bitzu101 wrote on 2025-11-03, 09:06:

Hello again, […]
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Hello again,

I decided to show off my second (out of the 4) retro pc s.

Here are the specs:

Mobo gigabyte socket 462 with via chipset
AMD athlon xp 1700+
512mb ddr1 ram
40 gb hdd
GeForce 4 ti 4200 128 mb
2x dvd rw
Floppy
Nokia case.

It runs windows me. And contrary to what all think about windows me 🙃, I actually like the os.

looks like smart case to me and the specs are great for windows me, my guess is that the machine will happily chew through almost any late 90's and early 2000's game - and a few later ones if you are happy to lower res and settings a bit.

what do you like about Me? i've tried it, its fine- but i always end up back with 98se or forward to XP, there never seems to be sweet spot / niche for it when it comes to games/application compatibility not covered by the other two. Still, thats no reason not to use it, its still fine

gerry wrote on 2025-11-03, 17:13:

bitzu101 wrote on 2025-11-03, 09:06:

Hello again, […]
Show full quote

Hello again,

I decided to show off my second (out of the 4) retro pc s.

Here are the specs:

Mobo gigabyte socket 462 with via chipset
AMD athlon xp 1700+
512mb ddr1 ram
40 gb hdd
GeForce 4 ti 4200 128 mb
2x dvd rw
Floppy
Nokia case.

It runs windows me. And contrary to what all think about windows me 🙃, I actually like the os.

looks like smart case to me and the specs are great for windows me, my guess is that the machine will happily chew through almost any late 90's and early 2000's game - and a few later ones if you are happy to lower res and settings a bit.

what do you like about Me? i've tried it, its fine- but i always end up back with 98se or forward to XP, there never seems to be sweet spot / niche for it when it comes to games/application compatibility not covered by the other two. Still, thats no reason not to use it, its still fine

I like ME , it s a lot quicker than 98se and pretty much same functionality. I never play dos games in actual dos. I always play from windows , so i don t ever need specific dos drivers , all that complicated stuff.

Now , I also have a win98se machine , and 2 more xp machines , so , ME , it s the perfect choice for this pc.

I think that if Microsoft had put in a little bit more effort in ME , it would have been the clear choice before win xp.

Funny enough , never had an error or any problems so far with this machine. I think the only component missing is a PSU that has a fan at the back , rather than the bottom. I will find one eventually that I like.

Also , I forgot to mention , obviously , I have a ess solo 1 as a sound card. Sometimes i alternate it with a yamaha 724 , but for whatever reason , I always end up with the ess.

ME's lack of actual dos was always my main complaint so if your not needing that then indeed it makes alot of sense.
Moreso now if you have multiple retro rigs, you need something to make it stand out form the others.

Don't think I've seen the case before, Kinda cool how the bottom looks like an old Nokia phone

bitzu101 wrote on 2025-11-03, 09:06:

Hello again, […]
Show full quote

Hello again,

I decided to show off my second (out of the 4) retro pc s.

Here are the specs:

Mobo gigabyte socket 462 with via chipset
AMD athlon xp 1700+
512mb ddr1 ram
40 gb hdd
GeForce 4 ti 4200 128 mb
2x dvd rw
Floppy
Nokia case.

It runs windows me. And contrary to what all think about windows me 🙃, I actually like the os.

Nice PC, love the case!

I also use ME on my main retro machine which is a socket 775 P4.
Rebuilt my P4 yet again

Which version of Ti 4200 is that? I've never seen one with external power like that!

65C02 wrote on 2025-11-04, 06:55:

Which version of Ti 4200 is that? I've never seen one with external power like that!

Sorry , that is an older photo , that card is a 7600gt.

I only used that card because the colour scheme matches. I have a few ti 4200 , but i am waiting for a blue one in the post this week that should make it all blue , except the sound card.

pete8475 wrote on 2025-11-03, 22:54:

Nice PC, love the case! […]
Show full quote

bitzu101 wrote on 2025-11-03, 09:06:

Hello again, […]
Show full quote

Hello again,

I decided to show off my second (out of the 4) retro pc s.

Here are the specs:

Mobo gigabyte socket 462 with via chipset
AMD athlon xp 1700+
512mb ddr1 ram
40 gb hdd
GeForce 4 ti 4200 128 mb
2x dvd rw
Floppy
Nokia case.

It runs windows me. And contrary to what all think about windows me 🙃, I actually like the os.

Nice PC, love the case!

I also use ME on my main retro machine which is a socket 775 P4.
Rebuilt my P4 yet again

I have a 775 machine as well , that is a win xp machine , will post it on here eventually... That is my very late win xp machine with pci e , etc...

The case is brilliant , looks like a nokia phone , probably the 5210 , like the way the LED s light up...

Wow thats a good build , but according motherboard's name its AMD 761 chip. Im thinking about same setup for dx 8 games . Im havent decided but im thinking about intel 2.8Ghz and 845e combo or amd 2500+ and sis 746.

Great looking build, I really like that motherboard. I also agree Windows ME is a good fit for such a system.

