I can't recall anyone referring to Win98 "Final Edition". Perhaps you mean "First Edition".

CodeFuApprentice wrote:

I wanted to use this machine again for DirectX 7 Games i have.
Any thoughts?

If it runs the games you want to play at the speed you want to run them, then be happy with what you have and stop worrying about what could be different.

CodeFuApprentice wrote:

Hi Everyone :) I'm newly registered here, although I've briefly visited here many times before when looking for info and opinion […]
Show full quote

Hi Everyone 😀
I'm newly registered here, although I've briefly visited here many times before when looking for info and opinions about old hardware and games, and decided why not!!

I've had my Super Socket 7 based machine since 1999(Previously in bits). Only recently i wanted to reassemble it for Dos/Windows 98 stuff, and i really wanted some advice for what to install in it.
(I'm not a newbie in the slightest, i just need refreshing/reminding what hardware has what limits and what is overkill)

My Super 7 System:
AMD K6-III 400Mhz
Gigabyte GA-5AX Rev 4
320MB PC100 Ram (Not sure about timings)
20GB Quantum Fireball LM Plus
OS: Windows 98 Final Edition i think(Last time i checked, Second edition superseded it)

I Switch between using an ISA AWE-32 and a PCI Turtle Beach Santa Cruz (Equipped with a DB50XG Daughter board)
I also have a bit of an Overkill PSU in this machine, 650w, but it was the only spare PSU i hadn't used before)

I was trying to decide which GPU to use:
(a 3Dfx Voodoo 5 5500 AGP,
Geforce 2 MX 32MB,
or the highest i considered was either a Geforce FX 5700LE or a Geforce 4 4200ti)

(I Found it strange that the Voodoo 5 reports 32MB in DXDiag as i'd previously used a Voodoo 2 i have (But i'm not sure if it still works)
I've heard many opinions about the latter 2 being too much for the Sharptooth, though i do also remember this motherboard having some issues with Nvidia Geforce cards running above AGP 2x i think.
I wanted to use this machine again for DirectX 7 Games i have.
Any thoughts?

GA-5AX... What a nice board. 😀 Though you might want to lower the mem to 128mb.
I have an rev. 4.1 and it can not cache above 128mb. Shure it can run with more, it will just slow down.
I think that a V5 is a bit overkill. The system might not be able to feed it with enough data.
I have a system a bit like your's (GA-5AX rev. 4.1) and I am using TNT2-Ultra paired with V2-SLI.
The attached picture is of the nearly finished build. The finished one has another soundcard.

I'm really not sure why i thought it was called Final Edition.
I'm not worried, i just wanted to choose the most optimal hardware for it. I've never used the last 2 video cards i mentioned in this machine before and just wanted to know if anyone had experience with using anything higher than a Voodoo 5 card, and if it's worth it?

Thanks Brostenen. Thats the most memory i had, also, i noticed your pic, is your HDD a Quantum Fireball?
I just looked at my board again, it's the same as yours, Rev 4.1.

CodeFuApprentice wrote:

Hi Everyone :) I'm newly registered here, although I've briefly visited here many times before when looking for info and opinion […]
Show full quote

Hi Everyone 😀
I'm newly registered here, although I've briefly visited here many times before when looking for info and opinions about old hardware and games, and decided why not!!

I've had my Super Socket 7 based machine since 1999(Previously in bits). Only recently i wanted to reassemble it for Dos/Windows 98 stuff, and i really wanted some advice for what to install in it.
(I'm not a newbie in the slightest, i just need refreshing/reminding what hardware has what limits and what is overkill)

My Super 7 System:
AMD K6-III 400Mhz
Gigabyte GA-5AX Rev 4
320MB PC100 Ram (Not sure about timings)
20GB Quantum Fireball LM Plus
OS: Windows 98 Final Edition i think(Last time i checked, Second edition superseded it)

I Switch between using an ISA AWE-32 and a PCI Turtle Beach Santa Cruz (Equipped with a DB50XG Daughter board)
I also have a bit of an Overkill PSU in this machine, 650w, but it was the only spare PSU i hadn't used before)

I was trying to decide which GPU to use:
(a 3Dfx Voodoo 5 5500 AGP,
Geforce 2 MX 32MB,
or the highest i considered was either a Geforce FX 5700LE or a Geforce 4 4200ti)

(I Found it strange that the Voodoo 5 reports 32MB in DXDiag as i'd previously used a Voodoo 2 i have (But i'm not sure if it still works)
I've heard many opinions about the latter 2 being too much for the Sharptooth, though i do also remember this motherboard having some issues with Nvidia Geforce cards running above AGP 2x i think.
I wanted to use this machine again for DirectX 7 Games i have.
Any thoughts?

Welcome aboard! 😁

I've actually build a very similar setup to yours years ago and I actually posted a couple pics in the "Retro Rigs Photo Thread" on the very first page! (clicky)

K6-III/400 AFR (the cooler 2.2v one, non+), GA-5AX 4.1 (still not sure 🤣!) and the rest you can see for yourself.

I didn't want to figure out whether this particular board had any AGP power regulation issues, so I decided to make it a Voodoo 2 glide-only rig using a single V2.

I agree with the V5 being overkill. Even a V3 or V2-SLI is of better use in a faster system (I'd personally put the V5 in something like a Coppermine 1000 or a Tualatin or similar), but of course it's your call 😀

I don't know any 98 Final Edition, but you might be referring to either First Edition or Millennium Edition (which in a way was the final edition of 9x), but it worked very well with ME.

I don't know if my GA-5AX actually has that cacheable area bug, but since I chose a K6-III, this bug wasn't a problem anyway.

I simply ended up using PC-133 cl3 which I used as PC-100 cl2 since I had tons of smaller PC-133 to choose from and didn't want to bother tweaking timings and searching for a good set of memory modules to match with the rest of the system. I probably did chose modules with as little differences as I had laying around (same density chips and same brand if possible, because...why pick different modules if I can pick similar ones right away and decrease any potential memory controller issues).

CodeFuApprentice wrote:

is your HDD a Quantum Fireball?

It is an Seagate 120gb, wich are modded to 32gb, using seatools.

The V5 5500 is best used in a faster system but is still a better choice than some of the other cards, as for the storage there are still plenty of ide drives around that don't have to be limited. 40GB drives are still common at least in the states since hardly no one wants them.

Overall nice build 😀