Retro build: Pentium 200 MMX
- Thread starter ketma
- Start date
Nice build you got there, especially the motherboard! ATX Socket 7 boards are not common.
My Socket 7 build is based around a 233 MMX cpu on a Gigabyte HX AT motherboard. Graphics wise it's actually pretty smile. Its a Ark Logic PCI VGA Card (Really fast in DOS and good compatibility) and a Orchid Righteous 3D 3DFX for the 3D Stuff. I run Win 95 OSR2 on mine. RAM is 64MB but i find this is actually way to much for this period and 32mb would be better. Thankfully the board can cache up-to 512mb so its not a bit issue. This machine boot's directly do DOS and I start Windows for them cmd line.
My sound setup never stays the same. I have a bit of a thing for DOS era sound (It has sooo many different options) as most people in the retro thread would have gathered by now! I have an S2 and I really like its sound. Its not amazing in its sample set but it provides a clean sound and is a great addition for any retro PC. The X2 on the other hand is awesome combined with the BURAN bank set and is what I have in my main retro PC.
Main thing to do is enjoy it and sample as many of the older games that you can
My Socket 7 build is based around a 233 MMX cpu on a Gigabyte HX AT motherboard. Graphics wise it's actually pretty smile. Its a Ark Logic PCI VGA Card (Really fast in DOS and good compatibility) and a Orchid Righteous 3D 3DFX for the 3D Stuff. I run Win 95 OSR2 on mine. RAM is 64MB but i find this is actually way to much for this period and 32mb would be better. Thankfully the board can cache up-to 512mb so its not a bit issue. This machine boot's directly do DOS and I start Windows for them cmd line.
My sound setup never stays the same. I have a bit of a thing for DOS era sound (It has sooo many different options) as most people in the retro thread would have gathered by now! I have an S2 and I really like its sound. Its not amazing in its sample set but it provides a clean sound and is a great addition for any retro PC. The X2 on the other hand is awesome combined with the BURAN bank set and is what I have in my main retro PC.
Main thing to do is enjoy it and sample as many of the older games that you can
Thanks! I agree and it one of the reasons I went for this so I wasn't restricted to AT psu's and cases.
I managed to sort out my ram issue by flashing a later BIOS for the board and it looks to be the last, but now the full 64Mb is working fine, but like you say overkill but glad I got the issue sorted. I remember the Ark Logic and I remember the 3dfx - nice ! What score do you get in the Landmark speedtest for the Ark?
I am currently waiting for the S2 to be delivered (hope its good), I looked as the X2 but perhaps it was more than I needed, but the soundbank options are indeed great !
I managed to sort out my ram issue by flashing a later BIOS for the board and it looks to be the last, but now the full 64Mb is working fine, but like you say overkill but glad I got the issue sorted. I remember the Ark Logic and I remember the 3dfx - nice ! What score do you get in the Landmark speedtest for the Ark?
I am currently waiting for the S2 to be delivered (hope its good), I looked as the X2 but perhaps it was more than I needed, but the soundbank options are indeed great !
You'll have to forgive me! I just went to run the Landmark test only to realise that the ARK is in my 486 machine
My MMX machine has a Diamond Viper 550 (Riva TNT) in it. The S2 is good little Synth and i'm sure you will enjoy it.This is my MMX machine
2nd from the bottom looks like an ISA AWE32 with simm memory slots filled.
Just a guess however
ISA cards from Top to bottom
Yamaha YMF719 Card (Sometimes I'll connect an external Midi Module to the game port)
SB16 CT2940 (Was an AWE64 Gold But I put that in a different system)
Turtle Beach Maui Wavetable card with 2MB Ram
Yamaha SW60XG Wavetable card
I'd actually like to put a AWE32 in it but all mine are the full length ones and won't actually fit in the case
And by utter coincidence, this appeared in facebook marketplace near me today.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/135428698477370/
Hmmm, P200, 3dfx Voodoo and AWE32.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/135428698477370/
Hmmm, P200, 3dfx Voodoo and AWE32.
Soldato
That's actually not a bad deal at all considering what's included
Exactly. Same with the monitor really.
I ordered a Gateway 2000 Vivitron CRT but UPS retards broke it somehow. I'm using a Dell 17" LCD now for the time being which was a whole £10 delivered from a guy on Facebook
Especially like the 200W PSU and 2" CPU cooler
120GB WD drive has just arrived but i'm going to wait for the ISA soundcard and RAM to arrive, then reinstall OS fresh then connect ISA soundcard, then Soundblaster Live.
If not then its going to be a mess of Ensoniq DOS drivers, SB Live DOS drivers and ISA drivers. I can see a painful IRQ / DMA conflict mess if I don't reinstall and check the ISA card is working by itself first
Just seen this - I've got that Gateway case beside my bed as it is the exact right height to put my phone, etc. on - I really should buy a bed side cabinet at some point.
