Intel486dx33 wrote on 2020-04-15, 00:24:

486 computer and slower. They are just too old , slow and loud for good quality DOS game play. Not worth investing your money on […]
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486 computer and slower.
They are just too old , slow and loud for good quality DOS game play.
Not worth investing your money on.

You are better off buying a Pentium computer.

actually you should probably just get an ipad instead.

the tnt2 m64 was/is very undesirable, but the PCI version is kind of useful I think

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2020-04-15, 00:24:

486 computer and slower. They are just too old , slow and loud for good quality DOS game play. Not worth investing your money on […]
Show full quote

486 computer and slower.
They are just too old , slow and loud for good quality DOS game play.
Not worth investing your money on.

You are better off buying a Pentium computer.

Funny that you say that considering your username 😀

I remember some of the cheap, bottom of the barrel, early 90s VGA monitors with a huge dot pitch that made them almost unsuitable for VGA text mode . I did not want one then and do not want one now .

Anybody feel differently and have nostalgia for one those ?

I personally never had one that bad . We had a rather pedestrian TTX brand 14 incher with 0.28mm dot pitch and a max resolution of 1024x768 @ 87Hz interlaced , but it was sharp at 800x600 and lower and had good convergence . I considered myself lucky .

EDIT: Some of you guys replies just made my day and nearly laughed myself off the chair 😁

To play modern DOS games in good quality the way the developers intended the games to be played and heard you need a Pentium 75 or higher CPU. And Sound blaster 16 with OPL. Compact Flash card , 16mb ram and 2mb video card. 4x CDROM drive or higher and some good quality speakers.

ironically, this is also the least expensive DOS computer setup.

Yes, it’s like the iPad. It’s Apples least expensive computer and its actually Apples best computer for too many reasons to lists.

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2020-04-15, 03:22:

To play modern DOS games in good quality the way the developers intended the games to be played and heard you need a Pentium 75 or higher CPU. And Sound blaster 16 with OPL. Compact Flash card , 16mb ram and 2mb video card. 4x CDROM drive or higher and some good quality speakers.

ironically, this is also the least expensive DOS computer setup.

Yes, it’s like the iPad. It’s Apples least expensive computer and its actually Apples best computer for too many reasons to lists.

For the games to be heard the way the music was composed, an SB16 is not enough. You likely need a Roland MT32 and an SC55 , that's what many composers used for their task (DooM, Heretic, Hexen, Duke3D, LucasArts adventure games and many others).

I found a Socket A motherboard on the side of the road waiting for cubside pickup. Who would throw that away? also one time found 3 pentium 133 boxes in the dumpster all with Diamond stealth 64 cards in them.

Kyo_Kitsune wrote on 2020-04-15, 04:28:

I found a Socket A motherboard on the side of the road waiting for cubside pickup. Who would throw that away? also one time found 3 pentium 133 boxes in the dumpster all with Diamond stealth 64 cards in them.

People dump whatever they deem superfluous. Computers, as all electronics, are disposable items so there is no reason to keep hold of anything when it's past its owner's use.

Unless you have a heart for the old stuff, the passion to tinker with it and the partner who's understanding (🥰), you just toss it.

aha2940 wrote on 2020-04-15, 03:36:

You likely need a Roland MT32, that's what many composers used for their task (DooM, Heretic, Hexen, Duke3D, LucasArts adventure games and many others).

The MT-32 was used for late '80s and early '90s games.

By the time of Doom, Heretic and Duke3D, most composers switched to a Roland SC-55. So technically, you need both in addition to a sound card with a genuine OPL3 chip to cover (nearly) all bases.

darry wrote on 2020-04-15, 00:54:

I remember some of the cheap, bottom of the barrel, early 90s VGA monitors with a huge dot pitch that made them almost unsuitable for VGA text mode . I did not want one then and do not want one now .

Anybody feel differently and have nostalgia for one those ?

I personally never had one that bad . We had a rather pedestrian TTX brand 14 incher with 0.28mm dot pitch and a max resolution of 1024x768 @ 87Hz interlaced , but it was sharp at 800x600 and lower and had good convergence . I considered myself lucky .

I had the cheapest 14" money could buy in 1995 at the crappiest shop in the country. It was "Sunshine" branded, but was distinctly reminiscent of a place where the sun didn't shine. My teenage self had his priorities completely wrong (says my old fart self with teenagers now of his own), skimping on ergonomics - crap screen, crap keyboard, beyond crap mouse and tiny, cramped case with razor-sharp edges and wafer-thin easily bent steel frame - to be able to afford a Pentium. 60. If I'd gone for a 486DX4 I would have saved enough to get a decent screen - and as I never did anything that used FPU with that system it would have been faster too 😮

There's a place for decent 0.28 dot pitch shadow mask monitors - they make DOS VGA games look a lot less blocky with 'hardware aliasing'. But 0.31 monsters deserve to rust in discomfort.

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2020-04-15, 00:24:

486 computer and slower.
They are just too old , slow and loud for good quality DOS game play.

Guess you should change your user name then.

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2020-04-15, 03:22:

To play modern DOS games in good quality the way the developers intended the games to be played and heard you need a Pentium 75 or higher CPU. And Sound blaster 16 with OPL. Compact Flash card , 16mb ram and 2mb video card. 4x CDROM drive or higher and some good quality speakers.

And to play all DOS games up to about 1993, you need a 486 or slower. So what's your point? The DOS games you are talking about don't even make up 5% of the library of games released for DOS.

