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*Build log* 90s retro PC with PIII and Win98 for DOS gaming

43K views 393 replies 33 participants last post by  mouacyk 
#1 ·
The

RETRO hunt/build log

So ive found brand new old stock case/PSU, keyboard and wheel mouse all brand new from the mid 90's.
Also found a ATI fury maxx and a brand new in the box 6600gt.
Will be definately using the fury maxx though.

Looking for help on what parts i should look for in regards to:

-CPU
-Motherboard
-HDD (IDE ofcourse)

What CPU do you guys reccomend for a PC from the mid to late 90's?
Also what board would be compatible with the GPU and CPU?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Heres the case ive found and some old but new stock..

Really cant wait to have this up and running with Windows 3.11
redface.gif


Quote:
The case.


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This legacy/retro build inspired by my Big Box collection.
Update:
Quote:
Decided yo use Win98se as the operating system instead of 3.1

Update:
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Ive decided to go PIII route.

Just picked up these babies brand new both sealed for $100
biggrin.gif

Slot 1 Pentium 3's.

Update:
Quote:
Got this card practically brand new for $6.50
ATI rage 128 pro


Update:
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So, just pulled the trigger on the SE440BX-2, also brand new.
Will get here in 7-11 days.
$53 (AUD)


Update:
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Picked up this pretty rare GEIL stick with some good timmings.
PC133 - 256mb - CL2

Update:
Quote:
I found some brand new Crucial RAM, still sealed in the packet with some nice timming also.
Couldnt let this one slide, so will probz collect it and just use the GEIL stick.



By the way, pulled the trigger on a brand new ATI Rage Fury MAXX.
Question is, do i want to use it or collect it?!


Update:
Quote:
Found the 20GB Quantum Fireball Plus KX locally.



Also just picked up a used but mint and hardly used Voodoo3 3000

Update:
Quote:
CPU's are here. All nice and sealed.
The seller was kind enough to throw in some retro goodies!



Heres another ATI Rage 128 Pro, this one done by Gigabyte. So nice!




And a Beige IDE Sony DVDROM.



UPDATE:
Some goodies just got here and boy is it joyful holding these BRAND NEW babies.
ATI Rage Fury Maxx 128 and the Crucial stick at CL2













Also found these JBL Platnium series speakers which sound pretty good actually.
Gave em a bit of a run using a Sounblaster Z and they do alright without their own woofer.

UPDATE:
Quote:
Just in!
I cannot bring myself to open this baby...arghhhhhh

Intel SE440BX-2 Motherboard (released 1999). Brand new sealed.




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Quantum Fireball Plus KX (released 1999)



Also, found these whilst hunting. In transit.

Socket 370 to Slot 1 adapter



Windows 98 - Sealed!



Windows 98 SE on floppy - Sealed also



UPDATE & Unboxing:
Also unboxing one of the Coppermines.... stay tuned.

Heart skipped a beat.


Continued:
Quote:
Pictures do nothing justice, everythings just so nice n shiny.
Turns out this Geil stick i got looks brand new, no signs of wear period.




http://www.overclock.net/content/type/61/id/2997222/width/500/height/1000[/IMG]
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The build is initiated.]
Quote:
PSU just in to check spacing. Seems to be fine.
I love this case!!
Using the Fury MAXX after all.
Still waiting on some parts, so i'll let her sit for a while till everythings here.




-
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New Screen Update:
Quote:
I've been on the hunt all weekend for a monitor. The Sony CRT is a no go since the seller wants more than my budget can afford.
So i've found something equally awesome.. The Mitsubishi Diamond View DV172.
This thing is Beige, it has a native resolution of 1280 x 1024 and 75Hz refresh rate.
Also does great for gaming @ 16ms pixel response time. The flagship of its time actually. $900 at release.

I'm thinking of settling for the LCD with this build, but go 15" CRT for the 486 build later.

In person, it has a very nostalgic vibe and it looks great. The owner bought it brand new and hardly used it, it looks as if it just came out of the box.

I absolutely love it. Ive just replaced the ROG PG279Q with it via DVI using the 6700K/HD530.
Gave it a tiny test since i didnt want to spoil all the fun come the finale
biggrin.gif


Also found a new Beige Combo CD-RW/DVD-RW drive.











And heres a sneak peak of what things are looking like so far.....
 
