I have a 760gxk8mb in a beige box I bought a while back, but I never got around to power it on.

Socket3 wrote on 2025-05-24, 19:00:

I have a 760gxk8mb in a beige box I bought a while back, but I never got around to power it on.

I see. Thanks for the info. The board seems not to be used very often. So i wonder if I can get some feedback about it.

The more common socket 754 boards worth checking out would be the ones with the via and nforce chipsets right?

retep_110 wrote on 2025-05-24, 21:12:

I see. Thanks for the info. The board seems not to be used very often. So i wonder if I can get some feedback about it.

The more common socket 745 boards worth checking out would be the ones with the via and nforce chipsets right?

Are your goals just XP, or do you also want to run 98? The need for sound card support in DOS will affect which chipset you should go for.

SScorpio wrote on 2025-05-25, 00:21:

retep_110 wrote on 2025-05-24, 21:12:

I see. Thanks for the info. The board seems not to be used very often. So i wonder if I can get some feedback about it.

The more common socket 745 boards worth checking out would be the ones with the via and nforce chipsets right?

Are your goals just XP, or do you also want to run 98? The need for sound card support in DOS will affect which chipset you should go for.

Thanks for you reply. It is a about pur Win XP games. For the 98 stuff my socket 370 is good enough. It also has not been maxed out yet. There is still room for improvement.

So socket 754 mobo should just be good with xp applications.

retep_110 wrote on 2025-05-24, 18:31:

...
In general find socket 754 quite interesting. A socket 754 mainboard with a quality athlon 64 cpu would make a great xp gaming machine. I am just unsure about the sis chipset.

Honestly i disagree. To me it always felt like weird useless step between 462 and AM2. Both back then and now. There are only marginal performance benefits over 462 and in general, while definitely sufficient for "early-mid" stuff it is not fast enough for plenty of later XP stuff. Does not really make a great XP gaming machine because if this.

The only advantage nowadays is that boards with pci-e do exist. And you'd absolutely want one of those - AGP cards sufficient for XP stuff are just annoying - rare, expensive, unreliable.

So my opinion - purely for XP from practical point of view later stuff makes much more sense. Like AM2 or LGA775.

And yeah, i've just recently built high-end S462 machine myself. It does what i wanted it to, but practically compared to another XP system i have (LGA775/C2D E8600/GTX660) it is basically useless. There are zero advantages and plenty disadvantages.

Archer57 wrote on 2025-05-25, 09:48:

Honestly i disagree. To me it always felt like weird useless step between 462 and AM2. Both back then and now. There are only ma […]
Show full quote

retep_110 wrote on 2025-05-24, 18:31:

...
In general find socket 754 quite interesting. A socket 754 mainboard with a quality athlon 64 cpu would make a great xp gaming machine. I am just unsure about the sis chipset.

Honestly i disagree. To me it always felt like weird useless step between 462 and AM2. Both back then and now. There are only marginal performance benefits over 462 and in general, while definitely sufficient for "early-mid" stuff it is not fast enough for plenty of later XP stuff. Does not really make a great XP gaming machine because if this.

The only advantage nowadays is that boards with pci-e do exist. And you'd absolutely want one of those - AGP cards sufficient for XP stuff are just annoying - rare, expensive, unreliable.

So my opinion - purely for XP from practical point of view later stuff makes much more sense. Like AM2 or LGA775.

And yeah, i've just recently built high-end S462 machine myself. It does what i wanted it to, but practically compared to another XP system i have (LGA775/C2D E8600/GTX660) it is basically useless. There are zero advantages and plenty disadvantages.

Thanks a lot for your objections. I have to agree. A LGA 775 system would be more flexible. still works with older stuff (2002/2003 ish) and will also offer great performance for the games later in the xp series.

In case I can power up my Win98SE system to usefulness for 2001 and early 2002 games, getting an XP system for the years 2002/2003 onwards sounds like a good plan. The potential advantages would be great for me.

Are there some LGA 775 mainboards you would particularly recommend? For the cpu I would pick very fast Core2 cpu like the E8600. it should serve me well.

retep_110 wrote on 2025-05-25, 12:24:

Thanks a lot for your objections. I have to agree. A LGA 775 system would be more flexible. still works with older stuff (2002/2003 ish) and will also offer great performance for the games later in the xp series.

