My Windows 98 (Slot 1, Pentium III) Build

[Ziggy]

Thread formally titled "Oh No! I Got Another Motherboard (Slot 1)"



I now... I'm crazy. You don't have to tell me! But this has actually been another long time contemplating purchase because I found something I like at a good price. For those that haven't seen, I just yesterday posted a thread that I purchased a Socket 7 motherboard.

This one makes more sense, hear me out (skip the backstory if you don't care)...

When I was in junior high or high school, I wanted my own desktop (so I didn't have to share the family's computer) so I ended up with an e-cycled Compaq Deskpro. This was the first computer that I ever purchased for myself, and I did a lot with it, so it has a soft spot in my heart. In recent years, I made it my dedicated Windows 98 PC. But it's actually a bit of a pain in the ass (I just never admit it to myself). It's big and heavy, which makes it kind of a pain in the ass to work on. It has a Pentium II 233 Mhz. It has an AGP slot, but it needs this weird form factor so I can't put any normal card in there. So it's perfect for 2D stuff, but starts to get weak for 3D stuff. Although I love this PC and will never get rid of it, I've been wanting a proper ATX Slot 1 motherboard that would be easier to mess around with.

Now, I actually have two identical Dell Pentium III desktops that were e-cycled. They were business machines, not meant for gaming. They have a couple of PCI slots, but no ISA or AGP slots, with onboard VGA and sound. So that makes them kind of a pain in the ass for sound and graphics cards, which let's face it, that's the meat and potatoes of a gaming rig. They have a 500 Mhz PIII, which I don't think is upgrade-able. They're also the desktop format with the riser card, which is kind of a pain in the ass at times.

And I have a custom built Socket 423 (first gen Pentium 4) PC that I was planning on setting up to dual boot with 98 and XP. Sort of a late model 98 and early era XP gaming machine. But I realized, the hardware configuration I'd like for XP versus 98 isn't exactly the same. So I'd still rather have a dedicated Windows 98 build.

(yes, I have a crazy amount of old computers)

I think I actually have enough in spare parts that, minus a case, I can completely build out a Slot 1 motherboard. Of course, I'll want to eventually swap parts out here and there. But I think I have everything I need to get a system up and running just with what I have on hand. When I was going through my parts to see what I have on hand for the Socket 7 mobo, I realized that I have a 1 Ghz Pentium III. I know I have a few spare Slot 1 CPUs, but I really didn't remember that I had this one. This is one of the best (if not the best) Slot 1 PIII's that you can get. So knowing that I have this, I decided to look up motherboards.

Long story short... This new motherboard will be for my dedicated Windows 98 machine. I already have enough in spare parts to make a complete system (including a 1 GHz Pentium III) although I'll want to eventually swap things out.

So I found this MSI MS-6199VA motherboard for only $40. MSI still has a page up for this mobo, with the manual and BIOS files available for download. The only drivers they have up is for on board audio, which the exact version of this board I got doesn't have populated (which is fine because I don't want to use it anyway). It uses the VIA Apollo 133 chipset, which I've read VIA chipsets aren't without problems, but apparently the so-called "4-in-1" drivers can make the system run better. This board supports a wide array of processors, I think every Slot 1 CPU I own will work on this board LOL. I think I even saw something in the manual about overclocking. And from what I've read, that blue sticker with a C on it (as see in the picture posted above) means that the CPU I plan to use should work with the BIOS that's on there. If not, I have a chip programmer, so I should be able to flash the BIOS outside of the PC. Or heck, I suppose I have spare CPUs that should work to flash the BIOS with.

Although I have everything I need to get it up and running right away, I'm undecided what I'll ultimately do for a sound and video card. That, and like that Socket 7 build, the case is going to be the most annoying part. At least with this board, it's a straight up ATX build. But for some reason, you can't find cheap cases anymore! You use to be able to get really cheap cases if you wanted, but now it seems everything is $50 and up! That just seems nuts to me, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do about a case yet. Projects like this are fun when they don't cost a lot, I definitely don't want to drop ~$100 on a case!

Anyway, expect this to be another slow build. I'll update this thread as I go along.

[opa]

Ziggy buys a PDP-11

"Okay guys, hear me out."

[Ziggy]

[marurun]

Still have that untested AWE32…

[Ziggy]

Still have that untested AWE32…

Let me know the model number! (ie: CTxxxx)

[Ziggy]

Finding cheap standard (not alien or bro gamer RGB) ATX cases seems really hard now. I really don't want to spend a lot on a case for this build. I'd like your opinions on a couple of cases I found.

This mobo came out in October of 1999, so I'd like to get a case that looks like maybe I actually built it in 1999 or 2000. Not everything was beige by then. Those Dell Dimensions of the early 2000's were black. Certainly custom built PCs had black cases by then. So keeping that in mind, I'm looking at new cases that might not be totally outrageous if I pretend it was from the year 2000. Also shopping on a budget, so I'm looking for the cheapest possible cases that fit that criteria. Keeping that in mind...

The case has to have front drive bays, of course. But they are becoming harder and harder to find these days, a lot of cases have no external drive bays! Normally I would want 5.25" and 3.5" bays, or settle for at least three 5.25" (you can get brackets to fit a 3.5" FDD in a 5.25" bay). But for this build, I think I might forgo the 5.25" FDD and just stick with CD and 3.5" FDD. After all, if this is a PC built in 1999, you wouldn't have put a 5.25" FDD in there! So needing only two 5.25 external drive bays, that opens up at least a few options in the budget pickings.

