Good luck !

SmartSailorTV wrote on 2023-08-17, 02:36:

Sound Card: X-Fi Extreme Fidelity SB0790;

Congrats on the build, but let me be tedious.
But alas, SB0790 is not X-Fi, but only in name. It's a rebranding of Sblive! 24bit and Audigy LS.
Which are HBA (host-based controller), i.e. do not have any hardware audio processing. Only software in the driver.
It's far from an ultimate.
It's even worse than the Audigi 2 Value, which is a real Audigi with hardware sound processing.
When choosing, I recommend paying attention that real X-Fi always have a separate RAM chip.

shevalier wrote on 2023-08-17, 02:47:

Congrats on the build, but let me be tedious. But alas, SB0790 is not X-Fi, but only in name. It's a rebranding of Sblive! 24bit […]
Show full quote

SmartSailorTV wrote on 2023-08-17, 02:36:

Sound Card: X-Fi Extreme Fidelity SB0790;

Congrats on the build, but let me be tedious.
But alas, SB0790 is not X-Fi, but only in name. It's a rebranding of Sblive! 24bit and Audigy LS.
Which are HBA (host-based controller), i.e. do not have any hardware audio processing. Only software in the driver.
It's far from an ultimate.
It's even worse than the Audigi 2 Value, which is a real Audigi with hardware sound processing.
When choosing, I recommend paying attention that real X-Fi always have a separate RAM chip.

My main purpose for SB0790 is gaming, is it not ultimate for EAX in Win XP? What is best PCI Sound Card for EAX in Win XP???

SmartSailorTV wrote on 2023-08-17, 03:15:

My main purpose for SB0790 is gaming, is it not ultimate for EAX in Win XP?

EAX at HBA - software emulation by the driver on the processor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_Blaster_X … Fi_Xtreme_Audio
Real EAX - 2.0 only at EMU10K1 (Soundblaster), 4.0 at EMU10K2 (Audigy) and 5.0 at 20K1/2 (X-Fi) chips.

SmartSailorTV wrote on 2023-08-17, 02:36:

CASE: BMW PC CASE 😀

Looking forward to seeing pictures of that! 😀

SmartSailorTV wrote on 2023-08-17, 02:36:

Competitor for the title:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 LGA775, DDR1(platform limitation), HD3850.

Just curious, never heard of this limitation.
Is it about 4CoreDual-Sata2 mainboard ?

Core2Quad and Extreme can run on DDR2 with this board

acl wrote on 2023-08-17, 19:35:

Just curious, never heard of this limitation. Is it about 4CoreDual-Sata2 mainboard ? […]
Show full quote

SmartSailorTV wrote on 2023-08-17, 02:36:

Competitor for the title:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 LGA775, DDR1(platform limitation), HD3850.

Just curious, never heard of this limitation.
Is it about 4CoreDual-Sata2 mainboard ?

Core2Quad and Extreme can run on DDR2 with this board

Thank You. I updated my description.

Sounds like a pretty interesting build! Would love to see the results after it's complete.

What would the fastest non-bridge chip Nvidia AGP card be? I believe for ATI it's the X850 XT PE.

I pieced together a similiar system last year (same motherboard, CPU, and GPU). A great XP machine for sure!

I'd be interested to see what scores you get in 3DMark03. Here's what I got:

