VOGONS


First post, by The One Demon

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Hello! I'm looking into building a couple retro builds, one for Windows 98SE only (maybe late DOS games too) and a combo pc for DOS, Windows 3.x and Windows 95.

I live in remote South Australia, so it's very far away from my closest major city, Adelaide, but even there, there aren't any computers that would suit... (or any retro PCs really) They all seem to be in the east coast states in Aus.

Anyways, that led to me looking on eBay and I've come across a few full computers ready to go... (Even just finding a PC case to suit the builds is impossible for me in SA or even eBay really 😅)

$130 AUD total - Celeron 400 Slot 1 (plan would be to replace with a Pentium III 1,000MHz slot 1 or similar or with a slocket if I can't get a slot 1?) Includes NVidia RIVA 128 and a SB 128 PCI soundcard but aren't pictured for some reason or are they really onboard, built into the motherboard? Also no AGP slot by the looks?

https://ebay.us/m/k0rZQk

$290 AUD total - Pentium MMX 200MHz - Will this be good for DOS, win3.x and 95? Found out about the Pentium MMX through Phils video on the MMX 233MHz, can be slowed all the way down to 386 speeds! So looks the goods ! It should still work the same as the 233MHz one in the video correct? Just be slower if I was running it at full speed? https://youtu.be/xcBmEjXg2ME
Also has a graphics card (I think) and the other thing I'm not sure what it is 🤦‍♂️😅

https://ebay.us/m/3a6rGi

Let me know your thoughts! The second one seems expensive and I don't think it had an AGP slot, although that might not be an issue for my use case?

Sorry if stupid questions... I've done a lot of research the past couple weeks, but these era PCs are all new to me, so a lot of information to take in and sort through (and doesn't help I'm looking at multiple timelines where a lot changed in a relatively short period 🤣.) Any help is much appreciated! 😁

Reply 1 of 14, by jh80

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I can't look too much at the hardware right now, but regarding price: It really depends on your personal situation, where you live, what's available, and so on. So, that's a bit hard to answer about whether those prices are high. Personally, I wouldn't pay that much, but I probably have more options available than you.

In general, as you say, the Pentium MMX 200 MHz is a great CPU and will do what you want. That's what I use in my DOS machine. Make sure you get ISA slots (which the one you posted has). The S3 ViRGE will be good for DOS. The other card is a modem.

You should be more selective with the Windows 98 machine. You definitely want a motherboard with AGP. And make sure it can take a 1 GHz CPU. The one you posted has integrated video and sound, as you said (the description even lists them as "onboard").

The most worrying thing about the Pentium MMX listing is that there are no clear photos of the motherboard, and the seller's attitude is not exactly good in the description... That's a lot of money to pay for something practically sight-unseen. It could be significantly damaged, full of leaking caps, etc.

Have you considered building a PC from parts? If it's an ATX motherboard, you can use modern cases and PSUs.

Reply 2 of 14, by PARKE

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The One Demon wrote on 2025-10-31, 08:57:

$130 AUD total - Celeron 400 Slot 1 (plan would be to replace with a Pentium III 1,000MHz slot 1 or similar or with a slocket if I can't get a slot 1?) Includes NVidia RIVA 128 and a SB 128 PCI soundcard but aren't pictured for some reason or are they really onboard, built into the motherboard? Also no AGP slot by the looks?
https://ebay.us/m/k0rZQk

The Slot 1 board looks like this:
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/intel- … 440bx-sun-river
If it is a match (or close to it) then it depends on the version of the board if it supports any cpu above 600MHz.
quoting from the above site:
"Onboard NVIDIA RIVA TNT w/ 16MB and Sound Blaster AudioPCI 64V. Also used in the Medion P2-400 series
Coppermine > 600MHz supported in P06 BIOS revision ONLY."

