First post, by BoYan
Hello guys, maybe the first post of mine on this forum, but been reading you for a while now... 😀
Well, I am soon to move to a new apartment (finally) and along with that, I will get to fix myself 1 (more 😁) retro station of my pleasing, since there will be more room.
I got into PCs around 1999, and got my 1st PC in 2003, so I'm mostly interested in hardware and games of that era, and stopped following what's new regarding games around 2007-8, only been playing WoT from actual games (even that is very little lately).
I have a plan to have 1 compact baby AT PC based on DFI P5BV3+ mobo, with K6-2 500, or slower CPU/s, and one of early AGP cards + probably a Voodoo2, for DOS/WIN 95/ early 98 games, which will be a definitive build, also using some 3D printing of case stand and an open air vertical case.. it will be an interesting build and definitely an interesting thing to see...
But the dilemma is not there, but in my 2nd, more contemporary build... I'd like something faster, good for Win XP games, and able to do some overclocking (also a happy memory from 2003-2005 period).
I've just got myself an MS Industrial V700 case with glass window and some RGB (hah), and like to put some (visually) interesting hardware inside, based on AGP platform. and here are some of my options (been collecting for quite some time):
- a system based on Tualatin CPU, with universal AGP slot... but I think CPU will be limiting here
- a system based on AMD s462 build - Abit NF7-S mobo and either an 1700+ TBredB (crazy good overclocker) or a Barton 2500+ or even 3200+, with some fast DDR500 memory, but also not too fast AGP system
- a system based on 754 - I've recently got a DFI LanParty nf3 250gb mobo - could be an interesting PC for overclocking, but like above not too strong for later games (got an Athlon 3000+ with 90nm process build which should do just OK)
- a system based on AsRock 939-DualSATA mobo, with either a single core 4000+ or an Opteron (crazy overclocker) or 4800+ x2 (but probably limited overclock) - this could stretch the usage to even strongest AGP cards
- OR and Intel based system - AsRock 4Core mobo with an QX6700 (unlocked multiplier, should hit ~3,5 GHz with a good cooler) - this seems to me as an overkill for Win XP games
I've also got a working Abit BP6, but seems to me it is too close to that K6-2, to consider for this build, though visual moment would be very good... Also, there's some concern that I'd like to keep it in working condition.
So idea is to be able to play everything (or mostly everything), with a period correct AGP card - I've got almost all from GF256 to GF7800, including the strongest AGP cards HD3850 and HD4670, though I'd say they're both overkill for Win XP.
Use your imagination and help me choose...