[dhruba.bandopadhyay]

I am wondering if anyone knows if there exists a motherboard with built-in graphics, sound &/or

LAN that still supports Windows 98. I am not the sort of person who buys 2nd hand due to lemon-

market (untold over-clocking, etc). If anyone out there has a motherboard, and definitely knows

their MB manufacter still provides Windows 98 drivers on their website then please let me know. If

the motherboard has built-in graphics & sound (&/or LAN) that are also compatible with Windows 98

then that's a bonus.

I don't want assumptions about whether motherboard will support Windows 98. I need

definite/specific facts. Motherboard can be any CPU chipset (AMD, Intel variations, etc.)

Cheers

Okay, am not too fussed with Windows 98SE, but at least the built-in graphics, sound and/or LAN in the motherboard is supported by MS-DOS drivers. I don't want to do any emulation with VMWare, DOSBox or VirtualPC.

This post has been edited by dhruba.bandopadhyay: 14 August 2006 - 09:42 AM

[oscardog]

I suppose it depends what you realy want to accomplish, if you want to use your pc to play later day games buy an xbox 360. If you want to browse the web,p2p,email,word process etc there are countless motherboards on ebay "new" to do this task. If you want to burn 500 watts from the power supply to do the same thing, it would be easy to get a xp3200 and above setup to do the same, I run my xp3200 win98 system when I need to convert movies and I am in a rush, most of the time it is off. Usually I try to accomplish the rest of the tasks on a 10w cpu. I do not put all the lights on in my house to go to the bathroom.
What do you want to do?

[Chozo4]

The mainboard listed in my sig (EPoX 9nDA3-J) supports windows 98 and has built in 8.1 surround sound + 1GB Lan. Using a 380watt PSU at the moment so it's not exactly very power-hungry either.

However, it does not have built-in video. As long as it's an NF3 chipset and made by EPoX it supports windows 98.

Just be wary of getting used mainboards off EBAY. Got mine off ebay as it was advertised used but working. However, I went through hell reflashing the BIOS due to it somehow stating a 'lock bit' set in random places which never existed to begin with. Took about 16-17 reflash attempts before it successfully reflashed. Though now the bios is completely fine and no longer gives trouble when needing to reflash to update the bios version.

.. it also has a damaged contact in DIIMM #0 slot but thankfully it goes to an unused contact on the back of the memory chips.

On a side note: there are a few other threads regarding a similar topic in this forum

Chipset support?
http://www.msfn.org/...showtopic=63394

best/fastest hardware platform that supports 98SE
http://www.msfn.org/...showtopic=63394

I Want To Build A Computer Using Windows 98
http://www.msfn.org/...showtopic=77492

This post has been edited by Chozo4: 14 August 2006 - 07:26 PM

[LLXX]

Anything based on the Intel 800-series chipset is 100% compatible; the 865 is popular, if you can find an LGA775 board that uses an 875 chipset, it'll provide a better performance.

I recommend the Asus P5P800SE.

[dhruba.bandopadhyay]

Chozo4, on Aug 15 2006, 01:08 AM, said:

The mainboard listed in my sig (EPoX 9nDA3-J) supports windows 98 and has built in 8.1 surround sound + 1GB Lan. Using a 380watt PSU at the moment so it's not exactly very power-hungry either.

Chipset support?
http://www.msfn.org/...showtopic=63394

best/fastest hardware platform that supports 98SE
http://www.msfn.org/...showtopic=63394

I Want To Build A Computer Using Windows 98
http://www.msfn.org/...showtopic=77492

Nice, I had a look around and found GigaByte, ARock, to still support Windows 98SE. I'll have a look at EPoX too. And thanks to that other guy who mentioned Intel 800 series chipsets support Windows 98SE 100% (hope he is right). Asus is also a common name too. I'll have to compare these 4 motherboard brands...

'Chozo4' - so you have a working Windows 98SE system, and the sound & network builtin are Windows 98SE compatible? What's the CPU?

oscardog, on Aug 15 2006, 12:21 AM, said:

be easy to get a xp3200 and above setup to do the same, I run my xp3200 win98 system when I need to

What's a xp3200 system?

