RetroMaster137 wrote on 2023-04-24, 04:01:

Motherboard: A55BM-K CPU: AMD A8-6600K (quad-core @3.9 GHz, OC to 4.2GHz) FM2 Socket RAM: 8GB dual-channel GPU: Gigabyte WindFor […]
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Motherboard: A55BM-K
CPU: AMD A8-6600K (quad-core @3.9 GHz, OC to 4.2GHz) FM2 Socket
RAM: 8GB dual-channel
GPU: Gigabyte WindForce OC (with AMD R9 270 2GB @975Mhz).

Motherboard/cpu/GPU from 2013, I might keep this as my retro pc until I die from now on. Because:
Drivers aside, currently (and ignoring Linux for now), I can run any OS from Windows 10 all the way back to MS-DOS 6.22 (or maybe earlier if I got a diskette drive). No TPM, Intel ME/AMD PSP or UEFI-only weirdness (to what I understand), so I'm in love with this mobo. IT'S CLEAN.

that sounds like a good approach if you want to cover the most you can in one PC

in fact if you didn't mid losing a bit of compatibility around the edges you could just buy a powerful new pc, lots of ram and useful graphics card and then use it to run

gog/steam for most well known games
dosbox for just about every dos game
pcem and vm software to cope with some DOS games and windows 3.1 and a few win 9x games that might not be available otherwise
lots of emulators for everything else

and then you don't even need to consider motherboard compatibility etc

sure its far less focussed on hardware than most of us are but it gets you most of the software experience, its something i occasionally note to myself when messing around with ancient hardware 😀

Btw: for a low price, I believe an old high-end GPU is far better than an entry-level GPU from today. Made with different intentions. I don't think I could install a parallel port card though, I don't know if does it use the same slot

true in general, although newer budget cards can offer more up to date direct x (if thats useful) and often much lower power and cooling requirements - which is handy

i have a few power hungry cards of the past - HD 6950, GTS 250 and so on - but a more recent GT1030 is available in passive cooling and does almost everything same or better (or seems to)

What kinds of games are you intending to play? I see in your post you mention "2013 and past" but I suspect that hardware might not max out games from 2013.

I do think that system would crush everything from the XP era (~2008 and past) though.

I built a similar system here. I see that Asus supplies WinXP drivers for the A55BM-K which is nice. And I believe the R9 270 also has an XP driver.

This sort of system runs DOSBox at fullspeed very easily. There are some Win9x era games that are tricky (sometimes very tricky, sometimes almost impossible) to get working in Windows XP, but I have found that most of my favorite retro games run on "modern" XP overkill machine.

Have you tried actually installing Windows 9x on that motherboard? Does it work? I'm pretty sure you'd at least have trouble getting the GPU to work in Win9x...

I think FM2 is kinda of a waste with external GPU. The whole shtick of that platform was decent onboard graphics, other than that, it's subpar to AM3+. But if it works, it works.

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2023-04-28, 19:34:

I think FM2 is kinda of a waste with external GPU. The whole shtick of that platform was decent onboard graphics, other than that, it's subpar to AM3+. But if it works, it works.

I agree, FM2 (or anything dozer based really) wasn't a great platform at the time apart from decent onboard graphics and low pricing. I think the OP happens to have this FM2 system already... so the incremental acquisition cost is near zero.

It seems to me that a dual-module (4 integer threads) Trinity is similar performance to a Phenom II X4 or a high end Core 2 Quad... which would make it more than enough for Windows XP era gaming. Not benchmark winning overkill (Haswell), but it should be enough for excellent performance in XP era games without becoming a CPU bottleneck. As you said... if it works, it works...

Can you run Windows 3.1? It is difficult to run on modern hardware.

On the topic of running DOS on old AMD CPUs, the Athlon 64 is also a decent solution: MSI MS-7253 / K9VGM-V (KM890, VIA8237A) , Athlon 64 X2 5050e, Radeon X800 XL

I have a HP consumer computer using a Asus-made motherboard for HP that plugs FM2 CPUs. At this moment I have choice of A10-5800K or 6800K. I have choices of video cards too. Using DDR3-1866 sticks.

How is this faring on windows 7 and 10 using vintage games that works with these OSes?

