WinXP retro gaming PC

[Grimm Gaming]

Hey there,

 

So I'm looking at getting an older PC up and running to play some older games and I'd like some advice.

 

I'm looking at core 2 quad machines and from what I've seen in a quick search it looks like I might need to buy a graphics card to give my games the best chance at running well.

 

I will need a graphics card with a HDMI out as my capture box (avermedia lgplite) has HDMI pass through.

 

What are your thoughts? Is the core 2 quad a decent cpu for WinXP (and compatibility mode) gaming? I'm guessing 4gb ram should be decent enough? And what would you suggest as a suitable GPU?

 

I don't have a price in mind rn as I'm just looking into it but as it's for much older games I'm not looking to spend a lot of money.

 

An idea of some games I'd be looking to play: Birth of the Federation, Starship Creator, The Movies, Black & White, Gangsters.

 

Thanks for any help you can give. UK based.

[ApolloX75]

Core2Quads make perfect WinXP machines. Toss in a little SATA SSD and you're golden. I have several systems put together using Core2, Athlon 64, Athlon XP, even a Phenom system.

 

As for GPUs you can use pretty much anything other than the latest and greatest. I have had great success using GTX 580s, 260s, 9800 GTXs, Radeon HD6870, 4870, 5850. They all work perfectly. We use lots of variety for our Classic LAN parties where we build random old machines out of spare parts and game for a couple days.

 

Typically you want something that has XP driver support, hence why I don't usually go newer than a GTX 500 series. I think there is driver support for the 600 and 700 series, but that's overkill anyways. If you want HDMI support that's not a problem, as even if you have an older card with only DVI-D, then you can simply use a HDMI-DVI adapter. I have several in use, and they can be bought for peanuts off Amazon.

[Vishera]

You can get a HD 6970,

It's one of the most powerful GPUs you can use for retro gaming on Windows XP,

You can also run newer DX9 titles on Windows XP like Resident Evil 6 and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.

[ApolloX75]

27 minutes ago, Grimm Gaming said:

What are your thoughts? Is the core 2 quad a decent cpu for WinXP (and compatibility mode) gaming? I'm guessing 4gb ram should be decent enough? And what would you suggest as a suitable GPU?

Forgot to mention: 4GB RAM is your max anyways with "normal" Windows XP (ie Black Edition available in *cough* certain places) since it's 32 bit. You can get Windows XP 64-bit, but it is an absolute pain getting some things to run on it and there is no Black Edition available for the x64 version which sucks.

 

Black Edition XP is a fully loaded SP3 version with handy and modern utilities and drivers slipped into the installation making your life a lot easier and the installation process on things like SATA and booting from USB sticks a lot more friendly. I highly recommend it, but I can't tell you where to get it because of forum rules I believe. It's easy to find though.

[Tech87]

46 minutes ago, Grimm Gaming said:

Hey there,

 

So I'm looking at getting an older PC up and running to play some older games and I'd like some advice.

 

I'm looking at core 2 quad machines and from what I've seen in a quick search it looks like I might need to buy a graphics card to give my games the best chance at running well.

 

I will need a graphics card with a HDMI out as my capture box (avermedia lgplite) has HDMI pass through.

 

What are your thoughts? Is the core 2 quad a decent cpu for WinXP (and compatibility mode) gaming? I'm guessing 4gb ram should be decent enough? And what would you suggest as a suitable GPU?

 

I don't have a price in mind rn as I'm just looking into it but as it's for much older games I'm not looking to spend a lot of money.

 

An idea of some games I'd be looking to play: Birth of the Federation, Starship Creator, The Movies, Black & White, Gangsters.

 

Thanks for any help you can give. UK based.

I've also been meddling around with this same idea!

I have an old Athlon 64 socket 939 still new in box, and I was thinking about putting a build together.

A retro Win XP box that can play all the classic games of that era.

14 minutes ago, ApolloX75 said:

Forgot to mention: 4GB RAM is your max anyways with "normal" Windows XP (ie Black Edition available in *cough* certain places) since it's 32 bit. You can get Windows XP 64-bit, but it is an absolute pain getting some things to run on it and there is no Black Edition available for the x64 version which sucks.

 

Black Edition XP is a fully loaded SP3 version with handy and modern utilities and drivers slipped into the installation making your life a lot easier and the installation process on things like SATA and booting from USB sticks a lot more friendly. I highly recommend it, but I can't tell you where to get it because of forum rules I believe. It's easy to find though.