I missed the fact everything was blue. Someone else did the same here few years ago and I think it makes for an interesting and different system.
Blue soundcards do exist, unfortunately they aren't anything special (at least Win9x compatible ones)

Nice system!

I also have a soft spot for Windows ME. I remember back in the day, I didn't really find it any less stable than Windows 98 (they were both roughly equally dodgy on the hardware I was using!). What I do like about Windows ME is that the default UI color scheme has a slightly lighter/blue gray than the gray used by Win95/98. And the title bar gradient had different shades too, matching Windows 2000. When I was a kid I had written down the color codes so that I could make Win98 match Windows 2000 but that was quite tedious...

The lack of pure DOS also made WinME boot faster. In the use case where you're not interested in pure DOS (you have another DOS retro machine, or are happy enough with DOSBox), WinME makes a lot of sense!

TheIpex wrote on 2025-11-04, 21:50:

Great looking build, I really like that motherboard. I also agree Windows ME is a good fit for such a system.

The mobo I found on ebay , in perfect condition and with original box as well , all cd s and the ide cables and floppy cables.

chinny22 wrote on 2025-11-04, 23:38:

I missed the fact everything was blue. Someone else did the same here few years ago and I think it makes for an interesting and different system.
Blue soundcards do exist, unfortunately they aren't anything special (at least Win9x compatible ones)

Yeah , i did look for a blue sound card , but I only found CMI chipsets and the CMI cards are horrible.

bZbZbZ wrote on 2025-11-05, 20:53:

Nice system!

I also have a soft spot for Windows ME. I remember back in the day, I didn't really find it any less stable than Windows 98 (they were both roughly equally dodgy on the hardware I was using!). What I do like about Windows ME is that the default UI color scheme has a slightly lighter/blue gray than the gray used by Win95/98. And the title bar gradient had different shades too, matching Windows 2000. When I was a kid I had written down the color codes so that I could make Win98 match Windows 2000 but that was quite tedious...

The lack of pure DOS also made WinME boot faster. In the use case where you're not interested in pure DOS (you have another DOS retro machine, or are happy enough with DOSBox), WinME makes a lot of sense!

I have 4 retro pc's , including a win98 pc. I never use pure dos as I find it pointless. There is nothing on there that I need , also , I have no games that i need to start in pure dos. All games work directly in windows 9x. Even for my win 98 machine , I never reboot into dos , etc.

Actually , I remember in the olden days , they used to teach us in school DOS , and then win95 came out and then DOS was completly pointless. I remember being very happy i don t have to use the os with command line interface.

Nice system indeed,
I also have a 462 Me system, (soon to be two). It was my first ever x86 machine, and last year I upgraded it a bit: Currently it has a 1.4ghz athlon classic and a PCI card. Unfortunately it was a cheapo mobo, so only IGP and no AGP slot. (the reason for my second Me system on its way).
I also have a soft spot for Me since it was my first Windows OS (still got the license sticker on that system). But for another 370 system I have, I'll probably go 98se for DOS support. Maybe in the future I'll make a thread about it for hep, since DOS is totally alien to me.

Mondodimotori wrote on Yesterday, 12:44:

Nice system indeed,
I also have a 462 Me system, (soon to be two). It was my first ever x86 machine, and last year I upgraded it a bit: Currently it has a 1.4ghz athlon classic and a PCI card. Unfortunately it was a cheapo mobo, so only IGP and no AGP slot. (the reason for my second Me system on its way).
I also have a soft spot for Me since it was my first Windows OS (still got the license sticker on that system). But for another 370 system I have, I'll probably go 98se for DOS support. Maybe in the future I'll make a thread about it for hep, since DOS is totally alien to me.

Dos it s only worth it if you know you have app that would only run from native dos. besides that would be only nostalgia , but if you never had to use dos back in the day , it s useless and a pain to use. I still remember some commands , but not a lot.

Win 98 and ME or 95 are more than enough to run 99% of dos apps straight from windows , without the need for pure dos.

If you do a ME machine , as you said , need a mobo with agp , if you find , or have money to spend , buy a voodoo 5 5500 , that is probably the most sought after gpu in any retro machine.

bitzu101 wrote on Yesterday, 13:08:

Dos it s only worth it if you know you have app that would only run from native dos. besides that would be only nostalgia , but if you never had to use dos back in the day , it s useless and a pain to use. I still remember some commands , but not a lot.

Win 98 and ME or 95 are more than enough to run 99% of dos apps straight from windows , without the need for pure dos.

If you do a ME machine , as you said , need a mobo with agp , if you find , or have money to spend , buy a voodoo 5 5500 , that is probably the most sought after gpu in any retro machine.

Alredy found one but no, I'm not gonna jump on the 3dfx bandwagon. Too expensive, it almost feels like a cult.
I just put in it an FX5600 that supports good 9x drivers, and also have a ti4200 to spare (even if it's dying). If push comes to shove, I also have an MX440SE in the 370 system, and even a cheapo TNT2 M64 (that's just a bit wobbly)

But thee advantage of an FX5600 is DX9 and the ability to run Glide wrappers with it.

I'm just waiting for a cople of new CPus to arrive to finish that build and install Me.