fitzpatr wrote:The impetus behind this is that I have two Pentium II systems that are in great shape. One IBM Personal Computer 300XL (Pentium II 300, 440FX), and one Seanix (Pentium II 300, 440LX). I can't seem to figure out if they fit in anywhere or if they're just redundant.
IMO, every other generation is reasonable up to about the PIII, then you can skip two pretty easily. Every generation is only justified if you just like hardware for the sake of having hardware. (*raises hand* Hi.)
With an XT, 386, 486, MMX, PII, K6-III, PIII, and P4, I would probably drop the 486, PII, K6, and PIII. That leaves you with an XT for really old stuff and "gee wow early computers!" factor, the 386 for somewhat speed-sensitive DOS games, the MMX for speed-hungry DOS games and early Win9x games, and the P4 for XP that will run almost everything since 95 up to whatever your main PC would better handle.
If any of those builds are precious to you, I would adjust those around it. A 486 for me is non-negotiable, and as Goldilocks as an MMX can be, a PII can do all those things too. So, XT, 486, PII, P4 would be another possible combo.
It seems often that builds aren't really there for the proper experience of an era of software, but rather as a platform for certain hardware you want to use. Video and sound cards, typically, since that's what we would have been pining for back when they were new. That may move the priorities around to focus on VLB, or to pair with a Voodoo, or whatever.