I think it's mostly a function of rarity vs demand or popularity. If some part is rare and the demand is strong it will be priced higher and be more collectible.

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2020-04-15, 00:24:

486 computer and slower. They are just too old , slow and loud for good quality DOS game play. Not worth investing your money on […]
Show full quote

486 computer and slower.
They are just too old , slow and loud for good quality DOS game play.
Not worth investing your money on.

You are better off buying a Pentium computer.

Why would you even say that?
Slow and loud?? Are Pentiums quiet or did I miss something?
Choose the games according to their age/period and you can enjoy smooth gameplay on an XT too.

Indeed,better change your nick...Aren't you building a 486 btw 🤣?

The two drivers are value seem to be compatability for old games/software and nostalgia. Nostalgia includes wanting parts you had when you were younger, or high-end parts you wished you could have had when you were younger. There's also an exclusivity factor. Having rare high-end retro hardware is just cool. Some people (like myself) care more about the hardware than actually playing games on it. I mostly collect retro hardware and systems to build and play with the systems themselves, more than play games on them. Sure, I'll fire up a game once in a while, but that's not my primary motivation. I think a lot of people buy the rare or high end stuff for this reason. Why else would people pay $1000+ for a GeForce FX 5800 Ultra or spend $400 on an Athlon Slot A Orion 1Ghz CPU?

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2020-04-15, 00:24:

486 computer and slower. They are just too old , slow and loud for good quality DOS game play. Not worth investing your money on […]
Show full quote

486 computer and slower.
They are just too old , slow and loud for good quality DOS game play.
Not worth investing your money on.

You are better off buying a Pentium computer.

It might be true that 486 computers do not make much sense for DOS gaming computers (except older games where Pentiums are too fast).

Nevertheless I strongly disagree, 486 mainboards are highly collectible, where early Pentium mainboards are not. Not yet, maybe in 2 years things change.
Just go and check prices on Ebay.

Katmai500 wrote on 2020-04-15, 21:07:

Why else would people pay $1000+ for a GeForce FX 5800 Ultra or spend $400 on an Athlon Slot A Orion 1Ghz CPU?

because they a rich and don't have to consider price when looking around for retro parts that they simply want? x3

unfortunately a lot of not even so rare things have become very expensive over the years and are almost unattainable by most people, unless you're lucky and find a scrap box somewhere and double lucky if the hardware then also works... we're indeed in luck though that older hardware often survives even the most harsh treatments with big chips, more sizable SMD components and simple double layer PCBs... also a lot of old hardware didn't need heatsinks so often escapes being ripped apart by force... apart from slot brackets.

CoffeeOne wrote on 2020-04-15, 21:21:

486 mainboards are highly collectible, where early Pentium mainboards are not. Not yet, maybe in 2 years things change.
Just go and check prices on Ebay.

I wouldn't 100% agree with that, it is far easier and cheaper to get a generic 486/66 than early pentium, try finding a socket 4 board... for cheap even :p

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2020-04-15, 07:02:

aha2940 wrote on 2020-04-15, 03:36:

You likely need a Roland MT32, that's what many composers used for their task (DooM, Heretic, Hexen, Duke3D, LucasArts adventure games and many others).

The MT-32 was used for late '80s and early '90s games.

By the time of Doom, Heretic and Duke3D, most composers switched to a Roland SC-55. So technically, you need both in addition to a sound card with a genuine OPL3 chip to cover (nearly) all bases.

That's correct, initial post corrected, thanks!

imi wrote on 2020-04-15, 21:22:

because they a rich and don't have to consider price when looking around for retro parts that they simply want? x3 […]
Show full quote

Katmai500 wrote on 2020-04-15, 21:07:

Why else would people pay $1000+ for a GeForce FX 5800 Ultra or spend $400 on an Athlon Slot A Orion 1Ghz CPU?

because they a rich and don't have to consider price when looking around for retro parts that they simply want? x3

unfortunately a lot of not even so rare things have become very expensive over the years and are almost unattainable by most people, unless you're lucky and find a scrap box somewhere and double lucky if the hardware then also works... we're indeed in luck though that older hardware often survives even the most harsh treatments with big chips, more sizable SMD components and simple double layer PCBs... also a lot of old hardware didn't need heatsinks so often escapes being ripped apart by force... apart from slot brackets.

CoffeeOne wrote on 2020-04-15, 21:21:

486 mainboards are highly collectible, where early Pentium mainboards are not. Not yet, maybe in 2 years things change.
Just go and check prices on Ebay.

I wouldn't 100% agree with that, it is far easier and cheaper to get a generic 486/66 than early pentium, try finding a socket 4 board... for cheap even :p

You are right, my phrasing "early Pentium" was bad. Indeed I meant socket 7 mainboards (no 100MHz SDRAM option).
socket 4 mainboards ARE collectible, maybe also the first socket 5 ones.

It's all a matter of supply and demand - and rolling nostalgia. Sooner or later even those So478 systems that you can't even give away at the moment will become supremely collectible once we've trashed enough of them and the generation in their teens in the 00's get old enough to be nostalgic. So4 definitely seems collectible given prices, So5 less so, but won't be long. Sure-fire test of collectibility: is a newer, faster item cheaper or more expensive. So7 definitely isn't there yet, SS7 Aladdin V and MVP3 go for far more than i430VX. 486 though... yes, 3V VRMs and PCI command something of a premium, but EISA and non-VESA local buses far more so.