Anonymous Coward wrote:

The reason you keep the DX4-100 and not the DX2 is that the DX4 (assuming it's not an overdrive) can set the multiplier to either 2X or 3X, so you can use it as a DX2-66 if you want. Not to mention the DX4 motherboard is 3.3V, which lets you use any kind of socket3 CPU without a VRM module.

In my opinion `doom` and `doom2` runs just better on a 100mhz 486 system then a 66mhz system.. A 66mhz system is a nice way to play `most` of the 486 area.. But some games on a 486 just need just a little bit more..
Quake 1 and Duke 3d er more playable on pentium systems.. So i never would run does on a 486 system.. But VLB is highly recommended on a faster 486 from 50 to higher mhz.. Otherwise a lot of does games would be get very low FPS on screen.. and a lot of stammer..

nforce4max wrote:

Losing coin cell batteries doesn't bother me...

I'm not worried about those either. It's those that are soldered on a motherboard or built into the bios chip that worries me.

Ya, I should start gutting those pentiums and selling the parts...

Hello Half-Saint!

I guess this is the question for $1,000,000 that many of us have 😎 But it all depends on your preferences. I'd keep a good 286, 1x 386, maybe two 486, 1x High end Pentium, 1x High end AMD K6.

I also have many cases and even more parts sorted in a boxes. When I want to play around I just put different parts together on my desk.

I would choose :

286-16 newly acquired 486DX2-66 Pentium 200 non-MMX (my old system from the late 1990s) Celeron 333 (Slot 1 AT) […]
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286-16 newly acquired
486DX2-66
Pentium 200 non-MMX (my old system from the late 1990s)
Celeron 333 (Slot 1 AT)

I would want to change the non-MMX P200 to a MMX P200 or P233. And also would want to change the Celeron 333 to a PII400.

Grave digging! Sorry 😀

I'm trying to justify keeping that 286 when a 386 can do everything and more but then so can a 486 or a Pentium! I don't remember playing many clock-dependant games from my 486Dx-40 times..

Whatever you do, if you have good 430FX/430HX motherboards (75~200MHz option with a P54C P200, plus combinations of disabling/enabling L1 and L2 caches giving an extremely flexible range of speed for DOS games) and good 440BX motherboards, please keep them!

The rest, just follow your heart. 😀

I would keep the following systems. (reading from the list alone)

286-16
386DX-40
486DX2-66
Pentium 133
AMD K6-2@300
Celeron 333 (Slot 1 AT)

Combined, they make a broad spectre of various systems. 😀

Skyscraper wrote:

Keep everyting. If you dont have enough room at your place you could always visit your parents and hide stuff in some of their c […]
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Keep everyting.
If you dont have enough room at your place you could always visit your parents and hide stuff in some of their closets while they are sleeping and/or at work 😉

You will be glad you diddnt throw anything away in 30 years when old PC stuff will be worth much more.
Collecting old computers is not a passing trend.
The computer revolution is a huge milestone that I dont think we fully understand yet.

I often regret throwing things away.
I never regret keeping things.

I totally agree with Skyscraper

You may regret getting rid of some of your stuff...I know I have some regrets giving up my retro gear back in the day (when it wasn't retro) and that is part of what drives me today to keep most of what I have....I look back on how much work I put in acquiring all my retro hardware and can't imagine getting rid of most of it. Albeit some newer stuff I could part with, but why get rid of a perfectly good 486DX4-100 for example? At least keep the CPU and board and video cards and scrap the case if you really need the space that bad and do what Mau1wurf1977 mentions above and just organize all the smaller parts to have available whenever you may feel the need to use them.

If you just have to get rid of something though, then I would keep the following for sure:

286-16 newly acquired - hard to come by these days
386DX-40 - of course...great all around for older DOS games
486DX2-66 - good for newish DOS games
486DX4-100 - at least keep the CPU and you can swap on above 486dx2-66 board if needed (if compatible)
IBM PS/1 2133 386-25 - some PS/1 can bring in good money if they are in good shape/clean and fully functional...I would consider hanging on to anything with the big blue logo if it is in very good shape
Pentium 200 non-MMX - in my experience a P166MMX and non MMX can be one of the best all around processors to run a "one-system does it all for DOS" solution (which is virtually impossible, but I have got closest with a P166 to being able to run oldest Sierrra/Lucas Arts games and some newer DOS games). The P200 is close to a P166 in terms of speed so I would keep it in case you want to one tay toy around with building a good "all around" DOS system.

...and maybe keep these:
AMD K6-2@300

...and just ditch these:
Duron 800 (socket 462)
Celeron 333 (Slot 1 AT)
Pentium 133
Pentium 120
Pentium 120 (ya, another one)

Yes....
Keep parts such as CPU's and Memory, etc, from the machines you are not keeping.
Swap component's, if compatible when doing the retro thing.

Also be sure to keep floppy and IDE cables, cache chips, cpu coolers and sinks if any, drives of any type/capacity you don't already have a supply of, psu's, and any part that seems unique or odd. Even things like older motherboard stand-offs and funky looking fasteners may come in handy down the road.

If you are dead set on tossing cases, in nothing else keep the front bezels if they're in good nick. You never know when you'll get the urge to 'check out that old system again', and be stuck having to buy the same case all over, but with a busted up front end...

I periodically purge PC 'overburden', and periodically discover that I've tossed something I wish I hadn't. In fact the surest way to find out if you really should keep something, is to throw it out... Next morning you'll know for sure... 🤣

From the time I first posted this, I got rid of several systems and I now have:
- 286-16
- 386DX-40
- PS/1 386SX-25,
- Pentium 200
- AMD K2+ 570
- Pentium II slot 1
- A64 3000+ 754 (Curiosity build)

The rest I either sold, stripped for parts or tossed. I kept all 486 motherboards w/ processors and a bunch of ISA/PCI/AGP video cards as well as about 20 hard drives, 10 optical drives, 7-8 floppy drives (3.5") and 6 power supplies. Still a lot of stuff but less than before 😁

I just have one system, my Super Socket 7 time machine. Next to it two test benches. And all my goodies are neatly bagged and tagged in some shelves. For every project I just quickly build a machine on one of my test benches. Personally this has solved this issue for me. I can honestly say that I build a PC for every game if I have to 😀

I'd personally get rid of the pentium without mmx, and the two 120mhz pentiums.

I'd also look at which mobos support more than one CPU type. If any support more than one of the cpus you got in another system, I'd get rid of the worst mobos of the bunch (e.g. if one mobo supports a 386 to 486-DX cpu and has better features, and the other only supports the 386 and lacks a lot of features, I'd get rid of the one that only supports the 386).