I had never heard of this Win XP version, and so I did a quick search, and it doesn't seem too safe to me.

 

 

[ApolloX75]

3 minutes ago, Tech87 said:

I've also been meddling around with this same idea!

I have an old Athlon 64 socket 939 still new in box, and I was thinking about putting a build together.

A retro Win XP box that can play all the classic games of that era.

I had never heard of this Win XP version, and so I did a quick search, and it doesn't seem too safe to me.

 

Well I did say it comes from questionable sources lol. I don't trust it, but I have combed through the version I have used and haven't found anything worrying yet. However as a rule I never connect these systems to any form of internet. Which I mean, it's XP, you shouldn't be doing it anyway even with a clean unpirated version (does that even exist anymore?). 

[Grimm Gaming]

Found something with an fx570 but it only has dvi output, does dvi to hdmi carry audio too or is it only visual?

 

I wouldn't mess with anything non legit as I just want a simple system for old games but thanks for all the info so far.

[ApolloX75]

1 minute ago, Grimm Gaming said:

Found something with an fx570 but it only has dvi output, does dvi to hdmi carry audio too or is it only visual?

 

I wouldn't mess with anything non legit as I just want a simple system for old games but thanks for all the info so far.

No DVI does not carry audio unfortunately.

 

You can find legit images of XP easily enough, keys are easy to find as well I think the same ones that I used back when XP came out are still making the rounds on the internet. I highly recommend getting the official SP3 images if you want a stock install.

[Tech87]

25 minutes ago, ApolloX75 said:

Well I did say it comes from questionable sources lol. I don't trust it, but I have combed through the version I have used and haven't found anything worrying yet. However as a rule I never connect these systems to any form of internet. Which I mean, it's XP, you shouldn't be doing it anyway even with a clean unpirated version (does that even exist anymore?). 

I totally like the idea of the customized build, but I'm not liking the idea of potential malware.

The main part of the build I'm most interested in is parting all the sources individually so I can do the full build myself.

Not sure on using an old classic case from that era or a modern case with a tempered glass side panel.

 

I wonder what the best socket/chipset is that's supported by Win XP.

[Vishera]

1 hour ago, Tech87 said:

I had never heard of this Win XP version, and so I did a quick search, and it doesn't seem too safe to me.

 

What about Windows XP Integral Edition?

I heard that it works with Ryzen processors.

39 minutes ago, Tech87 said:

I wonder what the best socket/chipset is that's supported by Win XP.

Z77 is the best supported platform.

Considering that you can install a 2600K,overclock it to 4.7~5GHz and play the latest and greatest games (If you have enough GPU power) - That platform performs pretty well even now days.

And the best GPU with driver support for Windows XP is the HD 7970 - That beast still performs very well and can play the latest and greatest.

2600K + HD 7970 - A legendary CPU with a legendary GPU combo that still holds up today.

So you will be able to repurpose that rig in the future.

[Grimm Gaming]

Ok so I'm stuck between buying a built PC or building my own.

 

I already have a modern gaming/streaming PC so this build is solely for WinXP and playing retro/older games.

 

What CPU would people suggest I look for in either case? Looking at having 2x2gb DDR3 1333mhz and also curious about modern SSD's or HDD's and their performance/compatibility with SATA II.

 

Thanks so much for the info so far on GPU's but any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hoping to get this built for under £100

[Tech87]

5 hours ago, Grimm Gaming said:

Ok so I'm stuck between buying a built PC or building my own.

 

I already have a modern gaming/streaming PC so this build is solely for WinXP and playing retro/older games.

 

What CPU would people suggest I look for in either case? Looking at having 2x2gb DDR3 1333mhz and also curious about modern SSD's or HDD's and their performance/compatibility with SATA II.

 

Thanks so much for the info so far on GPU's but any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hoping to get this built for under £100

Check out this article. A lot of good info on the subject.

[Division]

 

 

I've been building this thing and having fun with some old games on 32bit XP. I'm running atm Q6600 and 8800GT, 1440x900 19" LCD and all games I've tried run like a dream! Rally Trophy, 1nsane, Stalker, Halo, Soldier of Fortune 2 and so on... Just to point out something like 7970 is not really needed for those pre2010 games.

 

In picture there is SLI setup but that other 8800GT is not working for some reason so I'm only using one.

[thrasher_565]

gtx 275 is in the sweet spot not the insane gtx 960... 8800gt would be the minimum

[GiSWiG]

So I went the extreme route, mostly because my older Windows 7 build is still good with XP...

 

ASUS Crosshair IV Formula

Phenom II X6 1100T

8GB DDR3 1333 @ 6-6-6-18 (plan on dual booting with Win7/Linux plus I spent a lot of time and money finding DDR3 that fast)

Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium

SSD

 

Video card wise, I try to keep with something that has DisplayPort for the future. I have an R9 270 (270x is the last supported AMD card for XP) and a low-profile 750 Ti, both have DP, HDMI and DVI. Anything higher is a real waste of money

After much testing I stick with Farcry as the last game to play on XP. F.E.A.R. I believe had EAX support so it is best on XP but mostly played in Windows 7. Anything past that was really designed to take advantage of Windows 7 features and started to drop support of DX9, EAX, etc. You can go as low as an Radeon 6850 or Geforce GTX 465 and get 120-200+ FPS on Farcry. I'd go for lower power draw options. Anything 750 Ti will most likely not require external PCIe power connector. 

 

 

[Brian McKee]

On 1/31/2022 at 11:39 PM, ApolloX75 said:

Core2Quads make perfect WinXP machines.

I recommend against Core 2 machines these days because the mobos are becoming much harder to find working and are insanely expensive for what they are. I'd recommend an AM3 machine like phenom II since there's way more inexpensive boards available and the performance is better. Plus AM3+ is backwards compatible with AM3 if that's needed.

[ApolloX75]

On 8/3/2022 at 4:39 PM, Brian McKee said:

I recommend against Core 2 machines these days because the mobos are becoming much harder to find working and are insanely expensive for what they are. I'd recommend an AM3 machine like phenom II since there's way more inexpensive boards available and the performance is better. Plus AM3+ is backwards compatible with AM3 if that's needed.

That would entirely depend on your area.

 

Where I am Core2s are like locust, they're everywhere. A quick search on Kijiji can find multiple cheap sources of simple Core2 combos that will run perfectly fine. Phenoms and their ilk are great, they're tough and reliable. Their boards... not so much. The older S939 was great for the Athlon 64 era but AM2 and AM2+ I always had huge issues. AM3 and AM3+ was kind of a middle ground, not great and not fantastic. Power delivery was always an issue for them, especially when you ran into the cheaper boards.

 

Again it all comes down to location, location, location. Some places you'll find a very heavy AMD presence, others Intel. Get the best you can find without spending more than you want. Both platforms will work great for Windows XP. 

[thrasher_565]

On 1/31/2022 at 10:38 PM, Vishera said:

What about Windows XP Integral Edition?

I heard that it works with Ryzen processors.

Z77 is the best supported platform.

Considering that you can install a 2600K,overclock it to 4.7~5GHz and play the latest and greatest games (If you have enough GPU power) - That platform performs pretty well even now days.

And the best GPU with driver support for Windows XP is the HD 7970 - That beast still performs very well and can play the latest and greatest.

2600K + HD 7970 - A legendary CPU with a legendary GPU combo that still holds up today.

So you will be able to repurpose that rig in the future.

no the best xp pc is x79 and gtx 960...

 

probably the asus rampage iv extreme black edition and for gpu probably the asus strix gtx 960

 

the gtx 780 dose have more ram like 6 gb ram apos to 4gb on 960 thats most games will faver the 960.

 

Xeon E5-1660 v2 for cpu

 

the gtx 275 is a good midel aground for a gpu thow

 

there are modified drivers for gtx 980 if you look hard enough

Edited August 8, 2022 by thrasher_565

[rikitikitavi]

Did you end up buying anything?

 

Unless you want a dedicated cheap machine, it might be simpler just to VM Windows XP or other compatible OS on whatever machine you already have.

[Grimm Gaming]

10 hours ago, rikitikitavi said:

Did you end up buying anything?

 

Unless you want a dedicated cheap machine, it might be simpler just to VM Windows XP or other compatible OS on whatever machine you already have.

I haven't yet but it's something I still have in mind. Will probably go with AMD rather than Intel for it but it's more of a long term project kinda on the back burner for now.