Windows 9x Builds - Revision history

D1stortion: /* Operating System */

2013-03-04T03:29:35Z

‎Operating System

Idspispopd: /* 3D Card */

2013-03-02T13:51:09Z

‎3D Card

D1stortion at 02:13, 21 February 2013

2013-02-21T02:13:30Z

D1stortion: /* Hardware */

2013-02-21T01:42:15Z

‎Hardware

Enigma at 21:28, 20 February 2013

2013-02-20T21:28:49Z

Michael Dale at 10:15, 19 February 2013

2013-02-19T10:15:06Z

Swaaye at 22:06, 18 February 2013

2013-02-18T22:06:25Z

Swaaye at 22:04, 18 February 2013

2013-02-18T22:04:17Z

Swaaye at 21:27, 18 February 2013

2013-02-18T21:27:07Z

Swaaye: Created page with "== Hardware == === CPU / Motherboard Platform === A popular target is the Intel 440BX motherboard combined with a supported CPU, which can include up to a Pentium 3 "Tualatin"..."

2013-02-18T21:25:46Z

Created page with "== Hardware == === CPU / Motherboard Platform === A popular target is the Intel 440BX motherboard combined with a supported CPU, which can include up to a Pentium 3 "Tualatin"..."

New page

== Hardware ==
=== CPU / Motherboard Platform ===
A popular target is the Intel 440BX motherboard combined with a supported CPU, which can include up to a Pentium 3 "Tualatin" with some motherboards.

Some people prefer to maintain period authenticity by using hardware from the time. However, it is possible to run Windows 9x on newer hardware, up to some Core 2 boards using Intel 865 or Athlon 64 boards with K8T800. By running such fast hardware, you eliminate potential CPU bottlenecks and there are numerous games that can benefit from this.

If 3.3v AGP support is required, for example to use 3dfx Voodoo5, the VIA KT333 chipset is the top performing choice.

=== 2D Card ===
Matrox cards are often considered good choices as a companion for Voodoo3. They have sharp output.

NVIDIA cards are a somewhat risky choice in that the quality of the boards vary a lot. They are all very fast accelerators, but the output quality varies from blurry mess to razor sharp depending on the manufacturing quality.

Voodoo Banshee through Voodoo5 have high performance GUI accelerators and typically have sharp output as well.

S3 cards such as Trio64 and the various ViRGE chips are adequate GUI cards, but they often don't maintain sharp output at high resolutions.

3DLabs Permedia 2 cards like Diamond FireGL 1000 Pro are often sharp and they are fast. These were low-end CAD cards and so may be likely to have maintained a certain quality level.

=== 3D Card ===
The can't-go-wrong choices are the 3dfx Voodoo 2-5 cards. Games from the time were often designed around 3dfx hardware features, even Direct3D and OpenGL games. Glide support is of course very common in games of the day. Some D3D games use features like 8-bit paletted textures and table fog which are 3dfx-related features that not all other cards support/emulate.

NVIDIA GeForce 256 through FX cards make good choices too because they support the popular features of the time. They also have exceptional OpenGL support. Note that RIVA TNT/TNT2 and GeForce 6 lack paletted texture support.

ATI cards are best avoided because they do not support table fog or 8-bit paletted textures.

There are of course other obscure cards that have some interesting games accessible through proprietary APIs, such as Rendition Verite cards and Diamond Edge3D.

=== Sound Cards ===
Typically you should look at Aureal Vortex 2, Creative Sound Blaster Live! or Audigy. Vortex 2 supports A3D 2.0 and some games use it to great effect. Creative cards get you quality EAX support and some games do use that well, and Aureal cards do not emulate it properly.

== Software ==
=== Operating System ===
Windows 9x encompasses Windows 95, Windows 98(SE) and Windows Millennium.

*Windows 95 essentially lacks support for AGP and USB and so isn't useful unless that hardware isn't needed. Windows 95 is lighter weight than 98 though and is very fast.

*Windows 98's original release is unrefined so it's best to use Second Edition (98SE).

*Windows Millennium has numerous advancements over 98SE but it also has some limitations and quirks that cause people to prefer 98SE.