Reply 3 of 14, by PC@LIVE

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The One Demon wrote on 2025-10-31, 08:57:
Hello! I'm looking into building a couple retro builds, one for Windows 98SE only (maybe late DOS games too) and a combo pc for […]
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Hello! I'm looking into building a couple retro builds, one for Windows 98SE only (maybe late DOS games too) and a combo pc for DOS, Windows 3.x and Windows 95.

I live in remote South Australia, so it's very far away from my closest major city, Adelaide, but even there, there aren't any computers that would suit... (or any retro PCs really) They all seem to be in the east coast states in Aus.

Anyways, that led to me looking on eBay and I've come across a few full computers ready to go... (Even just finding a PC case to suit the builds is impossible for me in SA or even eBay really 😅)

$130 AUD total - Celeron 400 Slot 1 (plan would be to replace with a Pentium III 1,000MHz slot 1 or similar or with a slocket if I can't get a slot 1?) Includes NVidia RIVA 128 and a SB 128 PCI soundcard but aren't pictured for some reason or are they really onboard, built into the motherboard? Also no AGP slot by the looks?

https://ebay.us/m/k0rZQk

$290 AUD total - Pentium MMX 200MHz - Will this be good for DOS, win3.x and 95? Found out about the Pentium MMX through Phils video on the MMX 233MHz, can be slowed all the way down to 386 speeds! So looks the goods ! It should still work the same as the 233MHz one in the video correct? Just be slower if I was running it at full speed? https://youtu.be/xcBmEjXg2ME
Also has a graphics card (I think) and the other thing I'm not sure what it is 🤦‍♂️😅

https://ebay.us/m/3a6rGi

Let me know your thoughts! The second one seems expensive and I don't think it had an AGP slot, although that might not be an issue for my use case?

Sorry if stupid questions... I've done a lot of research the past couple weeks, but these era PCs are all new to me, so a lot of information to take in and sort through (and doesn't help I'm looking at multiple timelines where a lot changed in a relatively short period 🤣.) Any help is much appreciated! 😁

Hi, given that I'm quite distant, I wanted to tell you that in my opinion, those PCs are perhaps two good starting points, but only to use them as they are, that is, they are not very suitable for future updates, for a couple of reasons, which I will explain to you briefly.
The S.7 from the images I saw a photo of the motherboard, for me it is a PC that could give problems, at the moment, you would like to squeeze it a little, from what I saw, the regulators are linear, the Chipset instead should be an i430VX or earlier.
In my opinion, you should look for something later, for example an i430TX chipset motherboard with switching regulators, allows you to put any CPU in it, and make it go without heat disposal problems (which instead can happen with linear regulators going to 200 MHz or more).
But if you find an S.7 with a K6-2 (FSB 100), it could be just as valid, you could put the Pentium MMX 200, with FSB 100 and multi 2X, the frequency would be the same, but it should be faster, or finding a K6+ or other with integrated L2 cache, you would also solve the problem of 64 MB cacheable RAM, plus you would have the AGP slot, useful for faster video cards.
For that Slot1 with the Celeron 400, there would be a couple of things, one as you said the lack of the AGP slot, the other instead is the possibility of putting a P3-1000, it might not be possible, maybe it would be better to go on an S.370, if instead you like the Slot1, look for something like an ASUS P3B-F or equivalent (i440BX).
The PC motherboard for sale could be an i440ZX with integrated video card, in fact the video RAM is subtracted from that of the PC, it reads 56 MB (instead of 64 MB).
Then, however, it's up to you to decide whether to consider other systems, such as an AMD 462 (Athlon or Duron), which would be the equivalent of PIII 370.

AMD 286-16 287-10 4MB HD 45MB VGA 256KB
AMD 386DX-40 Intel 387 8MB HD 81MB VGA 256KB
Cyrix 486DLC-40 IIT387-40 8MB VGA 512KB
AMD 5X86-133 16MB VGA VLB CL5428 2MB and many others
AMD K62+ 550 SOYO 5EMA+ and many others
AST Pentium Pro 200 MHz L2 256KB

Reply 4 of 14, by The One Demon

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Thanks for the replies everyone, I'll probably try to get an old case if one pops up, but still nothing around in SA, only 1 on eBay and they want $120 AUD just for the case...

