VOGONS


First post, by oeuvre

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Hi all,

I'd like to build a retro PC for older games and MIDI stuff. Will use MS-DOS 6.22 or Windows 95, not sure yet.

Regardless, I am going to look for a Socket 7 ATX motherboard. I have PSU and a 20GB IDE HD already. Will get an ethernet card, PCI graphics card, some RAM (64mb should be fine), and a 56K modem for kicks.

I don't want to spend much money and would love to know if there's a better place to find such things online other than ebay. Thanks

HP Z420 Workstation Intel Xeon E5-1620, 32GB, RADEON HD7850 2GB, SSD + HD, XP/7
ws90Ts2.gif

Reply 1 of 4, by squareguy

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Thrift stores (especially in the back, ask someone to see their computer junk)
Garage sales
Pawn shops, ask same as thrift stores
recycling centers
Old computer shops, ask to see their junk room and let them know you'll buy it. Always buy more than you need. They will almost give it away if you haul it off.

Gateway 2000 Case and 200-Watt PSU
Intel SE440BX-2 Motherboard
Intel Pentium III 450 CPU
Micron 384MB SDRAM (3x128)
Compaq Voodoo3 3500 TV Graphics Card
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz Sound Card
Western Digital 7200-RPM, 8MB-Cache, 160GB Hard Drive
Windows 98 SE

Reply 2 of 4, by chinny22

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All of the above plus freecycle type sites, local trading sites if you can wait. (got a 486 for $10 few years back)

People selling "old computers" are the cheapest as they don't know/care what they are selling. the catch is they don't know/care what they are selling so you'll have to take a gamble. The above 466 was listed as a few years old PC but the creative CD-Rom gave away its real age

As your after a specific board, also think about OEM systems they can be cheaper

Reply 3 of 4, by nekurahoka

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Don't forget craigslist. Use the same criteria as above. People listing old systems, or systems for parts are good places to start. I got my XPS R400 system for $10 through craigslist from a guy cleaning out office space.

Dell Dimension XPS R400, 512MB SDRAM, Voodoo3 2000 AGP, Turtle Beach Montego, ESS Audiodrive 1869f ISA, Dreamblaster Synth S1
Dell GH192, P4 3.4 (Northwood), 4GB Dual Channel DDR, ATI Radeon x1650PRO 512MB, Audigy 2ZS, Alacritech 2000 Network Accelerator

Reply 4 of 4, by oeuvre

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Found an NEC Pentium era machine on craigslist, made an offer. Hopefully they'll respond.

Thanks for the tipcs! If I need parts or more help, I'll come back here.

HP Z420 Workstation Intel Xeon E5-1620, 32GB, RADEON HD7850 2GB, SSD + HD, XP/7
ws90Ts2.gif