[LLXX]

dhruba.bandopadhyay, on Aug 15 2006, 03:33 AM, said:

And thanks to that other guy who mentioned Intel 800 series chipsets support Windows 98SE 100% (hope he is right).

BTW I'm not a guy

[dhruba.bandopadhyay]

I currently own a ECS 915G-A mobo (socket 775) Intel P4, with 512MB DDR (400

or 333 DIMM, not sure). GeForce 4 440 Ti AGP. I have a hard time trying to

get my Intel 915 chipset mobo to work with Windows 98 and everyone knows

that's virtually impossible. So am going to sell my mobo and buy another one

which will support Windows 98 and also can take my socket 775 P4, DDR & AGP

card.

I now got lots of recommendations from people:

1. http://www.intel.com...bd/bv/index.htm
2. http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/
3. http://www.epox.com....tent.php?ps=323
4. http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelme...l2=11&l3=26
5. http://www.asrock.co...8%20Combo-Z.htm


1. The Intel Desktop Board D845GBV looks small and am not even sure if it'll

fit nicely into my tower case. Though it says it's ATX form factor so I'll

do some measurements. It says it supports P4 in a micro-PGA478 socket???

2. There are too many gigabyte mobos to go through.

3. & 5. EPoX 9nDA3-J & AsRock K8 Combo Z are both socket 939 (AMD). Last

year when I upgraded I should have waited. It was not until after I bought

my P4 that I started to like AMD Athlons because they're 64-bit and Intel is

still lagging behind with 32-bit processors.

4. Should I sell my ECS mobo with P4 together and keep the DIMM and migrate

to AMD side? Or keep the P4 and buy that Asus P5P800SE because it supports

LGA775 & AGP8x?

Hmm, decisions decisions......



PS: motherboard 775 AGP Intel 875 865P 865PE 865G 865GV 848P 845GV 845GE - what's with all the P PE G GV GE letters???

This post has been edited by dhruba.bandopadhyay: 15 August 2006 - 03:25 AM

[LLXX]

dhruba.bandopadhyay, on Aug 15 2006, 03:56 AM, said:

PS: motherboard 775 AGP Intel 875 865P 865PE 865G 865GV 848P 845GV 845GE - what's with all the P PE G GV GE letters???

If I remember correctly, G means it has integrated graphics, E are higher-spec parts, etc.

Quote

865PE (Springdale)
875P without PAT, though it was possible to enable PAT in some early revisions. Also lacks ECC Memory support.
Sub-versions:
865P - The same as 865PE, but only supports 533 MHz bus and 333 MHz memory.
848P - Single memory channel version of 865PE.
865G (Springdale-G)
865PE with integrated graphics. PAT never supported in any revisions.
Sub-versions:
865GL - 865G without external AGP slot.

[dhruba.bandopadhyay]

LLXX, on Aug 15 2006, 10:23 AM, said:

If I remember correctly, G means it has integrated graphics, E are higher-spec parts, etc.

Quote

865PE (Springdale)
875P without PAT, though it was possible to enable PAT in some early revisions. Also lacks ECC Memory support.
Sub-versions:
865P - The same as 865PE, but only supports 533 MHz bus and 333 MHz memory.
848P - Single memory channel version of 865PE.
865G (Springdale-G)
865PE with integrated graphics. PAT never supported in any revisions.
Sub-versions:
865GL - 865G without external AGP slot.

So, the 1st & 2nd best ones are (ignoring integrated graphics): 865PE, 865G

865GL? Do you mean 865GV? And what is PAT? So PAT is not supported in any of the 865G series....

This post has been edited by dhruba.bandopadhyay: 15 August 2006 - 07:49 AM

[Chozo4]

dhruba.bandopadhyay, on Aug 15 2006, 04:33 AM, said:

'Chozo4' - so you have a working Windows 98SE system, and the sound & network builtin are Windows 98SE compatible? What's the CPU?

