If you are going to build a dream system than you got to have 2*Voodoo2 12mb in SLI. I have a system, now in storage - built using Abit BX6 2.0 with P-2 450 and 256mb of RAM; it's been rock solid every time I pulled it out of storage and assembled it, not a single crash - I built it some 5-6 years ago.

songoffall wrote on 2026-09-22, 21:44:

Well, I've been doing year by year dream PC builds for a while now - and while I have a surprisingly good 1998 PC, I was thinkin […]
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Well, I've been doing year by year dream PC builds for a while now - and while I have a surprisingly good 1998 PC, I was thinking of doing another one - an actual dream PC.

For comparison, the current 1998 PC I have is based on a Compaq Deskpro SB/EP with 440EX chipset (the Compaq GARRY motherboard), Intel Celeron 400 Mendocino, it has ESS Audiodrive 1869 and Intel i740 graphics. For a dream PC, I wanted:

• Intel 440BX based board
• Intel Pentium 4 Deschutes @ 450MHz
• Matrox Millennium G200 for 2D graphics
• 3dfx Voodoo2 for 3D graphics
• Diamond Monster Sound MX300 (Aureal Vortex 2) for audio

I already had the CPU and the sound card (I have two of them, one is on my 1999 dream PC). And then I got my hands on an IBM PC 300PL type 6862. It's a BX based system, a bit ass backwards, as most IBM desktops from the 90s, there's onboard S3 Trio3D graphics that will have to do until I get the rest of the parts.

Do you have experience with this system? I don't want to glaze Compaq too much - the Deskpro SB/EP is the most overbuilt PC I have - but the build quality, while not bad, reminds Apple Performa computers more than anything.

Why not also throw a EAX card in there too, you then output the EAX card through the A3D card and then to your speakers, games that want EAX will use the EAX card and A3D games will use the MX300 .. I have a setup like this with SLI Voodoo2 and a Slot 1 P3 500, its a tank and likely my most reliable system that can sit in storage for years and still work perfectly when needed.

Bonus is the EAX cards are far cheaper than the MX300 so no reason to not have it in there too.

Bonus 2, the S3 Trio3D is actually the perfect card to pair with the Voodoo2, it was the go to for so many people back in the day because of just how compatible the Trio/Virge was and still is. The Trio 3D is essentially a improved S3 Virge and the fact its on board makes it even better as its one less card taking up a PCI slot as its on the AGP bus. Since you wont be using this GPU for 3D acceleration it doesn't make much sense to use the G200, the G200 has amazing picture quality for desktop use but its 3D is ..problematic and the Trio3D is far better/compatible for DOS based games too so don't sleep on it.

But its your build so if you really want a G200 do plenty of research on its quirks first, you may also need to play with different G200 drivers to find one that likes the Voodoo2 drivers and doesn't cause graphical issues. (Disable Bus Mastering in the Matrox Drivers too .. it causes a lot of issues)

nd22 wrote on 2026-09-23, 08:32:

If you are going to build a dream system than you got to have 2*Voodoo2 12mb in SLI. I have a system, now in storage - built using Abit BX6 2.0 with P-2 450 and 256mb of RAM; it's been rock solid every time I pulled it out of storage and assembled it, not a single crash - I built it some 5-6 years ago.

I'm not that rich, man. I'll be lucky to get 1 Voodoo2 at a decent enough price.

Trashbytes wrote on 2026-09-23, 08:39:

Why not also throw a EAX card in there too, you then output the EAX card through the A3D card and then to your speakers, games t […]
Show full quote

songoffall wrote on 2026-09-22, 21:44:

Well, I've been doing year by year dream PC builds for a while now - and while I have a surprisingly good 1998 PC, I was thinkin […]
Show full quote

Well, I've been doing year by year dream PC builds for a while now - and while I have a surprisingly good 1998 PC, I was thinking of doing another one - an actual dream PC.