So for the motherboards, I should be looking for i430TX for the Pentium MMX 230MHz, are there any others that would suit? Should I also look for one with an AGP slot? Or would I be better off using the 98 system for the later DOS games that needed a Voodoo 1/2 or similar cards?

For the Pentium III 1000MHz or Athlon (thunderbird?) I should go for i440BX for the Pentium (any others that would suit, preferably with at least just one ISA slot?).

And AMD 462 for the Athlon system? Do I have to look out for motherboards that wouldn't support the full speed of a 1000MHz+ Athlon Thunderbird like with the Pentium III motherboards?

Thanks again!

Reply 5 of 14, by PC@LIVE

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The One Demon wrote on 2025-11-01, 21:35:
Thanks for the replies everyone, I'll probably try to get an old case if one pops up, but still nothing around in SA, only 1 on […]
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Thanks for the replies everyone, I'll probably try to get an old case if one pops up, but still nothing around in SA, only 1 on eBay and they want $120 AUD just for the case...

So for the motherboards, I should be looking for i430TX for the Pentium MMX 230MHz, are there any others that would suit? Should I also look for one with an AGP slot? Or would I be better off using the 98 system for the later DOS games that needed a Voodoo 1/2 or similar cards?

For the Pentium III 1000MHz or Athlon (thunderbird?) I should go for i440BX for the Pentium (any others that would suit, preferably with at least just one ISA slot?).

And AMD 462 for the Athlon system? Do I have to look out for motherboards that wouldn't support the full speed of a 1000MHz+ Athlon Thunderbird like with the Pentium III motherboards?

Thanks again!

Hi, so I don't know if where you live there are stores that sell used PCs, or if there are electronics fairs, where you can find dated HW.
It can happen that acquaintances or people who have bought a new PC, want to get rid of the old one (some may give it away).
At this point I advise you to look for a cheap PC, even if it was a P4 (S.478) or an Athlon 64 (S.754 or 939 or AM2), it could be adapted to PC Game W98, and maybe you could run a little more demanding software.
For the second PC, a lot depends on what is for sale, finding an S.7 i430TX (which does not have AGP), or an S.7 FSB 100 (with AGP), could cost because they are now difficult to find.
At least here where I live, it's easier to find an S.462, with those you can put both the Athlon and the Duron, but also the first Athlon XP with FSB 266, with real frequency up to 2 GHz (XP2400), the S.370 is less common at least here.
See if you find something convenient, and that maybe it is already suitable for the use you will make of it, I would start with that one, for the other if you are not in a hurry, you would have time to understand which one would be suitable for the games you have.

AMD 286-16 287-10 4MB HD 45MB VGA 256KB
AMD 386DX-40 Intel 387 8MB HD 81MB VGA 256KB
Cyrix 486DLC-40 IIT387-40 8MB VGA 512KB
AMD 5X86-133 16MB VGA VLB CL5428 2MB and many others
AMD K62+ 550 SOYO 5EMA+ and many others
AST Pentium Pro 200 MHz L2 256KB

Reply 6 of 14, by jh80

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The One Demon wrote on 2025-11-01, 21:35:

So for the motherboards, I should be looking for i430TX for the Pentium MMX 230MHz, are there any others that would suit? Should I also look for one with an AGP slot? Or would I be better off using the 98 system for the later DOS games that needed a Voodoo 1/2 or similar cards?

My general rule of thumb is to try to make do with what's available first. If you try to pursue a specific piece of old hardware, it's usually going to require a lot of luck or money, unless it's just something very common. And really, when you're just starting out, it's not necessary to get the absolute best hardware.

There tends to be an attitude in the retro community that such-and-such hardware is a must-have (*cough* 3dfx *cough*) but in reality you can easily get by with the cheaper, more readily available options that aren't as sought after.

