9700 Pro and win98se

[dummy2001]

I'm looking at vid cards on ebay, the 9700pro in many listings has cut and pasted specs saying it supports only ME and above. I can find some retail listings that say it supports 98 and some that don't. I can also find retail listing for 9700pro AIW and 9800 that say they support win98, and it seems like if ME is compatible then win98 should be too. I will email ATI, but can anyone confirm or deny from experience ATI built 9700pro and win98se compatibility? Thanks.

 

[Art Vandalay]

update your OS. why use a high end card with an OS thats 7 years old?

 

[dummy2001]

Can I get an answer to the question I actually asked please. I am content with 98 for what I do. If modern cards are less efficient with 98 that is relevant, but my understanding is that XP actually has a small performance hit vs 98. If anyone has reliable information about this I would appreciate it.

 

[BlueWeasel]

I can't verify it, but I did a quick search and everything I saw said WinME or above. Granted, you should be able to use the WinME drivers in Win98SE with no problems, but I'd email ATI just to make sure.

 

[VIAN]

There are new drivers available for win98 so I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't be compatible.

I don't think that's true with 98 having better performance.

 

[dguy6789]

Originally posted by: dummy2001
Can I get an answer to the question I actually asked please. I am content with 98 for what I do. If modern cards are less efficient with 98 that is relevant, but my understanding is that XP actually has a small performance hit vs 98. If anyone has reliable information about this I would appreciate it.

Yes it will work. Now onto this issue. If your computer is not fast enough to handle windows xp, then what makes you think it could handle a 9700 pro? Windows xp would be slower on say, a 300mhz computer with less then 256MB of ram. If your system is any faster then that, you should use windows xp. It is OH SO MUCH more stable.

 

[rbV5]

9700 win98 drivers

 

[dummy2001]

Thanks for the replies and driver links. It definitely seems like it ought to work, I'm just trying to get some confirmation before I consider a used purchase. My computer has an xp2000 and 512mb ddr ram so I think it can make use of a 9700p, though I guess it will be cpu limited. Anyway what card I get is still being researched, I am in a gathering information mode.

As far as the OS goes, I did not intend to have an OS debate here. I find 98se to be plenty stable for me, if it gets buggy I have ghost images with all my core applications and updates that I can restore in 20 minutes or so. The computers at my work are XP and are a lot more trouble, mainly because they're poorly maintained, but it also feels like XP picks up a lot more crap off the internet because it is the primary target. If someone knows performance or other significant reasons why I might want to pay $100 or more for XP to duplicate what 98se does for me I'm open to listening, but the fact that 98 is old does not by itself convince me.

 

[VIAN]

Windows XP is cheap enough, only less than 100 bucks online. And it is much easier, possibly faster with these new softwares and hardwares, and it is more secure as Windows XP gets updates and 98 doesn't. 98 is no longer supported by Microsoft.

 

[Marsumane]

In short, yes. You can further research this on www.ati.com

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: dummy2001
I'm looking at vid cards on ebay, the 9700pro in many listings has cut and pasted specs saying it supports only ME and above. I can find some retail listings that say it supports 98 and some that don't. I can also find retail listing for 9700pro AIW and 9800 that say they support win98, and it seems like if ME is compatible then win98 should be too. I will email ATI, but can anyone confirm or deny from experience ATI built 9700pro and win98se compatibility? Thanks.

Yeah, I can confirm it works. I usually run the rig in my sig with 98se. If a 9800 pro will run fine with 98se, a 9700pro will too.

Fern

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: VIAN
Windows XP is cheap enough, only less than 100 bucks online. And it is much easier, possibly faster with these new softwares and hardwares, and it is more secure as Windows XP gets updates and 98 doesn't. 98 is no longer supported by Microsoft.

Support for win98se has been extended untill June of 2006

 

[Fern]

If someone knows performance or other significant reasons why I might want to pay $100 or more for XP to duplicate what 98se does for me I'm open to listening, but the fact that 98 is old does not by itself convince me.

I've researched ad nauseum, winXP is not faster than win98se in gaming. ALL benchies show that one or the other has a slight advantage/disadvantage in this or that game. The differences in FPS are fractional and w/i the margin of error.

Fern

BTW, the only reason I'm on win2k pro Sp4 ATM is because I had to switch to play D3.

 

[dummy2001]

Thanks to all the individuals who make anandtech forums greater than the sum of its parts.

 

[Killrose]

9700's run great with Win98se, mine alway's ran great. I bought a 6800 Limited Ed. and the Win98 drivers are absolutely crap. I had to up-grade to WinXP just to keep the card, there were so many problems

 

[BFG10K]

It should run fine with the WinME drivers.

but my understanding is that XP actually has a small performance hit vs 98

Nope, XP is actually faster than 98SE for gaming.