First post, by BetaC
- Rank
- Oldbie
For once I am not asking for help for myself, well, at least as the end user of this system. I am perfectly fine with my Pentium 100/233 system, and my various Macintoshes, but I am at a bit of a loss for an idea that I have been mulling over in my head. Below is where I will explain myself.
The Actual Purpose
First and foremost, the purpose of this build will be to give my brother-in-law firsthand experience with putting together a system that works. He has plans for building a modern system for himself, and I feel that having experience with building something that he won't feel guilty about potentially messing up would help keep him from overthinking things when that day comes. I say this because I have recently had to, on multiple occasions, tell people that being overly cautious with their hardware is why they are having issues. The best example of this was someone who was afraid he was going to break his modern motherboard's ram slots if he pushed too hard leading to his system not working for the better part of two hours.
Why Is It Odd, Sneaky?
There's a hidden purpose in this, as you could probably tell. Gaining experience putting together a system is the main purpose, but I would also be wanting to give him the working foundation for the system he is eventually going to build. Specifically, I am going to be using a modern case with a modern PSU and an already set-aside 500GB SSD so that he has an already known-good foundation for that eventual modern computer.
Why Am I Asking Vogons?
With this build, I am wanting to use older hardware for the parts that aren't mentioned above. This is both to circumvent the pricing issues that modern systems are facing, and so that when we get past the point of having the hardware installed, there's still effort going in to getting the system actually running. While I do love how easy it is to get a modern system with non-exotic parts working, it's not great for teaching.
While I do love my aforementioned Pentium build, I know that something that at least supports AGP and SDRAM will reduce the amount of time spent just sourcing working parts. The question I have, then, is what route I should go down for this. I have been thinking about doing something SS7 for this, though the eBay prices for SS7 boards seem to be getting higher by the week. That said, I have multiple K6 CPUs available locally, so it wouldn't be the worst route.
I could also go the route of using Slot 1 or socket 370 for this as well, though I would prefer to not get up and in to the P4 era so that I can also have a properly functioning ISA port for DOS sound. While I know he won't necessarily care too much about that, the setup process for ISA sound cards helped me understand the concept of addressing and interrupts in a way that has stuck with me to this day.
I also have multiple spare parts available for this, so it won't be a completely new purchase build. I have a spare 550 MHz P3 in slot form and a 500 in socketed, and an Audigy that would allow for CD-free windows 98 gaming. I am more than open to suggestions and ideas for this, and I have the better part of two months for consideration anyways. Thanks in advance.