For a 2005\2006 i would go core 2 and an x700\x800 since you seem interested in those, the compatibility with win98 would drop but, do you care?
You can always put together an older machine with the 5200 that you still have and other unused parts.

iraito wrote on 2023-01-04, 18:05:

For a 2005\2006 i would go core 2 and an x700\x800 since you seem interested in those, the compatibility with win98 would drop but, do you care?

It's not so bad if he plans on dual booting Win98 and WinXP.

While Radeons don't support paletted textures and table fog under Win98, they can render table fog perfectly under WinXP with Catalyst 7.11 drivers and later. So, any games which use table fog can be played under XP. No such luck with paletted textures though, but that feature seems to be less commonly used.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-01-04, 18:46:

iraito wrote on 2023-01-04, 18:05:

For a 2005\2006 i would go core 2 and an x700\x800 since you seem interested in those, the compatibility with win98 would drop but, do you care?

It's not so bad if he plans on dual booting Win98 and WinXP.

While Radeons don't support paletted textures and table fog under Win98, they can render table fog perfectly under WinXP with Catalyst 7.11 drivers and later. So, any games which use table fog can be played under XP. No such luck with paletted textures though, but that feature seems to be less commonly used.

Yeah but i wouldn't use more than 512mb of ram on win9x, he would end up swapping ram etc. also the dual core might bring incompatibilities with some older game, overall if you want to stay in 2005\6 but also use win9x the system gets less flexible than let's say a 2004 and early 2005 machine.

That's completely normal. W9x and XP on the same PC is a difficult one and one has to compromise on both ends. Everyone getting into a project like that knows this already.

amxcs wrote on 2023-01-04, 16:44:

Hmm.. https://i.imgur.com/6LD8dWv.gif […]
Show full quote

Hmm..

yep, this is a 64bits 333MHz DDR card, pretty low,
same memory bandwidth as a Voodoo 3

128bits 400MHz+ ram FX 5200 would be a lot faster, even if still not a great card.

amxcs wrote on 2023-01-04, 16:44:

Hmm.. https://i.imgur.com/6LD8dWv.gif […]
Show full quote

Hmm..

Any of the cards listed previously ie. slower 9550, 9600 variants will be at least 2x performance upgrade to a 64bit FX5200. 😁

Try fx5700, thats approx twice as fast as the fx5200, and cheap.

I bought the video card from the first post and I am continuing the search for a better one at an acceptable price.
The card is Sapphire Atlantis 9600 128MB (11019-00) I'll try to overclock it if possible.

amxcs wrote on 2023-01-06, 07:24:

I bought the video card from the first post and I am continuing the search for a better one at an acceptable price.
The card is Sapphire Atlantis 9600 128MB (11019-00) I'll try to overclock it if possible.

Better than that? a 9800 pro\XT\XXL if you want the top notch from that series, otherwise x700\x800 for the same compatability but way better performances.

amxcs wrote on 2023-01-03, 18:06:

Hello, I was given an old computer with the following parameters: AsRock P4i65G Pentium 4 3Ghz / 1MB Ram: 2x512MB Video: Geforce […]
Show full quote

Hello,
I was given an old computer with the following parameters:
AsRock P4i65G
Pentium 4 3Ghz / 1MB
Ram: 2x512MB
Video: Geforce FX 5200 128MB
Monitor: Benq LCD 1280x1024

I decided to install win98 and XP on it for retro games until around 2005-2006.

Everything is fine and I like it a lot, I just think that the video card is weak for games like Hitman 3 / GTA 3 on resolution 1280x1024.

I looked at the market sites, I liked a Radeon 9600 128MB video card for $10. If I get it, will the games run better or should I go for a better one for the AGP slot?
https://imgur.com/a/mlxQBSj

Hey, which driver version did you use for the Geforce FX 5200 on Win98? I literally used the exact same motherboard and gpu, but have some weird instability issues with it.

Cheapest (for free) upgrade of NV34 FX 5200 card: flash FX 5200 BIOS with NV34B FX 5500 one.

From another forum:

"The FX5200 to FX5500 gives you an automatically done overclock and the Intellisample 1.0 activated, wich is doubtfully useful."

