Thanks a lot. How do I get the latest 1008 Beta BIOS update for P3-S Tualatin 1.4Ghz (http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/list.aspx? … uage=en&m=P3B-F)? What about GPU for latest 90's games like Starcraft, Diablo? Is any benefit for using CRTs to my rig instead of using LCDs? I also want to know that the modern keyboards, speakers(5.1/7.1), mouses are compatible with this legacy. Are modern cases (with multi HDD slots, etc) useful for my retro machine?

The Serpant Rider wrote:

Thanks a lot. How do I get the latest 1008 Beta BIOS update? What about GPU for latest 90's games like Starcraft, Diablo? Is any benefit for using CRTs to my rig instead of using LCDs? I also want to know that the modern keyboards, speakers(5.1/7.1), mouses are compatible with this legacy.

Download from here:
http://support.asus.com/download.aspx?SLangua … en&m=P3B-F&os=8

GPU selection is huge. You'd probably want a quick Direct3D/OpenGL AGP card as your main GPU (for the newer games after 2000). Then you probably want to be able to play some Glide only games and perhaps some PowerVR.

In my system I have:

AGP: GeforceFX 5950 Ultra (with Artic Silencer) - DVI and VGA. Quickest supported graphics card for the Asus P3B-F (due to AGP limitations). I use this for Direct3D and OpenGL.
PCI: Voodoo2 12MB either single or in SLI - For any older DirectX3/5 game that have problem on the Geforce and Glide games.
PCI: Matrox M3D PowerVR PCX2 - For those few games that run best on PowerVR cards (You can't run Direct3D on the PowerVR card when you have a Geforce installed, but what is the point anyway? PowerSGL games work fine which is your main purpose)
PCI: Silicon Image S-ATA adapter card. I connect a 160GB S-ATA HDD to this card. It is a bit faster than the built-in ATA-33 controller.
PCI/ISA: Sound card of your choice. I'm using a Aureal Vortex2 card with a NEC XR385 wavetable board connected to the internal header. It works well in DOS and in Windows.

What about using Geforce 6800 Ultra and Voodoo 5500 and Matrox M3D PowerVR PCX2 together? What do you think for using MT-32 Roland and Aureal Vortex 2(with NEC XR385) for Direct 3d, OpenGL, DOS? Is it okay to use modern keyboard/mouse, case, IDE HDD, LCD (I would like to use CRTs for better view)? Which do you prefer between Amazon and Ebay?

Note: Wha does Silicon Image S-ATA adapter card do (compatible with IDEs or SATAs for Win 98 SE)?

The Serpant Rider wrote:

What about using Geforce 6800 Ultra and Voodoo 5500 and Matrox M3D PowerVR PCX2 together? What do you think for using MT-32 Roland and Aureal Vortex 2(with NEC XR385) for Direct 3d, OpenGL, DOS? Is it okay to use modern keyboard/mouse, case, IDE HDD, LCD (I would like to use CRTs for better view)?

The Geforce 6800 Ultra (and other Geforce 6 cards) require a 1.5v AGP4x as minimum to run (according to specifications). The Asus P3B-F is a AGP 2x 3.3v board. I think you need to modifiy the card to make it fit into the AGP slot on the P3B-F. This user have got it to work doing that: Would this mod to this Geforce 6800 from AGP 1.5v to 3.3v kill it?. I haven't tried this myself. I'm sticking to the quickest "officially" supported card which is the 5950 Ultra.

You can use the Voodoo5500 PCI together with the Geforce card. Just switch settings in the BIOS. The Matrox M3D works fine with any graphical card for PowerSGL gaming. The reason why I'm using the Voodoo2 is because I don't have to switch which card I want to use in the BIOS and two Voodoo2 in SLI can run any Glide only (or game were Glide is superior to Direct3D) very well. When you have the Geforce card I think a Voodoo5500 becomes alittle too superfluous.

