Windows 98 Gaming PC: The Beige Build

Duo

Duo

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Elsa Gladiac and Gainward's special editions like the PowerPack!/Ultras were the cards to have of the day.

That's pretty interesting actually...I wonder if the top manufacturers of today's cards will still be around in 10/15 years time or if it will be a host of new companies.
 
Soldato
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Really do enjoy retro builds. Mine is a bit "overkill" for windows 98 I think and im having trouble launching a few titles... (athlonXP1600+, ATI 9600 256mb). Did you manage to get W98SE yet?
 
Soldato
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Really do enjoy retro builds. Mine is a bit "overkill" for windows 98 I think and im having trouble launching a few titles... (athlonXP1600+, ATI 9600 256mb). Did you manage to get W98SE yet?

Windows 98se is about £20 on eBay so I've sourced it from elsewhere now! I still have a few bits to get hold of:
  • CPU (should be with me early next week)
  • Jumpers for the motherboard and my CD drives
  • Soundcard with Windows 98 drivers.
Also games! So far I have / on the way:
  • Driver (still got this from new in 1998)
  • Age of Empires 1 and 2
  • Empire Earth
  • The Sims
  • Sim City 3000
  • C&C Red Alert
  • GTA 3
Does anyone have any recommendations?
 

V F

V F

Soldato
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love to see an old skool pc brought up to some modern standards on the inside, like braided cables etc but still plain jane on the outside

think an AIO could be retro fitted?

Chieftec Dragon in grey. Get the inside powder coated matte grey or black. :D

https://www.eightforums.com/drivers...s=ff5d80036e664ddf71e27081926b0fc1#post428924

IDE cables lol. Brings back some building nightmares.

Remember the fancy ones, with black rubber covers?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/akasa-rounded-ultra-ata133-100-66-ide-cable-0.9m-black-cb-002-ge.html
 
Soldato
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V F, I had an Antec Plusview 1000AMG and later a full tower Chieftec.

Out of the cases I've owned, I would absolutely love another. My favourite all time case.
 

V F

V F

Soldato
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V F, I had an Antec Plusview 1000AMG and later a full tower Chieftec.

Out of the cases I've owned, I would absolutely love another. My favourite all time case.


I've still got my midi Chieftec Dragon. Bought it in 2004 because of my love for Alienware back then. Had the Abit NF7-S 2.0 with Athlon Barton 3200+ with that build. Think I replaced the northbridge fan with the spiky blue heatsink for it.

Lots of old hardware/cables I should maybe get rid of... All pieces and accessories intact in boxes somewhere. Lots of old black CD/DVD re-writers, heh!

1 Chieftec Dragon Grey Midi tower + all 4 fans.
1 Thermaltake Xaser III in blue, fan controller and 7 fans with thermal sensors.
1 AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1.4Ghz boxed away in foam sponges.
1 AMD Athlon XP 1800+? Not sure which it was. Think it was 1.8Ghz boxed away with foam sponges. Heatsink and fan as well.
2 AMD Athlon Barton 3200+ stored away in foam sponges with Akasa heatsinks/glowy fans.
1 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ with stock heatsink and fan. Still in the motherboard/cleaned.
2 Abit NF7-S Rev 2.0 nForce 2 Ultra's in boxes. Loved those boards. Mmm, Soundstorm.
1 Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe SKT939 RD580 CrossFire with box and stuff...
1 Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
1 Elsa Gladiac 920 reference GeForce 3 OEM
1 Leadtek Winfast GeForce 3 OEM
1 ATi Radeon 9800XT cannot remember if there is a box. I remember it was a Half-Life 2 promo...
1 ATi Radeon X850XT in box.
1 NVIDIA GeForce 7800GS+ AGP in box.
1 BFG NVIDIA GeForce 5800 Ultra in box. Was only used a few times as it was a gift.
1 Sapphire ATi Radeon X1950 XTX PCI-E Master CrossFire Edition with box.
1 Sapphire ATi Radeon X1950 XT PCI-E regular/slave with box.

Not sure what else is in storage...

Think there is a Windows 98 OEM disc and manual. Windows Millenium upgrade pack and Windows 2000 + booklet. All genuine hologram stickers.
 
Soldato
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Never seen that daughter board before - I've had or installed multiple P3-500, 800 and 1GHz models which didn't wonder if it is something propitiatory to compaq.

The CPU arrived today and I'm having a dumb problem- I can't mount the CPU! Where am I going wrong?

I lift the CPU board retention clips up and the click into a vertical position. I try to slide the CPU/heatsink down the clips. The AGP end fits fine both width ways and depth, with the heatsink groove neatly fitting inside the clip:

hSaq4M3.jpg.png

However the top end doesn't fit neatly:

qNX0z6i.jpg.png
Width ways it is fine, but the little groove that I guess is for the clip to slide into doesn't fit. This is because of the little nib/triangle thing at the very top, inside corners of the clips I think:

hdlqHnr.jpg.png

I guess my CPU has a aftermarket heatsink on it provided by a manufacturer that had special slot clips? What would you do?

I'm tempted to cut off the little triangle thing, i'm not sure what purpose it has?
 
Associate
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I can find several pictures of similar sinks but no pictures of any clips.

Usually Slot 1 to 370 adaptor boards came with little clips to secure the board in the slot, not sure if that looks the case here.

Does it physically stop the CPU slotting in?
 
Don
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I bought a Pentium 3 700MHz today. It seems to come with what looks like a daughter board- is this some kind of voltage regulator?

It is indeed a Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) - have seen them before on Dual Pentium Pro and Dual Slot 1 motherboards.


I guess my CPU has a aftermarket heatsink on it provided by a manufacturer that had special slot clips? What would you do?

I'm tempted to cut off the little triangle thing, i'm not sure what purpose it has?

Will be a Compaq specific bracket, likely to connect to some ducting etc that is common in OEM PC's - personally I would cut it off
 
Soldato
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I can find several pictures of similar sinks but no pictures of any clips.

Usually Slot 1 to 370 adaptor boards came with little clips to secure the board in the slot, not sure if that looks the case here.

Does it physically stop the CPU slotting in?

The retention clips are on the motherboard, and it's the little triangle bits that stick up which stop the CPU from sliding in at all. These triangle things by the looks of it are to stop any upwards movement. I think I'll remove the offending little blob and rely on having three out of the four still present... It looks like there is not a universal design for the retention clips (and some motherboards have none at all), what a stupid idea! I'll crack out the stanley knife tonight.

It is indeed a Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) - have seen them before on Dual Pentium Pro and Dual Slot 1 motherboards.
Do I need it for a single processor?
 
Caporegime
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Make sure your motherboard has the right type of retention clips, PIII 700 will be SECC2 whereas PII were mostly SECC. If it's an earlier motherboard (which I think it is) it might have SECC clips.
 
Soldato
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Make sure your motherboard has the right type of retention clips, PIII 700 will be SECC2 whereas PII were mostly SECC. If it's an earlier motherboard (which I think it is) it might have SECC clips.

Ah... this motherboard was released before PIIIs were released, but supports PIIIs. An earlier version of the manual I found only covers PIIs, but later version I found also includes installing SECC2 PIII chips (both manuals refer to motherboard rev 1.0 though).
 
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