I think that running IDE would suffice for me; I will run a single SATA HDD (3 partitions) and no hot swapping, so unless the performance gain would be huge in this context...

I also have ocz3ob1600lv4gk ram here. Exactly the same specs as the hyperx ram, just 2x2gb instead of 2x4.

If I can't get a good 16gb config running, could I do 2x4gb in bank a and 2x2gb in bank b or does this have disadvantages?

Nicolas 2000 wrote on 2025-09-22, 19:23:

I also have ocz3ob1600lv4gk ram here. Exactly the same specs as the hyperx ram, just 2x2gb instead of 2x4.

If I can't get a good 16gb config running, could I do 2x4gb in bank a and 2x2gb in bank b or does this have disadvantages?

As long as the general WinXp( 32bit ) just supports the RAM up to 3.2GB, and of course there're some patch files make larger RAM became possible, I still don't see much benefit.

Keep the RAM configuration as 2x2GB is good enough for general WinXp platform.

I'll run 64 bit xp. I'll use 2x4 gb for starters and see where we end up.

A lot of work has been done.

"Kansas" gutted and cleaned:

New mobo with X6 1090T and the AMD cooler, plus hdd moved down:

Added the hd6850 and Audigy 2, and a pc speaker:

Added some optical drives because having Labelflash AND Lightscribe ability is a huge flex. Also, added a dvd rom because I prefer to use my writers only for writing. Oh, and a multicard reader:

I have not yet switched it on, as I have a few issues:

-I really wanted to add a PCI SCSI card for my SCSI setup, but the HD6850 blocks the other PCI port. Undocumented in the mobo manual but apparently tried by others, I could move the hd6850 to the grey PCIE 2.0 8x port. 2.0 8x should get me within 98% or better of 16x for a hd6850, as it can't fill the bandwidth anyway. Bonus: in the bottom pcie slot, its fan gets all but blocked by the Audigy below it.

- this mobo has no floppy controller or connector. I use Omniflop for Atari disks, and that does not work with usb floppy. My W98 pc has a real floppy drive, but Omniflop does not work on W98. I guess the easiest solution is using the precursor to Omniflop on W98 (Omnidisk or something like that, a bit less user friendly...), rather than keeping the Dell pc around...

-my psu only has a 4 pole 12v mobo connector. The new mobo wants an 8 pole (but will very likely boot on 4). Would 4 pole be enough here? It used to power an fx 6-core cpu of also 125W, also 8gb and the same hd6850 just fine on the other mobo. So it's just the Audigy added.

Nicolas 2000 wrote on 2025-09-25, 07:41:

I'll run 64 bit xp. I'll use 2x4 gb for starters and see where we end up.

FYI, some people here have reported issues with EAX on WinXP x64 when using more than 4GB RAM.

You're better off running the 32-bit version of WinXP if the main purpose of the system is retro gaming. And I wouldn't worry about the extra RAM going unused, as very few XP era games could utilize more than 1GB anyway.

So what would be best, everything else being equal:

-xp32, 2x2gb, maxmem=4096
-xp32, 1x4gb, maxmem=4096
-xp32, 2x4gb, maxmem=4096
Xp32 with ram patch (might be very buggy/unstable...), 2x4gb, no maxmem, just don't use eax but regular stereo. That would decrease the game experience though.
-any of the above with xp64

Just use XP 32 as is, without extra settings or patches, it'll use 3.X GB of RAM with X depending mostly on the motherboard. Everything will work fine, eax and everything.

Practically 2GB is already overkill for XP, anything above is "just because i can". Even 1GB is more than enough 99% of time. There is no reason to try get 4GB or more working at a cost of compatibility, including by using XP 64.

2 sticks obviously for dual channel, 2x2 or 2x4 would not matter for XP at all.

OK then I'll initially put 2x2 in, so I can save the big boys for a more recent build or resell. The 2x2 which I have here is good quality so no reason to keep the 2x4..

I've swapped out the RAM, moved the gpu, and added the SCSI card. Of which I should have taken a photo to find the drivers... Anyway.

Next time: format, partition, xp, bios.

Allright...connected everything and booted. Booting took ages, did not want to go into Linux. So I went into bios, set the boot order and srt the ram settings a bit more correct. Noticed it wasn't finding all drives.

So, with patience, created 3 ntfs partitions (and damn, now I realize it should have been 4 so I'll try to split the last one...), installed xp from a drive that it could find.

30min later, xp is installed and suddenly booting is lightning fast and all drives are found.

Next:
-improve bios settings ( and I have no idea what that means in practice)
-disable onboard sound and video (I'll have to search those)
-install drivers: chipset, hd6850, audigy2.
-test scsi
-test usb zip drive
-test optical drives
-install some tools
-test external audio interface and midi port

In what order should I do this, chipset before all like in W98?

Grrrrr the new cr2032 I placed is empty, so I'll have to open up the case again to replace it.

Meanwhile I'm finding my way around the bios. Should ram unganged be auto or always?

Oh bother, it seems like I had a bad batch of cr2032. I'll have to order different ones. The good news is that I'm starting to find my way around the BIOS.

Something else is going on. Even with a good cr2032 (2.95v) my BIOS settings change all the time. Not so much the clock (but maybe that too) as other settings (ram freq, splash screen, switched a core off, overclocked cpu to the moon...all kinds of randomness)

What could cause this? I have a 4 pole 12v psu on this 8 pole mobo.

RAM issue?

For clarity: the bios is not being reset, just random changes.

Also possibly interesting: at one point I started ez-flash accidentally. Could this have corrupted something?

In any case, would it be worthwhile to try to update the bios?

Nicolas 2000 wrote on 2025-09-26, 10:45:

Something else is going on. Even with a good cr2032 (2.95v) my BIOS settings change all the time. Not so much the clock as other settings (ram freq, splash screen...)

What could cause this? I habe a 4 pole 12v psu on this 8 pole mobo.

RAM issue?

2.95V is... acceptable, but not really good, it should be 3+v, new ones are usually above 3.1V. If this differences seem insignificant they actually are - lithium battery discharge curve is very flat, unlike alkaline ones.

Try resetting cmos by removing the battery.

Try updating/flashing bios - i've definitely had such cases when settings were not saving and updating bios fixed it. IIRC on a few specific LGA1156 boards...

2.95V is effectively a dead battery. You want one that tests at 3.1V or higher.

And now the bios has gone in a state where it knows I press del to enter setup, but it does not enter setup.

I've taken out the battery and will wait 10 minutes to hopefully get it back to factory settings.

I've taken out 1 bar of RAM just to run minimum spec.

When the pc is back to somewhat more functionality, I'll try to flash the bios (no experience there) and I'll run default settings without battery until I have a new one.

While 2.95V is indeed practically dead it is still at a point where it should be fine for this use. Should still save the settings normally. The issue is probably not related to the battery, though getting a good battery obviously would not hurt.

I've also seen plenty of motherboards which do not work correctly without the battery at all. Anything from no post at all to not saving settings even with power constantly on.

I've got a new 3.29v battery. Same issue. The only way to get the pc to work is remove the battery, hard reset, anotger hard or soft (not sure) reset. Then it complains about no date and time, I can go into bios, also into ez-flash. Windows loads fine.

But when I save bios changes or soft reset, same issue.

So...flash bios? It's already at 30.29 so that will go back in.

Try flashing bios. There is no guarantee it will help, but there is a chance.

Given the state the pc is in, what's more risky:
-flashing without cmos battery
-placing a cmos battery while the pc is on

As I can't reach the bios when I boot with a battery already present.