The Aureal Vortex 2 works with the MT-32 through the external MIDI/Joystick port, but I don't know if it's supported by SOFTMPU (I need to test as I don't think anyone tried it!). It won't have the full compatibility as a Soundblaster ISA card in DOS, but it works well for the later high demanding DOS games. I find it a great compromise between Windows (for EAX 1.0 and A3D 3D sound) and DOS gaming (much better than the Soundblaster Live!). If you don't care about games with supported 3D sound, then just use a ISA card.

You can use modern USB keyboards and mouse, but remember USB mouse is not supported in pure DOS mode (I use a USB to PS/2 converter on my Logitech MX518). Modern ATX case should work fine. Same goes for IDE and any S-ATA HDD (as long as you install a S-ATA PCI controller). I prefer using LCD for Windows games, CRT for low res DOS stuff.

The Serpant Rider wrote:

Note: Wha does Silicon Image S-ATA adapter card do (compatible with IDEs or SATAs for Win 98 SE)?

Just adds S-ATA connectivity and it's bootable (since it has a BIOS). Works in DOS, Windows, etc. It's available new here on Ebay for a very low price:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Desktop-PC-Silicon-Im … =item2a30ab0069

It doesn't have to be a Silicon Image card, can be from any brand.

I see. So you mean that it doesn't matter to use SATA HDD if I use silicon Image S-ATA adapter card right? Can you show me a PS/2 converter that you are using? What are the high-end ATX case and LCD monitor brands in nowadays? Is any Voodoo 5500 PCI on Ebay or Amazon? Here's my spec plan for retro gaming. How did you manage your Win 98 SE machine to use SATA HDD which is more than 129GB(it is size limitation for Win 9x)?

CPU: Pentium 3-S Tualatin 1.4GHz pinmodded
Motherboard: ASUS P3B-F Rev 1.04
GPU: Geforce 6800 Ultra Extreme AGP or other flagship Geforce models, Voodoo 5500(PCI), Matrox M3D PowerVR PCX2(PCI), Voodoo 2 12MB(PCI)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar 120 GB ATA IDE/SATA
Floppy Drive: Sony's 3.5inch FDD
Optical Drive: Sony's 16x DVD-ROM
Soundcard: Aureal Vortex2(with NEC XR385) and MT-32 Roland(need a help with Mau1wurf1997)
Case: High-end ATX case
RAM: Kingstone 512 MB SDRAM (2*256MB SDRAMs)
Speakers: Modern 5.1/7.1 speakers
Monitor: High-end LCD monitor
Power Supply: Enermax's Power Supply 500Watt
Mouse: Modern USB mouse
Keyboard: Modern USB keyboard
Internet Card: Intel Pro-100 PCI
Fan: EverCool EC-ND-18 Socket A/ 462/ 370 FC-PGA (2) Aluminum Copper CPU Cooler/Noctua 80mm NF-R8-1800 Premium Gaming Grade Ultra Quiet Case Cooler Cooling Fan
OS: Windows 98 SE (I need to ask is my PC enables to multiboot Linux distros)
HDD adapter: Silicon Image S-ATA adapter card (I need a brand name)

Note: I decided to go with modern products like LCD since the CRTs are unreasonably expensive. 😵

The Serpant Rider wrote:

I see. So you mean that it doesn't matter to use SATA HDD if I use silicon Image S-ATA adapter card right? Can you show me a PS/2 converter that you are using? What are the high-end ATX case and LCD monitor brands in nowadays? Is any Voodoo 5500 PCI on Ebay or Amazon? Here's my spec plan for retro gaming. How did you manage your Win 98 SE machine to use SATA HDD which is more than 129GB(it is size limitation for Win 9x)?

No, I mean it doesn't matter which S-ATA adapter card you use (as long you have one that have a BIOS installed). I just know that the Silicon Image ones are pretty cheap to get hold of and they work well.

