Which Version of XP for a Tualatin 1.4 Ghz with 512MB RAM? (98 SE/XP Machine) \ VOGONS

Which Version of XP for a Tualatin 1.4 Ghz with 512MB RAM? (98 SE/XP Machine)

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First post, by Grayshazzle

Posted on 2021-04-09, 20:18

Grayshazzle Offline

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Hey everyone, I just wanted to know which version of XP would run the best for this machine since SP3 seems to run pretty darn slow, especially for install. I know people have recommended 2000 for this build as it is a little closer to specs but I wanted to push the machine a little to have multi-boot with these specs (plus it is the OS I grew up with and want to experience it again), mostly to just play some early low running CD-ROMs from my childhood. This machine is primarily intended for 98 SE but I just wanted to know from you guys that if I do choose XP, then what would be the best version for it? Thank you all.

Reply 1 of 7, by bloodem

Posted on 2021-04-09, 20:33

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For earlier Windows XP builds I always go with SP2 and it works great. I also compared SP2 to SP1, to see if it was worth to go with the latter, but... no, I saw no performance difference between the two (at least not with 1GB RAM or more). However, SP2 does feel more polished overall, so it gets my vote.

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Reply 2 of 7, by Grayshazzle

Posted on 2021-04-09, 20:41

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bloodem wrote on 2021-04-09, 20:33:

For earlier Windows XP builds I always go with SP2 and it works great. I also compared SP2 to SP1, to see if it was worth to go with the latter, but... no, I saw no performance difference between the two (at least not with 1GB RAM or more). However, SP2 does feel more polished overall, so it gets my vote.

Awesome! Thank you very much, I will try it out!

Reply 3 of 7, by mothergoose729

Posted on 2021-04-09, 21:39

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I installed SP3 on my slot 1 board, and while I haven't spent a lot of time with it, it seems to be fine. I would be wary of the "black edition" or custom builds as they tend to install later versions of .net which may or may not be a problem.

Last edited by Stiletto on 2021-04-13, 11:39. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 4 of 7, by mjd93

Posted on 2021-04-12, 10:00

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+1 for SP2, provided you're in an isolated environment.
If you've got any network connectivity at all, SP3 with the very latest updates would be more advisable. Note that you can disable a lot of unnecessary services/visual effects to try and get SP2-level performance if you're finding it a tad slow.

Reply 5 of 7, by nd22

Posted on 2021-04-22, 07:29

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I got 2 Tualatins 1400s systems. One with Abit ST6 and 512mb of ram and one with Abit VH6T and 1536mb of ram. I tested XP SP3 on both and the second one was actually pretty usable on the net and I also managed to fully update it up to April 2014. I should mention that I have disconnected from the internet all my socket 370 systems.

Reply 6 of 7, by Standard Def Steve

Posted on 2021-04-22, 16:25

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I use SP3 on my PIII, but that's running at 1.63GHz and has 2GB of RAM. Still, on idle at the desktop, it's only using ~135MB of RAM and 0% CPU usage. Heck, the CPU usage remains at 0% even when I play FLAC and MP3 files in foobar2K, indicating that there's remarkably little OS overhead, even with SP3.

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Reply 7 of 7, by gerry

Posted on 2021-04-22, 17:06

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I use XP sp3 on a Duron 800 with 384mb ram on an old kt133a board and it works just fine across many applications include a bunch of circa 2005-2010 emulators, mame and .NET2

I'm very sceptical when people say XP requires fast CPU or lots of RAM. Certain games and applications might and certain computers may have problem drivers, tons of installed apps messing with settings and so forth, but windows XP is fine well below your spec with any service pack

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