I have now a Chaintech A-FX20-N (FX 5200, 128MB DDR 400, 128bit) and I've added a fan to stock heatsink, but I can not find BIOS dump from Chaintech SA5500 (FX 5500) for this simple upgrade. So I intend to use some suitable MSI FX 5500 BIOS to prove, that with just +20MHz added to GPU frequency it is impossible for this videocard (FX 5200) to reach ~15-20% acceleration in 3D rendering as for FX 5500 and there's more hidden "GPU things" behind the different NV34 models BIOS curtain. Will be done when I repair my old now faulty FSP ATX-350PNF PSU...

P.S. I'd be very grateful if a good fellow user share me a BIOS dump from Chaintech SA5500 (FX 5500), so I don't be in bother to mod one from MSI FX 5500.

Windows98_guy wrote on 2023-07-27, 12:04:

Hey, which driver version did you use for the Geforce FX 5200 on Win98? I literally used the exact same motherboard and gpu, but have some weird instability issues with it.

Try the 45.23 version, works fine with my FX 5200 on Win 98 SE. Of course my hardware is otherwise different.

---

In defense of the FX 5200, I will say that it's passively cooled and sports a DVI-D connector. I had a FX 5600 for a while but ended up selling it because my ears just couldn't take the fan noise any longer; the damn thing sounded like a really loud shaver.

Gmlb256 wrote on 2023-01-03, 18:33:

aaron158 wrote on 2023-01-03, 18:17:

the 9600 and 5200 preform about the same.

Nope, the FX 5200 was inferior when it comes to SM 2.0 stuff that was introduced in DX9. nVidia did really cheat with the drivers during this moment, with games looking worse as a result.

The main reason why people currently GeForce FX cards is because it is poor man's substitute for the GeForce4 MX (Geforce4 Ti to be more specific due to having at least support for shaders).

Not necessarily true, my GeForce fx5700 kick the ass of my ti4200 running at 300/600 and here the good FX are really rare and expensive compared to ti4200.

I guess the TI are more power full than fx5500 and lower though.

amigopi wrote on 2023-07-30, 00:32:

Try the 45.23 version, works fine with my FX 5200 on Win 98 SE. Of course my hardware is otherwise different. […]
Show full quote

Windows98_guy wrote on 2023-07-27, 12:04:

Hey, which driver version did you use for the Geforce FX 5200 on Win98? I literally used the exact same motherboard and gpu, but have some weird instability issues with it.

Try the 45.23 version, works fine with my FX 5200 on Win 98 SE. Of course my hardware is otherwise different.

---

In defense of the FX 5200, I will say that it's passively cooled and sports a DVI-D connector. I had a FX 5600 for a while but ended up selling it because my ears just couldn't take the fan noise any longer; the damn thing sounded like a really loud shaver.

It worked, thanks!

Can anyone explain why 45.23 is considered the best driver for a Win98? What issues in games appear with newer drivers?

ultra wrote on 2023-08-12, 21:28:

Can anyone explain why 45.23 is considered the best driver for a Win98? What issues in games appear with newer drivers?

Driver optimizations for non-actual videocards may be obliterated even if this newer version driver still supports older generations videocards. Тhis may be done deliberately and from the point of view of "planned obsolescence" for outdated products. It happens more than once a brand new product to perform worse than an already old one with the problems fixed. So... how do vendors get you to replace your already good working old video card?... Intentionally screwing up the software (drivers). Pure marketing strategy.

ultra wrote on 2023-08-12, 21:28:

Can anyone explain why 45.23 is considered the best driver for a Win98? What issues in games appear with newer drivers?

Read this thread: NVIDIA GeForce FX driver testing on an Intel 440EX summary and report

Generally, the 5x.xx drivers seem to be pretty decent as well, with a few minor exceptions like the black screen in Thief 2. However, once you move up to 6x.xx drivers and higher, things start to get messy. Some games either cease working entirely or start showing graphical artifacts.

That said, even 45.23 doesn't have perfect compatibility with all games. For example, Need for Speed: High Stakes will crash at launch with that version, and needs either 30.82 or 56.64 drivers in order to run reliably.