Cheers,

pentiumspeed, I recommend the A10-6800K, because is slightly faster, can be clocked up to 4.7GHz (and it's the fastest you can plug to a FM2 socket to what I recall). To what I tested, very few old software runs in 7/10, unless I used DosBox for DOS games, and VirtualBox for applications and early Windows games. Something I noticed is, that not every XP-capable PC support EMS/XMS; this PC supports it (and so should yours because the specs are similar), but I got an older Pentium III where it doesn't. Not sure what it depends on, whether CPU, RAM or mobo, but I suspect is the latter.

Gerry, I intend to (well, must) get such a PC in the future, and it would be pretty nice, though I'd say, emulation/virtualization just doesn't feel the same to running from bare metal for some reason. It might be accurate or not, but I guess I'd just be running a modern app in a modern OS 😜

Thanks for the GPU tip by the way!

bZbZbZ, I just gave Hogwarts Legacy a try, and it works mostly fine and fast... until completing the tutorial, because thanks to such a large map I'm seeing missing polys everywhere, or missing animation keyframes 🤣. I suposse that's lack of RAM?

Anyway doesn't matter much, after finding out I had to switch an AHCI option to IDE, I have just installed MS-DOS 7.1 to an old HDD, and it works fine for Duke Nukum (:P), Digger, Prehistorik 2, Crystal Caves or Pinball Fantasies. PC Speaker only so far, I have yet to try sbemu. The latter game refused to work under XP and has graphical inaccuracy under DosBox, so I'm happy to enjoy the actual true experience here.

As for earlier Windows versions... I haven't installed anything YET (other than XP as mentioned). However, thanks to SBEMU I expect to at least have sound in it. For graphics, I'm aware of a generic driver, related to VESA and/or called "sci-doctor" or something like that (any help is appreciated!) which should at least help improve on screen resolution or colors, probably not both at the same time, but most of my games are for DOS anyway, though I appreciate being able to run both games and applications in a single setup (unlike DosBox where you can run any game but not Windows 95 and up AFAIK).

I might update this thread after trying to install Windows 3.X or 9X, though probably in some more weeks 🙁

RetroMaster137 wrote on 2023-04-24, 04:01:

Motherboard: A55BM-K CPU: AMD A8-6600K (quad-core @3.9 GHz, OC to 4.2GHz) FM2 Socket RAM: 8GB dual-channel GPU: Gigabyte WindFor […]
Show full quote

Motherboard: A55BM-K
CPU: AMD A8-6600K (quad-core @3.9 GHz, OC to 4.2GHz) FM2 Socket
RAM: 8GB dual-channel
GPU: Gigabyte WindForce OC (with AMD R9 270 2GB @975Mhz).

Motherboard/cpu/GPU from 2013, I might keep this as my retro pc until I die from now on. Because:
Drivers aside, currently (and ignoring Linux for now), I can run any OS from Windows 10 all the way back to MS-DOS 6.22 (or maybe earlier if I got a diskette drive). No TPM, Intel ME/AMD PSP or UEFI-only weirdness (to what I understand), so I'm in love with this mobo. IT'S CLEAN.
Still setting things up but i can already imagine... Sound blaster emulation through sbemu for MS-DOS or VDMSound for Windows XP, there are tools to limit cpu cycles if necessary (even from my BIOS) so there's no problem.
The idea is to ensure it will run (almost?) any software from 2013 and past, with no hassle at max possible settings ("authentic experience"); being able to run newer software is a bonus.

I will eventually upgrade to 16gb ram... But, would it be worth it if I upgraded the CPU as well? The best CPU that fits in the FM2 Socket is an AMD A10-6800K @4.4GHz, which, if markably faster than my current one, will make me seek for a GPU upgrade, in order to avoid a wider bottleneck (system shall be balanced, of course). If I do, then I might even be able to give Hogwarts Legacy a try, as if this machine needed one last challenge before retirement 🤣.

Btw: for a low price, I believe an old high-end GPU is far better than an entry-level GPU from today. Made with different intentions. I don't think I could install a parallel port card though, I don't know if does it use the same slot

The Athlon 800 series chips appear to be supported, along with the A 7k series chips