Wow nice build you have there!

That looks like the perfect rig to use for Unreal and the like 😀.
Top score!

I did also build a Tualatin build with a Voodoo 3 just for those games that needs a fast Windows system and a 3DFX card 😀.
My box only has a Voodoo3 2000 and a Celeron 1100 but it runs very well.

I did also build another system with a PIII 1400-S and a GF FX5900 Ultra for games that use D3D or OpenGL.
This way I can have my cake and eat it without it geting cramped in the cases.
I did even decide to make both those boxes Windows only as I have other systems for DOS 😁.

@Mau1wurf1977, thanks! 😀 my only issue is that the AWE 64 Gold's volume is really low in dos. Have to turn my speakers all the way up to hear sound in dos games. First thought was "easy fix, I'll just use mixerset" hmmm no mixerset in the driver directory, next thought was "ok I'll use diagnose" hmmm again not there. Very strange as all my other sound blasters including my awe32 have these 2 utilities. I installed the drivers off the original awe 64 gold disc. Through windows that is as it installs the dos drivers for you. Was under the assumption that the dos/3.11 drivers wouldn't work if installed directly from dos because in the past I've had errors saying that the driver must be installed through windows. Never used an awe 64 gold before this build. I'm also concerned as if I reboot into dos from windows, the volume is a little louder as opposed to booting directly into dos. Why that makes a difference is beyond me! Don't think I'm doing anything wrong as it works perfectly besides the volume level. I'm worried it's a hardware issue 🙁

@Skyscraper, now you're making me think about the fx5950 again damn you! Haha what's the specs on your pentium 3 + fx5900 build?

Further on this build, I figured that if I find a good socket 370 motherboard with isa slots I get to build a fast retro rig and still retain good dos compatibility so it's really the best of both worlds.

The VESA compatability with FX5950 is equal to the Voodoo3. So that is no issue. If you are worried about 2D output quality with a regular Voodoo 1 or 2 then use DVI from the FX5950 to your monitor and VGA from the Voodoo. When you switch over to any Glide game you just change the input device on your monitor from DVI to VGA. Voodoo 1 and 2 also allows you to play the static linked DOS Glide games, so the compatibility is bigger than with Voodoo3.

borgie83 wrote:

@Skyscraper, now you're making me think about the fx5950 again damn you! Haha what's the specs on your pentium 3 + fx5900 build?

Further on this build, I figured that if I find a good socket 370 motherboard with isa slots I get to build a fast retro rig and still retain good dos compatibility so it's really the best of both worlds.

My build can be found on the first page in the System Specs forum "Tualatin PIII 1400-S + Geforce FX5900 Ultra Windows 98 build" 😀.
My plan from the start was also to use a motherboard with an ISA slot for DOS compatibility but it was not to be.

@vetz, I never thought about switching from DVI to VGA on the fly. May have to try that out. As I said, I would rather a better graphics card in there given the CPU speed but didn't want to compromise Voodoo compatibility. Your suggestion would work nicely. You wouldn't know the VESA compatibility for a Nvidia 6800 GT AGP would you? I'm asking because I've got one almost new in box just laying around gaining dust.

@Skyscraper, nice build! I used the exact same cpu in my build. Bought it already pin modded from a guy on eBay for $30. Guessing you got it from the same guy considering it looks identical. Only bad thing about it was due to the extra width of the cpu, I really struggled to get the heat sink bracket onto the socket. The seller did warn buyers about this but I didn't think it was going be that hard to fit it!

Have you tried using your Sound Blaster CT4760 for Dos sound emulation considering you don't have any ISA slots? I did test my Sound Blaster which is the same model as yours and sound did work in Dos using this motherboard. I only chose to use an ISA Sound Blaster as I didn't want any compatibility issues. If the Dos drivers work for you then you're not totally missing out due to the lack of ISA slots 😀

borgie83 wrote:

@Skyscraper, nice build! I used the exact same cpu in my build. Bought it already pin modded from a guy on eBay for $30. Guessing you got it from the same guy considering it looks identical. Only bad thing about it was due to the extra width of the cpu, I really struggled to get the heat sink bracket onto the socket. The seller did warn buyers about this but I didn't think it was going be that hard to fit it!

