First post, by ac3t1ne
EDIT: see the completed build here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjVIgTsvqgw
So far I have:
Gigabyte GA-6VTXD Motherboard - chosen for its universal AGP slot and dual socket 370 Pentium 3 sockets
2 x Pentium III-S SL6BY Tualatin processors - 1.4GHz, 512kb L2 cache, 133MHz FSB the best Pentium 3 processor
4 x Kingston 512MB PC133 DDR ECC KVR133X72RC3/512 RAM - maxed out specification for the motherboard
Creative Sound Blaster Live CT4670 PCI sound card - from what I have read this should be a good option for my intended software span and it was dirt cheap
3DFX Voodoo 5500 AGP graphics card - I wanted to see what glide was all about but I also wanted to run some later games
The plan is to dual boot Windows 98 SE (with ram patch) and Windows XP to play all of my favourite childhood games, whilst having a box that is fast enough to self serve itself (at least in XP) for downloads etc. I might also use it for Visual Studio 2003 and have a go at a bit of Xbox homebrew at some point, or generally writing demo code for more limited hardware should be fun too.
I have a Seagate 7200.7 ST3120026A 120GB IDE 3.5" Hard Drive on the way for Windows 98, and i've seen a 400GB IDE drive in the window of a local shop for peanuts which should be good for XP (if it's gone by the time i'm next there I guess i'll have no choice but to spring for a 750GB from eBay.. 🤣
I realise that there are a wealth of options to implement more modern hardware into the system as far as drives and storage go, but that seems to involve yet more thought given to compatibility when buying the correct old parts should just work right? Can anyone help me out here?
I also read that my sound card should have some kind of DOS support with the right drivers, would be great to get some light shed on this too, its not a big deal as i'm a bit young to have played DOS growing up but if it can be made to work then I want to do it for obvious reasons (obvious to other people on this board I guess!).
I'd be interested also to hear any recommendations on cases, and coolers (my last order for coolers got cancelled due to the back stock being unavailable 😵 ).
Hopefully I will be able to post more soon once i'm started with the build!