For Windows 98, for instance, if you just want to play some games and such, why not go with a Pentium 4? They're usually much more readily available. You just have to make sure the motherboard supports Win 98. See here:

Pentium 4 chipsets for Windows 98 SE

Pentium 4 is just an all-around easier way to get started, since you'll probably have support for SATA and USB 2.0 on the mobo. Just match it with a Geforce 4 and a SB Live or something and you're good to go on a vast range of games, including a good chunk of early- and mid-90s DOS games. Phil has an old video on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr2r_mvKfuQ

Apologies in advance if you're set on a Pentium 3 system for more specific purposes.

Reply 7 of 14, by sunkindly

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Welcome to the forum!

Personally, I really like the Slot 1 machine in the first listing. The exterior looks really nice and not yellowed, the interior looks clean, the 440BX chipset is great, Slot 1 is very versatile not only with the performance range but also because at some point deeper in your retro building you can go with a Slot 1 to Socket 370 adapter (called a slocket) which helps because faster Slot 1 CPUs are rare and pricey these days moreso than the slocket in cases.

It'd be nice to know the exact board it is just to get an idea of what it truly supports. No AGP slot is a bit limiting but considering the price and that you also get the case, a floppy drive, a CD drive, and a PSU...it's a pretty good deal and at the very least a good baseline to improve upon (even if you want to replace the motherboard entirely). I also really like that the seller seems to have computer knowledge considering they've taken photos of the device manager and even the Duke 3D startup. The description also is honest about some of the flaws that it has.

As for the Pentium MMX, as mentioned above it's hard to ascertain the condition of the motherboard. It's also a bit dirty and beat up. They post photos of it POSTing but the description seems like it was taken from something else (mentions a laptop battery?). If I were the one considering it, I wouldn't feel confident purchasing that one.

Edit: Not to mention that on a closer look at the MMX machine, the AT PSU is rusting which might not bode well for how it is internally. I'd hate for you to spend more and still have to source an AT PSU.

SUN85-87: NEC PC-8801mkIIMR
SUN89-92: Northgate Elegance | 386DX-25 | Orchid Fahrenheit 1280 | SB 1.0
SUN95-97: QDI Titanium IE | Pentium MMX 200MHz | Tseng ET6000 | YMF719
SUN98-01: ABIT BF6 | Pentium III 1.1GHz | 3dfx Voodoo3 3000 | AU8830

Reply 8 of 14, by chinny22

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jh80 wrote on 2025-11-02, 06:55:

My general rule of thumb is to try to make do with what's available first. If you try to pursue a specific piece of old hardware, it's usually going to require a lot of luck or money, unless it's just something very common. And really, when you're just starting out, it's not necessary to get the absolute best hardware.

This is the very best of advice when starting in this hobby!

I think the Celeron is a good starting point and can probably become your dos PC long term.
Yes the onboard TNT will hold it back especially if you want to play at modern resolutions, but you'll be able to play say NFS3 no problems, and something like Quake 3 still runs ok, just not on full detail.
The onboard sound is fine for Windows and does have dos support but you also have an ISA slot for a better card for dos if you wanted.

Quite a few of my Slot 1 boards max out at 600Mhz, but I don't find this an issue as any game that wants a faster CPU works fine on my much faster WinXP PC
On the flipside I find just about all my dos games also work fine at 600Mhz, so no need to have an older system like the MMX.

I'd think if you paired this system with a more common LGA 775 WinXP build you would probably cover a lot of your games, and at least you have something while looking for the perfect build.

The MMX on the other hand does come in an AT case which are extremely rare in any country. Definity not $300 rare, but you WILL be waiting YEARS for a good case.
Personally I'd not worry about AT era computers unless something turned up locally*

*Local being a relative term to your location, I'd drive 6hrs or so round trip for something.