You have to be very careful because the tight fit means a lot of force is applied to the tabs on the CPU-socket. You wouldn't want it to break in the middle of a game or when handling the system.

For my Tualatin rig I sorta manufactured a HSF combo using a Tualatin heatsink (these are already a bit lower, so less of a tight fit), a stock Athlon XP metal mounting thingy and a 70mm fan from a stock Athlon 64 HSF.

That's a sexy lady you got there. Hats off.

rodimus80 wrote:

That's a sexy lady you got there. Hats off.

Your quote reminds me of Gangnam Style 🤣

borgie83 wrote:

Posted this in the photo thread but then decided it deserved its own thread :) […]
Show full quote

Posted this in the photo thread but then decided it deserved its own thread 😀

Anyway, I just literally completed my latest rig. Been a while in the making due to waiting on parts but I finally got there in the end. Here's the specs:

Generic beige case (found on the side of the road)
Gigabyte GA-6VXE7+ Socket 370 Motherboard
Pentium III Tualatin 1.4Ghz CPU (with pin mod)
Coolermaster CPU Cooler with copper heatsink and fan
Voodoo 3000 AGP Graphics card with copper fan and copper heatsinks
Intel PRO 1000 GT Network Card
Sound Blaster Live CT4760 with Live Drive II
Sound blaster AWE 64 Gold
Sony DDU1622 DVD Rom Drive
Kingston 512mb SDRam with copper heatsink
Windows 98 SE

That system is just too cool.Throw some WinMUGEN at it,should be nice.What chipset it uses?

borgie83 wrote:

Posted this in the photo thread but then decided it deserved its own thread :) […]
Show full quote

Posted this in the photo thread but then decided it deserved its own thread 😀

Anyway, I just literally completed my latest rig. Been a while in the making due to waiting on parts but I finally got there in the end. Here's the specs:

Generic beige case (found on the side of the road)
Gigabyte GA-6VXE7+ Socket 370 Motherboard
Pentium III Tualatin 1.4Ghz CPU (with pin mod)
Coolermaster CPU Cooler with copper heatsink and fan
Voodoo 3000 AGP Graphics card with copper fan and copper heatsinks
Intel PRO 1000 GT Network Card
Sound Blaster Live CT4760 with Live Drive II
Sound blaster AWE 64 Gold
Noctua NF-R8 Case fan
Sony DDU1622 DVD Rom Drive
Iomega 250mb Zip Drive
Cannon MD5501 5.25" 1.2mb Floppy Drive
Sony MPF920 1.44mb Floppy Drive
Aerocool Strike-X 500Watt PSU
Kingston 512mb SDRam with copper heatsink
Western Digital Caviar SE 120GB Hard Drive
Windows 98 SE

Everything's been setup and runs really well. Was initially tossing up on if I should use the AWE64 Gold or a Sound Blaster 16 with DB50XG but decided that this rig is a little modern for the SB16. I also wanted to use a more modern graphics card like a FX5950 but decided against that as well as I wanted good voodoo compatibility, minimal VESA issues and the fact that this rig is not going to be used for any games later than around 2000. Yes I know I could've used a Voodoo 2 but if I went down that path i'd prefer to go SLI and as you can see, it's pretty cramped up in there already.

Hope you guys like it!

And before I forget, I certainly like it! Looks well build 😀
And it's kinda nice to see someone using a VIA board instead of the usual 815 boards you see all the time in Tualatin rigs.

Has the VIA chipset caused you any trouble btw?

Thanks guys, a lot of love really went into this build. Tried to keep it as tidy as I could which is especially hard when you've got 2 floppy drives, a Zip drive, a dvd drive, a live drive and the hard drive. So many ribbon cables and all those molex connections really do cause a bit of a mess. I really love the copper heatsinks and fans as not only does it give the build a bit of colour but helps expell heat in the process. Something that's a little hard with these old beige cases. Thinking of cutting a hole to the right of the I/O plate and adding a small exhaust fan as well. The red aerocool strike-x psu also helps with the overall look and is a great 80+ psu as well.

