Retro PC

[Guest]

I am considering buying a cheap retro gaming pc (windows 98 or xp or dos), these are my parts so far.

Pentium 4 3.0ghz Socket 478- £5 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-P4-Pentium-3-0-GHz-530-Prescott-Single-Core-Socket-478-84W-CPU-SL8JZ-/162417398263?hash=item25d0d4d1f7:g:xuIAAOSw4DJYkdUv

Socket 478 motherboard with AGP http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-D845GRG-AGP-Socket-478-Motherboard-/111173117456?hash=item19e26f2610:g:564AAOxyAc1SO26H

IDE HDD 160GB ( I only have sata and converters are just as expensive) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seagate-ST3160212ACE-160-GB-Internal-IDE-PATA-3-5-Hard-Drive-/262869587270?hash=item3d343f9546:g:BFoAAOSwxH1UKUSR.

I still need a GPU, Case, PSU, Sound Card, and Cooler.

 The GPU is between the Radeon 9550 the GeForce FX550 and the Geforce 4  MX440, what should i chose?

The case and psu will be the cheapest i can find.

Same with the cooler

I just need a working sound card, any suggestions as idk about them?

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Ethan Meskin said:

I am considering buying a cheap retro gaming pc (windows 98 or xp or dos), these are my parts so far.

Pentium 4 3.0ghz Socket 478- £5 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-P4-Pentium-3-0-GHz-530-Prescott-Single-Core-Socket-478-84W-CPU-SL8JZ-/162417398263?hash=item25d0d4d1f7:g:xuIAAOSw4DJYkdUv

Socket 478 motherboard with AGP http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-D845GRG-AGP-Socket-478-Motherboard-/111173117456?hash=item19e26f2610:g:564AAOxyAc1SO26H

IDE HDD 160GB ( I only have sata and converters are just as expensive) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seagate-ST3160212ACE-160-GB-Internal-IDE-PATA-3-5-Hard-Drive-/262869587270?hash=item3d343f9546:g:BFoAAOSwxH1UKUSR.

I still need a GPU, Case, PSU, Sound Card, and Cooler.

 The GPU is between the Radeon 9550 the GeForce FX550 and the Geforce 4  MX440, what should i chose?

The case and psu will be the cheapest i can find.

Same with the cooler

I just need a working sound card, any suggestions as idk about them?

Don't even think about Windows 98, that processor will never be good for Windows 98. Also, forget a native version of MS-Dos, you'll have to use DosBox.

[Guest]

Just now, Factory OC said:

Don't even think about Windows 98, that processor will never be good for Windows 98. Also, forget a native version of MS-Dos, you'll have to use DosBox.

people say pentium 4s on 845 chipsets work fine with late dos and windows 9x/2k. ive seen videos about it. im not sure itl work well with xp tho

[Megah3rtz]

2 minutes ago, Factory OC said:

Don't even think about Windows 98, that processor will never be good for Windows 98.

Any particular reason why? 

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Ethan Meskin said:

people say pentium 4s on 845 chipsets work fine with late dos and windows 9x/2k. ive seen videos about it. im not sure itl work well with xp tho

6 minutes ago, Megah3rtz said:

Any particular reason why? 

One problem, most people didn't test games like Duke Nukem. Duke3D uses a game engine that was made for processors of that time. When using a processor higher than 600MHz will make quite a couple of games unstable. Also, Windows 98 does not support a processor faster than 2GHz, so you will have to use a Boot disk to fix that. Windows 98 also does not like 160GB HDD's. Native DOS also will not support any of those GPU's if I am correct. Windows 2000 and XP works very well, I have a Pentium 4, I know.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Factory OC said:

One problem, most people didn't test games like Duke Nukem. Duke3D uses a game engine that was made for processors of that time. When using a processor higher than 600MHz will make quite a couple of games unstable. Also, Windows 98 does not support a processor faster than 2GHz, so you will have to use a Boot disk to fix that. Windows 98 also does not like 160GB HDD's. Native DOS also will not support any of those GPU's if I am correct. Windows 2000 and XP works very well, I have a Pentium 4, I know.

any suggestions for cpus- shall i just downclock it or buy a 1.8ghz one instead. can 98 use 1gb ram? i have 2 512mb sticks. i can just buy a different hdd and ive seen people use the ati 9550 with a sempron 2800+ on win98

[KenjiUmino]

6 minutes ago, Factory OC said:

One problem, most people didn't test games like Duke Nukem. Duke3D uses a game engine that was made for processors of that time. When using a processor higher than 600MHz will make quite a couple of games unstable. Also, Windows 98 does not support a processor faster than 2GHz, so you will have to use a Boot disk to fix that. Windows 98 also does not like 160GB HDD's. Native DOS also will not support any of those GPU's if I am correct. Windows 2000 and XP works very well, I have a Pentium 4, I know.

right, stay below 600 MHz and below 1gb RAM for a win 98 build - win 9x can only use some 512mb or so and some older games might run WAY too fast on a higher clocked CPU

[pbx2]

Buy an old DOS laptop

 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, KenjiUmino said:

right, stay below 600 MHz and below 1gb RAM for a win 98 build - win 9x can only use some 512mb or so and some older games might run WAY too fast on a higher clocked CPU

can i not underclock my cpu? the ram is easy but i already have 2 512 sticks so i might aswell use both

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Ethan Meskin said:

any suggestions for cpus- shall i just downclock it or buy a 1.8ghz one instead. can 98 use 1gb ram? i have 2 512mb sticks. i can just buy a different hdd and ive seen people use the ati 9550 with a sempron 2800+ on win98

If you really can, look for a Pentium 3, but they get more rare over time. If you can get a 1.8GHz one, you can use that, but one thing will stand, most of the time, era correct hardware or emulation will just work well.