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#2 ·
If you're looking for a straight up MS-DOS / W 3.11 rig I would suggest going with a 486 build. That's more early-mid 90s Wolf3d - Doom Era. Pentiums really ushered in the Windows 95 era, which may be preferable because you still have your full DOS back-end and things like Qbasic if interested. A socket 7 pentium rig will also be much cheaper, and easier to deal with if you aren't familiar with how things were done in those days (jumpers, socketed cache, etc). You wouldn't run Dos 6.21 + W 3.11 on a late 90s rig with a post 2000 graphics card.

If you want Windows 95 get a socket 7 or super socket 7 Pentium / AMD K-6 II / Cyrix M-II

Fury Maxx and 6600 GT are post 2000, 6600 GT being from maybe around 2005.

Do you know if that case is for an AT or ATX motherboard? By the looks of it I'm guessing ATX, so with that you would need to modify it for a 486 build. Those were AT.

Would be glad to help you part together a machine once I'm sure what era you're looking to go with.

edit: I believe the Fury Maxx is an AGP 4x Rage era card, you would need at least windows 98 to support that card. If the GT 6600 is Pci-e you will need a much newer PC for it, for AGP versions I doubt you would see it going on anything earlier than a Windows XP era system.
 
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#4 ·
I like Windows 98 SE as it's the most recent Windows release with DOS. But I can certainly see the appeal of building a Windows 3.1 or DOS only PC...something I also would like to do at some point. I think I would check around for an older graphics card to use, perhaps...this Youtube channel is a great resource for DOS and older WIndows gaming PC, check it out if you'd like - https://www.youtube.com/user/philscomputerlab
 
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#5 ·
No probs, I'm a total junkie when it comes to the retro rigs. Only thing is though you are likely going to have to forget those graphics cards, and you'll def want to get yourself a nice sound blaster (or similar) sound card. Though some boards had decent integrated by this point, the ole sound blaster is a huge part of the charm.

Win 95 is the smartest way to go IMO. It's affordable, you can get ATX systems that won't have issues with modern power supplies, etc.

So if you want to go the pentium route you can look at either Socket 7 or Super Socket 7, SS7 boards can get a bit pricey.

Here's a good list of boards you can dig through if you want to look on ebay:

socket 7:
FIC PA-2007 (VIA Apollo VP2)
FIC PA-2005 (VIA Apollo VPX)
Gigabyte GA-586TX3 (Intel TX)
ASUS TX97 (Intel TX)
Soyo SY-5EAS (VIA Apollo VPX)
Matsonic MS-5120 / PC-Chips M547 (VIA Apollo VPX)
Gigabyte GA-586ATV (Intel VX)
Intel AA 682294 (Intel TX)
Elitegroup TS54PAIO (Intel FX)
Biostar MB-8500TVX-A (Intel VX)
FIC VA-502 (Intel VX)
PC-Chips M571 V 7.0A (SiS 5598)
Soyo 5TC2 (Intel Triton FX)
Gigabyte GA-586HX (Intel HX)
FIC PA-2002 Motherboard (VIA Apollo Master)
Shuttle HOT-541 (Intel FX)
QDI Explorer P5I430VX (Intel VX)
ASUS P/I-P55TP4XE
ASUS P/I-P55T2P4 (Intel HX)
Soyo SY-5TF
Soyo 5TD2
PC-Chips M537 (VIA Apollo VPX)
Shuttle HOT-557

super-socket 7:
ASUS P5A (Acer ALi Aladdin V)
Gigabyte GA-5AA (Acer ALi Aladdin V)
Shuttle HOT-591P (VIA MVP3)
ASUS SP97-V (SiS 5582)
ASUS P5A-B Rev. 1.05 (Aladdin V)
Jetway J-542C (ALi Aladdin V)
PC-Chips M577 (VIA MVP3)
Chaintech 5AGM2 (VIA MVP3)

Any of these boards will do the job, I suggest looking for boards that use a modern CR 2032 CMOS battery (the round battery you're used to) instead of the old barrel CMOS. Also check the form factor, some of them are AT.
As for which CPU, you can pick. Back in those days AMD and Intel AND cyrix processors all fit this board.

