why I recommended against Athlon and Athlon XP

My AthlonXP system is running on a modern-ish ThermalTake TR2-430, 430 watt power supply with only 24 amps on the +5v line, and it's only an older 64% efficency unit and not "modern" really. And it runs perfectly fine, and even has a 1600 mhz chip running at 1952 Mhz (Even overclocked!) With zero problems what so ever. It's smooth, stable, and runs easy. So all this talk of "Oh you need so much power for 5v for athlons!" is really kind of.. no. You really just need 24-amps on +5v so I've found, and most of the more modern / newer Power Supplies can do that if you just look for em.

You mean this ThermalTake TR2-430 PSU?
This one actually has exactly 30 amps on the 5v line, not the 24 you mention.
Here is the PSU mentioned on ThermalTake's own website. It also mentions 30A on the 5v line.

Newish? The first customer reviews on that PSU on newegg date back to 2005, meaning this PSU design is at least 9 years old. I think it's actually quite surprising this unit is still in stock over there!

Are you sure your ThermalTake TR2-430 provides 24A on the 5v line??

Anyway, if newegg ships to Korea or he can find this model PSU locally, then he could definitely give Athlon (XP) a go. Unfortunately for me this PSU isn't available in any of the stores here in The Netherlands.
There is one other option though and that would be to get a sA board with that extra P4 connector. Even though these boards aren't rare, they are more uncommon then ones that are missing this connector, he should try and get a good 5v PSU first anyway.

The Serpant Rider wrote:

So, it's okay to use modern TT, Seasonic, Enermax 430w powered right? What is the best unlocked AthlonXP CPU? I find Sony Trinitron based CRT monitors on What is good monitor for retro PC? and want to know that it fits or not to my rig.

If I were you, I'd at first try to get a CRT (any CRT!) locally because buying abroad will mean the shipping cost will be murderous to your wallet 😜
The best Athlon XP? That might be a long story. Theres so many different Athlon XP's made. If you want to go the easy, but expensive route, then just get the 3200+ Barton, which isn't unlocked...but officially it's the best.
If you want the best unlocked, then you got to get yourself a mobile...but not all mobiles were unlocked and/or would work in all boards. I'm pretty sure someone else here knows more about these mobiles and the problems they "could" give you though, I'd need to read up on this subject again and do some research.
There is one forum where the members know a LOT about Athlons though, classicplatforms was it I think. Perhaps reading a couple threads there would help you in your research for the best Athlon XP.
But just getting a Barton 3200+ is the easy way out...or I should say, the easier way out 😜

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 97 of 221, by kithylin

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Tetrium wrote:
You mean this ThermalTake TR2-430 PSU? This one actually has exactly 30 amps on the 5v line, not the 24 you mention. Here is the […]
Show full quote

You mean this ThermalTake TR2-430 PSU?
This one actually has exactly 30 amps on the 5v line, not the 24 you mention.
Here is the PSU mentioned on ThermalTake's own website. It also mentions 30A on the 5v line.

Are you sure your ThermalTake TR2-430 provides 24A on the 5v line??

I'm staring at it right here in my computer, I wouldn't be saying these things if it it wasn't true. But just for you, I went and took a photo too.

power-supply.jpg

Tetrium wrote:

Anyway, if newegg ships to Korea or he can find this model PSU locally, then he could definitely give Athlon (XP) a go. Unfortunately for me this PSU isn't available in any of the stores here in The Netherlands.

Newegg.com only ships to USA only. There's a newegg.ca that ships to Canada only, but no where else (and not to the states).

Tetrium wrote:

Theres so many different Athlon XP's made. If you want to go the easy, but expensive route, then just get the 3200+ Barton, which isn't unlocked...but officially it's the best.

It's not possible to get a motherboard that supports the 400-FSB 3200+ Barton chips but also has an ISA slot. This combination was (most likely) never produced by any company, and (probably) doesn't exist. At least in all my years of researching I've never seen one yet. The only Socket-462 / Socket-A motherboards with AthlonXP and ISA are typically 266-Mhz-FSB boards, which are limited to the Palomino core chips only, not even Throughbred.

Reply 98 of 221, by Tetrium

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kithylin wrote:
I'm staring at it right here in my computer, I wouldn't be saying these things if it it wasn't true. But just for you, I went a […]
Show full quote
Tetrium wrote:
You mean this ThermalTake TR2-430 PSU? This one actually has exactly 30 amps on the 5v line, not the 24 you mention. Here is the […]
Show full quote

You mean this ThermalTake TR2-430 PSU?
This one actually has exactly 30 amps on the 5v line, not the 24 you mention.
Here is the PSU mentioned on ThermalTake's own website. It also mentions 30A on the 5v line.

Are you sure your ThermalTake TR2-430 provides 24A on the 5v line??

I'm staring at it right here in my computer, I wouldn't be saying these things if it it wasn't true. But just for you, I went and took a photo too.

power-supply.jpg

Tetrium wrote:

Anyway, if newegg ships to Korea or he can find this model PSU locally, then he could definitely give Athlon (XP) a go. Unfortunately for me this PSU isn't available in any of the stores here in The Netherlands.

Newegg.com only ships to USA only. There's a newegg.ca that ships to Canada only, but no where else (and not to the states).

Tetrium wrote:

Theres so many different Athlon XP's made. If you want to go the easy, but expensive route, then just get the 3200+ Barton, which isn't unlocked...but officially it's the best.

It's not possible to get a motherboard that supports the 400-FSB 3200+ Barton chips but also has an ISA slot. This combination was (most likely) never produced by any company, and (probably) doesn't exist. At least in all my years of researching I've never seen one yet. The only Socket-462 / Socket-A motherboards with AthlonXP and ISA are typically 266-Mhz-FSB boards, which are limited to the Palomino core chips only, not even Throughbred.

The model number of your PSU is the thermaltake TR2-430NL1NH. Apparently they made several revisions of that PSU. And btw the picture of the PSU on newegg has yet another model number.
When it comes to pictures on websites selling stuff, I'd rather go with the data in this case as it is similar to the data shown on ThermalTake's website. It seems kinda sloppy on Neweggs part.

And about the amps, personally I prefer to play it safe and will stick to about 30 amps as I know this will power a Barton 3200+ for sure.

Well, the problem with sticking to Palomino's is that you're barely gonna get more speed then Tualatin while requiring a PSU with plenty of amps on the 5v line. Also sA boards with ISA slots and support for Palomino aren't that common either. Last but not least, he'll be left with a VIA chipsetted board which several people on Vogons have found to be more buggy then Intel chipsetted boards.

Wanting the fastest Athlon XP wasn't my idea in the first place btw, my suggestion still is the Intel board I linked to earlier as it'll be a lot cheaper and as it's based on Intel's 815 chipset, will probably have fewer issues then a VIA chipsetted board.

Remember that Serpant Rider has virtually no experience with building a rig for 98SE, so my suggestions are to get his build done cheap and easy.
If he succeeds and wants more, then he can always go for a second build if he wants to.

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 99 of 221, by The Serpant Rider

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As your recommendation posts, I might try to go with cheaper one
Buy list 2: http://cart.payments.ebay.com/sc/add?ssPageNa … 826356450,qty:1 (Except case, IDE cables)

ОСЕНЬЮ

Когда сквозная паутина
Разносит нити ясных дней
И под окном у селянина
Далекий благовест слышней,

Мы не грустим, пугаясь снова
Дыханья близкого зимы,
А голос лета прожитого
Яснее понимаем мы.

Афанасий Фет, 1870