My Pentium 233mhz build. Best DOS gaming machine yet.
I can disable cache to run a 386 and 486 speeds.

It runs smooth and quiet like a Cadillac. And performs great.

The $10 386/486DLC before:

The $10 386/486DLC after:

Differences:

1) FDD has been swapped as the original is due for an alignment
2) HDD has been swapped to 4.3GB from 203MB (the old 203MB still works, but I archived all of the files a while back)
3) CD-ROM drive has been installed for games and data copy over on burned CDs (will use mFTP soon and copy files over to the PC via network and FTP)
4) Video card (not pictured) swapped as well since the original one was bent and all of the internal traces between the upper and lower end of the PCB were ruined

Fully functional system and it will get a DX-33 and a better MPU-401 card as the one that's installed only works with LucasArts games and SoftMPU won't work with it either. Other than that, it's a really good system.

"Like a Cadillac." Ill have to remember that one... 🤣

My 98 rig

My Socket 7 system: contains a TMC AI5VG+ Rev. 2.00 [100MHz FSB support], AMD K6-2/400, and 320MB SD-RAM PC-133
OS: Windows 98SE

Front end:
Lite-On CD-RW drive
LS-120 IDE drive
4x USB 2.0 3.5" bracket (connected to an ALi USB PCI card)
(not pictured: Maxtor 6Y200P0 200GB HDD (32GB partition size limit set)

Rear end:
Corsair 520W ATX PSU
AT keyboard connector
PS/2 mouse port and parallel port
ASUS V6800 GeForce256 DDR VIVO + VR support 32MB AGP
ALi USB PCI card
SMC 100BaseTX FastEthernet PCI card
S/PDIF out for the AWE64 Gold
Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold

Photos embedded using the Labnol Embedder for Google Photos site

Gotta spruce up the case some more as it needs a paint job and the case needs 3 more screws to hold the panel in place (5 are used at the moment, but 5 isn't enough since a mouse can fit through a pencil-sized hole and the front of the case needs patching as well.

This is the windows 98 build Specs in sig
I dont care too much about completely era appropriate components I care more about function. I have a mix of retro and modern in both my retro builds. I am using a kvm to save on space. I have been so happy with my windows 98 machine. Its fast fun to buy parts for and runs 99 percent of what I have thrown at it. I got into retro hardware from my dabbling in retro consoles. I bought a crt tv for my nes 5 years ago. I like to mess with emulation I had a Windows xp machine at the time but my gpu failed which had s video on it. So i went looking for a replacement agp gpu with s video and found out they are expensive. But I came across this machine which is the big boy on my desk on a classified and saw the 9800 gtx+ sli setup which has s video for cheaper than a single gpu that I could find. So I bought it and have been picking up old computers ever since weather at the thrift store or from family and friends. While I bought the xp machine mostly built already and have added a few odds and ends. I built the windows 98 machine mostly from thrift store pickups. The only items I paid a high price for in the 98 machine was the voodoo card the noctua fans and the fan controller. I lastly have one last item on my wish list I want some Roland midi hardware.

Here's my Dell Pentium 90 Mhz.

It has:
16 MB RAM
an Audician 32 and S2 daughter board
A SCSI card
It runs Dos 6.22 and Windows 3.11
Is internet enabled

Slowly collecting the windows 98 build.
IBM 300pl, pentium ii 350mhz(cartridge), integrated Crystal audio and trio3d. Have optional s3 virge but not sure if it's better

Virge is definitely better than Trio, but the Trio is still good. Virge might need to run s3bright though.

hiczok wrote on 2020-07-24, 07:45:

Slowly collecting the windows 98 build. IBM 300pl, pentium ii 350mhz(cartridge), integrated Crystal audio and trio3d. Have optio […]
Show full quote

Slowly collecting the windows 98 build.
IBM 300pl, pentium ii 350mhz(cartridge), integrated Crystal audio and trio3d. Have optional s3 virge but not sure if it's better

Trio3D is a rebadged Virge for business users — has some bugs fixed, otherwise identical. Some say it's based on later Virge GX, but I'm not sure about that — you'll have to check whether your card uses SGRAM.

You might be confusing it with earlier Trio64.

I need some answerws
s3bright?
sgram? I just played duke, hexen and quake in 1997 😜

hiczok wrote on 2020-07-24, 15:41:

I need some answerws
s3bright?
sgram? I just played duke, hexen and quake in 1997 😜

AFAIK, AGP S3 cards like the one probably used in your IBM might have issues with brightness levels (affects the blacks). There is a fix — you can reflash the BIOS or use a tool to turn the fix on/off. I've never used an S3 in AGP flavor, so I have no experience with the bug or the tool, but you can read about it here.

