Asrock 775Dual VSTA & Core4Dual thread

Thanks for pointing me there, it says "It officially supports Windows 98" however on the AsRock driver support page for this mobo, Windows 98 is not listed at all.

Any clue?

You don ´t need drivers from ASRock, for chipset and PHY (LAN) you can use VIA Hyperion pack and VIA Rhine NDIS driver, only HD audio codec has nothing under W98(SE), but I presume, you want use something better than this (dedicated soundcard?).

Thanks @Ydee, yes I already do have dedic. soundcard for this.

In the past I heard some problematic chipsets making audio in DOS impossible, I don't really recall what chipset was it. Do you think this mobo's chipset is good with DOS audio drivers?

Regards.

This is not a good motherboard for DOS, it has no ISA slots so you will run into problems with audio in pure DOS. If you really want a DOS machine you should look for a motherboard with ISA slots and get an ISA sound board.

This motherboard is really for someone looking to play around with a focus on Win98 and WinXP.

Another issue is that it Windows 9x does not have multiple CPU support. It will only see 1 CPU.

I won't need real DOS, only Win98SE will be running on it, however I'd like to know if it really runs fine and stable..

If you are really interested you should read the linked discussion, it spends over 30 pages discussing just that. There is no easy answer.

deksar wrote on 2024-05-29, 15:38:

Do you think this mobo's chipset is good with DOS audio drivers?

Nope.

I've tested it with an ESS Solo-1 sound card and compatibility was poor (at least for digital audio).

If you're looking for a fast Windows 98 build with ability to support native DOS gaming, your best bet is an industrial 478 or 775 motherboard that includes ISA slots (and a proper bridge chip for ISA card DMA support).

deksar wrote on 2024-05-29, 15:38:

In the past I heard some problematic chipsets making audio in DOS impossible, I don't really recall what chipset was it. Do you think this mobo's chipset is good with DOS audio drivers?

Regards.

... I'd like to build an ultimate-fast, fastest-possible Windows 98 machine.

If you just want to build a powerful rig for W98SE, then maybe something like SB Live! or Audigy (1/2/ZS) and their emulated SB16 for DOS games (at least running from Windows) will do. Of course it's not a full-fledged ISA sound card replacement, but it plays, it talks and what more do you need in W98SE?
If I'm not mistaken, VIA southbridge on this board should still support DDMA, so other PCI sound cards with an integrated FM synthesizer (ESS Solo, Yamaha, ALS) might work, but as Shponglefan writes, he hasn't had a good experience with it.

As Shagittarius recommends, go through the thread from the link, there you will find more practical experience with this board.

Aureal Vortex 2 + MIDI on Waveblaster ?