...I guess my main 'rig' is my retro rig in this case? 2008-2009ish xw4600 I suppose is sorta old for a regular everyday computer computer, but it handles so well I don't see the need for a new one any time soon.

I've tried Windows 10 and didn't care for it much. I'll probably be using Seven on this thing until I figure out how to make Linux less annoying.

Well i guess my current computers will become retro rigs eventually, but i don't have anything newer than ivy bridge so they're all dual boot system with WIndows XP, which is my main OS. I only use Windows 7 for compatibility with newer programs and DirectX 10+ games. I guess they would also count as Win7 retro PCs too though.

zstandig wrote:

...I guess my main 'rig' is my retro rig in this case? 2008-2009ish xw4600 I suppose is sorta old for a regular everyday computer computer, but it handles so well I don't see the need for a new one any time soon.

I've tried Windows 10 and didn't care for it much. I'll probably be using Seven on this thing until I figure out how to make Linux less annoying.

The key to understand Linux, is a different mindset when doing computing.
The way I see operating systems, is that Windows is the one that are the strange dog.
Yes... True... Allmost all other systems, behave more or less the same.
Then of course. I am not talking about other than Unix's and Linux's. (that's a lot of choices)
Even OsX is Unix and operates allmost the same as BSD, under the hood. (speaking broad here)
My biggest suggestion here, is to go with a Debian flavour if you want to start learning.
And set it up on a computer, only for playing and learning Linux on.
This way, you are ready for 2020.

brostenen wrote:

The key to understand Linux, is a different mindset when doing computing. The way I see operating systems, is that Windows is th […]
Show full quote

zstandig wrote:

...I guess my main 'rig' is my retro rig in this case? 2008-2009ish xw4600 I suppose is sorta old for a regular everyday computer computer, but it handles so well I don't see the need for a new one any time soon.

I've tried Windows 10 and didn't care for it much. I'll probably be using Seven on this thing until I figure out how to make Linux less annoying.

The key to understand Linux, is a different mindset when doing computing.
The way I see operating systems, is that Windows is the one that are the strange dog.
Yes... True... Allmost all other systems, behave more or less the same.
Then of course. I am not talking about other than Unix's and Linux's. (that's a lot of choices)
Even OsX is Unix and operates allmost the same as BSD, under the hood. (speaking broad here)
My biggest suggestion here, is to go with a Debian flavour if you want to start learning.
And set it up on a computer, only for playing and learning Linux on.
This way, you are ready for 2020.

Debian is excellent because Apt makes software management much simpler, and development packages are setup in such a way that layering software built from source on top of your system is relatively simple. The downside with Debian (as with all systems that strive for a certain level of ease of use) is that much of the system plumbing is hidden behind tools and scripts. For that reason, if you really want to know how things work at a deep level, you will want to dive into something like Slackware or even LFS at some point.

It's just a question of how far down the rabbit hole you choose to go.

I have quite a collection of "retro" hardware running Win7. I typically put it on anything that is S939, LGA775 or newer. I just...can't stand XP anymore. As with Win98, I only use it when I have to. And because nearly all of my old XP games and apps work just fine on Win7, I rarely have to. 😀

Standard Def Steve wrote:

I have quite a collection of "retro" hardware running Win7. I typically put it on anything that is S939, LGA775 or newer. I just...can't stand XP anymore. As with Win98, I only use it when I have to. And because nearly all of my old XP games and apps work just fine on Win7, I rarely have to. 😀

I actually still like XP, though I have to say that, overall, I'm quite satisfied with W7 😀
Once in a while I'll boot one of my ME rigs and even the Windows jingle will make me feel at home. I do notice their oddnesses more though, but W7 has it's own oddnesses to compensate for that 😜

tayyare wrote:

My Windows 7 retro rig is already built. But I'm using it as my main rig at the moment. :lol: […]
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My Windows 7 retro rig is already built. But I'm using it as my main rig at the moment. 🤣

Q9550 on Asus P5Q Premium
4GB DDR2 RAM
Asus GTX 560 1GB
etc.