If you get a regular Socket 7 board I would go with a Pentium 166 MHz, SS7 and you can go all the way up to an AMD K6-2 550 Mhz. So that's going to depend on the games you're interested in really.

edit: 200W will be fine for a rig from this era, I run mine on a 250W. Pentium 166s had a TDP of around 15 watts, take that modern computers
biggrin.gif


double edit: I'm personally fond of the ASUS P5a (super socket 7), if you can find a deal on that it's a great board.
 
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#6 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aaron_Henderson View Post

I like Windows 98 SE as it's the most recent Windows release with DOS. But I can certainly see the appeal of building a Windows 3.1 or DOS only PC...something I also would like to do at some point. I think I would check around for an older graphics card to use, perhaps...this Youtube channel is a great resource for DOS and older WIndows gaming PC, check it out if you'd like - https://www.youtube.com/user/philscomputerlab
W98 is also a nice choice as you will still have full access to dos 6.21 games all the way up to win 98. I'd probably go at least super socket 7 or Slot 1 / Slot A for a windows 98 build though. If you go this far, your Fury Maxx MAY work, depending on the chipset.
 
#7 ·
I am going to follow along and maybe learn a thing or two in the process...plus, I just like seeing this old hardware again
thumb.gif
 
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#8 ·
Aaron. Join us. Let the retro consume you. Can't you just smell the glory of that sound blaster 16? The memories of actual physical stores full of giant boxed software that smelled soooooo good.

much later edit: I pictured an SB Pro II CT 1600, the Packard Bell aztech card is the SB16 clone.






Look how small the heat sink for s7 was
biggrin.gif
.. before this you didn't even need em
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#11 ·
Ah I just noticed OP is in AU, I wonder if you are able to find any of the boards I listed locally? I'm digging through ebay now, man SS7 boards are going up in value, wish I had bought truckloads of them when they were going in the garbage
biggrin.gif
..

S7 cpus go for pennies, except for the pro mmx because it's got a good gram of gold in it.
 
#12 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Renairy View Post

Great info already.
Going for Windows 95 route since its closer to 3.1 and a little more older.

About to go pickup a motherboard from that list i just found local, so ill report back very soon
smile.gif

Thanks again!
Awesome, time to hit the hay here in the states though. Surely somebody else around here is old enough to help with this, if not I'll be back around later.
 
#13 ·
When it comes to a period OS, I agree with Aaron, Windows 98 SE is the best of the era, but if you want to go with Windows 95, try to also get the Plus! pack, as it will turn the OS into a much better experience (a theming engine with some bundled themes, including not only the standard 256 colour wallpapers of the time, but also high colour and true colour themes; high colour icons, a font anti-aliasing option; disk compression utility; task scheduler, IE 2.0, etc). You'll be surprised with the level of aesthetic customization that you won't get nowadays.

Windows 98 SE of course includes all of this and more and has the benefit of supporting FAT32 out of the box, something that the initial version of Windows 95 didn't. In fact, you couldn't buy the one that did, as it was only bundled with computers. The same with the version that brought USB support (edit: and AGP support). Windows 98 and 98 SE also have the more modern driver model that was later used for XP, so it's the most compatible, with either Windows 95 era drivers and 98 / XP drivers.

As for the CPU, a 440BX chipset motherboard was quite interesting around 1998. It allowed for the Pentium II and later the first model of the Pentium III with a BIOS update on most boards. I'm centering around this time period because you mentioned two GPUs (one of them is much younger as has been said) and that's the time when they really began. In the 95 days you had 2D accelerators, but not really much in the way of 3D accelerators. And sometimes they were two different cards.

Edit: also, some people may not know this, but, prior to 1995 PC keyboards didn't have those two Windows keys between the left Ctrl and Alt keys and Alt Gr and right Ctrl keys that you can see in the picture you posted, they were simply blank space.
 
#14 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serious_Don View Post

Awesome, time to hit the hay here in the states though. Surely somebody else around here is old enough to help with this, if not I'll be back around later.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serious_Don View Post

Awesome, time to hit the hay here in the states though. Surely somebody else around here is old enough to help with this, if not I'll be back around later.
Sure will have the thread updated with my findings, glad to have your input
smile.gif


Quote:
Originally Posted by tpi2007 View Post

When it comes to a period OS, I agree with Aaron, Windows 98 SE is the best of the era, but if you want to go with Windows 95, try to also get the Plus! pack, as it will turn the OS into a much better experience (a theming engine with some bundled themes, including not only the standard 256 colour wallpapers of the time, but also high colour and true colour themes; high colour icons, a font anti-aliasing option; disk compression utility; task scheduler, IE 2.0, etc). You'll be surprised at the level of aesthetic customization that you won't get nowadays.

