First post, by sharc
it's very funny to imagine this as something to ask about at vogons, but i've been thinking about a few things that would make it very useful to keep a dedicated XP rig.
- easily consolidates some hardware and application needs that are currently either spread out or not getting filled at all
- good platform for freeware/indie games from this era that give me trouble in win7+/wine/VMs/everything
- as a bonus, would also be an easy way to run some mid-2000s games i missed out on like FEAR or STALKER
it's been a long time since i did anything with a desktop; this seems like it would be a fun quick project to get back in shape, and a cursory check indicates most hardware of this era is all really cheap right now.
the first question is what processor to go with. it seems like the best options for something of this period would be either...
earlier: athlon xp or 64
later: core 2 duo
personally leaning towards the duo. it's such a beloved CPU, and over-spec seems like a better angle for a broad-purpose build when period-correct parts are not higher priority than overall performance.