In case I can power up my Win98SE system to usefulness for 2001 and early 2002 games, getting an XP system for the years 2002/2003 onwards sounds like a good plan. The potential advantages would be great for me.

Are there some LGA 775 mainboards you would particularly recommend? For the cpu I would pick very fast Core2 cpu like the E8600. it should serve me well.

If you do want to do 2002/2003 98SE gaming, then a socket 754 can make sense. I recommend a Via chipset board so you have DOS audio support. Then a GeForce 4 or FX (5200 or 5500), along with a SB Live/Audigy/Audigy2 and you have solid compatibility. If you get an FX card it has support for DirectX 9, I don't recommend running DirectX 9 games, but you'll be able to run nGlide.

As for LGA 775 boards, they are after the capacitor plague era and generally just work. A Core2 E8600 will generally more than fast enough for XP games, but check pricing in your area. 2nd and 3rd generation Intel i-series are even more powerful and many times you can get former office PCs at almost give away prices. Then add a very late low power GPU like a GeForce 750 or 750ti, and a SB X-Fi sound card. And you have everything you need scream through any XP era games, and Vista/7/8 era games that don't need the new graphics APIs that XP doesn't support. I don't recommend getting more than a core i5, a few XP era games could use quad cores, but more were just dual. And there's no reason for hyperthreading.

Think of socket 754 as just a slightly faster and modernized socket A with PCIe, SATA, integrated memory controller, modern PSU and quiet/modern cpu cooler that is more suitable for Windows XP than Athlon XP limited by AGP bus. The best graphics card is probably GeForce 9800 GT or GTX 280 as the top CPU will be severely bottlenecking faster cards.

Socket AM2 will be beneficial for games that can utilize multiple cores, but there probably aren't that many in Windows XP era. Much better for late Windows XP games while socket 754 is mostly for early/mid Windows XP era.

I only built a 754 system because I never had it and I skipped Socket AM2 and went for AM3 instead which I also never had.

Demand for socket 754 is much lower than socket A and it is a quite unique system.

SScorpio wrote on 2025-05-25, 13:31:

retep_110 wrote on 2025-05-25, 12:24:

Thanks a lot for your objections. I have to agree. A LGA 775 system would be more flexible. still works with older stuff (2002/2003 ish) and will also offer great performance for the games later in the xp series.

In case I can power up my Win98SE system to usefulness for 2001 and early 2002 games, getting an XP system for the years 2002/2003 onwards sounds like a good plan. The potential advantages would be great for me.

Are there some LGA 775 mainboards you would particularly recommend? For the cpu I would pick very fast Core2 cpu like the E8600. it should serve me well.

If you do want to do 2002/2003 98SE gaming, then a socket 754 can make sense. I recommend a Via chipset board so you have DOS audio support. Then a GeForce 4 or FX (5200 or 5500), along with a SB Live/Audigy/Audigy2 and you have solid compatibility. If you get an FX card it has support for DirectX 9, I don't recommend running DirectX 9 games, but you'll be able to run nGlide.

As for LGA 775 boards, they are after the capacitor plague era and generally just work. A Core2 E8600 will generally more than fast enough for XP games, but check pricing in your area. 2nd and 3rd generation Intel i-series are even more powerful and many times you can get former office PCs at almost give away prices. Then add a very late low power GPU like a GeForce 750 or 750ti, and a SB X-Fi sound card. And you have everything you need scream through any XP era games, and Vista/7/8 era games that don't need the new graphics APIs that XP doesn't support. I don't recommend getting more than a core i5, a few XP era games could use quad cores, but more were just dual. And there's no reason for hyperthreading.

thanks for your reply. ultmiate plan is indeed to have 2 powerful systems. one for the win98se era and he other for the xp area.

For win98se time frame I have socket 370 system at the moment. The ways to upgrade the system are limited though.

So i am indeed consider to retrie the socket 370 system and get a socket 754 for my windows 98se adventure.

Is there certain via chipset board from the socket 754 you would recommend specifically.?