I'm using a very generic USB to PS/2 adapter. Your mouse needs to support PS/2 for this to work:

Highend ATX cases have always been LIan-Li I guess 😉 But I don't know other choices. I haven't bought a case since 2009 (where I bought a Lian Li). Of 16:9 or 16:10 LCD monitors you'd want one that can display 4:3 natively. My Dell Ultrasharp can do this (but I'm sure others can do as well). Or just get hold of a used 4:3 LCD monitor. Voodoo5 PCI does not show up that often, and when they do, expect to pay around 100 dollars. They are in demand. Imo it's not worth paying that much for a Voodoo5 in this build (when it's not going to be your main graphics card).

For the HDD I'm running dual boot with Windows 98 and XP. 30GB is formatted as FAT32 and the rest is two big NTFS partitions. I've installed a program that allows you to access NTFS partitions within Windows98 so I have access to everything in both operating systems.

Got it. What about using Voodoo 2 12MB PCI SLI and Geforce 4/6800 Extreme together? I'am going to multiboot Linux Mint (Kali Linux for my laptop) as 40~70GB (for 120GB HDD) or more (with large HDDs). Do you have any idea for using large HDD on Windows 98 SE(maybe 150GB~200GB)? For PSU, I will use Enermax's 500 watt PSU.

Links for my silicon one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SATA2-Serial-ATA- … =item46008ef570

Links for PS/2 adaptors: http://www.ebay.com/sch/Computer-Components-P … =PS%2F2+adapter

The Serpant Rider wrote:

Got it. What about using Voodoo 2 12MB PCI SLI and Geforce 4/6800 Extreme together? I'am going to multiboot Linux Mint (Kali Linux for my laptop) as 40~70GB (for 120GB HDD) or more (with large HDDs). Do you have any idea for using large HDD on Windows 98 SE(maybe 150GB~200GB)? For PSU, I will use Enermax's 500 watt PSU.

Links for my silicon one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SATA2-Serial-ATA- … =item46008ef570

Links for PS/2 adaptors: http://www.ebay.com/sch/Computer-Components-P … =PS%2F2+adapter

Voodoo2 and Geforce works well together. Remember as I posted earlier, you'll need to physically modify your Geforce 6800 to make it fit into the AGP slot. I wouldn't recommend this.

Windows 98 does not care about the size of the HDD, but the size of the partition AFAIK. If you stay below 30GB FAT32 partitions when installing you should be fine.

I would try and see if I could find some PS/2 adapters from China. Those from the UK were a bit expensive.

Hmm... then, what's your recommended Geforce model for late 90's games? Can you give an partion plan for me so that I can boot with Linux, DOS 7.1 and install a lot of games?

The Serpant Rider wrote:

Hmm... then, what's your recommended Geforce model for late 90's games? Can you give an partion plan for me so that I can boot with Linux, DOS 7.1 and install a lot of games?

If you want the fastest, then go for the GeforceFX 5950 Ultra. If not, anything below this will also work fine 😀

Partition plan:
30GB for Windows98 / DOS
Maybe another FAT32 partition for ISO (as big as you want up to 128GB).
LInux partitions depending on your need.

Thanks a lot. Is NEC XR385 compulsory to use Aureal Vortex 2 Soundcard? (NEC XR385, Matrox M3D PowerVR PCX2(PCI), Voodoo 2 12MB, GeforceFX 5950 Ultra AGP seems to be tough to search. Will you please give links for them?)

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=Matrox+M … 2+12MB&_sacat=0
http://www.ebay.com/sch/Computer-Components-P … e+fx+5950+Ultra

Note: Is it a good plan for partitioning the Western Digital's SATA 200GB HDD (30GB for DOS and Windows as primary, 120GB for FAT 32 and games as primary, 50GB for Linux as primary)? If not, you can specify more in details.

The Serpant Rider wrote:

Thanks a lot. Is NEC XR385 compulsory to use Aureal Vortex 2 Soundcard? (NEC XR385, Matrox M3D PowerVR PCX2(PCI), Voodoo 2 12MB, GeforceFX 5950 Ultra AGP seems to be tough to search. Will you please give links for them?)

