First post, by LuigiStone
Hi all,
A brief summary about myself: I started out with an Amstrad PC1512 with a 8086 8Mhz and a monochrome monitor back in the day. Then 486, Pentium, Pentium MMX etc. All my old PC hardware is long gone unfortunately. I have lots of retro hardware (C64, Amiga, consoles etc) but no IBM compatible stuff which is my favorite gaming platform since the 486. I think it is time for me to build some retro machines for fun.
So I was thinking 3 machines (80's DOS, 90's DOS & Early win95/98 and Win98). WinXP games work fine on modern systems so I see no point in building one at the moment. And although money is really not an object, just out of principal, I will not be spending hundreds on old hardware.
1. 80's DOS. I will leave this as last.
I think I will go with the NuXT 2.0 unless I can find a Tandy 1000 or something similar.
So i would also need a case, monitor, and maybe an Adlib card and a network card. suggestions?
2. DOS machine and early Win 95/98
I would love to have a Super Socket 7 and K6-3+ but they seem silly expensive and I will not overpay for old hardware. So maybe Socket 7 with P223 MMX?
Case = suggestions?
Motherboard = suggestions?
CPU = suggestions?
Video Card = Voodoo 3?
Sound card = AWE64 Legacy from that one guy. If I understood correctly it should have the OPL3 and be able to connect a MT32 to it.
RAM = not sure yet
Network card = suggestions?
hard drive = I was thinking either CF or modern SSD drive.
OS = Either just Win 7.11 (for FAT32) or WIn98 booting straight to Win 7.11 so I can also play the Windows Glide games.
3. Win98. Originally I was thinking of getting an ASrock 775i65G 3.0 and using a Core 2 Duo and other more modern parts. But I got an ASUS P3B-F and a Pentium 3 550Mz Slot-1. Will that be good enough for all WIn98 16-bit games or should I update the CPU or go with my original plan (775i65G)? So basically for stuff that won't run on a modern machine without modern patches and tweaks.
Case = suggestions?
Motherboard = ASUS P3B-F
CPU = Pentium 3 550Mz Slot-1. Should I upgrade?
Video Card = I was thinking Geforce TI 4200-2800 or one of the better FX cards. Or I might start with a Voodoo 3 2000 as I have one. I will later transfer it to the DOS machine.
Sound card = Sound Blaster Live 5.1 as I have one. Will switch to an Audigy 2 ZS if I find one...or just keep the Live?
RAM = 512mb
Network card = suggestions?
hard drive = I was thinking 1-2 120gb SSDs. Any suggestions for adapters?
OS = Win98 SE
Am I missing anything? I would love to hear comments and suggestions. I will update the thread as I start building the machines. This project might take a while as I don't very actively hunt for parts.
Thanks!