 

Just now, Ethan Meskin said:

can i not underclock my cpu? the ram is easy but i already have 2 512 sticks so i might aswell use both

Nope, keep it 512MB, 1GB will haunt you later.

 

1 minute ago, pbx2 said:

Buy an old DOS laptop

 

Another 8 Bit-Guy fan, nice.

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Factory OC said:

If you really can, look for a Pentium 3, but they get more rare over time. If you can get a 1.8GHz one, you can use that, but one thing will stand, most of the time, era correct hardware or emulation will just work well.

 

Nope, keep it 512MB, 1GB will haunt you later.

 

Another 8 Bit-Guy fan, nice.

so just stick to xp? any idea where to buy it?

[JoeCoke]

Pentium 4s are so boring and just suck. Go with a Pentium 3 or lower. Just my two cents.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Ethan Meskin said:

so just stick to xp? any idea where to buy it?

Have no idea. You could also install Windows 7 and use DosBox.

[Guest]

Just now, Factory OC said:

Have no idea. You could also install Windows 7 and use DosBox.

7 wont run on this stuff, and i wanna keep the hardware and software reasonably retro

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, 2Buck said:

Pentium 4s are so boring and just suck. Go with a Pentium 3 or lower. Just my two cents.

they are cheaper , have higher clocks and work fine

[Guest]

Just now, Ethan Meskin said:

they are cheaper , have higher clocks and work fine

Don't let those higher clocks trick you, as it's the worse of your problems.

 

1 minute ago, Ethan Meskin said:

7 wont run on this stuff, and i wanna keep the hardware and software reasonably retro

It will. If not then you will need to get a copy of XP or 2000, and I can't help you with that.

[KenjiUmino]

there is almost no way to build a one-shot-does-it-all retro box ... if you want to make newer games run you loose compatibility for older games so you gotta decide what time period of games are more important to you

 

a pentium 4 with 1-2 gigs of RAM and anything like a FX 5500 or better makes a nice XP box. (don't even bother with win 2000 for gaming)

 

a pentium 3 with like 500 MHz and a voodo 3 (or geforce + voodoo 2) is a kickass win 98 machine - this system also lets you play most "newer" (3D or RTS) DOS games (tomb raider, carmageddon) 

 

if you want to run old (2D) DOS games on bare metal (no DOSbox) then shoot for a pentium 1 or lower

[JoeCoke]

1 minute ago, Ethan Meskin said:

they are cheaper , have higher clocks and work fine

If you're going for DOS/98 gaming, P4s are just bad. Also, the higher clocks don't mean much since the P4's IPC is much much worse than the Pentium 3. Also, higher clocks are worse for running retro games natively. If you're gonna use a P4 for DOS gaming, you'll have to stick to DOSBox.

[Guest]

Just now, Factory OC said:

Don't let those higher clocks trick you, as it's the worse of your problems.

 

It will. If not then you will need to get a copy of XP or 2000, and I can't help you with that.

ive found some 32 bit xp copies on ebay, but not 64 bit. isnt me/2000 shit anyway

[JoeCoke]

1 minute ago, KenjiUmino said:

there is almost no way to build a one-shot-does-it-all retro box ... if you want to make newer games run you loose compatibility for older games so you gotta decide what time period of games are more important to you

 

a pentium 4 with 1-2 gigs of RAM and anything like a FX 5500 or better makes a nice XP box.

 

a pentium 3 with like 500 MHz and a voodo 3 (or geforce + voodoo 2) is a kickass win 98 machine - this system also lets you play most "newer" (3D or RTS) DOS games (tomb raider, carmageddon) 

 

if you want to run old (2D) DOS games on bare metal (no DOSbox) then shoot for a pentium 1 or lower

This, so much this.

[Guest]

Just now, 2Buck said:

If you're going for DOS/98 gaming, P4s are just bad. Also, the higher clocks don't mean much since the P4's IPC is much much worse than the Pentium 3. Also, higher clocks are worse for running retro games natively. If you're gonna use a P4 for DOS gaming, you'll have to stick to DOSBox.

ok

[JoeCoke]

1 minute ago, Ethan Meskin said:

ive found some 32 bit xp copies on ebay, but not 64 bit. isnt me/2000 shit anyway

Windows ME can actually be pretty good for retro gaming if you "mod" it to run real DOS. I use it on my retro gaming rig and have no problems. But that's just preference, I'd recommend 98.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Ethan Meskin said:

ive found some 32 bit xp copies on ebay, but not 64 bit. isnt me/2000 shit anyway

I hope you know that the Pentium 4 is only 32-Bit...

[Guest]

1 minute ago, KenjiUmino said:

there is almost no way to build a one-shot-does-it-all retro box ... if you want to make newer games run you loose compatibility for older games so you gotta decide what time period of games are more important to you

 

a pentium 4 with 1-2 gigs of RAM and anything like a FX 5500 or better makes a nice XP box.

 

a pentium 3 with like 500 MHz and a voodo 3 (or geforce + voodoo 2) is a kickass win 98 machine - this system also lets you play most "newer" (3D or RTS) DOS games (tomb raider, carmageddon) 

 

if you want to run old (2D) DOS games on bare metal (no DOSbox) then shoot for a pentium 1 or lower

well i was looking for half life 1 and 2, quake 1,2,3 and stuff like that

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, KenjiUmino said:

a pentium 3 with like 500 MHz and a voodo 3 (or geforce + voodoo 2) is a kickass win 98 machine - this system also lets you play most "newer" (3D or RTS) DOS games (tomb raider, carmageddon)

Oh yeah, you really would like to run a game without software mode...