@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 There are also more exotic cards from the dawn of 3D hardware acceleration. Those cards manufacturers introduced proprietary APIs that some early 3D games have specific support for.
-[http://vogons.zetafleet.com/viewtopic.php?t=33483 Comprehensive overview at Vogons]
+[http://vogons.zetafleet.com/viewtopic.php?t=33483 Comprehensive overview at Vogons], also integrated into the wiki: [[List of games supporting proprietary APIs]]
 === Sound Cards ===

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 == Hardware ==
-In 1996 Windows 95 was beginning to take over the role MS-DOS previously had as the preferred PC gaming platform, since the release of DirectX made fast paced 2D games more easily programmable for developers. While the OS can theoretically run on a processor as slow as a 386, popular games like Diablo and Starcraft had required specifications of P60-P90 systems with at least 16 MB of RAM. A high-end 486 will run these particular games as well. This defines the entry level hardware for a Windows9x gaming build.
+In 1996 Windows 95 was beginning to take over the role MS-DOS previously had as the preferred PC gaming platform, since the release of DirectX made fast paced 2D games more easily programmable for developers. While the OS has a 386 as the minimum requirement, popular games like Diablo and Starcraft had required specifications of P60-P90 systems with at least 16 MB of RAM. A high-end 486 will run these particular games as well. This defines the entry level hardware for a Windows9x gaming build.
 In retrospect one can say that Windows 98SE is the most refined Windows 9x while still being compatible with earlier versions.
 It is more comfortable to setup due to Windows Driver Model (WDM), FAT32, AGP, P6, better USB support and other minor enhancements which make it overall more stable than its predecessor.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 == Hardware ==
-While Windows95 already runs on a 386 it was not until around 1996 when popular games like Diablo and Starcraft appeared requiring Windows9x. While both games already run on a high end 486 recommended hardware were low end Pentium systems with about 32 MB RAM. At this time DirectX 3 as gaming API was released and allowed fast paced 2D games. This defines the entry level hardware for a Windows9x gaming build.
+In 1996 Windows 95 was beginning to take over the role MS-DOS previously had as the preferred PC gaming platform, since the release of DirectX made fast paced 2D games more easily programmable for developers. While the OS can theoretically run on a processor as slow as a 386, popular games like Diablo and Starcraft had required specifications of P60-P90 systems with at least 16 MB of RAM. A high-end 486 will run these particular games as well. This defines the entry level hardware for a Windows9x gaming build.
-In retrospect it shows that Windows 98SE is the most refined Windows 9x while still being compatible with earlier versions.
+In retrospect one can say that Windows 98SE is the most refined Windows 9x while still being compatible with earlier versions.
-It is more comfortable to setup due to Windows Driver Model (WDM), FAT32, AGP and better USB support.
+It is more comfortable to setup due to Windows Driver Model (WDM), FAT32, AGP, P6, better USB support and other minor enhancements which make it overall more stable than its predecessor.
 === CPU / Motherboard Platform ===
@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 Most games scale well with faster CPUs, so picking the latest CPU/mainboard components with Windows 9x support usually does not emerge problems. This allows to play most games of the Windows 9x era on one system.
-Some people prefer to maintain period authenticity by using hardware from the time. A popular target is an Intel 440BX motherboard combined with a supported CPU, which can be up to a Pentium III "Tualatin" with some motherboards. Another popular target is a K6-2 through K6-3+ combined with a Ali1541 chipset mainboard and f.e. a 3dfx Voodoo3 graphics card.
+Some people prefer to maintain period authenticity by using hardware from the time. A popular target is an Intel 440BX motherboard combined with a supported CPU, which can be up to a Pentium III "Tualatin" with some motherboards. Another popular target is a K6-2 through K6-3+ combined with a Ali1541 chipset mainboard and e.g. a 3dfx Voodoo3 graphics card.
 However, it is possible to run Windows 9x on newer hardware, up to some Core 2 boards using Intel 865 or Athlon 64 boards with VIA K8T800. By running such fast hardware, potential CPU bottlenecks are eliminated and there are numerous games that benefit from this. Few Win9x games respond problematic to faster CPUs.
 The pool of possible hardware combination could be lowered due to limitation of selected hardware.
-f.e. a 3dfx Voodoo5 AGP card requires 3.3 V AGP, where a VIA KT333 chipset is the top performing choice on an AMD platform.
+Voodoo5 AGP requires a 3.3V AGP slot, therefore a VIA KT333 chipset is the top performing choice on an AMD platform.
 === 2D Card ===
@@ Line 40: / Line 39: @@
 === Sound Cards ===
-Typically you should look at Aureal Vortex 2, Creative Sound Blaster Live! or Audigy. Vortex 2 supports A3D 2.0 and some games use it to great effect. Creative cards get you quality EAX support and some games do use that well, and Aureal cards do not emulate it properly.
+For PCI cards with best possible sound extension support, typically you should look at Aureal Vortex 2, Creative Sound Blaster Live! or Audigy. Vortex 2 supports A3D 2.0 and some games use it to great effect. Creative cards get you quality EAX support and some games do use that well, and Aureal cards do not emulate it properly.
 == Software ==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[File:Win9x game rig.jpg|thumb|Win9x Bench Setup]]
+[[File:Win9x bench setup.jpg|thumb|250px|Win9x Bench Setup]]
 == Hardware ==
 === CPU / Motherboard Platform ===