Very similar to my Vista retro rig, which I am also using as my primary desktop at the moment. (P5Q PRO, QX9650, 8GB DDR2, GTX660). 😁

My age scale for PC's (for Year 2016) :
Cutting Edge - Anything with AVX support (Skylake is Bleeding Edge 😀)
Modern PC's (Nehalem/Phenom and newer without AVX),
Classic PC's (Core 2 Duo/AM2 and newer),
Retro PC's (All Pentium 4's and D's with Socket 939/754 + Socket 370/Socket A),
Vintage PC's (older than Pentium III and Athlon XP).

Core 2 Duo's (and Core 2 Quad's) are in second group (Classic), because they can run any OS or game U can throw at them.

Socket 939 is "dead" for over 10 years (last CPU was introduced for it in January 2006), so I think that should be concidered Retro.
Newest Windows for S939 :
1) Win 7 x64 SP1
2) Win 8 x64 or Win 8.1/10 x86 (64-bit versions of Win 8.1 and 10 are not supported natively on Socket 939 CPU's).

I think Core 2 Duo PC's (typical Windows 7 era PC), don't become "Retro" anytime soon (still - Conroe's 10 year anniversary is in June 2016 😀).

I already have a Win7 retro PC:

Intel Core Quad Q6700
ASUS P5K
Radeon HD4870X2
8GB DDR2-667 (Chinese parts rated at 800MHz are not good enough to pool it off)
128GB Corsair Force LS SSD
1TB HDD
etc.

It's too old for most new games, but has high-end components. That's basically the definition of most retro rigs. This also means that all my desktop computers are retro rigs 😜

RacoonRider wrote:

I already have a Win7 retro PC: […]
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I already have a Win7 retro PC:

Intel Core Quad Q6700
ASUS P5K
Radeon HD4870X2
8GB DDR2-667 (Chinese parts rated at 800MHz are not good enough to pool it off)
128GB Corsair Force LS SSD
1TB HDD
etc.

It's too old for most new games, but has high-end components. That's basically the definition of most retro rigs. This also means that all my desktop computers are retro rigs 😜

U know that after OC (and with better GPU), that CPU can do Crysis 1 at 4k w/AA x8 right ?
Proof : LINK
Get a DX11 card like GTX 460 and U should be able to play pretty much anything.

gdjacobs wrote:

brostenen wrote:

The key to understand Linux, is a different mindset when doing computing. The way I see operating systems, is that Windows is th […]
Show full quote

zstandig wrote:

...I guess my main 'rig' is my retro rig in this case? 2008-2009ish xw4600 I suppose is sorta old for a regular everyday computer computer, but it handles so well I don't see the need for a new one any time soon.

I've tried Windows 10 and didn't care for it much. I'll probably be using Seven on this thing until I figure out how to make Linux less annoying.

The key to understand Linux, is a different mindset when doing computing.
The way I see operating systems, is that Windows is the one that are the strange dog.
Yes... True... Allmost all other systems, behave more or less the same.
Then of course. I am not talking about other than Unix's and Linux's. (that's a lot of choices)
Even OsX is Unix and operates allmost the same as BSD, under the hood. (speaking broad here)
My biggest suggestion here, is to go with a Debian flavour if you want to start learning.
And set it up on a computer, only for playing and learning Linux on.
This way, you are ready for 2020.

Debian is excellent because Apt makes software management much simpler, and development packages are setup in such a way that layering software built from source on top of your system is relatively simple. The downside with Debian (as with all systems that strive for a certain level of ease of use) is that much of the system plumbing is hidden behind tools and scripts. For that reason, if you really want to know how things work at a deep level, you will want to dive into something like Slackware or even LFS at some point.

It's just a question of how far down the rabbit hole you choose to go.

I've been playing with linux on and off for about 8 years or so. It is a major love/hate for me.

