Nice find!

If you're going for ATi then an era correct video card would be a 3D Rage II+DVD with 2 or 4 MB.

If you don't want to or can't use the on-board audio then an era correct sound card would be a Sound Blaster AWE64.

As far as drivers go you can still get Intel series 400 chipset drivers for Win98 on their website while AMD offers a Rage II driver bundle on theirs. Win98 will detect and install an AWE64 so you'll get sound but if you want all the Creative software you'll have to find and install it.

Thanks, I'm not particularly concerned with it being exactly era correct but with it being as functional as possible. I will try the on board sound device first but wanted to know some options. Bonus, the manual I have says max memory is 128MB but several places online state that max for the TC430HX is actually 512MB so that is potentially cool.

For an IO shield, you can use something like this

Also, if that board has OPL3-SA onboard, you shouldn't have trouble with sound. SBPro and WSS-compatible. I'd skip the default drivers that come with Windows 98 and use the actual Yamaha ones as that allows selecting SoftSynth for DOS games within Windows. To get more than Adlib/SB music in bare DOS you'll need an external MIDI module, though. If you want you can experiment with an AWE64. That should give you better MIDI without an external device.

I never knew i430 chip sets need drivers... 400 series is too wide to have universal driver solution, it started with 420 (486) and ended with 440BX for desktop.

I hadn't thought to look on eBay for an I/O shield, they are plentiful. I like this one, it is a bit subtler.

When I have the cpu and ram, I'll try out the onboard sound. Too bad the factory available upgrade wasn't installed on my board. From what I've been researching, I wonder if it is worth going over 64MB of memory on this board since caching becomes an issue above that (unless it has a different tag chip installed but i really can't find any information on identifying what is there).

A Voodoo 1 and a S3 Trio64 are a great video combination for a Pentium build.

I am going to build similar system - TC430HX + P233 MMX + 64MB RAM + Matrox Millenium II + Voodoo 1/2 (not sure which one) + AWE32.

The i430HX should be able to take up to 512MB RAM but it depends on the actual MB how much of it is cacheable. I'm not sure about the TC430HX in this matter. 64MB is a safe amount, thats for sure. I have 4x 32MB EDO sticks here, so I can try to find out if 128MB is cacheable or not.

I would not bother with a Rage 128 , its probably a little overkill for a P200.

a better video combo would be either an ATI Rage II/Pro , or S3 Virge for 2D , coupled with a 3DFX Voodoo 1 or 2 , that should work well for the games this system can be expected to run. a Matrox based card will have superior image quality but have more compatibility issues.

For sound, you can't go wrong with an ISA based Sound Blaster , one of the AWE variations are probably the best , but an SB16 would also work well.

64Mb of RAM is really all you need for this system , you may have problems otherwise. If you go with Win98 , make sure its the second edition.

I wonder if this board will accept the old 128MB HP server/workstation simms, they were 50ns ecc simms.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-A3398-60014-EDO-RAM … 3abb3e#shpCntId

Most likely the TC430HX can only cache 64MB of RAM - here is a CTCM7 screenshot of my system.

I found a copy of the manual it can only cache upto 64mb.
I almost think I have one of these boards that I pulled out of an Austin Pentium 120 system.

My choice for this system would be:
Video: Matrox Millennium / Matrox Millennium II + 3Dfx Voodoo 1
Sound: Creative Sound Blaster AWE32
Memory: 32-64 MB

For the VGA take a look at this chart.

If you want to do DOS gaming, Matrox cards aren't that compatible. If you are on CRT a Banshee or Voodoo3 seem to be good options, and so are nVidia cards. The Trio64, though, reigns supreme when it comes to DOS compatibility. I'd recommend having Glide support, so if you go S3/nVidia, pair it up with a Voodoo1/2.

Also, get a NIC. It is much more convenient to move files between you main and retro-rig through a network than burning CDs/DVDs or using flash drives on slow USB 1.1 ports.

If you are unhappy with onboard sound, get an ISA soundcard. If you have plenty of games you wish to play with FM music, favour something with true OPL (certain models of SB16/AWE32, or an OPL3-SA card), but if what you want is General MIDI, beware of the hanging note bug (AWE64 is a good bet, and so is OPL3-SA cards). Beware that to get GM in pure DOS you'll probably need an external MIDI synth, or a daughterboard.

