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1st Retro PC Build: Pentium 2 Windows 98/DOS

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First post, by nwsw

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Hi All,
I've been reading up and building this thing for the last few weeks, it's finally complete. I haven't built one of these before, but I've been building PCs since 2000. Thanks to darry for helping me troubleshoot video card issues.

Specs:
Abit BX-20 Slot 1
Pentium II 300 Mhz
128 MB RAM
4 GB CF Flash IDE HDD
IDE CD-ROM
GOTEK Floppy Emulator
Windows 98SE
Nvidia MX 4000 64 MB AGP 4x
Soundblaster Vibra 16 ISA
Fractal Design ATX Case
Roland SC-55 w/ HardMPU (Do I need HardMPU with SC-55?)

Plays everything great and I'll be getting the rest of my SC-55 this week. I use Phil's Easy DOS mode for picky stuff. Pardon the last fuzzy shot.

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Reply 1 of 6, by MKT_Gundam

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Nice build!
I would suggest changing the CF for sd/ide. Cf cards are slowers and wears fast. CF cards are more suited for DOS .

Retro rig 1: Asus CUV4X, VIA c3 800, Voodoo Banshee (Diamond fusion) and SB32 ct3670.
Retro rig 2: Intel DX2 66, SB16 Ct1740 and Cirrus Logic VLB.

Reply 2 of 6, by kolderman

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> Roland SC-55 w/ HardMPU (Do I need HardMPU with SC-55?)

Well it depends what you mean by "need". A big free midi interface is very nice to have. Few soundblasters do. But the intelligent mode is not used by GS/GM games, only MT32 games, so you could do with a different sound card with a bug free mpu, like an awe64 or an ess audiodrive.

Reply 3 of 6, by nwsw

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MKT_Gundam wrote on 2020-06-11, 03:44:

Nice build!
I would suggest changing the CF for sd/ide. Cf cards are slowers and wears fast. CF cards are more suited for DOS .

Thanks! I ended up swapping for a SD/IDE instead, works very well. Also picked up a new NEC 15" LCD in box for cheap which really makes the old thing shine!

Reply 4 of 6, by chinny22

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I think from memory alot of the Vibra's are bug free, although if you have a MPU card doing nothing makes sense to use it.
I like it, its nothing flashy, most of us would look to have some P3 in a BX system even though a P2 will probably play most games just fine.

Reply 5 of 6, by SodaSuccubus

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nwsw wrote on 2020-06-15, 06:52:
MKT_Gundam wrote on 2020-06-11, 03:44:

Nice build!
I would suggest changing the CF for sd/ide. Cf cards are slowers and wears fast. CF cards are more suited for DOS .

Thanks! I ended up swapping for a SD/IDE instead, works very well. Also picked up a new NEC 15" LCD in box for cheap which really makes the old thing shine!

Can anyone else vouch for the life expectancy of SD-IDE under heavy Win9x use?

I know for sure CF cards are a bad idea, iv gone through multiple quality cards in a week of heavy use thanks to all the writing Win95/98 does. Switched to Sata-IDE and have had no such issues.

Reply 6 of 6, by SpaceCadet

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SodaSuccubus wrote on 2020-06-16, 17:13:

Can anyone else vouch for the life expectancy of SD-IDE under heavy Win9x use?

Not under Windows 9x, but I have used SD cards in various raspberry pi 1/2/3 projects with higher IO rates than you'd normally see in Windows 9x and they seem to last for years. I only had one SD card die on me, but that one was flaky from the start: it lost its data right after installing on it for the first time. After re-initializing everything, it worked again for a couple of hours, then permanently died.

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