C0deHunter wrote:

2) Loose ABIT BH-6 Motherboard, with PIII-433MHz

This is probably either Celeron 433 or Pentium 3 650 (433/66 = 6.5, 6.5x100 = 650). Or even P.3 866 (6.5x133). There were no P3 with 66Mhz bus (for desktop). Slowest P3 was 450.

Unless you want to play very old DOS games, I would say - go for Abit. Its BIOS is very flexible (you may change FSB there), and DOS + BX + P3 is very good combination.

Something you could consider is using the SetMul (I think its written by one of the great VOGONS members!) program to disable in software your L1 and L2 Cache to play older DOS games correctly. It really opened up compatibility for me...alternatively you can go to the BIOS and do that but it becomes a pain trying to remember what games need artificial slow down and what games do not.

I'd say its entirely possible to make a Win98SE machine that plays DOS games with decent compatibility through Win 98's DOS this way. I personally have a 95 machine with a P233 MMX as my "old DOS" machine. Using Setmul I can run almost all of the DOS games I want while in Win 95 still. I also run an original ISA SB 16 for further compatibility.

Just off memory I think there was only be 1 or 2 that I just couldn't get to go, and only a few that required me to load directly to DOS to work.

Do you have a KVM? If you're in the same boat as me, you have multiple systems, and you like them all, but switching kb/mouse/monitor each time is a pain, and having 3-4 of each is severely cluttered. I think when you can press a switch and just power on each system, it makes the choices easier. I'd consider the 233 system as a pure Dos/win3.1 system, so long as confining yourself to the fat16 HDD setup isn't a big problem. I'd consider maxing out the Dell system with what you have. Any os from 98/me/2000pro/xp would be fine since you'll have a ton of ram for that era. The one in between should be a fun toy in that that mb should allow for a ton of adjustment, which is nice if you're trying to get a sweet spot for a certain game or whatever.

If I we're doing mostly 80s Dos gaming, I'd be more into the 233. For more modern gaming either of the other two would do. Maybe one as an xp box and the other as a 98 box? Maybe 2000 pro with a few 120gb hdds on one and make it a file server for your mp3s?

Thanks for you kind and informative input. OK, I forgot to mention that I also acquired a loose Gateway 2000 MoBo with PIII-800E combo (salvaged it from the beat-up case), and it appears to be an Intel WS440BX motherboard!

I tested it, and works beautifully, better than the Abit-BH6, as the Abit has an issue with the BIOS, that does not save the settings into the battery. (and I am too lazy to trace, fix!)

I was thinking maybe I should get this Intel WS440BX mobo/PIII-800E into a recently purchased beige case, and make it as another primary one (besides the DELL XPS T750r), for Win98SE and some DOS games.