ragnargd

Sorry, i don't seem to find an USB-Adapter of that name, just an 10/100/1000 PCI card. Do you have a link to that product?

775Dual-VSTA has just SATA I (1.5 Gb/s), and supports only Dual-Core CPUs. It officially supports Vista 64bit, and officially supports W98SE. The 4coreDual-SATA2 R2.0 supports SATA II (3.0 Gb/s), and Quadcores. It officially supports W7 64bit, and does NOT support W98SE officially - although, technically, there is no reason not to, as drivers exist, and all work. The latter basically is newer, and has the newer southbridge. I got AGP-cards and PCIe-cards working at the same time, but i also took a close look at the GPU-compatibility-table, and having the latest BIOS (the beta with 4GB Ram support from PCTreiber.net) Although the 4coredual is highly cross-compatible up to W10, and runs W98SE fine (with me!), this is - from todays perspective - a board for running AGP-cards. This is no less due to the board-layout, which clearly favours the AGP-slot. There are "newer" boards for AGP (like the still supported 775i65G R3.0), but with Quadcore, Sata II and DDR2, this is it. To run PCIe-cards, I'd rather use any other platform we mention on msfn.org (including, of course, AM3+, although Intel P35 ist still a good contender IMHO), but these are rather "soft" reasons from my side.

WPA2 + 300MBit = Quest for the Holy Grail in W9x-Land (tm). Prepare for Despair. Read: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/175486-wpa2-for-windows-9x/ Long story short: I recommend the aforementioned Router in Client-Mode, albeit a cute one (= USB-powered, < 50g, as on the thread mentioned above): http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/TL-WR802N.html I use two of those, and i like them. No NAT-firewall included, of course.

What's wrong with VIA-Chipsets? This one -> http://www.asrock.com/mb/VIA/4CoreDual-SATA2 R2.0/ runs fine for me, with W98SE, XP Pro and W10, with native drivers on all OSs. Q9550S (@266FSB), or a Q6600; 4GB DDR2-800 (@667) or 4GB DDR-400; GF 7900 GT 512MB AGP or GF 7600 256MB PCIe; Intel MT Gigabit PCI or Onboard 100MBit; SB Audigy PCI. 2IDE-SSDs, 2 SATAII-SSDs (@SATA1). It's like shopping with Dad's Golden Credit Card(tm), you can run practically *all* hardware after PIII on this one... The AM2+ aequivalent, as you asked for it: http://www.asrock.com/mb/NVIDIA/ALiveDual-eSATA2/ runs (mostly) fine with W98SE, XP 64bit and some Linux, albeit not with anything newer from M$ than Vista, because of NForce3 chipset... i.e. ran with: Phenom II 910e; 16GB DDR2-800; onboard Gigabit Lan (RTL8111B), GF 7900 GT 512MB AGP or GF 7600 256MB PCIe; SB Audigy PCI. 1IDE-SSD, 2 SATAIII-SSDs (@SATAII), + 2 SATAII-SSDs (@SATAI). I still rather prefer the AM3+ platform... but to each his own.

Hi, which was the last occasion anyone used SLI with GPUs from the GeForce 7 series (i.e. 7900GTX)? If, what OS, and driver version? Cheers, Ragnar G.D.

Boards with full driver support have all the modern features - of 2001 (That's when XP came out, just if you don't remember). That's why this research on AM3+ was done in the first place, right?