I have an Intel Pro 100+ NIC. I had leaned towards the ATI Rage 128 Pro simply because I could find it new (I like the idea of finding old stuff but NIB, maybe I have trust issues) on eBay and I figured since the card I had in my first system was 16MB, then 32MB wouldn't be overkill but I really don't have a good appreciation of the Pentium 1's limitations on GPUs. A few years ago I got an NEC FE2111SB brand new (a supplier at work had one for $75 Canadian and I couldn't believe that it was brand new, NEC wouldn't let me register the warranty though) so I'm covered for a CRT.

I'm going to stick with 64MB of RAM since I won't go above Windows 98 on the system. I'll try out the onboard sound and keep an ISA card in mind if I decide to upgrade.

anachronism1887 wrote:

I'm going to stick with 64MB of RAM since I won't go above Windows 98 on the system. I'll try out the onboard sound and keep an ISA card in mind if I decide to upgrade.

I'm going to stick with 64RAM as well. This is my very similar 586class intel chipset motherboard

I'm going to build this with 3dfx Orchid mechanical relay Voodoo card, ATI Mach64 2Mb as primary graphics. Still have trouble with reapair my HP 14inch screen, and i need to buy good keyboard such as IBM mechanical model M, wich I like the most. You have nice and reliable parts as well, I would recommend for your build PowerVR PCX 1,2 or ATI 3D Rage II + DVD. Primarily I think of Videologic Apocalypse 3D for my motherboard but I was unlucky to get one and finally stick with my 3dfx Voodoo Orchid Righteous. Also I did good research on backplates for AT motherboards to use in ATX cases. If you will think of it seriously then PM. Good luck with this build 😊

So my little retro experiment has not worked out well. I had the MB set up for testing externally (installed on standoffs, sitting on top of the box) and it POSTed just fine. I found used 32MBx2 of 60ns EDO SIMMS locally (detected fine in the BIOS in bank 0 or 1) and the CPU was detected without issue. I tried using a CF to IDE adapter with an IDE DVD writer with all appropriate jumpers set but I could not get the system to boot from a disc. Occasionally it would get to the "Start Set Up from CD" screen but it would always hang. Usually, it doesn't get that far and hangs at the initial "OS Loading" screen. Windows 95, 98, and ME were tried. I tried booting a DOS install from both a floppy emulator and a real 3.5" drive and again, the system just hangs. I tried a DVD writer, 52X CD-ROM, 3.5" floppy, USB floppy emulator, a CF to IDE adapter, a real IDE hard disk (although the smallest I had available was 320GB), and 40 wire IDE, 80 wire IDE, and two different floppy ribbon cables. I cannot see anything in the BIOS that could be at fault and I tried all available options under the PnP OS setting Would it be worth getting RAM online since that is the only component that hasn't been troubleshooted? Right now, I'm leaning heavily towards it being an issue with the motherboard but I can't see any issues with components or circuitry. The board did have a chemical-esque smell when I removed it from the box but it had been sitting sealed for 18 years and the CR2032 battery was run down but not leaking. I'm powering it with an 850W PSU (complete overkill but it was what I had available and power doesn't seem to be an issue and the PSU worked well before I changed it for a modular unit in my main system). I really wanted to have this system running but hit a pretty major wall in my efforts. Thanks for any advice possible.

Old systems will often hang at HDD detection when too large HDDs are connected.

Try booting from a floppy without any HDD connected.

Well after getting angry and putting everything away for a while, I decided to give this another shot and it worked. Near as I can tell, there is a memory setting in the BIOS that I had to set to 640 (default is 512) and that allowed me to boot off of the Windows 98SE disc and complete an install. Looks like both of the CF to IDE adapters that I have, just won't work but the 320GB Seagate gives me no issues. Although, the system is sitting in a brand new case, all the other hardware I installed seems to be humming along just fine.

I found a Toshiba Satellite Pro at Value Village for $20CAD, it didn't have a power adapter and didn't seem to want to POST. After getting an adaptet, pulling it apart and cleaning it (looks like there had been a spill), it booted just fine. I now have a very small retro computer collection.

Congratulations, Sometimes the best fix is just to step away for a while.
You also have my sympathy, 2nd retro machine already. Looks like your now an addict like most of us here