Windows 98 SE of course includes all of this and more and has the benefit of supporting FAT32 out of the box, something that the initial version of Windows 95 didn't. In fact, you couldn't buy the one that did, as it was only bundled with computers. The same with the version that brought USB support. Windows 98 and 98 SE also have the more modern driver model that was later used for XP, so it's the most compatible, with either Windows 95 era drivers and 98 / XP drivers.

As for the CPU, a 440BX chipset motherboard was quite interesting around 1998. It allowed for the Pentium II and later the first model of the Pentium III with a BIOS update on most boards. I'm centering around this time period because you mentioned two GPUs (one of them is much younger as has been said) and that's the time when they really began. In the 95 days you had 2D accelerators, but not really much in the way of 3D accelerators. And sometimes they were two different cards.

Edit: also, some people may not know this, but, prior to 1995 PC keyboards didn't have those two Windows keys between the left Ctrl and Alt and Alt Gr and right Ctrl, that you can see in the picture you posted, they were simply blank space.
Decisions decisions...
found a fair bit of socket 7 and super socket 7 boards here local.
but now im stuck with route to go.
i dnt really want to upgrade this once ive built it, i want it to be able to play all them games without an issue first time its built so wondering if a standard pentium will do the trick.
 
#15 ·
I hope I didn't steer him into a decision too quickly, I went with w95 because he wanted DOS / 3.11. There is a huge gap in time between 3.11 and 98. I was thinking he wants DOS games but will get the added benefit of W95. I consider Windows 98 to be the start of the modern era honestly, I run a Windows XP rig for things I like to toy with from that era, with XP he'll have a way faster machine and support for a massive range of hardware. It wouldn't cost much for him to just grab a used pentium 4 rig and be able to run anything from the 98 era onwards if need be so it shouldn't be any harm done (I hope). And again, the GPUs he listed likely won't work with his 98 setup, but will with an XP rig.

He won't need a 2d and 3d card though, any voodoo 1 or rage era card is all that's needed. Working Pentium 166 will cost $5 USD at best anyway, so it can't hurt
biggrin.gif
.. Just have to consider which era of games and software he wants to run.

Anyway, over and out for the night
biggrin.gif

Quote:
Originally Posted by Renairy View Post

Sure will have the thread updated with my findings, glad to have your input
smile.gif

Decisions decisions...
found a fair bit of socket 7 and super socket 7 boards here local.
but now im stuck with route to go.
i dnt really want to upgrade this once ive built it, i want it to be able to play all them games without an issue first time its built so wondering if a standard pentium will do the trick.
Can you post a list of some games you are interested in playing? That will very easily help us choose which system is right for you. You CAN'T go wrong listening to TPI and running windows 98, You will have DOS to 98 and a wider gamut of hardware choices. Only certain old games are going to be impossible to play because they were written for a specific clock rate CPU, but that's also an issue on the Pentium as well.
 
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#16 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Renairy View Post

Decisions decisions...
found a fair bit of socket 7 and super socket 7 boards here local.
but now im stuck with route to go.
i dnt really want to upgrade this once ive built it, i want it to be able to play all them games without an issue first time its built so wondering if a standard pentium will do the trick.
What games are you planning to play on it? What is, for example, the newest game that you might be interested in being able to play comfortably? That is probably the best starting point to know what parts and software you should get.
 
#17 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serious_Don View Post

I hope I didn't steer him into a decision too quickly, I went with w95 because he wanted DOS / 3.11. There is a huge gap in time between 3.11 and 98. I was thinking he wants DOS games but will get the added benefit of W95. I consider Windows 98 to be the start of the modern era honestly, I run a Windows XP rig for things I like to toy with from that era, with XP he'll have a way faster machine but support for a massive range of hardware. It wouldn't cost much for him to just grab a used pentium 4 rig and be able to run anything from the 98 era onwards if need be so it shouldn't be any harm done (I hope).

