First post, by Fujoshi-hime
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The main inspiration for this came from PhilsComputerLab after he showed an Asrock 775i65G R3.0 build. I didn't realize there were Win9X compatibile boards that looked modern and would even allow me to use SATA options in classic operating systems but still offered AGP. This build uses an 775i65G R2.0 I got off eBay but close enough. It shipped with a Celeron 420 1.6ghz, I bought a Celeron 450 2.2ghz for less than the price of a McDonalds Value Meal to swap in. I also since acquired a Core2Duo E4700 2.6ghz CPU but I've not installed it yet. I realize the second core would not work, but it's still another 400mhz and twice the cache per core. (I'm pretty sure that 2mb cache is 1mb per core at least?)
I picked the board for it's modern functions and retro compatibility, but after seeing how relatively 'modern' it looked, I decided to go full ham and have the build look decidedly UNvintage. I actually hate glass paneled cases but I picked up this cheap Deepcool one as it gave a certain 'l33t' appearance that I thought would be neat. The core goal however was to build a sufficiently high end Windows 9X machine that would run any application without worrying about the specs. (I am aware that in some cases, it might be too FAST for some apps and just crash outright). Noctua is nice enough to ship free Socket 775 adapters for most of their coolers and that added to the appeal of making a 9X machine that looks 'Too New'. I'm going to swap the standard brown fan for a black/blue Chromax fan eventually. I want to have an aesthetic thing going on here.
CPU: Intel Pentium E5800 3.2ghz
Mobo: Asrock 775i65G R2.0
RAM: 2x512GB DDR333
GPU: Saphire ATi Radeon X800 Pro 265mb
Storage: Kingston A400 120GB SATA SSD
Optical: OEM LG SATA DVDRAM drive.
Audio: Sound Blaster Live 5.1
Cooler: Noctua NH-D9L
PSU: Corsair CX450M 450w Semi-Modular
Case: Deepcool Matrexx 30
Other than CPU, RAM, GPU, Audio, and Mobo, everything else was new in box.
I have some issues to resolve. Waiting on a front panel adapter cable for the SB Live. I also can't hook up both the front USB ports. There's separate cable for the single 2.0 and single 3.0 ports. Obviously I'll never get 3.0 speeds on the 3.0 port, but adapters exist, the problem here is the mobo has a SINGLE dual port header. No one seems to make 'splitters' for those, so I'd have to wire my own, use the sorta splitter that is REALLY just a small USB hub, or add a PCI USB card I guess?
One thing I can say is that this runs STUPID fast. I rarely see the ME splash screen at boot because it fan start up faster than that. If I do see it, it's only flash between black screens. I love how this board let's me run the SATA drives as IDE drives in a way that Win9X is compatible with without any hacks. Right now I'm using ME as it has better native USB support than older versions.