Sweet build! Can you tell me how you got the mobo to accept the P3? What's the FSB speed?

mattrock1988 wrote:

Atech 384 MB PC-100 SDRAM *

* Maximum supported memory configuration

Let me know your thoughts.

BX should support 256MB memory modules and several of them (depends on the number of memory slots your board physically has).
But this is an Intel branded board and we know these did have artificial CPU limitations (don't upgrade your BIOS 😜), so who knows if they artificially limited RAM configuration as well 😜

What 98Lite modifications will you be doing?

Is your Coppermine Slot 1 a 100MHz FSB one?

Overall looks to be a lovely build 😀 but I'm not a fan of the case you use (but that's mostly a matter of personal preference anyway).

To answer you both on the CPU front... yes this is indeed a 100 MHz FSB model Coppermine. SL4KL model to be exact. I only got this sucker to work on the motherboard, because my BIOS revision happened to be right in the desired sweetspot of rev P15. I believe the last update for this board, P17, actually prevents the system from booting if a 1 GHz Coppermine CPU is detected.

The case is slick for sure, but does have its issues, like being a finger print magnet. And I'll also admit that this isn't everyone's cup of tea. I just like a more modern metallic look. My dad used Lian Li as far back as the late 90s, so this case doesn't feel too out of place for me.

For 98lite, I simply went with the sleek option for removing the heavy web integration in the OS.

Nice, pretty hard to find cpu.

I like the case, but not for a retro. And for me, it needs a voodoo but that's personal. Ti4600 is a nice card but i would prefer it in an athlon xp or p4 build.
To compliment the rare cpu i would use a voodoo5 5500 or gf2 ultra.

Extra plus for the seasonic and the awe64 gold.

mattrock1988 wrote:

To answer you both on the CPU front... yes this is indeed a 100 MHz FSB model Coppermine. SL4KL model to be exact. I only got this sucker to work on the motherboard, because my BIOS revision happened to be right in the desired sweetspot of rev P15. I believe the last update for this board, P17, actually prevents the system from booting if a 1 GHz Coppermine CPU is detected.

The case is slick for sure, but does have its issues, like being a finger print magnet. And I'll also admit that this isn't everyone's cup of tea. I just like a more modern metallic look. My dad used Lian Li as far back as the late 90s, so this case doesn't feel too out of place for me.

For 98lite, I simply went with the sleek option for removing the heavy web integration in the OS.

Oh I forgot about the fingerprints on the case 🤣
It's a certain layer of something on the case. If I remember correctly it also made the case a bit more slippery.

That CPU is really neat! Too bad I don't have one of those, enjoy it! 😁

I had forgotten about 98Lite. I did mess around with it for a little bit but in the end I settled for the unofficial SP and then started building mostly WinME and WinXP rigs 🤣

Tetrium wrote:

Oh I forgot about the fingerprints on the case lol It's a certain layer of something on the case. If I remember correctly it als […]
Show full quote

Oh I forgot about the fingerprints on the case 🤣
It's a certain layer of something on the case. If I remember correctly it also made the case a bit more slippery.

That CPU is really neat! Too bad I don't have one of those, enjoy it! 😁

I had forgotten about 98Lite. I did mess around with it for a little bit but in the end I settled for the unofficial SP and then started building mostly WinME and WinXP rigs 🤣

Yeah. That's why I have a microfiber cloth on the ready to wipe the case down periodically, since I'm always fiddling with it. 🤣

I got super lucky on finding that CPU. It wasn't used, just like the rest of my parts, so the fan and heat sink looked clear of dust and debris. Also lucked out on the BIOS version lottery.

I actually was running WinME on my previous Tualatin build. That being said, I'm quite fond of that OS, despite the low reputation it received over its short lifespan.

I personally love the Lian Li case, but I'm biased because I own two of them.

How do you like the IDE Disk on Module? I was eying one of those off instead of an SD card adapter, but the ones on ebay are quite pricey.

phosgene wrote:

I personally love the Lian Li case, but I'm biased because I own two of them.

How do you like the IDE Disk on Module? I was eying one of those off instead of an SD card adapter, but the ones on ebay are quite pricey.

