VOGONS


First post, by FFXIhealer

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Ok, so new project time.

While I was working a few years back for an IT company (me and a boss...not exactly a company, really more of a tag-team), he was gonna throw out a couple of old Pentium 4 Windows XP machines that really didn't work worth a shit anymore. Well, the insides were gutted, but I kept the mid-tower Micro-ATX cases, one power supply, the optical drives, fans, etc. Later on, we had to replace someone's motherboard/CPU from a Dell Vostro 220 and I kept the MB and the RAM, as the CPU itself was the problem. He also had an old Pentium Dual-Core E2220 (2.4GHz Core-2 class Pentium processor) for socket 775, so I dropped it in and the system woke to life.

So this case has been sitting on my floor for a few years now and it has a valid Windows XP license key sticker on the side and I'm thinking hey...maybe this could be used for a cool XP retro gaming system if I ever manage to get a graphics card for it. The MB has a built-in graphics chip so I can set it up and everything. So I did. I pulled a used 80GB SATA hard drive and used the DVD-RW drive from one of the cases, hooked everything up and got it running. I did this only a few days ago.

CASE: Compaq Presario SR1222NX
Motherboard: Intel G45M03 (pulled from a Dell Vostro 220)
CPU: Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2220 (2.4GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, LGA 775)
RAM: 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-667
Integrated Graphics: Intel GMA X4500
HD: ST380013AS (Seagate BarraCuda 80GB, 7200 RPM, 8MB Cache)

I used Legacy IDE to install XP, then installed the AHCI compliant SATA driver and reconfigured. The HDD is running in AHCI mode now.

To make this a really good retro gaming system, I'll need something to occupy that PCI-Express 16x slot. Keep in mind this is not PCI-E 2.0; this is the FIRST iteration. Also, XP only really supported DirectX 9.0c, so that's what I have currently installed.

So I've been looking around for something on the cheap but will nevertheless be powerful for its time. Maybe a GeForce 8800GTX? 9800GTX? GTX 280? What about Radeon? Didn't they have similar offerings at the time? HD3450? What would be good for this time period (~2005/6)? Any recommendations? And I only have on-hand a PSU that can supply a 6-pin PCI-E power hookup. Most of the big gaming cards require 8+6 that I know of. I'm not looking to spend any more than $40, honestly. The system isn't really worth more than that.

The only thing I know about this time period is that my Dell gaming laptop had a Pentium M 2.1GHz single-core and a 7800GTX 256MB PCI-E graphics card and it was beast-mode. This will be a desktop rig about the same way, but it has a 2.4GHz dual-core Pentium from the Core architecture. The only difference I can see between a Core 2 Duo and the Pentium is it only has 1MB L2 cache instead of 2MB on the Core 2 Duo. I'm aware it'll probably CPU bottleneck in certain games. Just wondering what you guys would put in it if it was your project.

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Reply 1 of 11, by ODwilly

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A HD4850 or 4870 would be good on the ATI side

Main pc: Asus ROG 17. R9 5900HX, RTX 3070m, 16gb ddr4 3200, 1tb NVME.
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Reply 2 of 11, by FFXIhealer

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Interesting. Reviewing the specs now.
Radeon HD 4850
Interface Type: PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (wouldn't the card bottleneck with only 1.0?)
Max Resolution: 2560 x 1600 (Too high for me to ever use - I usually top out at 1920 x 1080)
Interfaces: DVI-I (dual link), VGA, HDMI
Graphics Engine: ATI Radeon HD 4850
Bus Type: PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (MB only supports PCI-Express 1.0 x16)
API Supported: DirectX 10.1 (Windows XP only has 9.0c)
Core Clock: 625 MHz
RAMDAC: 400 MHz

I would think this would be too much graphics card for the system, wouldn't it? But the price is right. I see multiple ones used on Ebay for less than $30 shipped. And only one 6-pin power cable needed - nice.