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:04, 18 February 2013
Line 1:		Line 1:
		+	[[File:Win9x game rig.jpg\|thumb\|Win9x Bench Setup]]
	== Hardware ==		== Hardware ==
	=== CPU / Motherboard Platform ===		=== CPU / Motherboard Platform ===

@@ Line 45: / Line 45: @@
 == Software ==
 === Operating System ===
 Windows 9x encompasses Windows 95, Windows 98(SE) and Windows Millennium.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[File:Win9x bench setup.jpg|thumb|250px|Win9x Bench Setup]]
 == Hardware ==
 === CPU / Motherboard Platform ===
-However, it is possible to run Windows 9x on newer hardware, up to some Core 2 boards using Intel 865 or Athlon 64 boards with VIA K8T800. By running such fast hardware, you eliminate potential CPU bottlenecks and there are numerous games that can benefit from this. Few Win9x games respond negatively to faster CPUs.
+Most games scale well with faster CPUs, so picking the latest CPU/mainboard components with Windows 9x support usually does not emerge problems. This allows to play most games of the Windows 9x era on one system.
 === 2D Card ===
@@ Line 20: / Line 30: @@
 === 3D Card ===
-The can't-go-wrong choices are the 3dfx Voodoo 2-5 cards. Games from the time were often designed around 3dfx hardware features, even Direct3D and OpenGL games. Glide support is of course very common in games of the day. Some D3D games use features like 8-bit paletted textures and table fog which are 3dfx-related features that not all other cards support/emulate.
+The can't-go-wrong choices are the 3dfx Voodoo 2-5 cards. Games from the time were often designed around 3dfx hardware features, even Direct3D and OpenGL games. Glide support is of course very common in games of the day. Some Direct3D games use features like 8-bit paletted textures and table fog which are 3dfx-related features that not all other cards support/emulate.
-NVIDIA GeForce 256 through FX cards make good choices too because they support the popular features of the time. They also have exceptional OpenGL support. Note that RIVA TNT/TNT2 and GeForce 6 lack paletted texture support.
+NVIDIA GeForce 256 through FX cards are good choices too because they support the popular features of the time as TnL. They also have exceptional OpenGL support. Note that RIVA TNT/TNT2 and GeForce 6 lack paletted texture support.
 ATI cards are best avoided because they do not support table fog or 8-bit paletted textures.
-There are of course other obscure cards that have some interesting games accessible through proprietary APIs, such as Rendition Verite cards and Diamond Edge3D.
+There are also more exotic cards from the dawn of 3D hardware acceleration. Those cards manufacturers introduced proprietary APIs that some early 3D games have specific support for.
 === Sound Cards ===

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 === 2D Card ===
-Matrox cards are often considered good choices as a companion for Voodoo3. They have sharp output.
+Matrox cards are often considered good choices as a companion for a Voodoo 1 or 2. They have sharp output.
 NVIDIA cards are a somewhat risky choice in that the quality of the boards vary a lot. They are all very fast accelerators, but the output quality varies from blurry mess to razor sharp depending on the manufacturing quality.