Reply 9 of 14, by PcBytes

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PARKE wrote on 2025-10-31, 10:58:
The Slot 1 board looks like this: https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/intel- … 440bx-sun-river If it is a match (or close to […]
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The One Demon wrote on 2025-10-31, 08:57:

$130 AUD total - Celeron 400 Slot 1 (plan would be to replace with a Pentium III 1,000MHz slot 1 or similar or with a slocket if I can't get a slot 1?) Includes NVidia RIVA 128 and a SB 128 PCI soundcard but aren't pictured for some reason or are they really onboard, built into the motherboard? Also no AGP slot by the looks?
https://ebay.us/m/k0rZQk

The Slot 1 board looks like this:
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/intel- … 440bx-sun-river
If it is a match (or close to it) then it depends on the version of the board if it supports any cpu above 600MHz.
quoting from the above site:
"Onboard NVIDIA RIVA TNT w/ 16MB and Sound Blaster AudioPCI 64V. Also used in the Medion P2-400 series
Coppermine > 600MHz supported in P06 BIOS revision ONLY."

Almost. It's the RC440BX. not the SR.

"Enter at your own peril, past the bolted door..."
Main PC: i5 3470, GB B75M-D3H, 16GB RAM, 2x1TB
98SE : P3 650, Soyo SY-6BA+IV, 384MB RAM, 80GB

Reply 10 of 14, by dionb

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chinny22 wrote on 2025-11-03, 01:07:
This is the very best of advice when starting in this hobby! […]
Show full quote
jh80 wrote on 2025-11-02, 06:55:

My general rule of thumb is to try to make do with what's available first. If you try to pursue a specific piece of old hardware, it's usually going to require a lot of luck or money, unless it's just something very common. And really, when you're just starting out, it's not necessary to get the absolute best hardware.

This is the very best of advice when starting in this hobby!

I think the Celeron is a good starting point and can probably become your dos PC long term.
Yes the onboard TNT will hold it back especially if you want to play at modern resolutions, but you'll be able to play say NFS3 no problems, and something like Quake 3 still runs ok, just not on full detail.

The onboard sound is fine for Windows and does have dos support but you also have an ISA slot for a better card for dos if you wanted.

Quite a few of my Slot 1 boards max out at 600Mhz, but I don't find this an issue as any game that wants a faster CPU works fine on my much faster WinXP PC
On the flipside I find just about all my dos games also work fine at 600Mhz, so no need to have an older system like the MMX.

I'd think if you paired this system with a more common LGA 775 WinXP build you would probably cover a lot of your games, and at least you have something while looking for the perfect build.

The MMX on the other hand does come in an AT case which are extremely rare in any country. Definity not $300 rare, but you WILL be waiting YEARS for a good case.
Personally I'd not worry about AT era computers unless something turned up locally*

*Local being a relative term to your location, I'd drive 6hrs or so round trip for something.

Agreed that going what is available is by far the best idea when starting up this (or any other) hobby. That said, these are neither completely local nor particularly cheap. And if you're going to throw a non-trivial amount of money at the question, I'd go for something with flexibility and expandability.

Looking at what's available on eBay in AU (which is shockingly little...) for AUD 11 more than that Celeron 400 you could get this: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/335795560184
- full ATX desktop instead of uATX (so a lot more options to replace the motherboard if you ever need to)
- motherboard with AGP slot (allows for upgrading video card if needed)
- Celeron 366 is very similar to 400. But tends to be a better overclocker 😉
- motherboard looks like an Acorp 6ZX81 - not exactly brilliant, but it supports down to 1.8V, so max Katmai P3 out-of-the-box, but with an FC-PGA slocket with voltage jumpers, you could force 1.8V on a faster Coppermine as well.
- I can't identify the slocket in the picture, but it looks pretty fancy and may have FC-PGA and voltage jumper support.
- can't identify the sound card, but it should make sound and there's more than enough expansion to put something else/better in if desired.

