If your motherboard has an SB-LINK header, your best option would be a PCI card with SB-LINK, that would basically have native DOS compatibility and not take the ISA slot. If you had to go with a single PCI card and wanted 'good' compatibility, a YMF-722/724 or ESS SOLO-1 would be your next best option. If you have no SB-LINK header and you wanted maximum DOS compatibility but also hardware accelerated directsound for best performance, you would need two sound cards - a PCI and ISA card.

The PicoGUS is great for DOS, but is pretty basic in windows. You could have it as a second sound card in a PCI/ISA combo but I wouldn't want to rely on it as the primary 98SE sound device.

Just looked through mb doc its a se440bx-3 no reference to any sb link jumpers

So a ymf 724 pci will give me the best 98 and dos compatibility?

rwGast wrote on Today, 02:18:

Just looked through mb doc its a se440bx-3 no reference to any sb link jumpers

You are in luck, it does have an SB-LINK header, it's labelled as PC/PCI just at the end of the first PCI slot. So I think a YMF-724 PCI and a 6-pin socket/socket IDC cable to connect the SB-LINK(PC/PCI) headers would be a good solution for you. If you do go down this route, make sure the sound card you buy has the 6-pin header already soldered on the board. Some have it unpopulated.

If you have the Dell version of the SE440BX-3 it may already have a YMF724 chip installed for onboard sound! Look for a large square chip with the Yamaha XG logo near the PCI slots.

Oh awesome, I just opened the case and physically confirmed the header was there. Howd you know is was a SB header?

Is yahmaha my only option, if it is I will pick one up, but they are a bit more pricey than other cards. Do creative cards have this port? What exactly is sb link?

I do have the dell, but my board does not have the yahmaha chip or any audio ports. If i could get the chips i need for a decent price i would just populate it.

rwGast wrote on Today, 03:40:

Oh awesome, I just opened the case and physically confirmed the header was there. Howd you know is was a SB header?

Is yahmaha my only option, if it is I will pick one up, but they are a bit more pricey than other cards. Do creative cards have this port? What exactly is sb link?

I do have the dell, but my board does not have the yahmaha chip or any audio ports. If i could get the chips i need for a decent price i would just populate it.

As far as I know the options are Yamaha YMF 724/744/754, ESS Solo-1/Maestro-1 and the AWE64D PCI. The later the model the less chance the header is populated on the card.

I ended up getting a ymf 724 card with the sblink header for about $50. The 744 and 754 cards were at ~$300+. What gives with the price on these relatively mid range spund cards? Back in the 90s I dont remmber anyone drooling over yahmaha sound cards!