Congratulations, I have a similar configuration, good luck with your work

Turboblack wrote on 2025-10-29, 10:38:

Congratulations, I have a similar configuration, good luck with your work

Thank you!

I think i misspelled the mobo name , it s a VH6 ver 1.1 , which i understand it pretty much a vh6 - 2...

I think Abit did some of the best boards in their time. As for the sound... I could not think of a better pci sound card than the Ess Solo 1.... I have a yamaha 724 sound card as well , but that is for another project.... I also own a ess 1868f isa card which I could use in the isa port , but i really cannot be bothered to disable a device irq just to enable the isa sound card , plus , all games that i would be playing , i will start from windows.

Very nice build. I have the same removable drive caddy. Good choice of games on your desktop

RetroPCCupboard wrote on 2025-10-29, 13:42:

Very nice build. I have the same removable drive caddy. Good choice of games on your desktop

Oh yea, i forgot about the caddy... that is actually brand new.

RetroPCCupboard wrote on 2025-10-29, 13:42:

Very nice build. I have the same removable drive caddy. Good choice of games on your desktop

Sry , just realised you cannot edit posts on this forum... so i will reply again.

X Com Apocalypse is by far my favourite. One of the best games period. So futuristic idea , and the way they done the future to look retro , like the 50's , pure brilliance.

I would add an 8cm fan below the power supply to blow air out of case. Upgrade to 1Ghz CPU should be cheap.

bitzu101 wrote on 2025-10-29, 09:55:

Hello to all în the community, this is my first post. […]
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Hello to all în the community, this is my first post.

I have 4 retro computers and I will showcase all of them at some point.

For the moment I will start with the oldest pc I own, it took me 1 year to sort out all the parts but it s 99% done now...

So...

Cpu: p3 @ 866 MHz coppermine
Mb: abit bh6 v1. 1
Ram: srd 512mb samsung
Gpu: I have a few, but settled on a gf4 ti 4200 64mb.
Sound card: ess solo 1 for best dos compatibility.
HDD : 40gb seagate.
Psu: 300w non branded.
Floppy drive lite on
2x dvd drives, one Sony and one Philips ultra link.

It runs win 98 se and does work quite good, I would say it s a late win 98 machine... The motherboard I think it s one of the good ones, very rare...

Here are some pics as well...

great machine, looks good and the specs are good realistic top end 98. I bet it does well with all the games shown, have any non game 'vintage' applications too?

Solid, my first time around Win98 system had an Athlon T-bird 1000, but way less GPU

We have the same case 😀
Slot A FIC SD11 Dumpter find

Agree its a very nice build but sound card is a bit basic for windows for my taste.
If it was me I'd have 2 cards. Dos card like your ESS and a second card for Windows. Either a Creative card that can do EAX or Aural Vortex 2 for A3D 2.0
but its your build so if your happy then doesn't matter what I think 😉

AlexZ wrote on 2025-10-29, 16:28:

I would add an 8cm fan below the power supply to blow air out of case. Upgrade to 1Ghz CPU should be cheap.

At full blast, the cpu is at 33 degrees. There is almost no hot air... I did however put in a noctua fan on the front, inside, a 1200 rpm silent fan.

I never bothered to look for another cpu, 866 is more than plenty for the games, except morrowind, but I have 3 more retro machines to run that on...

gerry wrote on 2025-10-29, 19:08:

bitzu101 wrote on 2025-10-29, 09:55:

Hello to all în the community, this is my first post. […]
Show full quote

Hello to all în the community, this is my first post.

I have 4 retro computers and I will showcase all of them at some point.

For the moment I will start with the oldest pc I own, it took me 1 year to sort out all the parts but it s 99% done now...

So...

Cpu: p3 @ 866 MHz coppermine
Mb: abit bh6 v1. 1
Ram: srd 512mb samsung
Gpu: I have a few, but settled on a gf4 ti 4200 64mb.
Sound card: ess solo 1 for best dos compatibility.
HDD : 40gb seagate.
Psu: 300w non branded.
Floppy drive lite on
2x dvd drives, one Sony and one Philips ultra link.

It runs win 98 se and does work quite good, I would say it s a late win 98 machine... The motherboard I think it s one of the good ones, very rare...

Here are some pics as well...

great machine, looks good and the specs are good realistic top end 98. I bet it does well with all the games shown, have any non game 'vintage' applications too?

I think I have acdsee 3.0 installed on this pc, Aida 32 and Nero 7... I believe it also has office 2000 installed as well. Not really thought of other apps, I ve done it mainly for the games.

I recently bought a gf4 ti 4200 but with 64mb of ram, that I think will be a little bit more appropriate for this build... Current one is 128, think that s a little bit too much and will most likely go on the win me pc... I will probably do another topic on that pc when I get to it.

Matth79 wrote on 2025-10-29, 21:55:

Solid, my first time around Win98 system had an Athlon T-bird 1000, but way less GPU

You are correct, the gpu should be either a 32mb riva tnt 2 ultra or a geforce 256 or gf 2 gts...

That would be way more appropriate. However, i am not prepared to pay a premium for those.

