Windows 98SE / XP dual boot build

[GeX]

I meet up with a friend of mine from time to time to play with retro PCs and games. That often ends up trying to get retro hardware working, installing Windows, debugging, starting again, debugging.. and not much gaming gets done.
So I wanted to build a capable retro PC that was kind of portable, and be able to handle a wide range of games - that way, I could take this to his house or it'd be at mine ready to go.

I had an old Dell Dimension 1100 system, and as this uses a solidly build mATX case - I thought this would be perfect. Tool less to get the side off, 'ok' ventilation and I'd not be distraught if it got scratched in the car.

As I wanted Windows 98 support, the 'newest' chipset I could go with was the Intel 865. This was most commonly used on Socket 478 boards, so I'd be looking at Pentium 4. More than enough for Windows 98 - but I wanted to ensure there was enough going on for XP (and maybe more?).
I managed to source a Gigabyte 8I865GME. This is mATX and an LGA775 board. Hello Core 2 Duo / Quad

A 'modern' board meant I could use a new PSU as there was no requirement for either a -5v line or a beefy 5v line. I got a Corsair VS350 from the MM on here, more than powerful enough and with its large fan it should be quiet.

Time to think about graphics card(s). The 'best' AGP graphics card is the ATI Radeon HD 3850. However this doesn't support Windows 98. I didn't want to compromise Windows XP gaming, so opted for an HD 3850 and looked to PCI for a Windows 98 capable card.
Despite being rather pants at the time, the GeForce FX series is perfect for this. FX5500s are cheap, easy to source (unlike that HD 3850!) and still have support for hardware features that older games need. Key here is to ensure you get one with a 128bit memory bus, a lot are 64bit and it's not easy to work out which is which. The FX5200 is just a lower clocked FX5500.

I already had a PNY FX5200, so initially used that - but have since changed it for a Zotac FX5200 as I wanted DVI output on both cards so that I wasn't forcing a requirement for a VGA monitor (or carrying convertors too).

Having left a space next to the HD 3850, and then a slot for the FX5200 I only had one PCI slot left and that was for the sound card. I went with a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz as it supports both A3D and EAX.

I removed the 3.5" hard drive bay as it was quite bulky and blocked inlet airflow. I wanted to fit two 2.5" SSDs in this system and so bought a cheap IcyDock adapter that actually supported 4 drives. I unscrewed it and split it into 2 so that I can use it another build and put the drives in a spare 5.25 bay.

Back to cooling. The case has a grille at the front for air to waft in, and an exhaust fan behind the CPU cooler. I fitted an Artic Freezer 7 so that its fan could also direct air out the back of the case, but wasn't happy with there being no inlet air fan.

So out came the Dremel





Much happier with that.

I... think that's everything. Some more pictures;




I'm really pleased with the cable routing on this build too, I even managed to get the DVD drive's analog and digital connections to the sound card done too;



and the SATA/IDE cables go up the front to avoid the common pinch point at the PSU and 5.25" cage

 

[LewisRaz]

Good idea with the GPUs there. Looks like a nice build. I like how you fit so much utility into an unassuming dell

What games are you planning?

 

[hohum]

Neat build, cable routing is something I dread as usually I spend far too much time getting it just how I want. How come you want both analog and digital cables for your sound card? I only used one or the other generally, unless digital doesn't work in DOS or something?

 

[GeX]

Good idea with the GPUs there. Looks like a nice build. I like how you fit so much utility into an unassuming dell

What games are you planning?

Thanks! It is a nice case to work in, it didn't even demand a blood sacrifice during the build - most unheard of

My current game list looks like

Theme Park
Theme Hospital
Dungeon Keeper
Dungeon Keeper Deeper Dungeons
Dungeon Keeper 2
Carmageddon Max Pack
Carmageddon Splat Pack
Carmageddon 2
Need for Speed 3
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit
Need for Speed Porsche Challenge
GTA
GTA 2
F22 ADF
Jaynes Combat Flight Sim
Toca
Worms
Worms 2
Half Life
Unreal Tournament
AVP
Quake 3
Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun
Tomb Raider
Wipeout
Duke Nukem 3D
Age of Empires 2
System Shock 2
Deus Ex
Max Payne
Enter the Matrix
Driver
Midtown Madness
Monster Truck Madness
Test Drive 4

but these are not ones that I have all of at the moment, but I keep a list that I add to when I remember others!

Neat build, cable routing is something I dread as usually I spend far too much time getting it just how I want. How come you want both analog and digital cables for your sound card? I only used one or the other generally, unless digital doesn't work in DOS or something?

The routing took a lot of time, and pondering. I almost clipped some cables off the PSU to make it neater - but there was a space above the optical drive to jam them in.
I ran bother cables for CD audio just for maximum compatibility, and because I had the cables to hand. I had to remove the motherboard to route them as due to their length they need to run under it and did not fancy having to do that again if I hit any issues.