1{
2  "Result": {
3    "24 sounds": "119.254699707 FPS",
4    "3DMark Score": "31621.000000000 3DMarks",
5    "60 sounds": "108.487274170 FPS",
6    "CPU Score": "2383.000000000 CPUMarks",
7    "CPU Test 1": "244.023529053 FPS",
8    "CPU Test 2": "45.874103546 FPS",
9    "Fill Rate (Multi-Texturing)": "10237.456054688 texels/s",
10    "Fill Rate (Single-Texturing)": "4929.051269531 texels/s",
11    "GT1 - Wings of Fury": "635.858825684 FPS",
12    "GT2 - Battle of Proxycon": "250.094467163 FPS",
13    "GT3 - Troll's Lair": "202.557464600 FPS",
14    "GT4 - Mother Nature": "211.567306519 FPS",
15    "No sounds": "132.721725464 FPS",
16    "Pixel Shader 2.0": "236.046707153 FPS",
17    "Ragtroll": "173.403503418 FPS",
18    "Vertex Shader": "153.899398804 FPS"
19  },
20  "Settings": {
21    "Anti-Aliasing": "None",
22    "Checksums Valid": "No",
23    "Comment": null,
24    "Display Changed": "No",
25    "Fixed Framerate": "Off",
26    "Force PS 1.1 in GT2 & GT3": "No",
27    "Height": "768",
28    "Invalid Score": "No",
29    "Max Anisotropy": "4",
30    "Max CPU Frequency": "3718 MHz",
31    "Max GPU Engine Frequency": "0 MHz",
32    "Max GPU Memory Frequency": "0 MHz",
33    "Max Run Length Deviation": "0 %",
34    "Min CPU Frequency": "3718 MHz",
35    "Min GPU Engine Frequency": "0 MHz",
36    "Min GPU Memory Frequency": "0 MHz",
37    "Min Run Length Deviation": "0 %",
38    "NullPS": "No",
39    "Post-Processing": "No",
40    "Registration Key": "N4LWE-T6HUX-8U4JB-28YLV",
41    "Repeat Tests": "Off",
42    "Texture Filtering": "Optimal",
43    "Vertex Shaders": "Optimal",
44    "Width": "1024"
45  },
46  "Version": "3.6.0"
47}

18.08.2023
I found some sound cards in my chest:
-Sound Blaster (CA-20K1-PAG) X-Fi SB0460+SB0250+remote control. I used this card in Win7, remote control didnt work but I am not sure was it hardware fault or drivers.
-ASUS XONAR DS/A with replaced amp for : LME 49860NA. I used this card in the past, best for music listening 😀 I remember that amp replacement give big boost in sound quality.
I have more models but looks like those 2 are my best for PCI slot.

SmartSailorTV wrote on 2023-08-18, 21:18:

X-Fi SB0460

this, Asus also HBA.
At the same time, I would not recommend using 5.25 bay.
This one has mediocre performance, it is more for appearance.

PS. If X-fi is buggy, I would recommend replacing this largest capacitor here. This is the genetic disease of all PCI X-fi`s.
On some polymer, 3-6.3V with a capacity of 560-1000 uF.

shevalier wrote on 2023-08-19, 06:15:

PS. If X-fi is buggy, I would recommend replacing this largest capacitor here. This is the genetic disease of all PCI X-fi`s.
On some polymer, 3-6.3V with a capacity of 560-1000 uF.

Does it affects most of these X-Fi cards ? What's the problem ?
I have the same card, also with the fron panel, and i must admit I only installed it for the look and it's not even connected.

Edit : there is normally a dissipator on the X-Fi chip iirc

acl wrote on 2023-08-19, 07:23:

Does it affects most of these X-Fi cards ?

Its affect ALL pci x-fi.

What's the problem ?

Usually the sound starts to break, then the card generally ceases to be initialized.
This is the main power capacitor DSP X-FI.
No capacitor - no X-Fi

I have the same card, also with the fron panel, and i must admit I only installed it for the look and it's not even connected.

The front panel has a headphone amplifier.
Very shitty quality.
And it is connected to a separate DAC, also of very mediocre quality.
Сreative`s came the idea what else to plug into the front panel - and let's plug in a headphone amplifier.
But what would be cheap.
Well, that's how it happened.

shevalier wrote on 2023-08-19, 08:37:

Its affect ALL pci x-fi. […]
Show full quote

acl wrote on 2023-08-19, 07:23:

Does it affects most of these X-Fi cards ?

Its affect ALL pci x-fi.

What's the problem ?

Usually the sound starts to break, then the card generally ceases to be initialized.
This is the main power capacitor DSP X-FI.
No capacitor - no X-Fi

I have the same card, also with the fron panel, and i must admit I only installed it for the look and it's not even connected.

The front panel has a headphone amplifier.
Very shitty quality.
And it is connected to a separate DAC, also of very mediocre quality.
Сreative`s came the idea what else to plug into the front panel - and let's plug in a headphone amplifier.
But what would be cheap.
Well, that's how it happened.

Thank you very much for the details.
I'll keep that in mind if the card start to have issues.

20.08.2023
Hi All,
After many boot failures, unexpected errors/power off`s, freezing screens and not so many blue screens, I was able to force GART to work with Catalyst 8.12 drivers. I had to install GART driver (downloaded from ASRock page) in Safe Mode and after this activity, Catalyst driver recognized GART as installed. It didnt work if I installed GART in normal WinXP mode .
Everything except FDD is in place. BMW PC Case looks really awesome, those blinking leading lights 😀

Brief summary of "Retrozaur" project:
1. Motherboard ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA Bios : P3.30-15B is compatible with Phenom II X4 980 out of the box. Same with RAM 2x G.Skill DDR2 F2-8500CL5D-4GBPI-B.

