Hardware

Windows 98 SE computer

This has been my main retro project for quite some time. The goal has been to have a as compatible system as possible. While I know that the current GPU at the time of writing this (Rage 128gl), does have some bugs, especially in DOS games; it is currently the strongest 3d GPU I own and it has adequate DOS compatibility for the most part. But I do intend to upgrade to a ASUS V8200 T2 or a Geforce 256 for better 3d processing power as well as better DOS compatibility. The Sound Blaster AWE 32 is a fantastic card, that I have never had any drivers issues with. It provides clear sound in all the games I have tried. It lack EAX sound, but I feel like the midi quality far outperforms the negative from that - 15.03.2026

I have now acquired a ASUS V8200T2. The V8200T2 is a Geforce 3 Ti 200 card, released in likely start of October 2001 just a few months after the launch of Windows XP (foreshadowing). Since I bought the card to play 1995-1999 titles I of course went and downloaded the famous 21.11 Detonator drivers from November 01. But these drivers just caused issues for me, I was unable to get a picture out with any quality higher than standard VGA (640x480 16 colours). The graphics card either simply showed the base Win98 background or green stripes in any other mode. If this was caused by Nvidia focusing on Windows XP drivers or if it has something with my P2B card being first generation AGP I don't know. But after uninstalling the old drivers and installing the slightly newer (July the year after) 30.82 drivers the GPU works without issue. The use of a passive heatsink is also a big plus; as my case does not have a lot of airflow (especially not with all those IDE and power cables stuffed in there). TLDR: I don't recommend the famous 21.11 drivers for anyone wanting to try later Geforce cards on Win98; and that are running a early AGP 2x setup. - 09.07.2026

 Drivers I use/have used for this machine:

Windows XP SP3 computer

This systems is specifically built to handle games the 98pc cannot; the 2000-2006 era. It works wonders as 1024x768 and after a fresh coat of thermal paste it runs quite cool and silent as well. It is very clear why the Crosshair motherboard is so beloved. It seems stable and very robust. While I have experienced one bug in relation to the fan speed detector; I only have  3 pin CPU fan; and it warned about slow fan speed so often I had to simply turn the detector off. This was likely fixed in a later bios revision. But as I do have the 3rd bios release after this MOBOs launch; I decided to just keep the original BIOS since I have not meet any experience ruining bugs. The system runs so well in fact, that this is the exact computer I am currently writing this on. - 10.07.2026

Drivers I use for this machine:

IBM PS/Valuepoint 425SX/Si

This is an absolutely lovely machine. It started its life at a specialised truck modification shop; where the Etherlink III likely was used to connect to a CAD3D server. I upgraded it with the CF card and the ESS sound card when I got it; and it has worked wonderfully in the DOS game tests I have run on it. While the lack of a FPU hampers its playabiliy with 1994 titles; along with the low clockspeed of only 25mhz; it works well in 1989-1993 games (if you account for configuring very old speed sensitive games). A 50 MHz overdrive CPU is definitely on my wishlist for this system to really solidify it as an near ultimate DOS machine.

While IBM has gotten a lot of hate over their use of proprietary hardware; the fact that the only non standard thing in this; is the PSU form factor, says a lot. I got easy to replace cr2032 cmos battery, standard IDE interface for the floppy and HDD, and a easy upgrade path with the overdrive slot. The power is also standard AT (allowing for theoretical Pico PSU upgrades or similar) and there is 3, again, standard ISA slots for upgrades.

Drivers I use for this machine: