[userbinator]

A Pentium 233MMX is capable of DVD playback, so I think voice chat is definitely possible. I've worked on VoIP phones that had slower CPUs and they handled a SIP stack just fine.

A Pentium III 733MHz with 128MB RAM running Win98 works fine for (low-res) video chat. Been there, done that.

[jasongill]

> A Pentium 233MMX is capable of DVD playback

No they aren't. DVD playback on early systems was hardware based using an MPEG2 decoder (often included on the sound card that came packed in with the DVD drive, or on some video cards or dedicated MPEG decoder cards)

Software playback of DVD's on a Pentium MMX at 233mhz is going to be limited to single digit framerates, especially if you are trying to decode Dolby Digital or DTS audio as well

[johnisgood]

I know, but it is still not practical or suitable for functional use. Just to help you understand what I mean: obtaining such a CPU (with the rest of the compatible hardware) and obtain & install Windows 98 is not as straightforward these days. Sure it may be for me because I still have my old hardware, but still. And by the way (for another PC) I had to install Windows 11 because I had Windows 7 and all my programs stopped supporting it. Not practical either, sadly. I was forced to install Windows 11.

[ryao]

Install a Linux distribution and install your software in Wine.

[johnisgood]

I do use Linux (mainly).