For comparison, the current 1998 PC I have is based on a Compaq Deskpro SB/EP with 440EX chipset (the Compaq GARRY motherboard), Intel Celeron 400 Mendocino, it has ESS Audiodrive 1869 and Intel i740 graphics. For a dream PC, I wanted:

• Intel 440BX based board
• Intel Pentium 4 Deschutes @ 450MHz
• Matrox Millennium G200 for 2D graphics
• 3dfx Voodoo2 for 3D graphics
• Diamond Monster Sound MX300 (Aureal Vortex 2) for audio

I already had the CPU and the sound card (I have two of them, one is on my 1999 dream PC). And then I got my hands on an IBM PC 300PL type 6862. It's a BX based system, a bit ass backwards, as most IBM desktops from the 90s, there's onboard S3 Trio3D graphics that will have to do until I get the rest of the parts.

Do you have experience with this system? I don't want to glaze Compaq too much - the Deskpro SB/EP is the most overbuilt PC I have - but the build quality, while not bad, reminds Apple Performa computers more than anything.

Why not also throw a EAX card in there too, you then output the EAX card through the A3D card and then to your speakers, games that want EAX will use the EAX card and A3D games will use the MX300 .. I have a setup like this with SLI Voodoo2 and a Slot 1 P3 500, its a tank and likely my most reliable system that can sit in storage for years and still work perfectly when needed.

Bonus is the EAX cards are far cheaper than the MX300 so no reason to not have it in there too.

Bonus 2, the S3 Trio3D is actually the perfect card to pair with the Voodoo2, it was the go to for so many people back in the day because of just how compatible the Trio/Virge was and still is. The Trio 3D is essentially a improved S3 Virge and the fact its on board makes it even better as its one less card taking up a PCI slot as its on the AGP bus. Since you wont be using this GPU for 3D acceleration it doesn't make much sense to use the G200, the G200 has amazing picture quality for desktop use but its 3D is ..problematic and the Trio3D is far better/compatible for DOS based games too so don't sleep on it.

But its your build so if you really want a G200 do plenty of research on its quirks first, you may also need to play with different G200 drivers to find one that likes the Voodoo2 drivers and doesn't cause graphical issues. (Disable Bus Mastering in the Matrox Drivers too .. it causes a lot of issues)

Well, I already have the MX300, I got 2 of them for $20 each. One of them is in the 1999 dream build. By EAX card I think you mean SB Live!. I'm not convinced it will add enough value to offset the IRQ/resource conflicts. And I think I have enough PCs with creative cards in them - I have AWE32, Live! 5.1 Digital, Audigy 2, Audigy 2 Platinum eX, X-Fi Titanium.

Hey, I'm on a Dream 97-98 Build mission as well right now!
Things I've picked up so far:
1. Pentium II 400 Mhz processor.
2. AOpen AX6BC 440BX MoBo.
3. A couple of sticks of SDRAM from random sources, some may be faulty, but I'm targeting a total of 64MB for system memory (128 at maximum).
4. 40 GB Samsung HDD that will most probably end up in one of those 5.25" hard drive tray thingies for convenience.
5. 12 MB Voodoo2 (I've held on to it since I first got it in 1999!).
EDIT: 6. Sound Blaster 128/Vibra PCI (I almost forgot!). May be swapped out for a SB Live!, we'll see.

I bought an AGP Matrox G200 as well, but it seems to be dead, so I'm after a G400 right now.

The OS of choice is gonna be Windows 95D. Big D energy FTW! 😀

What version is this:D?? I know only of 95A, 95B, 95C.

nd22 wrote on 2026-09-24, 10:54:

What version is this:D?? I know only of 95A, 95B, 95C.

please no links for copyrighted stuff

From what I had and remember , Popular builds for 1998 include;
Pentium-ll@400mhz
Riva tnt
Voodoo
S3 trio 64
Matrox g200
Sound blaster live
Etc.

I think the Riva TNT is the best performer from 1998. See my benchmarks comparing with a Voodoo2:
Re: 3dmark99 MegaThread

I had a build that practically fits the bill and was aiming exactly for that top level gaming rig in 1998. I still have the parts either in my bin or running with some different box. But my system had following specs:

Celeron 300A@450 (Beats or equals P2 especially with games)
Abit BH6 (one of the best 440BX OC boards and a real legend from 1998)
256MB RAM
ASUS V3400TNT
Diamond Monster Voodoo II 12MB
SB Live! CT4620

You really should have SLI to have that ultimate rig, but I didn’t have second V2 at that point. But I’d say that many gamers in 1998 drooled for this kind of rig.

