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First post, by elderago

Posted on 2018-08-31, 01:34

elderago Offline

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Hi new here I just recently bought an old dell dimension 4550 for about 60 dollars. its main purpose is to be used as a old tear down computer for my A+ hardware class but I also want to turn it into a retro machine, I know its a bit to new for older dos box games (pentium 4 2.66 ghz,256 mbyte o1f ram geforce 4 mx) but its what I have right know and I want to use it for something

so anyways what hardware should I use for it. I want to put in a sound card but which and the same goes for gpu, I was looking it into a geforce4 4200/4400 (4600 is expensive know). I also plan on installing windows 8

so what late 90s games can I play on this ? I have my modern desktop for that can play most direct x games

Reply 1 of 6, by oeuvre

Posted on 2018-08-31, 14:49

oeuvre Offline

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Put XP on it.. bump up the RAM to 2GB. A Ti4200 would be a nice fit.

Could also dual boot 98SE and XP

HP Z420 Workstation Intel Xeon E5-1620, 32GB, RADEON HD7850 2GB, SSD + HD, XP/7

Reply 2 of 6, by Katmai500

Posted on 2018-08-31, 19:59

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I bought a Dimension 4550 new in 2002 with money from my summer job going into high school. Originally it was a 2.4B GHz P4 with 256 MB RAM and a GeForce 4 MX 420. Over the years I upgraded it to a 3.06 GHz P4 HT, 512 MB RAM, and a Radeon 9800. Great memories. I still have it, too! 🤣 Anyway, I'm rambling.

Originally these could be had with a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card or the ubiquitous SoundBlaster Live! The SoundBlaster Live is a solid choice for XP-era games. An SB Audigy 2 ZS would also be period correct. Video card wise, a GF4 Ti 4200 would be a great period-correct choice. A Radeon 9500/9700/9800 or GeForce FX 5700/5900 wouldn't be a bad fit either. You can find Ti 4200 cards mis-labeled on ebay surprisingly cheap.

WIndows 8 might be fun to experiment with, but it's gonna be slow. You'll definitely want XP for retro gaming. 98 SE works well on it too. I had mine dual booted XP/98SE back in the day.

Reply 3 of 6, by elderago

Posted on 2018-08-31, 20:24

elderago Offline

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this is pretty sweet I found the Harman Kardon HK695-01 on amazon I plan on eventually buying that I also saw the soundblaster live on amazon and ebay I'll probably do that

the only downside is that it is limited to one stick so I bought a 1gb ddr for it

duel booting windows 98 is a great idea

Reply 4 of 6, by Katmai500

Posted on 2018-09-01, 19:01

Katmai500 Offline

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The black HK695's go perfect with this machine. Good choice.

Hopefully the single 1GB stick works. Max is 2x 512MB per the manual.

Reply 5 of 6, by elderago

Posted on 2018-09-01, 20:51

elderago Offline

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Katmai500 wrote:
The black HK695's go perfect with this machine. Good choice.

Hopefully the single 1GB stick works. Max is 2x 512MB per the manual.

I was incorrect it has two dimms slots .

the max is only 2x512 ? damn I just bought 1gb dimm

Edit: found some 512 on amazon matching the same mhz and speed its for the 4600 but hopefully should work

Reply 6 of 6, by elderago

Posted on 2018-09-03, 04:05

elderago Offline

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Katmai500 wrote:
I bought a Dimension 4550 new in 2002 with money from my summer job going into high school. Originally it was a 2.4B GHz P4 with 256 MB RAM and a GeForce 4 MX 420. Over the years I upgraded it to a 3.06 GHz P4 HT, 512 MB RAM, and a Radeon 9800. Great memories. I still have it, too! 🤣 Anyway, I'm rambling.

Originally these could be had with a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card or the ubiquitous SoundBlaster Live! The SoundBlaster Live is a solid choice for XP-era games. An SB Audigy 2 ZS would also be period correct. Video card wise, a GF4 Ti 4200 would be a great period-correct choice. A Radeon 9500/9700/9800 or GeForce FX 5700/5900 wouldn't be a bad fit either. You can find Ti 4200 cards mis-labeled on ebay surprisingly cheap.

WIndows 8 might be fun to experiment with, but it's gonna be slow. You'll definitely want XP for retro gaming. 98 SE works well on it too. I had mine dual booted XP/98SE back in the day.

sounds great btw I didnt mean windows 8 I meant 98 I have a habit of putting 8 instead of 98 🤣

but duel booting is a good idea may need a larger drive though it only came with one sled

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