For the xp time frame I consider LGA system. But checking out the prices of the intel I series of my region instead sounds like a good way to get out even more power for xp applications. I will check the prices out and then I will which system gives the most bang for my buck.

AlexZ wrote on 2025-05-25, 17:23:

Think of socket 754 as just a slightly faster and modernized socket A with PCIe, SATA, integrated memory controller, modern PSU […]
Show full quote

Think of socket 754 as just a slightly faster and modernized socket A with PCIe, SATA, integrated memory controller, modern PSU and quiet/modern cpu cooler that is more suitable for Windows XP than Athlon XP limited by AGP bus. The best graphics card is probably GeForce 9800 GT or GTX 280 as the top CPU will be severely bottlenecking faster cards.

Socket AM2 will be beneficial for games that can utilize multiple cores, but there probably aren't that many in Windows XP era. Much better for late Windows XP games while socket 754 is mostly for early/mid Windows XP era.

I only built a 754 system because I never had it and I skipped Socket AM2 and went for AM3 instead which I also never had.

Demand for socket 754 is much lower than socket A and it is a quite unique system.

thanks a lot for the further background info. I will also put socket AM2 into my considerations and check out the prices of the various boards.

retep_110 wrote on 2025-05-25, 12:24:

...
Are there some LGA 775 mainboards you would particularly recommend? For the cpu I would pick very fast Core2 cpu like the E8600. it should serve me well.

Net really. As others said this boards should usually be reliable and since you are going to use it with XP you do not need more than 4GB of RAM, which can be problematic on some boards.

I personally use very simple G31 based board with DDR2 (ECS G31T-M3) and it does everything it needs to.

Also do not get stuck on E8600, as "the best" LGA775 CPU it can be expensive and going with something a bit slower like E8400-E8500 is absolutely not a big deal.

Or as others have mentioned you can go with LGA1156 or even LGA1155, just be a bit careful - while generally drivers are not an issue here this is the point where some compatibility issues may start happening. Like some integrated devices on some fancier boards may have no drivers, etc.

AMD alternatives are always an option too, basically AM2/AM2+/AM3.

But again - do not get stuck on getting "the best" - once you get to later LG775 and above it basically is overkill for XP, there is no reason to bother too much with performance on later platforms. If you go for LGA1156/LGA1155, for example, i3 is all you need.

AlexZ wrote on 2025-05-25, 17:23:

Think of socket 754 as just a slightly faster and modernized socket A with PCIe, SATA, integrated memory controller, modern PSU […]
Show full quote

Think of socket 754 as just a slightly faster and modernized socket A with PCIe, SATA, integrated memory controller, modern PSU and quiet/modern cpu cooler that is more suitable for Windows XP than Athlon XP limited by AGP bus. The best graphics card is probably GeForce 9800 GT or GTX 280 as the top CPU will be severely bottlenecking faster cards.

Socket AM2 will be beneficial for games that can utilize multiple cores, but there probably aren't that many in Windows XP era. Much better for late Windows XP games while socket 754 is mostly for early/mid Windows XP era.

I only built a 754 system because I never had it and I skipped Socket AM2 and went for AM3 instead which I also never had.

Demand for socket 754 is much lower than socket A and it is a quite unique system.

Yeah. The issue is - PCIe is only good for XP, for 98 it is not a good idea. But for XP the CPUs that exist on 754 are not fast enough...

With 462/AGP XP/98 dual boot is possible, even if it will not run later XP games it, at least, can run 98-early XP ones. 754 ends up being good for early XP only.

I'd also avoid old GPUs, there are no compatibility benefits and something like GTX650/GTX750 would ultimately be better, even if bottlenecked by CPU. Less power, less heat, more reliable.

Also things like SATA and 12V VRM do exist on 462, though this requires choosing later motherboards.

Archer57 wrote on 2025-05-25, 23:48:

Net really. As others said this boards should usually be reliable and since you are going to use it with XP you do not need more […]
Show full quote

retep_110 wrote on 2025-05-25, 12:24:

...
Are there some LGA 775 mainboards you would particularly recommend? For the cpu I would pick very fast Core2 cpu like the E8600. it should serve me well.

Net really. As others said this boards should usually be reliable and since you are going to use it with XP you do not need more than 4GB of RAM, which can be problematic on some boards.