"Too new" is not necessarily an argument: The 990FX/890FX/970A were the newest AMD chipsets a very few years ago, and were much more compatible than everything before for a long time from AMD. I expect the boards - or their chipsets - to be more of a problem, the closer they are/were to the last working chipset generation: W9x (wrongly) *thinks* it knows them, initializes them, and... crashes. This is very true for USB2- and SATA-chipsets (which makes all Intel-chipsets after P45 so very difficult, if not impossible, to use, up and until today). With many newer boards, W9x does not know those strange things, but lets them be... and - *presto!* - remains stable! (And then there is the ingenious RLoew for the stubborn parts... ;-) The rest of the story are compatible known-to-work add-in cards, as long as the MoBo-layout allows to install them. The next (and final?) show-stopper may be UEFI-only MoBos, and/or boards where the PCIe-specifications change considerably. (btw.: Has anyone a W9x-compatible GPU running stable on W9x in a PCIe 3.0 slot already?) So the upcoming Intel-platform (and maybe AM4 already) may be the end of the show already.... let's see... So far, I will only test AM4-boards, once the Dual-GPU-stunt is possible on an 8x/8x enabled MoBo, a well-positioned PCI-slot for my Audigy 2 exists, and either there still exist IDE-compatible SATA-ports, or another well-positioned slot for a SATA-I-AddIn...

Can you please state the source and version of UnRaid you are using? (is it the Demo Donwload from the Homepage?) I see that Q35 chipset is emulated - and we have drivers/inf for P35, so that *may* work.

Games will not run faster, of course, on the same machine with the same CPU and same GPU - but my impression is, with a second core active, some of them run smoother, FPS being more constant. This is even more true with games that have sound (i.e. music) running in its own thread - "Jedi Knight" being a good example. Other games, then, make no difference. Well, unless i use my 1920x1200 screen with maximum details, for games like Half-Life 2 - that is unfair, in a way, as i run them on a faster card on the same machine, but, hey, who said life is fair?

@ruthan: Look for the MSI NX7950GT-VT2D512 or NX7950GT-VT2D512EZ-HD. For my taste, they still get too hot, even with air-flow in the case, but YMMV.

@LoneCrusader: Most games "made for W9x" in fact run better when running on a dual/quad CPU, and this is true for D2 as well. But some just don't run at all, or only with serious problems. I just played "Jedi Knight", and it ran fine on W98SE, but on the same machine with XP, it was glitched beyond repair. Same with a Harry Potter game (part one?) my daugther played. Inspired by your idea, i just played D1 again. Oh my, it made me remember why this game was called "mouse killer No. 1"...

@jumper: Well, worth a try. Will take a bit of time, but I'll report. @HarryTri: Worth trying. I did. Well, I did not. But THAT I did. Wait... AAAAAH!

You will have a hard time finding a situation where i oppose LoneCrusaders respected opinion (cheers! ;), but this is one: The GeForce 7900 GTX is at least 10% faster than a 7950 GT. The 7950 GT is the second fastest card, and being newer than the 7900 GTX (the same G71 GPU, just clocked down, and better equipment of the card), it is more power efficient (i have i.e. a passively cooled version, as TDP is ~120W for the 7900 GTX vs. ~95W for the 7950 GT). I have both cards, and can confirm all of this by practical experiments. But also have a view at the respected Anand Tech: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2080/8 Your major problem will be, that: - You will find no 7900 GTX for AGP (so the 7950 GT is the fastest card for AGP on W9x) - You will have a hard time finding a 7900 GTX with LESS than 512MB (none known to me), so it reqires the $$$-patch by RLoew (the 7950 GT with 256MB for AGP is still very rare, but you CAN find it) Fun-fact: The 7950GX2 is supposed to be as fast as the 7900GX2, because the latter is not running with full speed because of temp/power-reasons, and thereby the 7950GX2, speed considered being equal, being much superior for secondary reasons (i.e. only using one power-connector vs. two for the 7900GX2, less noise, less heat, less throttling, you name it). This is of no importance for W9x-users, of course, because no SLI with GeForce on W9x...

See: http://www.dosforum.de/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=11599 (in german) It basically shows a sceenshot after D2 crashed, showing a dependency to a w2000-DLL. I have the same phenomenon, and will start a research. Hopefully just a small problem. Any ideas welcome...

I install no chipset drivers - they don't exist. Does that answer your question?