The gf 4 ti cards are probably the most compatible without breaking the bank. Overkill for the games installed but still era correct, presuming that you would upgrade your pc... I mean, I remember using my win 98 machine back in the day with a geforce 6600gt...

chinny22 wrote on 2025-10-30, 02:46:

We have the same case :) Slot A FIC SD11 Dumpter find […]
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We have the same case 😀
Slot A FIC SD11 Dumpter find

Agree its a very nice build but sound card is a bit basic for windows for my taste.
If it was me I'd have 2 cards. Dos card like your ESS and a second card for Windows. Either a Creative card that can do EAX or Aural Vortex 2 for A3D 2.0
but its your build so if your happy then doesn't matter what I think 😉

I do have a few sound cards... A yamaha 724 hardware opl chip... Very fancy... I have a maestro 2, I have a soudigy 2 zs and I have a sound blaster live, and those are the ones I can remember now...

I went with the ess solo because of best in class compatibility and also because I had one back in the day, so more nostalgia than reason.

I actually have 2 ess solo 1. The reason why I bought it back in the day was because x com apocalypse had direct support for ess audio drive... Yes, it s a little bit choppy in windows, but Don t really use it for playback or anything else besides the games...

Also, thankz for the input, always welcome... I do have a few isa cards, I can alway use 2 cards if I decide to.

bitzu101 wrote on 2025-10-30, 03:43:

Matth79 wrote on 2025-10-29, 21:55:

Solid, my first time around Win98 system had an Athlon T-bird 1000, but way less GPU

The gf 4 ti cards are probably the most compatible without breaking the bank. Overkill for the games installed but still era correct, presuming that you would upgrade your pc... I mean, I remember using my win 98 machine back in the day with a geforce 6600gt...

MX440
Dirt cheap and always available. Has around the same performance and compatibility as a GF256.

Otherwise I'd do the same as chinny22. I'd add a sound card that handles Windows 98 era games better. A Sound Blaster Live SB0100 is a preferred choice of mine. Cheap and does the job.

RandomStranger wrote on 2025-10-30, 05:15:

MX440 Dirt cheap and always available. Has around the same performance and compatibility as a GF256. […]
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bitzu101 wrote on 2025-10-30, 03:43:

Matth79 wrote on 2025-10-29, 21:55:

Solid, my first time around Win98 system had an Athlon T-bird 1000, but way less GPU

The gf 4 ti cards are probably the most compatible without breaking the bank. Overkill for the games installed but still era correct, presuming that you would upgrade your pc... I mean, I remember using my win 98 machine back in the day with a geforce 6600gt...

MX440
Dirt cheap and always available. Has around the same performance and compatibility as a GF256.

Otherwise I'd do the same as chinny22. I'd add a sound card that handles Windows 98 era games better. A Sound Blaster Live SB0100 is a preferred choice of mine. Cheap and does the job.

I thought the ess solo 1 was probably the best for dos compatibility...

I do have a es1868f isa card , maybe worth to put it in as well....

For DOS compatibility, yes. But you said you built a Windows 98 machine. Sure, it covers late DOS games, but how far are you planning to go back on an 866MHz Pentium, 512MB RAM and a GF4200? As a W98 sound card, the Solo-1 is not great.

Nice build! I like it! I like that case as well, it looks period correct. Much more so than mine, sitting in a small modern mATX case. 🤣

I recently completed a Win 98 machine for myself as well. After a few different hardware config changes, I settled on an Athlon XP 3000+, a GeForce 4 Ti 4200 128MB I managed to snag for free from a PC someone gave me, and a Sound Blaster Audigy EAX Advanced HD SB0090 all on an Asus A7V8X-LA with 512MB of RAM. Nothing super special, but, it handles all the games I want to play from the era, at the resolutions and settings I want to play them at. For me, I call that a win!

Good luck with your build! Looks like a fun one! 😀

RandomStranger wrote on 2025-10-30, 14:51:

For DOS compatibility, yes. But you said you built a Windows 98 machine. Sure, it covers late DOS games, but how far are you planning to go back on an 866MHz Pentium, 512MB RAM and a GF4200? As a W98 sound card, the Solo-1 is not great.

dunno yet... this is only one pc out of 4 , with time , will make topics for the other 3 as well...

I know the solo 1 is not the best for win 98 , but it s what I had when i was growing up and i am kinda fond of it.

plus , the best feeling when i set up the sound in x com apocalypse and I do not have to select sound blaster but my own dedicated ess audio drive. i know it s probably petty , but it s a retro pc , it s meant to make u feel like a kid again.

early early dos games... i don t have that many that i play , if any. certainly not a fan of a p1 or a p2 computer and dos only.

StriderTR wrote on 2025-10-30, 16:42:

Nice build! I like it! I like that case as well, it looks period correct. Much more so than mine, sitting in a small modern mATX case. 🤣

I recently completed a Win 98 machine for myself as well. After a few different hardware config changes, I settled on an Athlon XP 3000+, a GeForce 4 Ti 4200 128MB I managed to snag for free from a PC someone gave me, and a Sound Blaster Audigy EAX Advanced HD SB0090 all on an Asus A7V8X-LA with 512MB of RAM. Nothing super special, but, it handles all the games I want to play from the era, at the resolutions and settings I want to play them at. For me, I call that a win!

Good luck with your build! Looks like a fun one! 😀

Thank you , good luck to you as well.

The pc you presented above is extremly late win 98. i have something similar , another pc , with socket 462 , amd athlon xp at 1.4 ghz , 512 ram and a 4200 ti. i will make another topic for that one as well when i have time. however , i am running win me on that one.

I think , past 2 ghz , you won t really see a difference in win 9x , however , socket 462 is a brilliant choice because you can go either 9x or xp. i chose win9x because i also have a monster xp machine.

monitor wise , i use a dell fp 2007 , native 4:3 and 1600x1200....