Win98SE, Via chipsets, and Nvidia video cards . . .

Anybody had problems with VIA chipsets and Nvidia video cards when using Windows98SE?

My setup is on a BIOSTAR U8668D motherboard with "newer" components (Celeron 1.8ghz processor, 266 DDR ram, and 120GB main drive with an 80GB secondary drive, both Western Digital). After running a graphics-intensive game or app I keep having to restart the system to get the full ability of the card - an MSI Geforce 5200 128mb.

I have another system with a VIA chipset and the same video card (HP Athalon system - my wife's PC) that is running XP home that does not suffer this problem.

I have tried both the drivers indicated for Win98, and newer drivers for the video card . . . nothing changes for better or worse. Ditto for the mainboard AGP drivers. I've tried many different combinations.

Not a big problem . . . this is a test rig I threw together - I bought the Biostar mainboard because it was the only one in my price range that supported the hardware (ram and CPU) from an old eMachines PC that the mainboard fried on. I had the nVidia card on hand.

Just wondering. A Win98 issue?

 

The short answer is no.

I dual boot 98SE/XP on a three systems, 2 MSI boards with the Via KT333 chipset and 1 with an Asus K8T800Pro Via chipset.

All systems are running Nvdia cards randing from the GF4 Ti4400 to GF6 6800.

I have no issues with the Via, Nvidia, 98SE combination.

In fact on my Asus I am running win98se with 1Gb of ram and all completely stable.

One of the key issues is of course the choise of 4-1 Via driver when using 98SE. For older HW systems use v4.35 for newer HW 4.42 (check this on the via site). Another issue is the VGA driver used, don't go for the latest Forceware driver. My instinct for a 5200 would be a driver in the 5x.xx range.

One thing puzzles me though you talk about Via, Nvidia and 98se, then you state that your cpu is

If your cpu is a Celeron ie Intel, then a Via chipset would certainly does not feature.

Good Luck

 

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]
One thing puzzles me though you talk about Via, Nvidia and 98se, then you state that your cpu is

Quote:
Celeron 1.8ghz processor
If your cpu is a Celeron ie Intel, then a Via chipset would certainly does not feature.
[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Not sure what you mean about the CPU and VIA chipsets . . . is there a compatability problem between VIA P4M266 and Celeron processors? If so - could that cause the kind of issue I have?[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As far as the VIA drivers go, I tried both the 4in1 recomended for Win98, and the newer release - with no noticeable difference in the problem or overall performance. Same with the nVidia drivers, though I did end up using one of the older versions.[/FONT]

Here are some Everest specs of the system in question

--------[ EVEREST Home Edition (c) 2003-2005 Lavalys, Inc. ]------------------------------------------------------------

Version EVEREST v2.20.405
Homepage http://www.lavalys.com/
Report Type Quick Report
Computer XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Generator XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Operating System Microsoft Windows 98 SE 4.10.2222A (Win98 SE)
Date 2006-12-01
Time 00:59


--------[ Summary ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows 98 SE
OS Service Pack -
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
User Name xxxxxxxxxxx

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Celeron, 1800 MHz (18 x 100)
Motherboard Name VIARAMA U8668 (Pro) (3 PCI, 1 AGP, 1 CNR, 2 SDR DIMM, 2 DDR DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN)
Motherboard Chipset VIA VT8751 Apollo P4M266
System Memory 768 MB (DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Award (09/22/05)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
3D Accelerator nVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Monitor Plug and Play Monitor [NoDB] (F6EQ58176011U)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller

Storage:
IDE Controller Primary IDE controller (dual fifo)
IDE Controller Secondary IDE controller (dual fifo)
IDE Controller VIA Bus Master PCI IDE Controller
Floppy Drive GENERIC NEC FLOPPY DISK
Disk Drive GENERIC IDE DISK TYPE47
Disk Drive GENERIC IDE DISK TYPE47
Optical Drive SONY DVD RW DW-Q120A
Optical Drive SONY DVD-ROM DDU1615 (16x/48x DVD-ROM)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

 

Well, I never did figure it out . . . but . . .

I broke down and convinced my lovely and long suffering wife I really needed to buy Windows XP for a computer I really don't use all that much . . .

Thing is, there is no problem with XP like there was with Win98SE. I'm using the same motherboard drivers that I used for Win98 (The 4 in 1 set that is reccomended for Win98SE, as well as 2000, XP, etc.), and the exact hardware configuration. The only possible difference as far as a driver goes would be the video card - as I am using the default driver that loads with XP for now . . . but I used several different nVidia releases (including a default Microsoft one), and none had any effect on the problem. So I don't think it was totally a driver issue, nor a hardware one . . . Perhaps it was the way the hardware and/or the drivers related to Win98SE? Maybe evil spirits? Whatever it was, I couldn't make the configuration work well with Win98 no matter what I tried - but XP lets it all work like a racehorse using the default set up and drivers.

I know, I know - XP is a much better, more sophisticated OS . . . but darn it, there oughta be a way around this problem using Win98! It still bugs me, and will for a while . . .