Board specs found here.
Board drivers found here.

... the cool-and-quiet drivers are not available for windows 98 (so it says). However, the CnQ drivers aren't neccessary as it only lets you control how the system handles fanspeeds automatically if enabled to do so. I would rather personally keep the fans running at full to be sure it stays cool all the time.

The CPU is also shown in the signature

AMD Athlon 64 4000+ [san diego]. It's stock 2.4ghz currently overclocked to 2.6ghz with a 325x8 multiplier set. My board can support the FX chips (dual core) and the Opteron chips (also dual-core but have an impressive on-board cache). However, windows 98 will not take advantage of the second core but any applications written specifically to handle multiple-cores will take advantage of them if I'm correct.

The sound built-in is a RealTek 8.1 Surround. However, I have it disabled due to the sound hardware not amplifying the output and not covering my needs. Interesting to note that despite this being a windows 98 (32-bit) machine, the 64-bit drivers for the built-in sound did in fact work as well. Also note that most built-in sound is *NOT* hardware amplified and so will require powered speakers to actually get the sound to an acceptable volume. I find it better to use installable sound cards such as a 'Yamaha YMF-724' or 'SoundBlaster LIVE! 5.1 Digital' which actually have amplification and greater compatibility with most apps including legacy (DOS) games.

The built-in LAN i use regularly and have set to max throughput instead of cpu conservation mode (less throughput). No complaints whatsoever with it. Only drawback is that all the other lans I connect to are 10/100 so.. cannot take advantage of the 1gb speed just yet with it.

This post has been edited by Chozo4: 15 August 2006 - 12:55 PM

[rainyd]

I think you've IMO at least two interesting options:
1) ASRock 775Dual-VSTA (based on VIA PT880 Pro/Ultra chipset) and you can still using your CPU, RAM and GPU with possible upgrade to Conroe family + DDR2 (even I'm AMD fan I must admit that this is a hell of the beast).
This motheboard also support PCIe graphic port - the only small cons is it work in 4x mode (normally x16).
Three articles about this motherboard on the Anandtech:
http://www.anandtech...doc.aspx?i=2814
http://www.anandtech...doc.aspx?i=2813
http://www.anandtech...doc.aspx?i=2810
Looks like the chipset support Win98SE: http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageI...&CatID=1110

2) On AMD platform very popular ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 (not K8 Combo-Z which you've mentioned) or just released a newer version 939Dual-VSTA (different audio codec plus couple of the small changes) both on the ULI M1695 chipset (support for all 939 CPU, including Athlon 64 X2, AGP x8 + PCIe x16, possible upgrade to AM2 socket via AM2CPU Board).
Also this chipset support Win98SE: http://www.nvidia.co...li_drivers.html
For more info check this very good forum: http://www.ocwforums...isplay.php?f=31

Chozo4 - you can run Cool'n'Quiet technology on Win98SE using a WinME driver:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/Techni...71_9706,00.html
To get full advantage of the dualcore CPU you need at least Win2000 (not possible in Win98SE through OS limitations).

This post has been edited by rainyd: 15 August 2006 - 07:33 PM

[Petr]

Just for completeness, one very cheap Intel chipset board that fully supports Windows 98SE / Windows Me and Intel Core 2 (Conroe) processors: http://www.asrock.co...uct/775i65G.htm

Petr

[rainyd]

Two more reviews:
775Dual-VSTA - http://www.ocworkben...ual-VSTA/g1.htm
939Dual-VSTA - http://www.ocworkben...ual-vsta/g1.htm

[Petr]

rainyd, on Aug 22 2006, 08:56 PM, said:

Two more reviews:
775Dual-VSTA - http://www.ocworkben...ual-VSTA/g1.htm
939Dual-VSTA - http://www.ocworkben...ual-vsta/g1.htm

These boards are not compatible with Windows 98/98SE/Me.

Petr

[rainyd]

Sorry, Petr, but I think that you're wrong (both are compatible).

