There isn't necessarily a single "best" Windows 98 motherboard. There are a lot of different types of builds that can accommodate Windows 98, so it comes down to specific needs.

Since you mention wanting to cover games including early 2000s 3D games, then a fast Pentium III (i.e. 1.0 GHz or faster) is a good place start.

Performance will also be dictated by your choice of graphics card. You mention you have a Savage4 PCI card, but that's not going to be fast enough for early 2000s games. A GeForce 3, 4, or FX card would be a better choice and should cover games up to 2002/2003 when paired with a fast Pentium III. A GeForce4 4200 Ti is a popular choice.

Motherboards will typically include 2 IDE controllers (primary and secondary), which can accommodate a total of 4 IDE devices. If you're looking to install a pair of hard drives and a CD-ROM drive, you'll be fine.

Same with the floppy connector. A single floppy connector should accommodate two disk drives, so if you want to install a 3.5" drive and 5.25" drive, that should also be fine.

Hell yeah
Dude that was a nice explanation thanks
Do any with agp, pci and Isa all on the same motherboard exist?

Cursed Derp wrote on 2024-08-09, 16:12:

Do any with agp, pci and Isa all on the same motherboard exist?

Asus P3B-F Rev 1.04 gives you all. You can even chose between 1-2 ISA slots. IIRC, for more than 800 MHz, you would need a slotket.

The mhz refers to the cpu right? Could I remove my 1ghz pentium 3 from my current motherboard and replace the lower mgz cpu with it? That would be f ing awesome

Cursed Derp wrote on 2024-08-09, 16:12:

Hell yeah
Dude that was a nice explanation thanks
Do any with agp, pci and Isa all on the same motherboard exist?

Yes, a lot of Pentium III motherboards will include at least one ISA slot in addition to an AGP slot and then a bunch of PCI slots.

Where it gets confusing is there are two different CPU form factors for Pentium III processors: Slot 1 and Socket 370. There are also different types of AGP slots with different voltages that accommodate different AGP graphics cards.

Depending the specific graphics card you end up going with, that will dictate which motherboards you can use with it.

ux-3 wrote on 2024-08-09, 16:22:

IIRC, for more than 800 MHz, you would need a slotket.

Slotkeys add another layer of complexity though, since not all slotkeys accommodate necessary voltages for different processors. And the ones that do tend to be rare and expensive.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-08-09, 16:44:

ux-3 wrote on 2024-08-09, 16:22:

IIRC, for more than 800 MHz, you would need a slotket.

Slotkeys add another layer of complexity though, since not all slotkeys accommodate necessary voltages for different processors. And the ones that do tend to be rare and expensive.

And some do not support Coppermines, even if they send the proper voltage to the CPU. (1.65-1.8v)

In this situation, I'd look for an existing motherboard + CPU + RAM combo with a Pentium III in the 1.0 GHz or faster range. Preferably something that has been tested and is demonstrably working.

Unless you know what you're doing, trying to put things together piecemeal can be unnecessarily challenging.

Computers such as your Dell often have proprietary motherboards, power supplies, etc. that make them poor candidates for a motherboard swap, and a look at this image from Ebay seems to confirm that. IMO your best bet is to leave the Dell alone and shop for a different Win98 computer, maybe even sell the Dell and use the money to buy something more appropriate for your needs.

There are a lot of Pentium 2 or 3 motherboards out there that have AGP, PCI and, ISA. Finding one shouldn't be too difficult.
I also recommend starting over in a standard ATX case instead of trying to swap motherboards.
I do remember DELL at one point having power supplies that appear to be standard ATX, but have a different pinout. If you do intend on continuing, make sure your DELL power supply uses a standard ATX pinout. No need to start another thread on how you burnt your house down.

I see my system is mentioned here :p
Asus P3B-f, P3@980MHz (heavily overclocked at 140MHz front side bus) and 512MB ram, GeForce 4 Ti4200

This thing is a beast. It has the intel 440BX chipset and outruns any P3 up to 1GHz with more modern i815 chipset.

I'd recommend a motherboard with the i440BX chipset: it supports AGP, native ISA (nice for DOS compatible soundcards) and is almost foolproof to setup. Also most later BX boards are rich solid to run at 133MHz front side bus to support the faster coppermine CPU.

Repo Man11 wrote on 2024-08-09, 17:19:

Computers such as your Dell often have proprietary motherboards, power supplies, etc. that make them poor candidates for a motherboard swap, and a look at this image from Ebay seems to confirm that. IMO your best bet is to leave the Dell alone and shop for a different Win98 computer, maybe even sell the Dell and use the money to buy something more appropriate for your needs.

That's a good point, and I agree. It would be better to start with a generic ATX case setup rather than trying to muck around with something that looks proprietary.

The Asus P3B-F Rev 1.04 provides the coppermine voltages. You don't need a slotkey with voltage regulator. You can set the voltage in bios. Just watch for the revision of the board.
And yes, you can't buy just any CPU adapter. But you can find information which ones will work.

Nice! Once again I have overcome my ill repute to incite a definitive thread on the subject

Cursed Derp wrote on 2024-08-09, 14:19:

I want to replace the extremely limited motherboard in my Dell Dimension L1000R with one that has pci, isa, and agp slots. It would preferably have either a pentium 2 or 3. Games from the Doom era to the early 2000s 3d games are the target.