A system based on this will be able to do a lot of DOS stuff too (my late DOS system runs on a P3-600, only significant difference is that I have some ISA sound cards in it) and run Win3.x and 95 easily. Conversely, a Celeron Mendocino is very early Windows 98 era and there's a lot of later Win98 period stuff that will run poorly. But tbh, I'd buy a single system like this and see what does and doesn't work. Only once you hit problems you can't fix on that system you can look at either upgrading, downgrading or considering a different one.

IMHO there's not much that will not run on a Celeron 366/400 that will run on a Pentium 200. Really old DOS games can be speed-sensitive, but will go haywire on a P200 as well. For that sort of game, the sweet spot is more likely to be a 486SX/DX-33 or 386DX-40 with 'turbo' mode that lets you slow it down to XT speeds - as a lot of the really sensitive ones won't be playable on 386-speeds either.

So I'd advise against throwing AUD 290 at a box with a low-end (PCPartner MB520NH) motherboard, unremarkable VGA card (S3 Virge is great for compatibility but noname cards frequently suffer from poor image quality) and no sound card.

If you really want to buy an old system straight away, take a look at this instead- from the same seller by the look of it: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/306375699667
- significantly cheaper than the P200 system
- Am386DX40 with 'turbo' to drop down to XT speeds
- top-tier Asus ISA-386U3 motherboard
Of course there's a reason it's so cheap: there's one of the dreaded Varta batteries on it that has leaked. That needs cleaning up. Also no screenshots showing it working, as there's an EGA card in there instead of VGA. That's a feature, not a bug: you can sell the EGA card for significantly more than a decent ISA VGA card would cost.

Now, this system would need quite a bit of work, but would be a far better match for whatever wouldn't run on the Celeron. But I still wouldn't recommend getting it straight away. If you insist, let the seller fire it up and listen for beeps. If it gives a single (or double, depending on BIOS) beep, the basics are working and it's a fairly safe bet. If no beeps at all, the battery damage is probably extensive and not a good idea for a first system from that era to play around with.

Or go for one like this - a complete (and pretty good-lookign) 486 system for just AUD 10 more than that P200. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/306422488300

Reply 11 of 14, by The One Demon

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Thanks everyone again for the help! I've made separate posts for the 98 machine and DOS/Windows 3.x/Win95 machine with what I've come up with my research so far for parts. Noticed I missed a few replies here too..

dionb wrote on 2025-11-03, 13:56:
Agreed that going what is available is by far the best idea when starting up this (or any other) hobby. That said, these are nei […]
Show full quote
chinny22 wrote on 2025-11-03, 01:07:
This is the very best of advice when starting in this hobby! […]
Show full quote
jh80 wrote on 2025-11-02, 06:55:

My general rule of thumb is to try to make do with what's available first. If you try to pursue a specific piece of old hardware, it's usually going to require a lot of luck or money, unless it's just something very common. And really, when you're just starting out, it's not necessary to get the absolute best hardware.

This is the very best of advice when starting in this hobby!

I think the Celeron is a good starting point and can probably become your dos PC long term.
Yes the onboard TNT will hold it back especially if you want to play at modern resolutions, but you'll be able to play say NFS3 no problems, and something like Quake 3 still runs ok, just not on full detail.

The onboard sound is fine for Windows and does have dos support but you also have an ISA slot for a better card for dos if you wanted.

Quite a few of my Slot 1 boards max out at 600Mhz, but I don't find this an issue as any game that wants a faster CPU works fine on my much faster WinXP PC
On the flipside I find just about all my dos games also work fine at 600Mhz, so no need to have an older system like the MMX.

I'd think if you paired this system with a more common LGA 775 WinXP build you would probably cover a lot of your games, and at least you have something while looking for the perfect build.

The MMX on the other hand does come in an AT case which are extremely rare in any country. Definity not $300 rare, but you WILL be waiting YEARS for a good case.
Personally I'd not worry about AT era computers unless something turned up locally*

*Local being a relative term to your location, I'd drive 6hrs or so round trip for something.