[Petr]

rainyd, on Aug 22 2006, 11:31 PM, said:

Sorry, Petr, but I think that you're wrong (both are compatible).

Please read what is written both in the reviews you have posted and on the ASRock website:

OS - Microsoft Windows 2000 / XP / XP 64-bit / Vista™ compliant

At least, there is no support for UAA (Universal Audio Architecture) in Windows 98/98SE/Me so the on-board audio cannot be used.

Do you see any Windows 98/98SE/Me drivers here?
http://www.asrock.com/support/download.asp...el=939Dual-VSTA
http://www.asrock.com/support/download.asp...el=775Dual-VSTA

Compatible boards like 775i65G have clearly written:

OS - Microsoft Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP compliant

and there are also Windows 98/98SE/Me drivers:
http://www.asrock.co...p?Model=775i65G

Petr

[rainyd]

Sorry ,Petr, I'm afraid you haven't read my previous post carefully enough.
For most if not all motherboard makers the Win9x family is dead (especially since July 11 when Microsoft officially ended support for those systems) what results in Win2000 as minimum requirement.
That's the reason that ASRock doesn't mention the drivers for Win98SE/ME.
This is not however the case of chipset makers:
http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageI...&CatID=1110 for 775Dual-VSTA
http://www.nvidia.co...li_drivers.html for 939Dual-SATA2 and 939Dual-VSTA (both on the same chipset)
In the case of 939Dual-VSTA there may be a problem with audio codec. It uses C-Media CM6501 7.1 while 939Dual-SATA2 uses Realtek 850 7.1channel AC'97 (which supports Win98SE/ME - http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/dlac97...;Software=True)

[rainyd]

Sorry ,Petr, I'm afraid you haven't read my previous post carefully enough.
For most if not all motherboard makers the Win9x family is dead (especially since July 11 when Microsoft officially ended support for those systems) what results in Win2000 as minimum requirement.
That's the reason that ASRock doesn't mention the drivers for Win98SE/ME.
This is not however the case of chipset makers:
http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageI...&CatID=1110 for 775Dual-VSTA
http://www.nvidia.co...li_drivers.html for 939Dual-SATA2 and 939Dual-VSTA (both on the same chipset)
In the case of 939Dual-VSTA there may be a problem with audio codec. It uses C-Media CM6501 7.1 while 939Dual-SATA2 uses Realtek 850 7.1channel AC'97 - http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/dlac97...p;Software=True

Sorry for posting twice.

This post has been edited by rainyd: 23 August 2006 - 07:30 AM

[Petr]

rainyd, on Aug 23 2006, 02:17 PM, said:

Sorry ,Petr, I'm afraid you haven't read my previous post carefully enough.
For most if not all motherboard makers the Win9x family is dead (especially since July 11 when Microsoft officially ended support for those systems) what results in Win2000 as minimum requirement.
That's the reason that ASRock doesn't mention the drivers for Win98SE/ME.

This is not the case of ASRock, as I wrote in my posts. Even for the newest motherboards, if it is Windows 98/ME compatible, it is written in the specification and there are drivers in the drivers section: http://www.asrock.co...p?Model=775i65G

939Dual-VSTA contains C-Media CM6501 7.1 channel audio compliant with UAA architecture
775Dual-VSTA contains Realtek ALC888 7.1channel audio CODEC with High Definition Audio

Both are not supported in Windows 98SE/Me.

Petr

[rainyd]

Petr, you're stuborn but so am I! Motherboard you've mentioned is not a good example: I don't know when it was released but its chipset was introduced in September 2003 (at that time Win98SE/ME was quite popular).
Btw, it's quite interesting that ASRock has removed drivers for 939Dual-SATA2 for Win98SE/ME (probably in relation with the upcoming release of Vista).
Both motherboards will work with Win98SE/ME when you use drivers of chipset makers but without integrated sound and in that respect you're right. Personally, I prefer using a "normal" sound card instead of built-in sound.
The quality of integrated sound has greatly improved over the last few years therefore for most of users it's satisfactory.