'95-'99 PC Comparisons

     In an attempt to compare Personal Computer (PC) technology from November of 1998, when the Sega Dreamcast launched in Japan, through March 2000, when the Playstation 2 (PS2) launched in Japan, 3DMark 2000 and 2001 results will be posted in a multi-part comparison feature.  The test PC specifications are as follows:

P2B, P3B-F
Intel 440BX based Motherboards 1 2
 

Lifespan: 1998-2002 (P2B), 1999-2002 (P3B-F)3
CPUs Tested: Slot 1: Celeron 300A, PIII 500,
PIII 800E (P3B Only)
CPU Cache: 300A: 32KB L1, 128KB L2
PIII 500: 32KB L1, 512KB L2
PIII 800E: 32KB L1, 256KB L2
Co-Processors: BIOS: Award Modular 4.51PG (P2B) & Award Medallion 6.0 Revision 1008 Beta 004 (P3B-F)
Intel 82440BX ISA/PCI/AGP Set
:
100Mhz Front Side Bus (FSB)
North Bridge:
Intel 82443BX
South Bridge:
Intel 82371EB PIIX4E
IDE Controller:
Intel 82371AB/EB PCI Bus Master IDE
PCI Add-Ons:
Promise Ultra133 TX2 IDE
3Com EtherLink
ISA Add-Ons:
Creative SoundBlaster Awe64
Video Cards Tested: AGP/PCI:
Matrox Mystique 220 8MB, Matrox M3D 4MB PowerVR PCX2, Diamond Monster 3D Voodoo 4MB, Nvidia Riva TNT 16MB, 3dfx Voodoo 3 3500 16MB,
Diamond ViperV770 TNT2 Ultra 32MB, Geforce 256 32MB, GeForce2 MX/400 32MB, Hercules 3D Prophet 64MB,
Ati Radeon 7500 64MB
 Test Resolutions: 640x480, 1024x768
RAM: 256MB P2B, 320MB P3B-F PC100
RAM FSB Bandwidth: 64-bit,
800MB/s
Video RAM: 8MB-64MB
Video RAM Bandwidth:  
Audio RAM: 8KB
Colors On Screen:
VGA 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit RGB
Storage: Floppy Drive: GENERIC NEC
Disk Drive: MAXTOR 6 L080L4
(80 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/133) 4
Optical Drives: NEC NR-7900A (24x/10x/40x CD-RW)
LITEON DVD-ROM LTD163
(16x/48x DVD-ROM)

500:
Intel Warm Springs 440BX Proprietary PC

Lifespan: 1999-2000 5
CPUs Tested: Slot 1: PIII 500
CPU Cache: PIII 500: 32KB L1, 512KB L2
Co-Processors: BIOS: PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0
4W4SB0X0.15A.0012.P07
Intel 82440BX ISA/PCI/AGP Set:
100Mhz Front Side Bus (FSB)
North Bridge:
Intel 82443BX
South Bridge:
Intel 82371EB PIIX4E
On Board Audio:
Ensoniq Tabor2
PCI Add-Ons:
Promise Ultra133 IDE
Realtek RTL8169/8110 Family
Gigabit Ethernet
ISA Add-Ons:
Video Cards Tested: AGP/PCI:
Matrox Mystique 220 8MB PCI
Nvidia Riva TNT 16MB
3dfx Voodoo 3 16MB
Diamond ViperV770 TNT2 Ultra 32MB
Nvidia GeForce 2 MX/400 32MB
Ati Radeon 7500 64MB
Test Resolutions: 640x480, 1024x768
RAM: 256MB PC133 @ 100Mhz
1 256MB SDRAM DIMM
 
RAM FSB Bandwidth: 64-bit,
800MB/s
Video RAM: 8MB-64MB
Video RAM Bandwidth:  
Audio RAM: 64 KB
Colors On Screen:
VGA 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit RGB
Storage: Floppy Drive:  GENERIC NEC
Disk Drives:  WDC AC31 3500D
(13.4 GB, 5400 RPM, EIDE) 6
WDC WD10 2AA
(10.2 GB, 5400 RPM, EIDE) 7
Optical Drive: HP CD-Writer+ 9300 (10x/4x/24x CD-RW)

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

Video Comparisons and Benchmarks

     Here are some videos of PC benchmarks from '98-'99 hardware. They were recorded in an ongoing process to document all of the hardware, and their respective performance, owned locally. Eventually this may result in a comprehensive video comparison or each CPU and Graphics card that has been archived here, along with a comparison when applicable to Console ports of the same games.

 

  1. 1. Asus P2B Manual
  2. 2. Asus P3B-F Manual
  3. 3. Span from initial release year to year of final bios revision.
  4. 4. http://www.seagate.com/support/internal-hard-drives/desktop-hard-drives/...
  5. 5. Span from initial release year to year of final bios revision.
  6. 6. http://www.wdc.com/en/products/legacy/Legacy.asp?r=1
  7. 7. http://www.wdc.com/en/products/legacy/Legacy.asp?r=2