First post, by Great Hierophant
- Rank
- l33t
I am actively pursuing a custom built machine with parts of legendary proportions. This will be a Windows 98se machine, and a pre-DX7.0 one at that (no support for transform and lighting.) I have envisioned the following system:
ASUS P3B-F
Intel Pentium III-S 1.4GHz and Intel Pentium II 350
4 x 128MB PC133 SDRAM CAS2
3dfx Voodoo 5 5500 AGP
Sound Blaster Live! 5.1
Aureal Super Quad 2500
Sound Blaster 32 CT-3600
Gravis Ultrasound PnP
IBM PS/2 Keyboard
Razer Boomslang 2000
Each component is to be described in detail:
ASUS P3B-F - This BX motherboard has a 4/1/5/2 DIMM/AGP/PCI/ISA configuration. (There are versions with a 4/1/6/1 configuration.) It has jumper free setup and with the last beta bios supports the processor. The BX is among the most robust chipsets ever made, and works well with 98.
Processors - These represent the upper and lower limits of the motherboard's capabilities. At the high end (Tualatin) requires a 133 FSB, which ASUS boards can manage. Hopefully I can get a late model P3B that can lower the voltage down to 1.3V. This will give me greater flexibility in the adapter I need to buy. At the low end (Deutsches) can be run at 66 or 100FSBs, giving a clock speed of 233 and 350, respectively.
RAM - Four DIMM slots, each having 128MB in it, should be suitable for any Win 98 application that this system is designed to run. CAS2 allows the best possible speed.
Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 - This allows for EAX 1.0 and 2.0 support, which may not be so good on non-Creative cards. It also allows for analog 5.1 output. Windows Soundfont Midi will be done on this card.
Aureal SQ2500 - This allows for A3D 1.0 and 2.0 support, which may not be so good (and 2.0 does not exist) on cards without an Aureal 8830 chip.
Sound Blaster 32 - This allows for true Sound Blaster support in DOS games. With real SIMM slots, it can support Soundfonts in DOS. I am specifically seeking the version with a real Yamaha OPL3 chip.
GUS PnP - This allows for true and expanded Ultrasound support, and hanging notes free UART MPU-401 midi.
Keyboard - A true IBM model M, 139401. A real keyboard, best ever made in mass quantities, ps/2 of course.
Mouse - A true gamer's mouse with a real ball, no USB nonsense. (We may have to play some real DOS games here.)