I'm actually a huge fan of my disk on module. It's tiny, quiet, consumes next to no power, and is spacious enough for a build of this era. Not to mention, disk on module devices are generally designed with industrial and legacy applications in mind, so there's typically extra over-provisioning and redundancy, with a high MTBF rating of over one million hours. Unlike most regular SSDs, TRIM isn't wholly necessary for maintaining longevity and performance.

Here's a link to the specification sheet for Super Talent's disk on module device.

http://www.supertalent.com/products/ssd_produ … ory=FDM&type=66

I found my Super Talent branded disk on module for a reasonable $50 on eBay (with the seller as SuperBiiz). Most of the Transcend-branded drives you'll find on eBay and elsewhere are exponentially higher in price per GB for some reason, but I suspect it has to do with brand name recognition or more limited quantities. I put my drive through a proper stress test and it holds up quite well... unlike the cheap Chinese generic disk on module I used once, which died relatively quickly.

mattrock1988 wrote:

Yeah. That's why I have a microfiber cloth on the ready to wipe the case down periodically, since I'm always fiddling with it. : […]
Show full quote

Tetrium wrote:

Oh I forgot about the fingerprints on the case lol It's a certain layer of something on the case. If I remember correctly it als […]
Show full quote

Oh I forgot about the fingerprints on the case 🤣
It's a certain layer of something on the case. If I remember correctly it also made the case a bit more slippery.

That CPU is really neat! Too bad I don't have one of those, enjoy it! 😁

I had forgotten about 98Lite. I did mess around with it for a little bit but in the end I settled for the unofficial SP and then started building mostly WinME and WinXP rigs 🤣

Yeah. That's why I have a microfiber cloth on the ready to wipe the case down periodically, since I'm always fiddling with it. 🤣

I got super lucky on finding that CPU. It wasn't used, just like the rest of my parts, so the fan and heat sink looked clear of dust and debris. Also lucked out on the BIOS version lottery.

I actually was running WinME on my previous Tualatin build. That being said, I'm quite fond of that OS, despite the low reputation it received over its short lifespan.

WinME's low reputation is undeserved, just like most of retro computing. I remember when old computers were nothing more than "obsolete computers" or just plain junk. And WinME did have a bad start, but at the time it was not a real improvement compared to 98SE. It did have some improvements but these seemed not too practical at the time. But these days things are different and we have knowledge that wasn't really available back then.

I learned the hard way but at least I learned. I hardly ever ran into software problems due to WinME and the few problems I gotten could've been attributed to other things I'm not even sure about. I actually wrote a guide of some sorts about how to setup ME to run as stable as one can (basiclaly by avoiding future problems). Perhaps you would like to chime in?

Link to my guide

And even if you don't actually learn anything from it, perhaps you'll find it a fun read nontheless 😀

Hi Tetrium,

I'd be more than happy to give your guide a thorough read-through later this evening. Thanks for dropping a link! I always love these retro guides.

I've noticed that, with 256 MB or more of installed memory, ME rarely crashed, if it ever did, and boot up times were crazy fast. Although my plan is to stick with 98SE for my current build, I'd like to revisit ME down the line.

I like the case! nice and basic. One thing I never liked is how towards the end the case front plate had some stupid mould hiding the floppy drive. Give my a standard opening like yours any day of the week.
Great build though. Very similar to mine only I've got a Audigy 2 ZS (much more easy to get then a Vortex 2) for windows and Awe32 for dos
runs all my dos and Win9x games and nice and stable and versatile.

chinny22 wrote:

I like the case! nice and basic. One thing I never liked is how towards the end the case front plate had some stupid mould hiding the floppy drive. Give my a standard opening like yours any day of the week.
Great build though. Very similar to mine only I've got a Audigy 2 ZS (much more easy to get then a Vortex 2) for windows and Awe32 for dos
runs all my dos and Win9x games and nice and stable and versatile.

I considered picking up an Audigy of some kind, but EAX was horribly overrated back in the day and couldn't hold a candle to A3D. Assuming my package actually ships from Russia, I'll be happy as a clam.

UPDATE:

I am finally in receipt of the Aureal Vortex 2 (AU8830) PCI card and got it installed. I used the 2.048 reference drivers, courtesy of Phil's Computer Lab driver archive. Works great and I look forward to playing some A3D titles in the near future.

I've opted to not use any DOS drivers for the card, since the AWE64 Gold already does a fine job for any DOS applications I may utilize.