Asrock dual motherboards with Windows 98 SE/ME
Asrock dual motherboards with Windows 98 SE/ME
There exist several Asrock Dual boards featuring both PCI-E and AGP interfaces: 1. 4CoreDual-SATA2 (R2.0). 2. 4CoreDual-VSTA. 3. 775Dual-880Pro. 4. 775Dual-915GL. 5. 775Dual-915GV. 6. 775Dual-VSTA. 7. 939Dual-SATA2. 8. 939Dual-VSTA. 9. ALiveDual-eSATA2. 10. P4Dual-880Pro. 11. P4Dual-915GL. Because of these dual capabilities, they're ideal for Windows 98/XP dual-booting. However, only the 775Dual-880Pro and P4Dual-880Pro offer official support for Windows 98(SE)/ME, along with compatible drivers. Others in the list may still work, though some users report uncertainty about full compatibility or missing features. The ALiveDual-eSATA2 stands out as the most powerful option, but I’m unsure if it supports Windows 98(SE)/ME without compromising essential functionality. Many claim it works fine, but I need definitive confirmation before making a decision. Would anyone know if this board can run Windows 98(SE)/ME smoothly and retain all necessary features?
The BIOS should work well with two GPUs. If you have an older AGP card, it probably has both 98 and XP drivers available. You can create an AGP setup that supports both. However, having two GPUs might mean a costly board and extra hassle. It’s usually better to build one machine optimized for performance rather than trying to fit both.
Back then, I thought about possible IRQ and memory conflicts, especially since many late AGP cards like the 6600GT used a PCIe to AGP controller inside the card. Motherboards didn’t mention AGP or PCIe, only DDR or DDR2 RAM. The coolers looked really basic on those cards, so I doubt pairing a PCIe card with an AGP one would work well. Interestingly, I still have my GPU but broke my motherboard trying to remove thermal paste. That was the first time I messed up the socket pins—it was a lesson in fragility.
Finding Windows 98 drivers for newer Nvidia GPUs is quite unreliable. I recently encountered this issue and had to switch to an MX4000 from a 6200LE, which had a very poor driver support for 98. The GPU I last used on 98 was the Radeon 8500LE, and I think I was already running XP when I got the FX 5700.
Please don't spam in here! Stick to the topic and original questions posted! Keep those unrelated posts to yourself! I want answers to those very specific questions asked! I know that they are hard so if you do not now the answers, then don't post other useless stuff just because you don't know the answer!
others rarely discuss this topic and won't share the details either. It's up to you to see if it functions properly. Will the driver support it depends on which one is installed, and just because a driver claims compatibility for 98 doesn't guarantee it will. You might need a different driver to get it to work, even if it's not officially supported. I built a system with DDR3 and it caused a lot of trouble. Maybe it's better to switch to a more stable option like P4.
I owned many of these boards initially. They were all faulty. You must stick to either DDR2 or DDR1 together, never mix them. You can't run a PCI-E card with an AGP card simultaneously; choose one or the other. For the S939 boards, the "future CPU" expansion slot is ineffective. These are likely gone now. They function well with Windows XP but may cause problems with Windows 98. Keep in mind that using the 98 installer requires a floppy disk—not a USB stick—and you need the appropriate drivers installed. Luckily, the installer should recognize them. You might also need USB drivers and a PS/2 keyboard. If you really aim for dual booting XP and 98, it’s not worth it—pick one or the other. The best option is something like an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe or similar; these are rare Socket A boards with SATA ports. You’ll get solid performance from an Athlon XP with dual-channel DDR and SATA, enough power for both OSes, and you can run everything on a compact 2.5" SSD. VIA models like the A7V work too, but I found VIA chipsets to be unreliable. Windows 98 is outdated, while XP offers far more stability and fewer headaches. Windows 98 SE was great until XP arrived, after which I discarded my 98 discs in 2001 when I got a bootleg copy and never looked back. Probably because you haven’t used 95 or 98 much, you won’t mind the hassle like I did. So if you’re not familiar with those systems, it’s best to skip them entirely. That’s my $0.02 CDN on this topic.