He won't need a 2d and 3d card though, any voodoo 1 or rage era card is all that's needed. Working Pentium 166 will cost $5 USD at best anyway, so it can't hurt
biggrin.gif
.. Just have to consider which era of games and software he wants to run.

Anyway, over and out for the night
biggrin.gif

Can you post a list of some games you are interested in playing? That will very easily help us choose which system is right for you. You CAN'T go wrong listening to TPI and running windows 98, You will have DOS to 98 and a wider gamut of hardware choices. Only certain old games are going to be impossible to play because they were written for a specific clock rate CPU, but that's also an issue on the Pentium as well.
This is why i also favoured 95.
Maybe 95 with the PLUS pack is the sweet spot.

And yes absolutely, here are my own
smile.gif

I'd love to be able to play all these with no issues.

 
#18 ·
AWESOME collection. God I love carmageddeon.

MOST of these games will work on a DOS/95 rig, but looking at it as a whole I think I'd listen to TPI and Aaron if you want to run games like Diablo 2. The Doom games and even Duke 3d can run as far back as a 486.

I can test out diablo 2 and carmageddeon on 95 but I don't think it will go well. I originally played D2 on a K6-2 350 Mhz and I forget which graphics and memory set up, on windows 98, and it didn't run very smooth. (that was in the 640x480 days before LOD).. Of course, Diablo II will work on your windows 10 PC
tongue.gif


Seriously going to bed now though, 90s stuff just gets me so excited
biggrin.gif
 
#21 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serious_Don View Post

AWESOME collection. God I love carmageddeon.

MOST of these games will work on a DOS/95 rig, but looking at it as a whole I think I'd listen to TPI and Aaron if you want to run games like Diablo 2. The Doom games and even Duke 3d can run as far back as a 486.

I can test out diablo 2 and carmageddeon on 95 but I don't think it will go well. I originally played D2 on a K6-2 350 Mhz and I forget which graphics and memory set up, on windows 98, and it didn't run very smooth. (that was in the 640x480 days before LOD).. Of course, Diablo II will work on your windows 10 PC
tongue.gif


Seriously going to bed now though, 90s stuff just gets me so excited
biggrin.gif
I was thinking exactly the same, Diablo II is from the year 2000, Starcraft is from 98 and so is Dune 2000.

Considering that, and without running too much away from the era, perhaps a year 2000 Pentium 3 Coppermine 1 Ghz or an Athlon 1 Ghz is the way to go. Those will work fine and have drivers for both Windows 98 / 98 SE and Windows XP.
 
#22 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by tpi2007 View Post

I was thinking exactly the same, Diablo II is from the year 2000, Starcraft is from 98 and so is Dune 2000.

Considering that, and without running too much away from the era, perhaps a year 2000 Pentium 3 Coppermine 1 Ghz or an Athlon 1 Ghz is the way to go. Those will work fine and have drivers for both Windows 98 / 98 SE and Windows XP.
I'm leaning towards 98SE again, just so that i can play all those gems.
Do you think a PII will suffice? i'd love to keep all hardware from the 90's
 
#25 ·
Loving the actual collection of big box games you've got there Renairy!
thumb.gif

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serious_Don View Post

Aaron. Join us. Let the retro consume you. Can't you just smell the glory of that sound blaster 16? The memories of actual physical stores full of giant boxed software that smelled soooooo good.

Look how small the heat sink for s7 was
biggrin.gif
.. before this you didn't even need em
thumb.gif
Oh, don't worry, the retro has consumed me lol I've been into the retro gaming thing for quite awhile now, but have been wanting to get into retro PC hardware as well a little more. I mean, I have been on and off since forever. But a couple of years back, I had to get rid of all my "junk", though I still have some of it...I have a PIII 500 sitting on my desk right now, I have a box of old Pentium era CPU (that all need the pins straightened at this point, I am sure). I even have a couple AT cases kicking around...EDO RAM...some older ATI PCI / AGP cards...lots of stuff actually, really everything but motherboards since they took up most space in storage. I do have a Windows 98 SE laptop though that I use for some older games. But god yes, I am a kind of a PC game collector, and absolutely miss the old big box PC games.
 
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#26 ·
I thought this was supposed to be mid 90's when your getting more to the 2000's.

In 1994 I bought a 60mhz Pentium with 8mb of memory, 32 bit SVGA video card and I think it had 80mb hard drive with Windows 3.11.
 
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