Original S3 Trio64 and Virge used EDO RAM while later Virge GX and Trio3D can have faster SGRAM and SDRAM. I think the only fool-proof way is to find the actual RAM chips on the motherboard, write down what's written on them and look up the datasheets in Google, but there might be visual way to tell them apart.

However, it does look like your system should have 2 megabytes of 100MHz SGRAM. Check here on page 8.

I wouldn't worry about the performance difference, though. No Virge/Trio would be useful for 3D gaming, but even the lowliest Trio64 would be more than adequate for non-accelerated DOS games like Duke Nukem, Hexen or Quake in software mode. You'll have to get a 3D card for anything else.

And with a Pentium II I imagine that you might want to play 3D games like Quake 2, Unreal or Half-Life. Obviously, the most straightforward option is to get a Voodoo 2, but there are plenty of 3D cards available for PCI.

Tomb Raider with S3 patch runs pretty well on Virge DX.

jheronimus wrote on 2020-07-24, 15:58:

AFAIK, AGP S3 cards like the one probably used in your IBM might have issues with brightness levels (affects the blacks). There […]
Show full quote

hiczok wrote on 2020-07-24, 15:41:

I need some answerws
s3bright?
sgram? I just played duke, hexen and quake in 1997 😜

AFAIK, AGP S3 cards like the one probably used in your IBM might have issues with brightness levels (affects the blacks). There is a fix — you can reflash the BIOS or use a tool to turn the fix on/off. I've never used an S3 in AGP flavor, so I have no experience with the bug or the tool, but you can read about it here.

Original S3 Trio64 and Virge used EDO RAM while later Virge GX and Trio3D can have faster SGRAM and SDRAM. I think the only fool-proof way is to find the actual RAM chips on the motherboard, write down what's written on them and look up the datasheets in Google, but there might be visual way to tell them apart.

However, it does look like your system should have 2 megabytes of 100MHz SGRAM. Check here on page 8.

I wouldn't worry about the performance difference, though. No Virge/Trio would be useful for 3D gaming, but even the lowliest Trio64 would be more than adequate for non-accelerated DOS games like Duke Nukem, Hexen or Quake in software mode. You'll have to get a 3D card for anything else.

And with a Pentium II I imagine that you might want to play 3D games like Quake 2, Unreal or Half-Life. Obviously, the most straightforward option is to get a Voodoo 2, but there are plenty of 3D cards available for PCI.

Thanks a lot. The Trio3d is integrated. The s3 virge is PCI... but now that You say it, one of those is darker. I need to take a look into it.
Whatever 3d card I will get, I want it to not be standalone and have the experience of connecting that wire in the back 😁

Hello from a recruit.

There was this nice CRT for sale late last year for a few pennies, so of course I accidentally a beige PC, too. Why, I don't know.
Ended up keeping it because being a desktop it requires relatively little space and scores 8,5/10 in nostalgia. Gives something to tinker with.

1997 Deskpro 5166 MMX
P233 MMX
128MB SDRAM
4,3GB HDD
G200 PCI
ES1868 (Compaq OEM)
Creative SBS30
W95B
+ Graphical BIOS and native USB ports!!!

To-do:
New PSU fan
Moar L2 cache (there's none)
Compaq OEM mouse

Hello ! All my 286 machines - my favorite generation of x-86 computers. From IBM 5170 to 20mhz AT clone with AHEAD/AVGA videocard.

Man, I would love to get a 286 one day. If parts were cheap and if the system wasn't expensive. Love your setup for every system. If I find one cheap and not a lot of battery leakage, I would be so happy.

A001 wrote on 2020-07-26, 16:29:

There was this nice CRT for sale late last year for a few pennies, so of course I accidentally a beige PC, too. Why, I don't know.
Ended up keeping it because being a desktop it requires relatively little space and scores 8,5/10 in nostalgia. Gives something to tinker with.

Nice Deskpro and nice monitor as well! Needs more CD-ROMs though 😆

Some newer pictures of some of my classics + one new addition....

My retro rig is actually a retro rack that consists of 4 systems. Built to be easily accessible and movable since I don't have much space for retro hardware. Every system is connected to a KVM switch and audio mixer inside the rack.