Year by year? That could end up being a lot of computers. I have eras. 1985 -1990, 1990 to 95, 95 to 99, 2000-2007 (ish)

Law212 wrote on 2026-09-24, 18:02:

Year by year? That could end up being a lot of computers. I have eras. 1985 -1990, 1990 to 95, 95 to 99, 2000-2007 (ish)

I've got something close to one per year (for the 90s)...

Law212 wrote on 2026-09-24, 18:02:

Year by year? That could end up being a lot of computers. I have eras. 1985 -1990, 1990 to 95, 95 to 99, 2000-2007 (ish)

Those eras follow along nicely with the main Windows releases!

Linoleum wrote on 2026-09-24, 18:51:

Law212 wrote on 2026-09-24, 18:02:

Year by year? That could end up being a lot of computers. I have eras. 1985 -1990, 1990 to 95, 95 to 99, 2000-2007 (ish)

I've got something close to one per year (for the 90s)...

Wow. Very nice. I think i'd like to add a 386 and a pentium 2 to my collection but I really want a commodore 64 and an apple II e .

Law212 wrote on 2026-09-24, 18:55:

Linoleum wrote on 2026-09-24, 18:51:

Law212 wrote on 2026-09-24, 18:02:

Year by year? That could end up being a lot of computers. I have eras. 1985 -1990, 1990 to 95, 95 to 99, 2000-2007 (ish)

I've got something close to one per year (for the 90s)...

Wow. Very nice. I think i'd like to add a 386 and a Pentium 2 to my collection but I really want a commodore 64 and an apple II e .

386 is fun but just be aware the hardware is aging fast now and the Varta battery damage to boards is only going to increase the longer you leave jumping in.

Pentium II is rock solid though, I'm 100% sure the Pentium II BX gear will outlive me with how solid it still is.

Linoleum wrote on 2026-09-24, 18:51:

Law212 wrote on 2026-09-24, 18:02:

Year by year? That could end up being a lot of computers. I have eras. 1985 -1990, 1990 to 95, 95 to 99, 2000-2007 (ish)

I've got something close to one per year (for the 90s)...

Just curious, what is the basis for the eras or years you choose particular machine? For ecample, for 1997-98 you have 400MHz P2 Deschutes, which was released in spring of 1998. It also has Audigy 2, which was released late 2002. So for example 1998 would be spot on based on CPU and graphics (TNT), but certainly not for 1997.

CharlieFoxtrot wrote on 2026-09-25, 08:18:

Linoleum wrote on 2026-09-24, 18:51:

Law212 wrote on 2026-09-24, 18:02:

Year by year? That could end up being a lot of computers. I have eras. 1985 -1990, 1990 to 95, 95 to 99, 2000-2007 (ish)

I've got something close to one per year (for the 90s)...

Just curious, what is the basis for the eras or years you choose particular machine? For ecample, for 1997-98 you have 400MHz P2 Deschutes, which was released in spring of 1998. It also has Audigy 2, which was released late 2002. So for example 1998 would be spot on based on CPU and graphics (TNT), but certainly not for 1997.

Very good questions! The era covered for each system makes sure I get the best performance for games released the year before.

The Audigy 2 ZS is just a big non sense, I know… I don’t like Win XP systems, where it belongs. So I just used it in my favourite Win98 system.

Linoleum wrote on 2026-09-24, 18:51:

Law212 wrote on 2026-09-24, 18:02:

Year by year? That could end up being a lot of computers. I have eras. 1985 -1990, 1990 to 95, 95 to 99, 2000-2007 (ish)

I've got something close to one per year (for the 90s)...

Back in 1993 / 94 they were still selling DOS 5.0 and Win 3.11 with New computers.
Microsoft was also still teaching DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.11 certification classes
In computer education certification centers.

Linoleum wrote on 2026-09-24, 18:51:

I've got something close to one per year (for the 90s)...

Looks great. I am curious on the last one though. GPU from 2007 with a CPU from 2002? The other systems all seem quite well matched.