At this moment ASRock AM2NF3-VSTA is really problematic. Every attempt to restart PC (in windows or by restart button) results same as shout down system, computer refuse to boot, freezes and shouting down during recognizing of installed hardware. WinXP "Power Off" option itself works without any problem. I hope it is possible to fix it in bios settings.
When computer is started by button, it is happening(freezing and shout down) from time to time.

2. "Retrozaur" power usage from electrical socket (peak) -no more then 250W ("peak"observed during blue screen)

nvllsvm wrote on 2023-08-17, 21:08:

I pieced together a similiar system last year (same motherboard, CPU, and GPU). A great XP machine for sure! […]
Show full quote

I pieced together a similiar system last year (same motherboard, CPU, and GPU). A great XP machine for sure!

I'd be interested to see what scores you get in 3DMark03. Here's what I got:

Copy code to clipboard

1{
2  "Result": {
3    "24 sounds": "119.254699707 FPS",
4    "3DMark Score": "31621.000000000 3DMarks",
5    "60 sounds": "108.487274170 FPS",
6    "CPU Score": "2383.000000000 CPUMarks",
7    "CPU Test 1": "244.023529053 FPS",
8    "CPU Test 2": "45.874103546 FPS",
9    "Fill Rate (Multi-Texturing)": "10237.456054688 texels/s",
10    "Fill Rate (Single-Texturing)": "4929.051269531 texels/s",
11    "GT1 - Wings of Fury": "635.858825684 FPS",
12    "GT2 - Battle of Proxycon": "250.094467163 FPS",
13    "GT3 - Troll's Lair": "202.557464600 FPS",
14    "GT4 - Mother Nature": "211.567306519 FPS",
15    "No sounds": "132.721725464 FPS",
16    "Pixel Shader 2.0": "236.046707153 FPS",
17    "Ragtroll": "173.403503418 FPS",
18    "Vertex Shader": "153.899398804 FPS"
19  },
20  "Settings": {
21    "Anti-Aliasing": "None",
22    "Checksums Valid": "No",
23    "Comment": null,
24    "Display Changed": "No",
25    "Fixed Framerate": "Off",
26    "Force PS 1.1 in GT2 & GT3": "No",
27    "Height": "768",
28    "Invalid Score": "No",
29    "Max Anisotropy": "4",
30    "Max CPU Frequency": "3718 MHz",
31    "Max GPU Engine Frequency": "0 MHz",
32    "Max GPU Memory Frequency": "0 MHz",
33    "Max Run Length Deviation": "0 %",
34    "Min CPU Frequency": "3718 MHz",
35    "Min GPU Engine Frequency": "0 MHz",
36    "Min GPU Memory Frequency": "0 MHz",
37    "Min Run Length Deviation": "0 %",
38    "NullPS": "No",
39    "Post-Processing": "No",
40    "Registration Key": "N4LWE-T6HUX-8U4JB-28YLV",
41    "Repeat Tests": "Off",
42    "Texture Filtering": "Optimal",
43    "Vertex Shaders": "Optimal",
44    "Width": "1024"
45  },
46  "Version": "3.6.0"
47}

Hi,
This is my score in 3DMark03, all clocks in stock settings.
upd. Score in 3DMark01SE attached.

Sorry for late update. Months ago my troublesome X4 980BE was replaced by X4 970BE - no more problems with freezing boot screen and OC (to keep X4 980BE clocks and higher). Sadly, after fresh Win XP installation I couldnt push GART and GPU drivers to work together (and I dont have much time) so I stopped to play with this project (temporary ) . I will try again this saturday, if I will not succeed then I will try next year .
Meanwhile(last week :p) i have bulit my next Ultimate WinXP Machine "Maximus", dual system computer (WinXP and Win10 64bit). Ultimate hardware : Asus Sabertooth Z97 Mark S White, 4790k, Ferra3RGB, GTX960 4GB White (final = 980Ti), SB0880, G.Skill Trid DDR3-2400 16GB (4GB x86), ZALMAN Z3 Plus White, PSU Corsair CX750F RGB White.