A Learning Tool

Hi All
Thought I would build myself a VERY basic machine for me to put Win98 on so that I can learn more about fixing problems. We have 98 on the machines at work and as I am SUPPOSED to be responsible for them thought I had better learn a bit more. (Guts wise)
These are the parts I have chosen due to cheapness for the purpose.

Asrock Soa VIA KM266 MATX A V L Dabs QL 2D1S
This has onboard sound and graphics so no need for extra cards

Duron 1.6Ghz Socket A 266FSB Dabs QL 2S3J
W98 worked fine on less before in our old machine

Kingston Value RAM 128MB 184pin DIMM PC2100 DDR RAM Non Parity Dabs QL YY7
again w98 worked on half this in our old machine

AOpen SoA XP 2000+ for H340 Case Dabs QL 2LQL
Has pre applied grease so no mess to make

ATX Midi Tower 300W ATX12V AMD P4 Case Dabs QL 14WQ
Because it looks different to the last one I built

I know these are totaly Cheap C**P bits but to play with window I thought it would be ok.
Any comments more than welcome any advice even more welcome.
Stitch

 

That Duron 1.6...is that an Applebred? I'm not sure if you have to check with the mainboard mfr. on that for compatibility - assuming it is one.

The "cheapest" thing of all in your rig is not splurging for 256MB of memory. You might want to check on price differences between the 128MB and 256MB sticks. But Win98 will be fine on 128MB.

Gary

 

Agreed!
I would go for 256MB of memory. Then when you become "an expert" on W98 you can install XP and learn how to "break and fix" that one as well. XP will perform like a dog on 128MB. Even W2K will be sluggish.

 

Thanks for the reply guy's

Paul

Will look up the difference in price on this, good thought though about putting XP on at a later date.

Chiles

Not sure what you meen about this I presume you ment Apple computers. Didn't find any reference to apple in the specs though so I would hope its ok

Stitch

 

Hi stitch,

Had a look at the Asrock website. "SoA VIA KM266 MATX A V L" would appear to be a sales discription. The model is a K7VM2 REV3.

CPU/processor support for K7VM2:
http://www.asrock.com/support/CPU_Support/CPUSupport_K7VM2.htm
Supports "Applebred" Durons (no relation to Apple computers).

My comments would be that a VIA chipset would be a good selection for a bargain priced motherboard (you should install the VIA drivers as soon as the OS (Win98) is running).

Asrock support is fairly basic. I noted that the FAQ's are in .pdf files and you need to look through them month by month. There seems to be no "search" facilitity.

Might suggest a Gigabyte board if you think you may need better support.

Luck
Matt

 

Thanks for the input Mattman
Support for the motherboard is not something I had thought to much about at present. I am not putting a modem in this unit as at the moment it is only going to be used to play with windows. So will not be able to download straight to it. Not even going to be putting any other programs on unless we are haveing a problem with one at work then I will, just so I can play around with it.. As I only have an old 4gb HD won't get much on any way
PDF files are no problem if you go through as many as i do in a week you would understand that a few more will make no difference. (will still fall asleep half way through )
Stitch
PS Paul & Chiles, decided as you sugested to go for the 256mb Thanks

 

Pete
Thanks for the message. The mother board was on the dabs site at the weekend. Went ahead and ordered the bits after I posted details here and some of the others put their two pennis worth in. Should get the parts any day now so will have a new toy to play with. Good job kids are going away for a few days.
One thing I did notice and am glad I did as was suggested by Paul and went for the 256mb, the price went up by £12 in two days, glad my order was already in.
Stitch
PS the memmory that I put in the kids comp in january has gon from £26 to £47. I know the prices do fluctuate but that is heck of a lot.