Always liked the idea of the PSU shroud thing.
EDIT: Think it has one of the rarer Pentium 3 1.x GHz still in it - haven't opened it up in awhile.
Probably a good idea RE the cabinet
Not sure i'm all set on the PSU shroud thing. Isnt it a CPU shroud that exhausts the CPU heat through the PSU? There isnt any dedicated CPU exhaust (not even imprinted holes) The PSU is also a mere 200W.
That does sound rare, you should definately crack it open as you may find a Voodoo 3 3DFX card in there. I found this article so it looks like what I have is a 'Gateway performance 5000 desktop' It's the 550T model with a Voodoo 3 3000G card
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gateway-embraces-voodoo3-3000g/1100-2566024/
Gateway Embraces Voodoo3 3000G
3dfx Interactive announced on Thursday that Gateway has chosen the Voodoo3 3000G graphics accelerator for its Performance 5000 desktop PCs. The OEM 3000G features DVD hardware assist, 16MB of RAM, and support for DirectX, Glide, and OpenGL.
Also, this is worth a watch. "Massive 800 x 600 resolution"
Soldato
I think that getting this is one of my greatest grabs ever. Came up on FB near my work free to a good home, guy had owned it from new and it was just sat in the corner of his old office. Deal was I go and clear it out and was mine as he couldn't.
Original monitor included and it all works perfectly
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XDjjM1E3lPbBVLUpyGfyVGEDvAyA5oQO/view?usp=drivesdk
Started life as a 133, now a 200mmx. Upgraded to 128mb RAM, changed the S3 graphics to a Riva128 and ESI ISA soundcard had a dead channel so managed to pick up a Soundblaster128 PCI to replace it
Original monitor included and it all works perfectly
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XDjjM1E3lPbBVLUpyGfyVGEDvAyA5oQO/view?usp=drivesdk
Started life as a 133, now a 200mmx. Upgraded to 128mb RAM, changed the S3 graphics to a Riva128 and ESI ISA soundcard had a dead channel so managed to pick up a Soundblaster128 PCI to replace it
Nice, though I would personally get an ISA Soundcard instead. Can be had on eBay for around £20 for the cheaper Vibra models. PCI emulation of Soundblaster is horrible plus there's the conflicts of IRQs with other PCI cards you have
Soldato
appreciate the heads up as i wasnt aware of the PCI limitations of the soundblaster, thanks
. Next purchase sorted then....cheers for that lolappreciate the heads up as i wasnt aware of the PCI limitations of the soundblaster, thanks
you may get lucky as people tend to throw away / give away old machines which may have ISA cards in still.Failing that there’s ebay where some go for hundreds. There are many different models of Soundblasters. Some good, some not so good. Look up the CTXXXX model numbers
Probably a good idea RE the cabinet
Not sure i'm all set on the PSU shroud thing. Isnt it a CPU shroud that exhausts the CPU heat through the PSU? There isnt any dedicated CPU exhaust (not even imprinted holes) The PSU is also a mere 200W.
That does sound rare, you should definately crack it open as you may find a Voodoo 3 3DFX card in there. I found this article so it looks like what I have is a 'Gateway performance 5000 desktop' It's the 550T model with a Voodoo 3 3000G card
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gateway-embraces-voodoo3-3000g/1100-2566024/
Gateway Embraces Voodoo3 3000G
3dfx Interactive announced on Thursday that Gateway has chosen the Voodoo3 3000G graphics accelerator for its Performance 5000 desktop PCs. The OEM 3000G features DVD hardware assist, 16MB of RAM, and support for DirectX, Glide, and OpenGL.
Also, this is worth a watch. "Massive 800 x 600 resolution"
Yeah technically it is a CPU shroud.
My system had a TNT2 and a Voodoo 3 2000 PCI (for multi-monitor and game compatibility purposes) - the Voodoo's video memory died years ago IIRC.
At the time I was working from home doing a digitalisation project for a publisher using OCR, etc. so had 2 monitors to compare the scanned image against the text output.
Last edited:
Caporegime
Matrox Parhelia will kill the two Voodoo cards, as will a Kyro II.
Voodoo 4/5 were also available in PCI, but £££
Yeah, it's not bad at all really. Looks in pretty good condition, especially the Sidewinder joystick. Really, don't need another Pentium machine though.
Wow, £385! '3dfx Voodoo 4 4500 PCI 32MB'
Caporegime
Quite! My Voodoo 5 PCI was £100~ and I bought that as known dead! Granted I fixed it with a few capacitors and resistors (and HSFs) but I ended up with a card worth £250-300.