The 4coreDual with a patched BIOS (4GB Ram) runs W10 64bit, besides XP, i use it with a Q9550S. P.S.: I did not try for a long time, but i somehow remember to have used a PCIe-card and an AGP card in parallel (or was that with the AM2NF3-VSTA? Or both? Worth trying, perhaps...) I was not aware of the DOS-problems of the X800, but normally i'd use DosBox anyway, as most DOS-games work just better with it, given your PC ist fast enough. Actually, i use DosBox on the 4coreDual... :-D The only exceptions can be found on vogons.org, its about a couple of games that absolutely NEED i.e. a VooDoo2 or such (i don't find the thread). But to be honest, the AM3+ boards work better for me, and just have that much more value with multi-booting. But that's just IMHO.

In the ad it says W98SE is pre-installed... Is it not? (Perhaps german version) As this contains a "Disk on a module" - a VERY small SSD of about 512 M(!)B, which you cant just remove to plug it into another PC (which would be the solution for a "normal" HDD or SSD) -, you NEED an USB booting device. I recommend this one: https://www.amazon.de/StarTech-Com-S2510BU3ISO-Zoll-Festplatte-Gehäuse/dp/B00E6EBPBO/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1487782060&sr=1-2&keywords=iso-emulation (you can switch the german amazon to english, or look it up on amazon.co.uk) When you boot the HP T5720, what shows up?

@rloew: Technically, you are most probably right, as it has a distinct power supply - and what for, if not an amplifier? Still, even if better than your average soundcard, this cannot be much (3W perhaps?) - otherwise, it would have fragged my devices already.

I second what RLoew says - with an exception: The Audigy 2 (ZS) PCI come with a 5 1/4" frontpanel, that gives the features you need - looks similar like this: I use it for headphones - plugging in disables the line-out, when configured correctly. I record my disastrous efforts on my Fender Bullet into the line-in of that panel, via the Creative sequencer on my PC, through the line-out of that panel to my external 4-channel tape-recorder, and then forward it to my Sennheiser Headphones from there. On Windows 98 SE, of course! B-D (it works on XP as well, but, heck, why would i... ;-)

Hi, i've installed W98SE on an MSI 970A SLI Krait, and also installed XP pro 32bit, and W10 home 64bit. ------------------------------------ Hardware: ------------------------------------ AMD FX 4320 (4 cores, 95W TDP, 4GHz base, 4.2 HGz Turbo) Soundblaster Audigy PCI TP-Link RTL8111B Gigabit PCIe 1x 1 GB Ram (all works fine with 32GB, might have 16GB in the end) 3 SSDs (60GB SATA III FAT32 for W98SE, 120GB SATA III NTFS for XP, 240GB SATA III NTFS for W10 home 64bit) 1 DVD-RAM SATA 2 x EVGA NVidia GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB PCIe, linked with SLI bridge USB2 works on all OS (compatibility set to "Auto", USB3 on XP and W10) Temporarily a SATA I-controller to have a DVD on W98SE, but will most probably switch to RLoews SATA-patch, IF i keep this machine... ------------------------------------ The minor issues ------------------------------------ The OS and hardware installed, there were only minor issues: - i had to switch to Ushers method early on during the installation of W98SE even with just 1 GB of Ram - on this board, although the chipset allows for it, MSI did not implement separate ATA/AHCI-settings for the SATA-channels 5 and 6, so i installed W98SE on the controller in IDE/ATA-mode, and when installing XP and W10, switched to AHCI-mode. This of course set the controller in W98SE to compatibility-mode, which voids the use of other SATA-Devices (like the DVD-RAM). I used an add-in SATA-I controller for $things from DVD, but removed it later. I guess this means getting RLoews SATA-patch later on, if i want to have normal operations with the onboard-controller set to AHCI. This is a minor issue on W98SE, though, as with the SSD, the system is still fast. - The board has bad quality-control by MSI, so many people had to swap boards with their seller, until they had a working one in the end, and so was me: Only on the third attempt i had a working one. ------------------------------------ SLI-Issues ------------------------------------ No, there is no SLI on W98SE (yet). I'm pretty sure this will not change, as i learned about SLI from i.e. the "Hybrid-SLI"-mod-community, and i know, the issue is complicated. Still, i wanted to use SLI at least on XP and W10. My question, now (already posted on the german MSI-forum, and NVidias SLI-support-community-forum): Why does the SLI-option not show up in my NVidia-System panel (in XP or W10) ?!? I know this is not directly related to W9x... if you can point me to a place where this is to be located... move this thread, and tell me... I know that RLoew has this board as well: Did you try SLI? Do you have any idea? Cheers, Ragnar G.D.

