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Help Spec me a system.


Bobolaf

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Hello, After reading this forum I felt inspired and to build my self a new Windows 98 SE gaining system and am in need of a little guidance. I have read countless posts and guides but think I got my self more confused so have so many questions (sorry)

(CPU) My gut is telling me go with Cedar Mill P4 as they have good single thread performance, cost basically nothing and mother boards are common and cheap. Or has I series proposers blown the P4s single threat performance out the water these days?

(MB) May be daft question but I see a lost of people running Win98SE on newer Nforce motherboards that don't officially support the OS. Does SLI work under Win98SE or are the extra PCIE slots just a wast of space? What are good high end ( with no official support ) boards to try?

(GFX) I have already got a good selection of Nvidia Geforce FX, Series 6, Series 7 and early Quadro cards kicking about ( yes I am a hoarder ) I have seen a few threads about modified drivers for these can anyone point me in the direction of the newest/best to try?

(RAM) What is the best way to get over the memory restriction limit and use 4Gb of RAM? I am happy to pay for any 3rd part fix as long as it works. Also if you use a 64bit CPU can you install over 4Gb of RAM and use the extra as a RAM Disk like on XP 32bit? again I am happy to pay if it is possible.

(HDD) Whats the best option on newer boards? Just use the IDE if the mother board has it and forget the SATA? Perhaps use a 3rd parting PCI disc driver controller with Win98 support or are these universal sata drivers a better place to start? Also is it best just to use multiple small drives or am I best to get a patch to handle larger drives, if so whats the best way to do this?

(sound) I have a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS sound card that I see a few people use on this forum, however I don't see the drivers on the manufactures page. Can anyone point me at the correct drivers thank you.

(USB/firewire) Whats the easiest way to get USB storage devices working? Something in the back of my brain says Win98SE is actually Firewire compliant, Would it be easiest to just get a Firewire card reader and external HDD enclosure?

(mouse/keyboard) If you have a newer motherboard with out the PS/2 interface how do you install Win98SE? Or is it just a matter of making it a point to get one with the PS\2?

(virtual DVD) Back in the day I had a program that was a virtual optical disc drive. I cant for the life of me recall what it was called, I dont suppose anyone knows what I am referring to?

Thank you, any held would be most appreciated.

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I can help you with mostly software (I'm way too new to hardware. Only worked with laptops...)

For Virtual CD/DVD: its called mounting. I recommend This program for mounting ISO's (Virtual Clone Drive, ignore the warnings of unwanted software. I didn't get a virus from it)
USB: Windows 98SE has this for usb. I'm not aware what a firewire is...(Beware, Windows 9x appears to hang if a USB is plugged in during boot!)

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Huge amount of RAM/SATA/crazy large hard disk sizes

Check Rloew's patches:

http://rloew.x10host.com/

He is a member here, you might want to contact him about (possibly already tested) compatibility of the hard disk related patches with your motherboard (the huge RAM one should work OK, independently from the specific motherboard).

His (freeware) USB driver pack (based on a Lexar released driver) is simpler than MD NUSB, which attempts to integrate more to the system and has had (on some motherboards/systems at least) some installation issues.

Be prepared anyway to several iterations of install/re-install, having a functional Windows 98 on modern hardware usually requires quite a lot of tweaking/adjustments.

If you could "choose" one among the systems listed here:
 

it might be easier.

jaclaz

 

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What is the difference, regarding the effect, with RLoews driver to NUSB?

For i have USB2-ports onboard with my GA-870A-USB3, for which drivers get installed, but do not initialize...

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@Bobolaf

To do interesting things with W9x, you probably need two PCs anyway. I'd start with a simple, but working installation, so you get "into it".

To not be hampered by defect components, use as many new parts as possible.

A good start is this board, which you can buy new at shops, and which has full driver support for W98SE:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/775i65G R3.0/?cat=Specifications

Choose any CPU from here, preferably if you have one of those at home:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/775i65G R3.0/?cat=CPU

You need DDR400, and for a start, choose 1GB, preferably as an 1x1GB module, so you don't have a problem with "too much memory".

You can then use a SATA-SSD with 128GB (smaller ones are not cheaper...) for your system drive, and an IDE-ODD (NOT SATA, you want the second SATA-connector for later).

Start with a GeForce of the 6xxx AGP series, with EXACTLY 256MB of Ram, if you have that.

For sound, is use a Audigy or Audigy 2 PCI (non-ZS). The ZS MAY run with the older drivers, but i wouldn't bet on that. Ask around, i never tried.

Then, it's time for experiments.

Learn Ushers method (it's free), to be able to build in another 1GB of Ram (that can only be used by XP - but that's the purpose).

Use the modded driver, to use any GeForce 7xx0.

Use an Intel MT 1000 PCI for GigaBit Speed.

Once you have that thing running, try Dual-booting with XP, after building in another 128GB SSD on the second SATA-port.

AFTER that, it's time for a second PC, where you go wild on hardware... or software... but that's for later...

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11 hours ago, ragnargd said:

What is the difference, regarding the effect, with RLoews driver to NUSB?

For i have USB2-ports onboard with my GA-870A-USB3, for which drivers get installed, but do not initialize...

The Nusb is a "more complete" and/or "more complicated" package, offering "more" than a simple USB driver, when it works, it works very nicely of course :), simpler packages, like Rloew's one, the one Aiko Chan mentioned and this one, etc.:

are simpler, which is what the OP asked, but as said each and everything available needs to be tested and verified working (or not working) on the specific setup/hardware.

jaclaz
 

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RLoew's USB Mass Storage Driver is simpler, and doesn't modify any system files. Also no unnecessary (IMO) HOTPLUG.EXE. And it's language independent.

GeForce 7950GT 256MB AGP (or PCI-E) with the unofficial 82.69 drivers is the best GPU for 98SE.

1GB RAM is the maximum for 98SE without paid patches from RLoew.

SATA Patch from RLoew is a must for proper SATA speeds/compatibility.

CPU doesn't matter, any x86-64 CPU works with 98SE, go for the best.

MoBo - look for a Socket 775 one with Award BIOS, no AMI, it causes problems.

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If it's x86 and not ARM, it will work, including popular Asus EEE PC's and other netbooks with x86 Intel Atoms.

98SE does not care about anything other than x86 architecture. (And so does MS-DOS which which is a part of 98SE)

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