These totally wouldn't be my first choices, mind you, I'm just trying to roll with what's currently available.

So tell me what you guys think of these cases...

OPTION 1:





https://www.newegg.com/black-fractal-de ... 6811352069

$55 + $10 shipping + tax

It has the two front drive bays. The LED fans I can either swap out or just remove them (I really only need a rear exhaust fan for this build anyway). So it would look more like this. It does have a USB 3.0 (blue) port at the top, which will look very odd on a Windows 98 machine. But being on the top I wont see it, and I get can a rubber plug for it anyway. Other than that, it's very square and boxy looking, which I not only prefer but it more fits the era. It does have a side window, which was sort of unheard of for 1999 (at least, I don't remember ever seeing them at that time). But I actually think the window is kind of cool.

There's a grey color option, but it just looks like a faded version of the black. I think black would be my first choice, but I would consider the blue and white options. What do you guys think of those colors? No matter what color I get, I would be putting black drives in it.

OPTION 2:





https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E1681135309 ... 6811353098

$50, 10% off right now with a promo code, $5 shipping

OK, this one might be a little nutty of a pick, but there really isn't much in the sub $50 price range. I don't know, the white could be kind of neat. Again, I would swap out the fan so it doesn't glow (LED lights definitely don't fit the era). And the front USB 3 ports will stick out like a sore thumb, but I can get black plugs for them. I would, of course, put black drives in it. This case is also available in black, but then those two vertical mesh pieces on the front are blue, making it look too modern I think.



I would take suggestions for other budget cases, if anyone has any!

[Anapan]

I have a bunch of graphics cards and a spare Sound Blaster 16 ISA with the last DSP that doesn't have the note-hang bug. I'll make up a list and post some pics. All useless to me since my DOS tower is already as fully loaded as I could cram in it.
Cheap cases always end up drawing blood.

[Ziggy]

So I think I've found the case for this build!



It was a little more than I wanted to spend on a case, but consider I don't really have to buy anything for this build outside of the motherboard and case, I guess it's OK. And considering the going price for beige ATX cases on eBay right now, and how clean and complete this one looks, I think it was a steal. The eBay seller seems newish with a low feedback score, they are the ones that usually list things below eBay average (until they're more established). You also have to consider that these old cases are usually made with thicker and heavier metals, they're usually pretty heavy, so shipping on them really drives the price up. Anyways, I got it for $110 shipped. More than I wanted to pay, but it looks really clean and I figured you would spend that much on a new case anyway (I think the case for my Ryzen 7 build was closer to $200).



Looks like it has four 5.25" and two 3.5" external drive bays, and two internal 3.5" (looks like one drive can hang below the cage). So my drive plans for this build have changed. So I guess my drive plans for this build have changed. I might have to put my beige 5.25" FDD in there along with 3.5" FDD and a CD drive. It's missing two 5.23" bay covers, so I'll have to fill them up with something! Oh yeah, and it comes with a beige FDD, which is great because I don't have any right now (I have 3 spare FDDs but they're all black). Although the FDD is untested, so we'll have to see.

Speaking of drives... My instincts are to get a standard beige CD-ROM drive (not burner, not DVD). I actually have two spare beige optical drives right now. One is a DVD burner, which just seems not right for this build. The other is a CD burner / DVD ROM (can read but not write DVDs). This was actually my first CD burner that I bought new when I was in high school. It's not yellowed, and it's in great shape. So it might be fun to use that drive in this build, since I currently have no other use for it. I'm going for a 1999/2000 era for this build. So a CD burner would be possible, but still somewhat uncommon (I remember be envious of people with burners around this time). A DVD-ROM drive though, did they even exist then? I just Google'd it, apparently they were available in 1997.

It looks like it has a Pentium 4 badge on there. I'll have to remove that and get a Pentium III badge for it. But where that badge is, that's actually a little push/clock door that exposes USB ports...



I wasn't planning on bothering with USB much on this computer (except for a keyboard if the BIOS supports it). But since the case has these front ports, it would be a shame not to use them. After all, USB sticks are such a modern convenience (I know vanilla 98 doesn't like USB sticks). The problem there is that this motherboard doesn't have any USB headers. Looks like it just has the two rear ports. I suppose I could hijack those two rear ports and wire them up to the front ports. That would require USB cables going through a missing PCI bracket or something like that. I never cared for how that looks. Or I could get a USB 2.0 card. I actually have a spare one I could use, if I can find the correct drivers for it.

It's hard to tell in the seller's pics, but the front bezel might have a little bit of yellowing to it. Honestly, most beige electronics are gonna have yellowing. I'll have to wait and see what it looks like in person when I get it. I have UV lamps now, so I could Retro Brite. We'll see.

I have a bunch of graphics cards and a spare Sound Blaster 16 ISA with the last DSP that doesn't have the note-hang bug. I'll make up a list and post some pics. All useless to me since my DOS tower is already as fully loaded as I could cram in it.

That's awesome, Anapan! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what you have!

Cheap cases always end up drawing blood.

Ha! Yeah, my cheap case for my first PC build when I was in high school definitely had the thinnest sheet metal all around, but I actually never cut a finger on it, it didn't really have sharp edges. In contrast, I've had some late 90's branded cases that had really sharp edges on thicker pieces of metal.

[opa]

I like that the power switch looks like pac man.

[Ziggy]

I like that the power switch looks like pac man.

Yeah, I don't know what that's all about! When I first saw it, I thought it was a moon. You use to sometimes see a moon button for a sleep switch on computers of this era.