Average 1998-ish era computer specs

Hi,

some links where you can read about some components of that time:

CPU:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_K6-2

GPU:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIVA_TNT

Hihi, used two of these in SLI for a looong time:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voodoo2

RAM:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SDRAM



To sum it up, a decent compy around 1998/early 1999 could look likte this:

400Mhz P2
64mb sdram running at 100 mhz
one or two voodoo 2 cards (90mhz core, 8 or 12 mb EDO VRAM)
a 2D card (voodoo 2 was a 3d accelerator only)
ATA-2 HD

Sometime around 1999 I built an Intel Pentium III 600Mhz system with 128mb of RAM, an IBM Deskstar hard drive, a Plextor cd-rom drive, and a Sony 3.5 inch floppy disk drive.

In 2000 I signed up for internet service via satellite. I can't remember the name of the service but at the time it was a speed demon compared to a 56K telephone dial-up modem.

I still got my old rigs but one I keep running for nostalgia. k6-2 500 (550 on crap board) 320mb ram, 15gb drive, DFI board, last but not least is my voodoo 3 2k card pci (cool I might pop it in my main rig if I can find home brew vista 32 drivers). I sometimes play Drakan Order of the flame in glide mode on it and some times aoe2 since it is a glitch out with on modern drivers.

I remember 1998 specifically and I was running a pretty average rig. I remember it well because it was a major step-up in 1997 from my previous rig, a home-built 486DX 50MHz machine. The new computer was an IBM Aptiva machine purchased from Best Buy in December of 1997 for just under $2000 and would represent a typical upper-mid level off the shelf machine for the time:

Intel Klamath Pentium II 266MHz
32MB RAM (SIMMs)
4GB HDD storage
ATI Rage Pro 3D card w/ 2MB vRAM.
CD-ROM drive
56k dial-up modem on an AOL subscription with a set number of minutes online
Windows 95

I don't know if that thing could check web based email today but I'm sure it could run Starcraft ok.

I never ran Starcraft on that Pent.II but I did play it (a lot) on a Macintosh G3 and G4 running OS 9 with great results. Never had a problem.

Intel Klamath Pentium II 266MHz
32MB RAM (SIMMs)
4GB HDD storage
ATI Rage Pro 3D card w/ 2MB vRAM.
CD-ROM drive
56k dial-up modem on an AOL subscription with a set number of minutes online
Windows 95


Those were good rigs back in the day when upgraded to 96mb and a voodoo card then it was heaven. I finally managed to track down a near mint copy of Blade Runner the game for the pc. Playing it now on a v3 2k card.  

Wow, i think 500 mhz was about average, did you think about maybe installing it in a virtual pc, running windows 98 or something

I will eventually make use of vmware when I finally take the time to learn more about Linux and hackentosh but for vintage games going retro has the best results since it is more stable than emulation. Note voodoo 3 and above run hot, the 2k card I got has a mofet that heats up like nothing I have seen in any card hell cooling my 8800gtx and my 9800gt were easy.