Agreed that going what is available is by far the best idea when starting up this (or any other) hobby. That said, these are neither completely local nor particularly cheap. And if you're going to throw a non-trivial amount of money at the question, I'd go for something with flexibility and expandability.

Looking at what's available on eBay in AU (which is shockingly little...) for AUD 11 more than that Celeron 400 you could get this: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/335795560184
- full ATX desktop instead of uATX (so a lot more options to replace the motherboard if you ever need to)
- motherboard with AGP slot (allows for upgrading video card if needed)
- Celeron 366 is very similar to 400. But tends to be a better overclocker 😉
- motherboard looks like an Acorp 6ZX81 - not exactly brilliant, but it supports down to 1.8V, so max Katmai P3 out-of-the-box, but with an FC-PGA slocket with voltage jumpers, you could force 1.8V on a faster Coppermine as well.
- I can't identify the slocket in the picture, but it looks pretty fancy and may have FC-PGA and voltage jumper support.
- can't identify the sound card, but it should make sound and there's more than enough expansion to put something else/better in if desired.

A system based on this will be able to do a lot of DOS stuff too (my late DOS system runs on a P3-600, only significant difference is that I have some ISA sound cards in it) and run Win3.x and 95 easily. Conversely, a Celeron Mendocino is very early Windows 98 era and there's a lot of later Win98 period stuff that will run poorly. But tbh, I'd buy a single system like this and see what does and doesn't work. Only once you hit problems you can't fix on that system you can look at either upgrading, downgrading or considering a different one.

IMHO there's not much that will not run on a Celeron 366/400 that will run on a Pentium 200. Really old DOS games can be speed-sensitive, but will go haywire on a P200 as well. For that sort of game, the sweet spot is more likely to be a 486SX/DX-33 or 386DX-40 with 'turbo' mode that lets you slow it down to XT speeds - as a lot of the really sensitive ones won't be playable on 386-speeds either.

So I'd advise against throwing AUD 290 at a box with a low-end (PCPartner MB520NH) motherboard, unremarkable VGA card (S3 Virge is great for compatibility but noname cards frequently suffer from poor image quality) and no sound card.

If you really want to buy an old system straight away, take a look at this instead- from the same seller by the look of it: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/306375699667
- significantly cheaper than the P200 system
- Am386DX40 with 'turbo' to drop down to XT speeds
- top-tier Asus ISA-386U3 motherboard
Of course there's a reason it's so cheap: there's one of the dreaded Varta batteries on it that has leaked. That needs cleaning up. Also no screenshots showing it working, as there's an EGA card in there instead of VGA. That's a feature, not a bug: you can sell the EGA card for significantly more than a decent ISA VGA card would cost.

Now, this system would need quite a bit of work, but would be a far better match for whatever wouldn't run on the Celeron. But I still wouldn't recommend getting it straight away. If you insist, let the seller fire it up and listen for beeps. If it gives a single (or double, depending on BIOS) beep, the basics are working and it's a fairly safe bet. If no beeps at all, the battery damage is probably extensive and not a good idea for a first system from that era to play around with.

Or go for one like this - a complete (and pretty good-lookign) 486 system for just AUD 10 more than that P200. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/306422488300

I do quite like the look of that 386 system.. With that battery, is it easy to replace with a coin battery? (I've seen some had them modified with coin batteries, that must be why 😳 ) I'll send them a message and see what they see about beeps at boot up too!

The 486 system is also tempting as a complete package, but would depend on how much a courier would cost to get it over here. I did see it before, but didn't know what it was. I'm glad I can rely on knowledgeable people here!