I personally use very simple G31 based board with DDR2 (ECS G31T-M3) and it does everything it needs to.

Also do not get stuck on E8600, as "the best" LGA775 CPU it can be expensive and going with something a bit slower like E8400-E8500 is absolutely not a big deal.

Or as others have mentioned you can go with LGA1156 or even LGA1155, just be a bit careful - while generally drivers are not an issue here this is the point where some compatibility issues may start happening. Like some integrated devices on some fancier boards may have no drivers, etc.

AMD alternatives are always an option too, basically AM2/AM2+/AM3.

But again - do not get stuck on getting "the best" - once you get to later LG775 and above it basically is overkill for XP, there is no reason to bother too much with performance on later platforms. If you go for LGA1156/LGA1155, for example, i3 is all you need.

AlexZ wrote on 2025-05-25, 17:23:

Think of socket 754 as just a slightly faster and modernized socket A with PCIe, SATA, integrated memory controller, modern PSU […]
Show full quote

Think of socket 754 as just a slightly faster and modernized socket A with PCIe, SATA, integrated memory controller, modern PSU and quiet/modern cpu cooler that is more suitable for Windows XP than Athlon XP limited by AGP bus. The best graphics card is probably GeForce 9800 GT or GTX 280 as the top CPU will be severely bottlenecking faster cards.

Socket AM2 will be beneficial for games that can utilize multiple cores, but there probably aren't that many in Windows XP era. Much better for late Windows XP games while socket 754 is mostly for early/mid Windows XP era.

I only built a 754 system because I never had it and I skipped Socket AM2 and went for AM3 instead which I also never had.

Demand for socket 754 is much lower than socket A and it is a quite unique system.

Yeah. The issue is - PCIe is only good for XP, for 98 it is not a good idea. But for XP the CPUs that exist on 754 are not fast enough...

With 462/AGP XP/98 dual boot is possible, even if it will not run later XP games it, at least, can run 98-early XP ones. 754 ends up being good for early XP only.

I'd also avoid old GPUs, there are no compatibility benefits and something like GTX650/GTX750 would ultimately be better, even if bottlenecked by CPU. Less power, less heat, more reliable.

Also things like SATA and 12V VRM do exist on 462, though this requires choosing later motherboards.

Thanks nor naming some alternative board. And you have a point mabye I should not only look int E 8600 otherh core 2 variants are also worth checking out.

I will also check out the avaiblity of boards locally and then I will try to get one as soon as possible.

The GTX 650 or GTX 750 also sound very interesting. Thanks for recommending them as well.

I also do not see real reason why to look into too old gpu in the first place for the winxp build . Newer ones are the best pick. Only for the windows 98se socket 462 or 754 rig I have to take care that the card can support some of the legacy features to have the best compability with older win98se games. For Xp this is a non factor though.

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but I’m in a similar position as you, OP. At first, I wanted to rebuild an old family PC, but this led nowhere, so I started to look into Core 2 systems. Phil from Phil's Computer Lab just made an interesting video about a G41 system. It was about Windows 98SE and not Windows XP (the OS I want to use), but the presentation of the chipset got me interested in it. I will start researching potential mainboards ASAP. Maybe the mainboard could be something for you as well.

What do the pros here think about the G41 chipset?

predator_085 wrote on 2025-05-26, 16:16:

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but I’m in a similar position as you, OP. At first, I wanted to rebuild an old family PC, but this led nowhere, so I started to look into Core 2 systems. Phil from Phil's Computer Lab just made an interesting video about a G41 system. It was about Windows 98SE and not Windows XP (the OS I want to use), but the presentation of the chipset got me interested in it. I will start researching potential mainboards ASAP. Maybe the mainboard could be something for you as well.

What do the pros here think about the G41 chipset?

Honestly i see nothing special about G41. I've seen the video, do not remember anything special about the chipset there either... so what do you mean?

What he did there can be done on most LGA775 boards...

predator_085 wrote on 2025-05-26, 16:16:

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but I’m in a similar position as you, OP. At first, I wanted to rebuild an old family PC, but this led nowhere, so I started to look into Core 2 systems. Phil from Phil's Computer Lab just made an interesting video about a G41 system. It was about Windows 98SE and not Windows XP (the OS I want to use), but the presentation of the chipset got me interested in it. I will start researching potential mainboards ASAP. Maybe the mainboard could be something for you as well.

