+1
You simply can't go wrong with a Socket 7 to cover a lot of retro ground.

squareguy wrote:

This setup is similar to what several people here use and I really like it.

So... Are you actually playing something on it?

Still working on it (finishing touches / testing) and haven't brought it home yet but so far playing Command & Conquer Red Alert, Dune 2, Warcraft and Tombraider.

I have a very similar setup, which is my DOS PC and one of the 4 PCs that I have always ready to use (i.e. permanently connected to my KVM setup)

ASUS TXP4-X Motherboard (Intel i430TX Chipset) - same
Intel P55C Pentium 233MMX CPU (running at 133-MHz, 66x2) - same
64MB SDRAM (Overkill for sure but not past cachable limit, new) - same
STB Nitro 3D 4MB Video Card (S3 Virge/GX) - Voodoo3 PCI (never had a Voodoo 1 ever, so this was the closest)
Diamond Monster 3D Video Card (3Dfx Voodoo 1) - as indicated above, but believe me, a Voodoo2 + S3 Virge was my second option
Yamaha YMF-719 Sound Card (SBPRO filter modified) - Sound Blaster 16 CT2230
DreamBlaster S1 MIDI Daughterboard - NEC XR895 daughterboard
3Com 3C905-TX Fast Ethernet Card - very similar, 3Com 3C905B-Combo
Beige ATX Case - same but black
Beige IDE DVD-RW Drive (New) - same but black
Beige 3.5" Floppy Drive (New) - same but black
120GB IDE Hard Drive (New) - 80GB IDE, 36GB SCSI, 73GB SCSI

It also has some extras: 5.25" 1.2MB FDD, 3.5" CF to IDE Adapter, Iomega ZIP 250MB IDE drive

I set it up as a multiboot rig with Windows 98 SE, Windows 95 OSR 2.1, and MS-DOS 6.22 + WFW 3.11 on it. Main purpose of its existence is playing with some very old software from my university years (Winword 2.0, CorelDraw 4.0, Maths and Engineering apps, .. ) and playing with some old DOS games that I still have the original CDs (X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Rebel Assault II, Dark Forces,...) so it's mainly a DOS/Windows 3.x machine (my mainly-Windows9x-machine is a PIII)

I'm in total agreement with you, this is one of my most enjoyable builds. 😀

The thing that sometimes is hard to get, is that there is no perfect machine. No single machine will run everything. It's always a compromise and this hobby is a journey, it doesn't end with building one machine, that's just the beginning.

So it doesn't matter what you built. That system of yours, soon you will want to change it again because maybe some doesn't run super smooth or it doesn't do something else.

I had the same issue when I started "my journey". I quickly gave up on having PCs and just quickly put together whatever system I need for whatever project. I think I had 4 PCs at one point, a ton of keyboard, mouse and audio switches, a ton of wires and I was never happy with any of the builds 😀

So now when I want to do something, like check out Half-Life in 1600 x 1200 with A3D, I build a sweet little setup just for this task. The right CPU and GPU to max it out. A3D for that lovely 3D sound over headphones. Nice USB optical mouse for smooth gameplay, modern 1920 x 1200 LCD and so on. Then put it away again and I'm ready for the next one 😁

I do admit that I've become very efficient at putting together a system. I think I could be up and running within 30 minutes from a clean table to playing the game.

So yea, I never get tired of the building part. I love it, but I don't use cases. They just slow me down and make working harder.

This might not help you, but it worked for me 😁

Oh, the only set machine I do have, is the one you weren't happy with: Super Socket 7 FTW. IMO there is no better hybrid / time-machine than SS7. I use it only for DOS though. I think for Windows 98 machine there is no substitute for a decent Pentium III.

I agree (with some minor differences). I use an Athlon 1200 for Win98 and a K6-2/socket 7 machine for DOS. But as I've mentioned previously, I'm not a hardware purist. The manifest expands rapidly if you want to use all period correct hardware.

squareguy wrote:

The only issue I had was shutting it down caused it to lockup and forced a ScanDisk on startup. The hard drive has 8MB of cache so I added a shutdown delay which seems to have cured the issue but I want to install the official fix if I can find it. I think it replaces one file and is used in conjunction with the shutdown delay.

how does one delay the shutdown? isnt that supposed to work out of the box with atx?

mrau,

The problem happens when the computer tries to turn itself off before the hard drive has a chance to clear its cache to disk. 8MB cache is huge for a 98 system to deal with.

This is the issue
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/273017

I found file at http://www.mdgx.com/newtip21.htm
goto page and just do a page search for cachewritedelay it's a little more than halfway down the page

tayyre,

Sounds nice. I am contemplating a 5.25" floppy drive as well. I would like to have an internal Zip100 as well, not really for the system but to be able to read customers disks if ever needed.

Phil,

By perfect machine I do not mean perfect for everything. Luckily, for you, you are not OCD. You have any idea how frustrating it is to have a beige floppy drive that is slightly off shade with a beige case?

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

I think for Windows 98 machine there is no substitute for a decent Pentium III.

Exactly my thoughts.

James-F,

For 'Windows 98' gaming I have Pentium III systems and a screaming Core 2 Duo based system. This box is for DOS and what I consider Windows 95 gaming. So basically the Voodoo1 and Pentium CPU can handle what I need for this box. To put it another way... I probably wouldn't play Quake 2 on this box.

squareguy wrote:

You have any idea how frustrating it is to have a beige floppy drive that is slightly off shade with a beige case?

That's why I use black cases 😀

I am going to play some today with manually swapping Windows 95 shell into Windows 98 SE and have a DOS batch file to swap between the two shells.

squareguy wrote:

Phil,
You have any idea how frustrating it is to have a beige floppy drive that is slightly off shade with a beige case?

Ahah, I understand this point... To find exact color drives that match a old case it's difficult, not to mention you never know how much they will last too even when you find one. 😀

386SX,

I know what you mean.

Well, I successfully replaced the Windows 98 shell, boot logo, and startup sound with Windows 95 files manually. I am happy with it. Almost done with this box.

hmm ive never had a socket 7 machine ever!
early mid 90s i had a supermicro slot 1 board back in those days .. pretty sure it was a Pentium II

my "retro" pcs+ macs collection:
MDD 1.25Ghz, Quicksilver 933Mhz, Sawtooth 450Mhz, B+W G3 450Mhz, Performa 5200/630
PIII Tualatin 1.4Ghz, PII Deschutes - 266Mhz @ 66Mhz, 486DX2-80, 386DX40

😀 lately im having fun with the P2