First post, by mattrock1988
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After selling my beloved microATX Tualatin build from last year, dubbed "Blade Runner", I got the itch to scratch and started yet another build. I aimed to stick with a goal of a PC designed primarily for Win9x gaming and digital audio workstation tasks, with DOS gaming as a bonus. However, nearly every DOS game I've tried has worked flawlessly, so I'm quite happy with the results.
With regards to the parts selected, I went with a more classic approach, opting for an SE440BX-2 board from Intel instead of utilizing a fancier VIA Apollo chipset based board. This was decided upon for two reasons. Firstly, software compatibility. A handful of DOS games acted a bit funny and Windows ran with occasional instability on my previous build, likely due to the chipset that was being utilized. Secondly, I wanted a native ISA slot, not bridged over the PCI bus, in an effort to cut back on any potential bus noise over the AWE64.
AGP was another bonus that I didn't explicitly need or care for, but came in handy anyway, since I found a killer deal on a new in the box GeForce 4 Ti card for a measly $20 which I simply couldn't pass up on. Though it's a bit overkill for this machine (and perhaps slightly period-incorrect), I don't really have to worry about the graphics being a potential bottleneck either.
Additionally, I opted for a dual sound card configuration, mainly because I want the ability to play A3D titles and classic DOS games with sound from the same machine. Although Aureal has done a great job on their Sound Blaster Pro emulation according to past experiences, I couldn't help but pair it with the real McCoy for ultimate compatibility.
All of my parts are new old stock. I like to keep that shiny brand new feeling in my machine. I also went with an all black color scheme for the case, keyboard, mouse and monitor. Beige parts in good condition are surprisingly hard to source, with many of them suffering discoloration from UV damage and other such ugliness. I also splurged a bit more than I liked on the computer case, but Lian Li makes a fine quality product, and the classic legacy ATX design they offer does sort of feel like a throwback to better times.
Without further ado... here are the exact specifications.
Intel Pentium III Coppermine (Slot 1) @ 1 GHz
Intel SE440BX-2 Slot 1 Motherboard
Seasonic 350W ATX PSU
Atech 384 MB PC-100 SDRAM *
Super Talent 32 GB IDE Disk on Module
Generic IDE DVD-ROM drive
Rosewill USB 2.0 PCI card
3COM 10/100 PCI network card
Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4600 AGP
Creative SoundBlaster AWE64 Gold w/ SPDIF bracket installed
Aureal Vortex 2 SQ2500 w/ Coaxial SPDIF **
Serdaco DreamBlaster S1
Microsoft Windows 98SE w/ 98lite modifications
* Maximum supported memory configuration
** This card is technically en-route from an eBay seller in Russia and not installed yet
Pictures: http://imgur.com/a/R6P1W
Let me know your thoughts.
Retro PC: Intel Pentium III @ 1 GHz, Intel SE440BX-2, 32 GB IDE DOM, 384 MB SDRAM, DVD-ROM, 1.44 MB floppy, Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4600 AGP, Creative SoundBlaster AWE64 Gold, Aureal Vortex 2
I only rely on 86box these days. My Pentium 3 PC died. 🙁