Like others have suggested: a Pentium 3 system would be the best for your choice of games, with the exception of Wing Commander, the only speed sensitive DOS game in the collection.

Cursed Derp wrote on 2024-08-09, 14:19:

I need plenty of ide. A 3.5 floppy connector is necessary and a 5.25 floppy connector in addition to the 3.5 one would be epic.

Cables with both 34-pin (for 3.5") and edge connector (for 5.25") are readily available. You have to check whether the BIOS supports dual floppy drives. While most retailed Socket 370 MB supported dual floppy drives, some OEM systems supported only one FDD, and your current Cayman-based Dimension L1000R was one of them. Check the BIOS setup section of your candidate before finalizing a purchase.

Cursed Derp wrote on 2024-08-09, 14:19:

I would add a Diamond Savage4 pci and an Sb Live! 0060.

Savage4 PCI was great for DOS compatibility but only provided mediocre 3D acceleration performance. If you want an MB with AGP there are many better choices. I'd recommend GF2 (including pseudo-GF4 "MX" models) or GF3. GF4Ti would be overkill and likely be bottlenecked by AGP4x and CPU.

Likewise, SB0060 is excellent for Win9x but just okay for DOS, although you could install another ISA sound card if your MB has a slot available.

Cursed Derp wrote on 2024-08-09, 14:19:

I might also add this 3com ethernet card.

Unless your room is highly humid and free of static electricity, putting any PCB on carpet would be a bad idea. A glass surface would be ideal, followed by wooden and thick cardboard.

Cursed Derp wrote on 2024-08-09, 14:19:

Cd rom connector is needed and I need to be able to hook up two hard drives.

No need to worry about MB connectors; focus on chassis instead. At very least, your configuration will need at least two external 5.25" bays, one external 3.5" bay, and two internal 3.5" bays.

Cursed Derp wrote on 2024-08-09, 14:19:

Does anyone know of any motherboards like this?

The Retro Web has 169 motherboards meeting your requirement i.e. Socket 370 with AGP and ISA; 38 of them support Tualatin CPU so your current P3-1GHz is guaranteed to be supported (either as 100x10 or 133x7.5) so if you found a nice MB but without a CPU you could still use your existing P3-1GHz.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-08-09, 17:48:

Repo Man11 wrote on 2024-08-09, 17:19:

Computers such as your Dell often have proprietary motherboards, power supplies, etc. that make them poor candidates for a motherboard swap, and a look at this image from Ebay seems to confirm that. IMO your best bet is to leave the Dell alone and shop for a different Win98 computer, maybe even sell the Dell and use the money to buy something more appropriate for your needs.

That's a good point, and I agree. It would be better to start with a generic ATX case setup rather than trying to muck around with something that looks proprietary.

Agreed, and I would add another point - the Dell L series is microATX or close enough. You're not going to build a great ~1999-2001 setup with the amount of slots you get on microATX, not to mention I think enthusiasty boards back then were all (or almost all) full ATX.

VivienM wrote on 2024-08-10, 00:31:

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-08-09, 17:48:

Repo Man11 wrote on 2024-08-09, 17:19:

Computers such as your Dell often have proprietary motherboards, power supplies, etc. that make them poor candidates for a motherboard swap, and a look at this image from Ebay seems to confirm that. IMO your best bet is to leave the Dell alone and shop for a different Win98 computer, maybe even sell the Dell and use the money to buy something more appropriate for your needs.

That's a good point, and I agree. It would be better to start with a generic ATX case setup rather than trying to muck around with something that looks proprietary.

Agreed, and I would add another point - the Dell L series is microATX or close enough. You're not going to build a great ~1999-2001 setup with the amount of slots you get on microATX, not to mention I think enthusiasty boards back then were all (or almost all) full ATX.

Seconded. As I wrote in my previous reply, the MB was an Intel CA810 (Cayman) with numerous OEM cut-offs. It was meant to be an office computer or a basic browsing / email platform for grannies.

Just an additional consideration if the price matters with your build. Looking for a specific board is a sure way to pay excessive prices. Take for example the Abit AB-BH6. I found this in an offer just listing an "old PC". This board satisfies your specs. However if you call it specifically on ebay people often ask for $200 or more. So better just look atound for some "generic old P2 or P3" may safe you some bucks

Aui wrote on 2024-08-10, 03:24:

Just an additional consideration if the price matters with your build. Looking for a specific board is a sure way to pay excessive prices. Take for example the Abit AB-BH6. I found this in an offer just listing an "old PC". This board satisfies your specs. However if you call it specifically on ebay people often ask for $200 or more. So better just look atound for some "generic old P2 or P3" may safe you some bucks

I agree, you can save quite a bit of money if you are able to be somewhat flexible on brand or specs. A complete system is likely going to be cheaper than buying everything separate.
While a board with an Intel 440BX chipset would be ideal, I wouldn't consider a VIA chipset a deal breaker. Even though VIA chipsets are known to be slightly slower, and have sound dropouts with PCI sound cards. ISA sound cards work just fine though.
An AMD Athlon or K6 system isn't completely out of the question either.

Since you are interested in DOS games, don't compromise on the ISA slot. PCI sound cards are more difficult to set up for DOS, and have compatibility issues. The few PCI cards that do work well in DOS have better compatibility on boards that still have an ISA bus anyway.