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Reply 3 of 11, by cyclone3d

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The 4850 will be a great card for that system.

Who cares if it will be CPU limited. The card is cheap and you won't have to worry about needing a faster card for it in the future.

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Reply 4 of 11, by ODwilly

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If at some point you want to put a faster CPU in it then you will have the GPU horsepower to match. I may also add that they dont suffer from the solder issues that Geforce 8 series do. May I also suggest buying a e8400 while you are at it? From what I saw online your motherboard will support it no problem and they are only about $3-5 on ebay. EDIT: Just to add the E8400 is a 3.0ghz chip with 6mb of cache and a 1333mhz FSB. Makes for a seriously good XP gaming machine.

Main pc: Asus ROG 17. R9 5900HX, RTX 3070m, 16gb ddr4 3200, 1tb NVME.
Retro PC: Soyo P4S Dragon, 3gb ddr 266, 120gb Maxtor, Geforce Fx 5950 Ultra, SB Live! 5.1

Reply 5 of 11, by FFXIhealer

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This is honestly already the most powerful XP machine I've ever messed with, since it has a dual-core processor in it. I'm used to XP and below being single-core, Vista and above multi-core. The Pentium happens to be in there because it was free. It would have been a throw out at some later point anyway. Yes, I agree that putting in a proper Core 2 chip would drastically increase the HP, but .... I dunno. I'm not exactly trying to max the thing out, ya know? More like... hobby play with it.

That being said, I DID upgrade my old Slot 1 P2B board from the 350MHz Pentium II to a 600MHz Pentium III, even after saying I wanted to stick with the free stuff. It really helped let the Voodoo2 cards breathe.

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Reply 6 of 11, by ODwilly

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FFXIhealer wrote:

This is honestly already the most powerful XP machine I've ever messed with, since it has a dual-core processor in it. I'm used to XP and below being single-core, Vista and above multi-core. The Pentium happens to be in there because it was free. It would have been a throw out at some later point anyway. Yes, I agree that putting in a proper Core 2 chip would drastically increase the HP, but .... I dunno. I'm not exactly trying to max the thing out, ya know?

With a fast dual core and a 4850 you can play Crysis! And the chips are so stupidly cheap now. Oh and as a bonus you can drill a hole in the Pentium and use it as a keychain.

Main pc: Asus ROG 17. R9 5900HX, RTX 3070m, 16gb ddr4 3200, 1tb NVME.
Retro PC: Soyo P4S Dragon, 3gb ddr 266, 120gb Maxtor, Geforce Fx 5950 Ultra, SB Live! 5.1

Reply 8 of 11, by ODwilly

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BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!

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Retro PC: Soyo P4S Dragon, 3gb ddr 266, 120gb Maxtor, Geforce Fx 5950 Ultra, SB Live! 5.1

Reply 9 of 11, by Putas

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FFXIhealer wrote:

To make this a really good retro gaming system, I'll need something to occupy that PCI-Express 16x slot. Keep in mind this is not PCI-E 2.0; this is the FIRST iteration. Also, XP only really supported DirectX 9.0c, so that's what I have currently installed.

Nice thing about PCIE is its compatibility, you don't have to worry about versions. If you can get newer low end video card with XP drivers cheap, I would go for it because of power consumption.

Reply 10 of 11, by Zup

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Did you replace the PSU?

Most HP/Compaq computers have a severely limited PSU (enough only to run the base computer and the HP offered options), so any power hungry video card won't work. Fortunately, modern HP/Compaq computers (except those with strange form factors) use standard PSUs, so it won't be a great issue.

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Reply 11 of 11, by FFXIhealer

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At the MOMENT, it's using the old 300-watt PSU. But this one doesn't have any PCI-E power ports, so if I got a nice sized graphics card for it, I'll be changing that out for a more modern one with those cables. I can use that PSU to maybe run an even older Pentium (Win95) system I have plans for.

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