I went i815/Tualatin and compromised on the PCI sound card for my "main" Win98 rig.
The 512MB ram limit isn't really a problem in Win9x.
Vortex has basic DOS compatibility, but I have other machines for that.
The FSB/UDMA and other little niceties and just the fact that it is no hassle and just works was worth it for me.

I relegated my 440BX system running a Nehemiah and SB16 and Geforce3, it's still plenty fast for most things but can slow down when needed.
My 2 cents

Yes the lack of ISA is the biggest gotcha here. SCSI i can always add if i were to go Tulatin.

With that said, ESS Solo-1 has been great for most everything i throwned at it. Should be sufficient but not true OPL.

How do you find the stability of the Tulatin?

Jasin Natael wrote on 2025-12-31, 20:57:

I went i815/Tualatin and compromised on the PCI sound card for my "main" Win98 rig. The 512MB ram limit isn't really a problem […]
Show full quote

I went i815/Tualatin and compromised on the PCI sound card for my "main" Win98 rig.
The 512MB ram limit isn't really a problem in Win9x.
Vortex has basic DOS compatibility, but I have other machines for that.
The FSB/UDMA and other little niceties and just the fact that it is no hassle and just works was worth it for me.

I relegated my 440BX system running a Nehemiah and SB16 and Geforce3, it's still plenty fast for most things but can slow down when needed.
My 2 cents

midgard wrote on 2025-12-31, 20:44:

My build today is rock solid in i would like to keep it that way.

I would suggest just upgrading the CPU, epecially if you want to keep high DOS compatibility you'll also want to keep the ISA slots. If you haven't bought the CPU yet you can probably find a 1000Mhz 100FSB chip as well. 850+ P3 is going to be fine for almost anything you want to do on win98.

NeoG_ wrote on 2025-12-31, 22:18:

midgard wrote on 2025-12-31, 20:44:

My build today is rock solid in i would like to keep it that way.

I would suggest just upgrading the CPU, epecially if you want to keep high DOS compatibility you'll also want to keep the ISA slots. If you haven't bought the CPU yet you can probably find a 1000Mhz 100FSB chip as well. 850+ P3 is going to be fine for almost anything you want to do on win98.

Yes, i need to choose path. I do own a TUSL2-C and a P2B-S so i boils down to either buy a fast Coppermine or a fast Tulatin CPU.

Dos compability and i know the P2B-S is rock solid so i’m leaning that way right now even if owning the fastest Pentium III ever is tempting.

midgard wrote on 2025-12-31, 21:28:

Yes the lack of ISA is the biggest gotcha here. SCSI i can always add if i were to go Tulatin. […]
Show full quote

Yes the lack of ISA is the biggest gotcha here. SCSI i can always add if i were to go Tulatin.

With that said, ESS Solo-1 has been great for most everything i throwned at it. Should be sufficient but not true OPL.

How do you find the stability of the Tulatin?

Jasin Natael wrote on 2025-12-31, 20:57:

I went i815/Tualatin and compromised on the PCI sound card for my "main" Win98 rig. The 512MB ram limit isn't really a problem […]
Show full quote

I went i815/Tualatin and compromised on the PCI sound card for my "main" Win98 rig.
The 512MB ram limit isn't really a problem in Win9x.
Vortex has basic DOS compatibility, but I have other machines for that.
The FSB/UDMA and other little niceties and just the fact that it is no hassle and just works was worth it for me.

I relegated my 440BX system running a Nehemiah and SB16 and Geforce3, it's still plenty fast for most things but can slow down when needed.
My 2 cents

Stability is as fine as any other CPU of the era, if Coppermine is stable for you then I see no reason why Tualatin shouldn't be.
My chip is a 1266 pin modded version, as my board doesn't natively support Tualatin chips. I've had no issues.

i'd choose stability to be honest. If you mean to use it for DOS and 9x software (meaning you kinds of stop around 2001/2) the the p3-850 is more than enough.

There is an assumption there, that you'll play later games and use later applications on some other machine. if that is true then the extra speed from the second option isn't really needed

gerry wrote on 2026-01-02, 14:54:

i'd choose stability to be honest. If you mean to use it for DOS and 9x software (meaning you kinds of stop around 2001/2) the the p3-850 is more than enough.

There is an assumption there, that you'll play later games and use later applications on some other machine. if that is true then the extra speed from the second option isn't really needed

Yeah that’s a good point. Later means Windows XP and XP has SMP-support, so something like a Athlon64 x2 or Core2Quad would probably be better anyways. Also many XP-games could be made to run on Win11 which defeats the purpose really.

I will probably rebuild my old silver-modded dual Athlon XP rig some day but that would probably be as far as i am willing to go, ever. That MSI K7 Master mobo is very rare though. It ran hot as hell. Had to be run without sidepanels or instant overheat. I think i mostly want to rebuild that just to see if 2003 me did something wrong there. Mayby overvolt, dunno.

I'm going through pretty much the same process: 440BX vs i815, Coppermine vs Tualatin. I've also been testing the MSI V2 Slotket with a pin-modded Tualatin CPU in the 440BX board (MSI MS-6163 Pro).

It's stable with the right AGP card; others don't like the overclocked FSB.

I suppose the question is do you really need Tualatin levels of performance for what you plan to do with this PC. Are there any Windows 98 games that an 850-1000MHz Coppermine won't handle well but a Tualatin will? I don't believe so, but I do understand the allure of having the fastest PIII. Not an easy decision.

TheIpex wrote on 2026-01-03, 03:37:

I'm going through pretty much the same process: 440BX vs i815, Coppermine vs Tualatin. I've also been testing the MSI V2 Slotket with a pin-modded Tualatin CPU in the 440BX board (MSI MS-6163 Pro).

It's stable with the right AGP card; others don't like the overclocked FSB.

I suppose the question is do you really need Tualatin levels of performance for what you plan to do with this PC. Are there any Windows 98 games that an 850-1000MHz Coppermine won't handle well but a Tualatin will? I don't believe so, but I do understand the allure of having the fastest PIII. Not an easy decision.

Yes, Coppermine goes higher than 850mhz problem is the cost. 850mhz is still ”affordable”

I think the whole point is, as cool as having the last Pentium III is. It’s not worth it. Only reason i consider it is because i happen to have a TUSL2-C in great shape laying around.

Tulatin sits in the transitition period between Windows 98 and Windows XP. Like Coppermine it’s too fast for DOS and too slow for Windows XP. It does lack compability (ISA) compared to Coppermine which is the dealbreaker.

I think the only reason to go Tulatin would be to hotrod it to run on a 440bx like you did, or go VIA chipset to get ISA but that has it’s own issues.

I think with all said i will build something around my trusty Asus P2B-S. Put the fastest Coppermine i can find on it and be happy. The 450mhz Katmai isn’t really holding be back anyway so.

Asus CUBX-E would be endgame. No slotkets to deal with. If i find one for a reasonable price i will gladly pick one up.