@Tetrium & PcBytes, the motherboard uses the VIA 693A Chipset. So far it's been pretty stable and I haven't encountered any issues at all besides getting some certain dos games running like Tyrian and Commander Keen. This has nothing to do with the chipset though. Don't know why everyone always seems to hate VIA chipsets. People even say that via chipsets and sound blaster live cards don't mix well but I haven't experienced any issues in that department either, even with my live SB16 dos emulation tests. I would've preferred an intel chipset but trying to find a decent branded board with AGP,PCI AND ISA slots was near impossible for me. All the intel ones were missing the ISA slots which was a must for me.

@Tetrium, further to that, I lied, I've also had the low volume issue using my AWE 64 Gold in dos but again, doubt it's anything to do with the chipset. Just going to reinstall the drivers in a few days as the drivers I installed were missing the mixerset and diagnose utilities thus stopping me from adjusting the volume in dos. Should be an easy fix 😀....I'm hoping!

I completely agree with you about VIA chipsets. I run a 694X board myself, and the ability to use 1.5GB of RAM with XP is great. The memory performance of VIA chipsets can be just as good as i815, so long as you enable memory interleaving and use CL2 modules.

I run a SB X-Fi and Radeon 9800 Pro on mine. There are no issues at all with this setup. Very speedy and reliable, even though I'm forcing my PC133/CL3 DIMMs to run at 151MHz and CL2.

One weakness that I've found all VIA P3 (and many Athlon) chipsets have is their inability to play nicely with certain nvidia cards. I can totally understand how that would be a deal breaker for some (er...many) people.

borgie83 wrote:

@Mau1wurf1977, thanks! 😀 my only issue is that the AWE 64 Gold's volume is really low in dos. Have to turn my speakers all the way up to hear sound in dos games. First thought was "easy fix, I'll just use mixerset" hmmm no mixerset in the driver directory, next thought was "ok I'll use diagnose" hmmm again not there.

Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NbBN4xF6l4

It is part of a 3 part playlist and in this part I show how to configure DOS including the AWE64.

@Mau1wurf1977, thanks for your help. I'll check it out. Your videos are always very informative. Will post back with my results on Monday as I don't have the pc with me this weekend.

borgie83 wrote:

Thanks guys, a lot of love really went into this build. Tried to keep it as tidy as I could which is especially hard when you've got 2 floppy drives, a Zip drive, a dvd drive, a live drive and the hard drive. So many ribbon cables and all those molex connections really do cause a bit of a mess. I really love the copper heatsinks and fans as not only does it give the build a bit of colour but helps expell heat in the process. Something that's a little hard with these old beige cases. Thinking of cutting a hole to the right of the I/O plate and adding a small exhaust fan as well. The red aerocool strike-x psu also helps with the overall look and is a great 80+ psu as well.

@Tetrium & PcBytes, the motherboard uses the VIA 693A Chipset. So far it's been pretty stable and I haven't encountered any issues at all besides getting some certain dos games running like Tyrian and Commander Keen. This has nothing to do with the chipset though. Don't know why everyone always seems to hate VIA chipsets. People even say that via chipsets and sound blaster live cards don't mix well but I haven't experienced any issues in that department either, even with my live SB16 dos emulation tests. I would've preferred an intel chipset but trying to find a decent branded board with AGP,PCI AND ISA slots was near impossible for me. All the intel ones were missing the ISA slots which was a must for me.

Who said SB16 and VIA chipset doesn't mix well?I had a SB16 Value and a Jetway 993AN motherboard (made back when they at least made something good)and I didn't experience any problems with it.CPU was a 233MHz Pentium 2 and 320MB RAM,and I was running Windows 2000 without problems.I later upgraded to a K7S5A that even if some caps were bulged it worked as if the caps were new 😮.The only thing it couldn't do was keep the CMOS settings.That's because I had to replace the battery holder as it was shorted.Otherwise it was a nice motherboard.

@PcBytes, exactly my point. I've used via chipset motherboards in a few of my builds and never experienced any issues. As stated above, I do prefer Intel but will not fuss if I have to use VIA.

Regarding the who said this question, I was talking about the SB Live, not other SB 16 models. A quick google search saying "sound blaster live via chipset" should bring up several results with people complaining about it.

Maybe the SB Live is too new for the 693? 😁

I have no problems at all with my via apollo pro board together with an SB0060 Live! 5.1