Modern Windows XP x64 Motherboards

[Megaweapon]

Windows XP haters:  Make your own thread.  Opinions on the (de)merits of XP (or any other OS) are off-topic in this one.

I know that full GroovyMAME support for newer Windows versions is approaching, but not everyone can wait.  So as it is getting harder to find XP-compatible hardware (and determining compatibility level can be a chore) I figured a thread with this info might be useful:

Mini-ITX
GIGABYTE GA-H77N-WIFI - Drivers for everything except USB 3.0
EVGA Z77 Stinger - Drivers for everything except network (?)

ATX
GIGABYTE GA-Z68AP-D3(R2.0) - Full support (from 2012 though, so not so modern...)

Post your additions...

[adder]

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,135517.0.html

[krick]

I think this was an important post from the other thread that may have gotten lost in the shuffle.

The important bit is that he's running Windows XP and using an Intel driver chipset distribution specifically intended for Intel-branded motherboards even though his board is not made by Intel.

Note that the driver package supports the following Haswell chipsets based on the Intel boards listed.
Consumer Chipsets: Z87, H87 (but maybe not H81, though his board is an H81, so I guess it is supported)
Business Chipsets: Q87, B85 (but maybe not Q85)

I just picked up MSI H81M-E33 motherboard with a G3220 Haswell 1150 CPU and installed Windows XP 32bit and 64 bit. So far it's running great. I used these links for the drivers

Chipset Drivers: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=23061
Intel Management Drivers: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=22092&keyword=intel+management+engine&DownloadType=Drivers&lang=eng
Realtek Ethernet: http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=13&PFid=5&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false
Realtek HD Audio: http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

I didn't bother looking for drivers for the Intel Smart Connect, since it is unnecessary. All it does is connect to the internet while the PC is asleep and update drivers and programs for you.

[zebidia]

Hi all.

Just a quick note to warn anyone putting together a new PC for the purpose of installing MAME (any flavour): If you're intending to use Windows XP 32/64, be aware that some (many?) current generation motherboards do not support XP at all.

I purchased an Asus H97M-E board with a Core i5 CPU, and after many hours trying to get various versions of Win XP 32/64 to install, I finally gave up. The basic problem is that the Windows installer fairly quickly reports that the BIOS is not fully ACPI compliant, and halts with a BSOD. I tried all the tricks other people suggested on various sites (none specific to my hardware, mind), as well as a trick or two of my own (not least of which was installing XP 64 to a virtual machine -- specifically, VirtualBox -- then 'sysprep'ing the image to put it back to OOBE state, then imaging the VM with Clonezilla, then writing the image to my real drive... this failed too: Booting the OS in safe mode shows the boot process stalling/crashing when loading module 'acpitabl').

Truth be told, I would prefer a GroovyArcade installation, simply for the speedy boot time afforded by a thumb drive installation, but after reading Calamity's reports about ArchLinux control inputs being two to three times slower than Windows, I opted for a Windows install. Due to my new PC hardware, it looks like Windows 7 is my only path forward.

[krick]

Just a quick note to warn anyone putting together a new PC for the purpose of installing MAME (any flavour): If you're intending to use Windows XP 32/64, be aware that some (many?) current generation motherboards do not support XP at all.

From what I understand, the last motherboard chipset that supported XP to any extent was the Intel Z87 chipset (for Haswell CPUs).  I've seen that some manufacturers have even released BIOS updates to their Z87 motherboards to support "Haswell Refresh" CPUs including the i7-4790K.

Some info on drivers for Z87 boards...  http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,139890.0.html

The basic problem is that the Windows installer fairly quickly reports that the BIOS is not fully ACPI compliant, and halts with a BSOD.

I'm not surprised about this, but just to be sure...

Are you using a clean retail copy of XP x64 or are you using one of the various illegal copies that are floating around the net?

Have you tried slipstreaming SP2 and all the post-SP2 updates into a new install CD using nLite?

SP2
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=17791

5eraph's post-SP2 Update Pack
http://www.ryanvm.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6400

nLite
http://www.nliteos.com/


Also, this *could* be related.  I had issues installing Windows XP on a drive with a pre-aligned partition created with a Windows 7 disk.   It would install, but eventually at one point where it restarts as part of the install, it would blue screen.  EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.  I ended up having to create the partitions (un-aligned) during the install using the XP disc.  Then after the install was complete, I used a gparted live cd to shift the partition into alignment.  Described in this thread...  http://www.mameworld.info/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Number=289885

[haynor666]

The last chipset that supports XP is 8 serie. I have Asus H81M-E with G3258 and I succesfully installed Windows XP x64. It was exactly this one - en_win_xp_pro_x64_with_sp2_vl_x13-41611.
All I have installed later was DirectX June 2010, exFAT (KB955704) support and Autorun fix (KB967715) but for MAME none of these KBs are actually needed. in the past I used microcode update (KB936357) but I never see any differences in speed both in MAME and programs that measure speed of PC.
There is still one problem that I didn't solved so far - slow video performance of Radeon 4350 when I compare the same configuration versus windows 7 x64.

EDIT. Also Model2 has under XP x64 and above hardware serious issue - sound skipping.

[Calamity]

I've moved the above three posts because they belong here and contain valuable information.

[krick]

I just picked up an ASUS Z87M-PLUS motherboard to experiment with.

I'm going to try to install Windows XP Professional x64 Edition on it once the rest of my parts get here, which includes an unlocked Intel Pentium G3258 "Anniversary Edition" CPU (Haswell).

I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

[haynor666]

You are using Radeon 4350 ?

[krick]

I have a Radeon X600 XT and a Radeon HD 4550 available for experimentation.

[adder]

I have a Radeon X600 XT and a Radeon HD 4550 available for experimentation.

hey krick you might have the same thing i and others have encountered when you use a 4550 with crt emudriver, it will probably detect it as a 4350, but apparantly it's not a problem and doesnt cause any issues, here:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=123037.0
(actually, you feature in that thread anyway )

[krick]

There is still one problem that I didn't solved so far - slow video performance of Radeon 4350 when I compare the same configuration versus windows 7 x64.

What is your method of measuring performance problems?  mame -bench 90  ?
Which GroovyMAME resolution option...   normal / magic / super  ?

I can try both Windows 7 64-bit  AND  XP x64 Edition  on this hardware to see if I can reproduce the performance issues if you give me specifics on how you did your testing.


It's probably going to take me few days of tinkering to put together an XP x64 image with the proper SATA drivers slipstreamed.  I'll also probably slipstream the onboard NIC driver as well because that always makes setting up stuff easier when you can get to the network/Internet.

[haynor666]

Everything is here -> http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,143085.0.html