I love the freedom, I hate feeling lost and confused with nothing but some forums for help.
I love that it is free, but some hardware here and there isn't supported
I like the security, but I hate being locked out of my own computer (no, you cant move that there, why not? 😢 )
I like the power of the command line, I hate forgetting commands and syntax
I like all the free software, I hate when I cant find the program I just installed or the repository doesnt have what I want
I like the OS, I hate how there are a million and one distributions.
I like the OS, I hate the 'philosophy'

There are times I feel my favorite Linux, BSD variant of the week is the best thing ever, then there are times I get sick of it and find myself back on Win7.

agent_x007 wrote:

My age scale for PC's (for Year 2016) : Cutting Edge - Anything with AVX support (Skylake is Bleeding Edge :happy:) Modern PC's […]
Show full quote

My age scale for PC's (for Year 2016) :
Cutting Edge - Anything with AVX support (Skylake is Bleeding Edge 😀)
Modern PC's (Nehalem/Phenom and newer without AVX),
Classic PC's (Core 2 Duo/AM2 and newer),
Retro PC's (All Pentium 4's and D's with Socket 939/754 + Socket 370/Socket A),
Vintage PC's (older than Pentium III and Athlon XP).

Core 2 Duo's (and Core 2 Quad's) are in second group (Classic), because they can run any OS or game U can throw at them.

Socket 939 is "dead" for over 10 years (last CPU was introduced for it in January 2006), so I think that should be concidered Retro.
Newest Windows for S939 :
1) Win 7 x64 SP1
2) Win 8 x64 or Win 8.1/10 x86 (64-bit versions of Win 8.1 and 10 are not supported natively on Socket 939 CPU's).

I think Core 2 Duo PC's (typical Windows 7 era PC), don't become "Retro" anytime soon (still - Conroe's 10 year anniversary is in June 2016 😀).

I think your scaling is actually nicely done, except that I am missing the "Just old PC's" category 😜

Hmm... I guess Pentium III's and Athlon XP's could be moved to : "Dam old" category 😉
Since "Retro" is really cramped with Socket 939 going down the pipe.

So result would be :
...
Classic PC's (Core 2 Duo/AM2 and newer),
Retro PC's (All Pentium 4's and D's with Socket 478/LGA 775 or AMD's with Socket 939/754)
Dam Old PC's (Pentium III's/Willamette or Socket 370/Socket 423/Socket A),
Vintage PC's (older than Pentium III and Athlon XP).

agent_x007 wrote:

U know that after OC (and with better GPU), that CPU can do Crysis 1 at 4k w/AA x8 right ?
Proof : LINK
Get a DX11 card like GTX 460 and U should be able to play pretty much anything.

Well, I can play anything I want to already, why bother? :Ъ And it can already run Crysis 1 at decent frame rate 1280x1024. I don't need more because I don't have a display for that 😀

I don't remember seeing any compatibility problems with Vista+ era software and hardware on 8 and 10, so I don't see to many reasons for using 7 specifically...
I think using XP or 10 works well.

"Retro PC" is a purpose, not an age group. Basically, to me, 5 years makes for a crappy old PC that's limited in everyday use, after 10-15 years they're classics, and after 20-25 years they become vintage.

a 5 years old PC can be quite good, let's not forget Sandy Bridge is 5 years old, Fermi is 6 years old... those are still relevant enough for current software I think...

You'd be talking about GTX 500 and HD6000 series video cards for gaming. Advancements don't come as fast as they used to, that's for sure; you should probably add 5 years before each category is reached with recent hardware.

Mine is already built, it is my main rig. I am not upgrading to Windows 10 for several reasons, however the MOST important one to me is that 1/2 my games won't run on it because they are Securom/Safedisc/Tages/Starforce/JoWood protected. Windows 10 will not allow these games to run anymore.

Honestly, I don't even see the point of building anything newer than Pentium III. I'm not judging at all, and I understand that nostalgia might be the driving force here... But what exactly can you run on a Pentium IV machine that you can't run on a modern box?

Edit: OK, RoyBatty mentioned the copy protection systems that won't work on a modern OS, so that might be a legitimate use case for those with large disc collections. It's still hardly a hardware issue.