@deomsh and nomen: Thank you for your input, i'll add links soon.

I'm running an FX4320 on an MSI 970A SLI Krait (and an FX 8350 on an ASRock 890FX Deluxe5, and an Opteron 8320 on an ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0). All and each with SSDs, Audigy <1|2> PCI, Realtek 8111B PCIe Gigabit, 16GB Ram (1GB visible to W98SE), EVGA 7900GTX PCIe 512MB (or some 7600GT PCIe 256MB), SATA-DVD. All have Multiboot with XP and W10, where sometimes i use additional hardware (like USB3.0, GTX 960, more SSDs). My only Intel-System at the moment is a Q9550S (reduced speed because 1000FSB) on an ASRock 4CoreDual-SATA R2.0, 4GB Ram (1GB visible to W98SE, 3.3 visible to XP and W10) with an IDE-SSD (W98SE), 2 SATA-SSDs (XP and W10), a Gainward GeForce 7900GT AGP 512MB, the obligatory Audigy PCI, and an Intel Pro MT Gigabit PCI. I use an 1680x1050 IPS Monitor with a KVM-switch, but everything works on an 1920x1200 IPS Monitor as well. This is about the most modern hardware i get to run, and i can play almost every game on these PCs - i just have to choose the "right" OS for each, and sometimes turn down details... ;-) (I have older systems in my cellar, although in an disassembled state).

Note for 775i65g: On ASRock Homepage, only rev. 3.0 shows compatibility for Wolfdale, but only up to E7300 (M0-Stepping) see: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/775i65G R3.0/?cat=CPU see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_2_microprocessors#.22Wolfdale-3M.22_.2845_nm.2C_1066_MT.2Fs.29 On rev 2.0, the effect of BIOS v. 3.30 is not documentated, but only Conroe CPUs have beed added up to v. 3.20 see: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/775i65G R2.0/#BIOS I can see things going on pctreiber.net, but can't access this from my momentary PC...

The most easy to handle boards are with the 970A chipset - i have two of those running. But it's not only the chipset, the layout is as important also - you need two PS/2-ports for ease of use, a PCI-slot for audio add-in, a PCIe-1x for LAN, and a compatible PCIe-GPU. I use an SSD on port 5, and a DVD on port 6, in compatibility-mode (which works very well). It works with any other modern OS on port 1-4 in SATA-mode (tried with XP, W7, W10, Ubuntu 64-bit LTS, and SteamOS (! only with a second, modern GPU !). If you want to use the SATA-ports in W98SE in true SATA-mode, you'll need RLoews SATA-patch - can't say if this is better, as i don't own that patch, but many say it is great. For GPU i recommend an ATI Radeon x800 PCIe 256MB. If you want to use an NVidia-GPU, you absolutely need corresponding RLoew NVidia-GPU-driver-patch ($20,--) - then, i recommend the 7600GT PCIe 256MB, or the 7900 GTX PCIe 512MB. For Audio i recommend the SB Audigy PCI or SB Audigy 2 PCI - used via ebay for about $5 to $8. Only the original old ones, actually, not any "XE"-variant or whatsoever. For LAN i recommend any PCIe-1x Gigabit card with the RTL 8111B chipset. Should be available brand-new.

I had exactly that MoBo. While W98SE was technically possible on it, in the end the layout made a "full" sysxtem (for playing games) impossible. Can't recall the details, but it was not fun. I gave it back, and ordered something else (some used P35-Full-ATX-board from GigaGyte - consult the "motherboards running with more than 1 GB Ram-thread). If you want W98SE and XP (and nothing newer) you can get the ASRock 775i65G R3.0 brand new - it uses AGP and DDR400, though, and cannot use a 1333-CPU.