What do the pros here think about the G41 chipset?

In that video he ended up using a PCI FX 5500. That performs worse than the AGP versions and is harder to get. I recommend sticking with AGP for a Win98 build as long as hardware isn't expensive. US eBay still has Socket 754 AGP motherboards with a bundled CPU for $25-30 range. You can use a modern CPU cooler and PSU with it. I'd go with that while they are still cheap before being forced to get Win98 running on a Core2 system.

Athlon 64 and Pentium 4 CPUs are complete overkill for Win98, while those are still available, I don't see a reason to deal with the drawbacks of a Core2 PCIe motherboard. AGP Core2 motherboards do exist, but will be $100-200 if not more as they are very uncommon.

From what I've gathered, SIS chipset is relatively trouble free. Works fine both with Win9x and 2k, no weird issues with SATA. Integrated graphics kinda works for early 3D games? Not really for overclocking or anything fancy. Majority of boards were very budget offerings.

SScorpio wrote on 2025-05-26, 17:40:

predator_085 wrote on 2025-05-26, 16:16:

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but I’m in a similar position as you, OP. At first, I wanted to rebuild an old family PC, but this led nowhere, so I started to look into Core 2 systems. Phil from Phil's Computer Lab just made an interesting video about a G41 system. It was about Windows 98SE and not Windows XP (the OS I want to use), but the presentation of the chipset got me interested in it. I will start researching potential mainboards ASAP. Maybe the mainboard could be something for you as well.

What do the pros here think about the G41 chipset?

In that video he ended up using a PCI FX 5500. That performs worse than the AGP versions and is harder to get. I recommend sticking with AGP for a Win98 build as long as hardware isn't expensive. US eBay still has Socket 754 AGP motherboards with a bundled CPU for $25-30 range. You can use a modern CPU cooler and PSU with it. I'd go with that while they are still cheap before being forced to get Win98 running on a Core2 system.

Athlon 64 and Pentium 4 CPUs are complete overkill for Win98, while those are still available, I don't see a reason to deal with the drawbacks of a Core2 PCIe motherboard. AGP Core2 motherboards do exist, but will be $100-200 if not more as they are very uncommon.

Thank you for the information. Yes, this makes sense. Having lots of power is tempting, but I had not thought for a second about the potential drawbacks such a system might bring. I was just "blinded" by the outlook of the power. But after a second thought, I would be way better off with a Socket 754 AGP board. I will look into them and pull the trigger on one of them while they are still affordable, like you say.

Are Via and Nforce chipsets alright or should I prefer one of the other ? what is your take on that?

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2025-05-26, 19:16:

From what I've gathered, SIS chipset is relatively trouble free. Works fine both with Win9x and 2k, no weird issues with SATA. Integrated graphics kinda works for early 3D games? Not really for overclocking or anything fancy. Majority of boards were very budget offerings.

thanks a lot for the info. Sounds good enough for me. In the long run I am interested in entering the overclocking world but nor now I am happy with a normal board that just works without any fancy features.

predator_085 wrote on 2025-05-26, 20:30:

Thank you for the information. Yes, this makes sense. Having lots of power is tempting, but I had not thought for a second about the potential drawbacks such a system might bring. I was just "blinded" by the outlook of the power. But after a second thought, I would be way better off with a Socket 754 AGP board. I will look into them and pull the trigger on one of them while they are still affordable, like you say.

Are Via and Nforce chipsets alright or should I prefer one of the other ? what is your take on that?

For Win98, I'd avoid Nforce. They don't work for DOS audio which I use for late DOS SVGA 640x480 games maxed out. Via are normally compatible.

SScorpio wrote on 2025-05-27, 12:18:

For Win98, I'd avoid Nforce. They don't work for DOS audio which I use for late DOS SVGA 640x480 games maxed out. Via are normally compatible.

In the W98 DOS mode, audio also works with nForce (3 250 at least), but only as an SB16 emulation with SB Live! and Audigy. With VIA chipsets, of course, the possibilities are more diverse.