You'll need some patience to find all of that hardware (and/or some money). The NEC XR385 is not compulsory with an Aureal Vortex2 card. It's just a wavetable card for MIDI. There are several options, including an external Roland SC55. Another option is just using the built-in MIDI synth on the Vortex2. It is actually pretty good, beating Soundblaster AWE cards hands down.

An idea could be start with the motherboard and CPU and some generic cards you have laying around and then slowly expand until you have all the parts you want. It's hard to get everything at the same time 😉

The Serpant Rider wrote:

Note: How many primary partitions will be needed (30GB as primary,)?

Just the one you install Windows98 on.

I see. Is SATA ODD compatible with my PC with using Silicon adapter (since I decided to use SATA HDD, I will use same format of DVD-ROM as well.)?
Link for Geforce (it seems that I have to make an offer to reduce the price): http://www.ebay.com/itm/161195019989

Is it okay to use SATA WD Velociraptor 200GB HDD with that rig?

The Serpant Rider wrote:

I see. Is SATA ODD compatible with my PC with using Silicon adapter (since I decided to use SATA HDD, I will use same format of DVD-ROM as well.)?
Link for Geforce (it seems that I have to make an offer to reduce the price): http://www.ebay.com/itm/161195019989

Is it okay to use SATA WD Velociraptor 200GB HDD with that rig?

I haven't tested an optical S-ATA device. You should check if it has analog out for CD audio first. Using IDE CD/DVD-ROM doesn't make much of a difference. HDD is more important.

That was one expensive Geforce card! You should look on the German Ebay site. I found my card there for 5 euro.

That HDD should work fine.

You mean using IDE ODD with SATA HDD is fine since the HDD is more important right? Can you give a link(FX 5950 Ultra AGP) for me? Where do you live?

The Serpant Rider wrote:

You mean using IDE ODD with SATA HDD is fine since the HDD is more important right? Can you give a link(FX 5950 Ultra AGP) for me? Where do you live?

I'm saying it doesn't matter so much what kind of interface you're using on the optical drive. If you have an IDE based DVD-ROM laying around, use it. If it's S-ATA and have analog optical out, be free to use it 😀 To me, making the optical drive fit the look of the case is more important.

Not many Geforce 5950 for sale atm. I could only find this one (beside some really expensive ones in the US): http://www.ebay.de/itm/Asus-V9980-Ultra-256-M … =item3cdacef9e0. Seller states he only ships to Germany, but it doesn't hurt to send him a message and ask.

Again, just some patience will get you a cheap card. Three 5950Ultra cards have been sold for 3.50 to 12 euro on the German Ebay site so far this year:
http://www.ebay.de/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from= … LH_Sold=1&rt=nc

I live in Norway

I just recently got a Leadtek 5950 for around A$ 10 😀

But I must say this card is total overkill for a Windows 98 machine. XP was out by then and popular games from that era like Call of Duty, Splinter Cell or Medal of Honour that run well on such a card all run under XP.

I usually orient myself with old reviews. Look at the test systems, it gives you a good hint.

I see. How about GeForce4 Ti4800 for my PC (can you give a link for your Leadtek 5950)? Here's link for Voodoo 2 12 MB:http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=Voodoo+2 … MB&_sacat=27386. Can you give some SATA/IDE ODDs that has analog opticul out?

Note: HDD might be SATA WD Velociraptor 200GB HDD

Ti 4200 is much easier to find and almost as fast. But XP was also around for that card.

Geforce 3 and XP launched around the same time.

So for W98 you are looking at cards ranging from Voodoo to TNT2, Geforce and Geforce 2.

What do you want to do with the W98 PC?

I wouldn't try to build the "ultimate" W98 PC, just a good one. You will save a ton of money. Stick with parts easy to find. But do your own research, we can't tell you what to get, just point you in a direction.

Get a few things, play with them, it's all part of the journey.