Better choice of motherboard for Win98 SE

[sk9392]

Hi! I have two options for motherboards I can buy - one is Asus P5PE-VM, and the other is Asrock 775i65G. I wanted to build a gaming system that's compatible with Win98, and both these are socket 775 (which according to my limited knowledge is the latest socket type that'll run Win 98). But I have no idea which of these would be a better option. What all should I consider before buying either of them?

[Dixel]

Asrock 775i65G seems nicer, though I's search for a mobo that supports FSB1333.

[Cocodile]

Asus P5G41-MLX, very good for 775 socket. Cheap cost on Bombay.

[sk9392]

4 hours ago, Cocodile said:

Asus P5G41-MLX, very good for 775 socket. Cheap cost on Bombay.

But the problem is that it doesn't support Win98 SE. I went to the asus website and it drivers only up to Win2000

[Cocodile]

Which driver do you need? If you have a dedicated GPU, it shouldn't be a problem. The main point is that board is LGA775.

[Dixel]

23 hours ago, sk9392 said:

But the problem is that it doesn't support Win98 SE. I went to the asus website and it drivers only up to Win2000

100% possible to make it work! This precise list of tested and working Win 98 boards includes that G41 chipset, like on Asus.

https://msfn.org/board/topic/175820-modern-motherboards-working-with-windows-98-the-list/

[Dixel]

On 9/16/2023 at 12:10 AM, Cocodile said:

Asus P5G41-MLX, very good for 775 socket. Cheap cost on Bombay.

Agree, and it's a nice overclocker board too.

[Cocodile]

3 hours ago, Dixel said:

100% possible to make it work!

Sure!

 

23 hours ago, sk9392 said:

Win98 SE

And don't forget to switch to IDE mode, before the install.

[pangoomis]

You do not need chipset drivers.

You can use rloew's AHCI driver to avoid legacy IDE modes, and select enhanced SATA mode and avoid the devil that is ESDI_506.PDR for maximum performance.

LAN - if built-in solution is Realtek, it might have drivers, just search the model number. If something else, try finding drivers, if can't find them, look for NDIS2 drivers, if still no luck, try a cheap PCI Realtek LAN card.

AUDIO - If built-in is HD Audio - then there are no drivers, use a cheap USB Sound Card or a PCI sound card. If built-in is AC'97 - there are drivers.

GPU - Integrated - only Intel Extreme Graphics 2 has drivers. Use GeForce 6000/7000 or Radeon X550/X600/X700/X800/X850 PCI-E GPUs, or an AGP motherboard/card for more choices. (Geforce 2 to 6000 series, Radeon 8500 to 9800 AGP, etc.)

USB 2.0 - use unofficial drivers.

 

 

[aoresteen]

Depends on what you want.  I have an ASRock 775i65PE inbound and a P4 3.8GHz for it.  It does Win98, has 5 PCI slots, and supports 4GB ram.  For a gaming PC you probably won't need all the PCI slots but I do.

I'd stick to mobos that have Win98 drivers for them. Just my 2 cents,