Although, I am in contact with another person with a Pentium III 1000MHz system in Victoria's capital city, Melbourne, which is fairly close to both of those computers.. He also has a couple other PCs for sale too - https://www.facebook.com/share/1DWscTjU6N/ (That's the one I'm looking at getting. See attached photos for the inside of case)

I do know of a courier that has a good reputation, especially in the pinball scene though (I think old arcade stuff too) "Bill and His Big ASS van" xD (Melbourne is like, 20 hours away from me or something 🤣)

Thanks a lot! 😁

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Reply 12 of 14, by dionb

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The One Demon wrote on 2025-11-04, 12:41:

Thanks everyone again for the help! I've made separate posts for the 98 machine and DOS/Windows 3.x/Win95 machine with what I've come up with my research so far for parts. Noticed I missed a few replies here too..

I'd thoroughly recommend keeping your thoughts about them together, as the faster system can also run DOS/Win3.x/95 and that means you can focus the slower machine more.

[...]

I do quite like the look of that 386 system.. With that battery, is it easy to replace with a coin battery? (I've seen some had them modified with coin batteries, that must be why 😳 ) I'll send them a message and see what they see about beeps at boot up too!

It's a beautiful little beast - but may be a bit more of a challenge to get working fully. Perhaps more the system *I* would buy (although I already have that period covered with my U5S 486SX-33)

The 486 system is also tempting as a complete package, but would depend on how much a courier would cost to get it over here. I did see it before, but didn't know what it was. I'm glad I can rely on knowledgeable people here!

Thing about this one it it's a complete package, with monitor, mechanical keyboard and inside the case a sound card too. That makes it better value than the P200MMX with no sound card. Might help offset the shipping costs.

Although, I am in contact with another person with a Pentium III 1000MHz system in Victoria's capital city, Melbourne, which is fairly close to both of those computers.. He also has a couple other PCs for sale too - https://www.facebook.com/share/1DWscTjU6N/ (That's the one I'm looking at getting. See attached photos for the inside of case)

That's a decent mid-Win98 era system. Nice Asus CUSL2-C motherboard. Not entirely period correct GPU in there (looks like an FX5200), but upshot is DVI so you can connect it to a modern monitor if you want and get good image quality at high resolution (very few cards, cables and monitors can get a sharp high resolutions over VGA)..

Downside is no ISA slot (as the i815 chipset doesn't support an ISA bus natively). That means it's less suited for late DOS games. If you see something that does have an ISA slot, it might be worth considering so you can run late DOS stuff (Quake, Duke Nukem3D) nicely on it allowing you to focus your older build on the older stuff.

I do know of a courier that has a good reputation, especially in the pinball scene though (I think old arcade stuff too) "Bill and His Big ASS van" xD (Melbourne is like, 20 hours away from me or something 🤣)

He sounds so incredibly Australian 😀

Reply 13 of 14, by H3nrik V!

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The One Demon wrote on 2025-11-04, 12:41:

I do know of a courier that has a good reputation, especially in the pinball scene though (I think old arcade stuff too) "Bill and His Big ASS van" xD (Melbourne is like, 20 hours away from me or something 🤣)

Wow, those vast distances. I just tried checking Google maps - the furthest distance that can be driven within Denmark it's approximately 6h30m - and can be done somewhat faster using ferries 🤣

If it's dual it's kind of cool ... 😎

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Please use the "quote" option if asking questions to what I write - it will really up the chances of me noticing 😀

Reply 14 of 14, by The One Demon

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H3nrik V! wrote on Today, 06:37:
The One Demon wrote on 2025-11-04, 12:41:

I do know of a courier that has a good reputation, especially in the pinball scene though (I think old arcade stuff too) "Bill and His Big ASS van" xD (Melbourne is like, 20 hours away from me or something 🤣)

Wow, those vast distances. I just tried checking Google maps - the furthest distance that can be driven within Denmark it's approximately 6h30m - and can be done somewhat faster using ferries 🤣

Yeah that's 1,500km from me to Melbourne haha, so I was a bit off, but it's still a bit more than 16 hours, but by the time you factor in toilet breaks, food stops etc... Probably end up a 3 day round trip in the end 😅 😂.