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Retro Gaming PC

us Offline Poncho65

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Retro Gaming PC
on: June 07, 2020, 05:59:14 AM
I had an old HP Pavilion that I bought way back in 2003. I decided to pull it out of the closet and see what could be upgraded on it to turn it into a Retro Gaming PC :cheers: I want to have an old system with period correct hardware to run some of my older games ;) :tu:

It had a Celeron 2.2 ghz processor, 512mb of Ram, an 80 gb hdd, onboard graphics and sound.

I found all the upgrades for it online and then bought them on eBay :tu:

I ended up upgrading the processor to a Pentium 4 2.6 ghz, maxing it out at 1 gb of Ram, adding a Nvidia 6200 graphics card and adding in a Sound Blaster Live 5.1 card 8)

I forgot that I upgraded the power supply as well. I reused the power supply I took out of my newer machine when I upgraded it to a higher wattage one :like: and also added a fan for the Pentium 4 as they generate more heat than the Celeron :cheers:

I did try to add an ssd in but the Windows Xp install wouldn't recognize it :facepalm: I bought a 256 gb MSATA ssd and put it in an ide PATA drive and then bought a ide converter. It tested fine and I could have likely installed Linux just fine on the build ::) :D

I only lack getting a dvi to hdmi converter now and the hardware side of things will be finished :woohoo: I did have a bit of trouble with some of the drivers after the WinXp install but finally sorted that out :salute: It has been a fun project that didn't cost to much at all. Thankfully the parts aren't old enough to be considered retro/vintage to be to expensive yet :D I looked at the prices of parts from the mid to late 90's and they are ridiculous high for what they are :ahhh :ahhh :ahhh :oops:



nz Offline Syncop8r

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #1 on: June 07, 2020, 09:56:00 AM
I wonder if buying old PCs and salvaging them for parts could be a cheaper option? It would probably involve a lot of digging to find what you are after though.  :think:

What games are you going to play?  :pok:


scotland Offline Gareth

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #2 on: June 07, 2020, 10:42:33 AM
There were actually some words in there that I understood! :D

Curious as to what games you are looking at as well.
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fr Offline Whoey

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #3 on: June 07, 2020, 11:25:26 AM
I probably have old unused parts that might be worthwhile as drop ins on a system like that.

drivers and XP were always a problem.

These days you might just be better of setting up a VDI on your main PC or similar, but sure is a nice nostalgia project
The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.


us Offline Poncho65

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #4 on: June 08, 2020, 02:32:06 AM
I wonder if buying old PCs and salvaging them for parts could be a cheaper option? It would probably involve a lot of digging to find what you are after though.  :think:

What games are you going to play?  :pok:

It would have probably been cheaper to have bought an older system with better specs than what I have but that system served me faithfully for several years :D

Just the standard 90s game like Doom 1 and 2, Quake 1 and 2 maybe 3 :think: Warcraft 2 and 3. Several other FPSs other strategy. Some older DOS games and the like  :cheers:


us Offline Poncho65

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #5 on: June 08, 2020, 02:32:59 AM
There were actually some words in there that I understood! :D

Curious as to what games you are looking at as well.

Don't feel to bad ;) I had to brush back up on a lot of older tech lingo myself as nothing is the same these days :ahhh


us Offline Poncho65

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #6 on: June 08, 2020, 02:37:29 AM
I probably have old unused parts that might be worthwhile as drop ins on a system like that.

drivers and XP were always a problem.

These days you might just be better of setting up a VDI on your main PC or similar, but sure is a nice nostalgia project

This is a nostalgia project for sure :salute:

Driver installation has been a fun experience to get back use to :facepalm: I had forgotten how fiddly it was to get drivers without the internet :oops: for some reason the ethernet port isn't wanting to work :dunno: I have just been using a writable DVD to swap data back and forth instead of USB. Pretty handy to be able to write and delete stuff on them like a USB stick :D I had also forgotten that I use to do that as well :whistle: Windows these days has its own set of problems for sure but most of the processes have been streamlined a lot since my younger days of Windows 95 and DOS :o :D


nz Offline Syncop8r

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #7 on: June 08, 2020, 11:41:17 AM
My favourites on my old PC:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgT-eh1tDSI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5f-VKEq0JA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bblbR2nRXLU
                                           


                                                                                                                    :dd:


us Offline Poncho65

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #8 on: June 08, 2020, 11:56:29 AM
Those look like some great titles 8) :like: I will be trying out several old games that I have never played for sure :cheers: There are lots of abandonware from the 90s and early 2000s as well :o :like: :gimme:


us Offline Sazabi

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #9 on: June 08, 2020, 07:55:52 PM
Just out of curiosity, why not use a usb drive? Personal preference?


us Offline Poncho65

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #10 on: June 08, 2020, 08:09:46 PM
USB 1 is slower than DVD ROM ;) Well at least in my experience it has been  :D On my newer system I use USB sticks all the time for things and the read/write speed is faster (still only USB 2) but the write speed tends to be a bit slower on the older machine :cheers:


us Offline Poncho65

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #11 on: June 11, 2020, 02:54:27 PM
Got the dvi to hdmi adapter and now I have some great resolutions on the screen again :dd:

Installed a few games yesterday evening and hope to play a bit over the weekend :cheers:

Need some better headphones/earpods (don't use speakers because I don't want to bother anyone else in the house) but everything seems to be working great. Still no ethernet though :think: Not a big deal as I don't plan on online play really :cheers:

I am having a harder time with an old DOS game I use to play quite a bit, Guilty, a great point and click adventure that I have put several hours into and would love to get it to going :ahhh :D Also need to install some of the Alone in the Dark series games :dd: I hope DOSBox plays well with these ::) I haven't used DOSBox in several years and I have forgotten a lot about it :facepalm: :D


ie Offline Don Pablo

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #12 on: June 11, 2020, 02:59:32 PM
USB 1 is slower than DVD ROM ;) Well at least in my experience it has been  :D On my newer system I use USB sticks all the time for things and the read/write speed is faster (still only USB 2) but the write speed tends to be a bit slower on the older machine :cheers:
Oh man, you have got to try USB-C 3.1 Gen 2. :dd:
Hooked, like everyone else. ;)

All hail the hook!


us Offline Poncho65

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #13 on: June 12, 2020, 02:14:43 AM
Yes. I for sure need to try it :dd: :like:


us Offline Poncho65

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #14 on: June 13, 2020, 03:11:29 PM
Installed Warcraft 3 last night on the my retro PC and played a while :woohoo: It runs better now with the upgrades from what I remember from way back when :D but only some better :whistle: ;) Still had a great time playing on it though :like:


nz Offline Syncop8r

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #15 on: June 13, 2020, 11:13:38 PM
There was another forum I was on (flight sim/gaming) and a guy told a great story about getting locked out of his house one day. The forum is long gone so I can't quote his story directly but basically he somehow couldn't get into the house when he got home one day. He could, however, get into a shed where his old computer was stowed away and since it was a few hours before his partner would be home he set it up and played some of his old favourite games. He also found some champagne so when she got home she found her partner drunk and playing old games in the shed.


us Offline Poncho65

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #16 on: June 16, 2020, 04:57:12 AM
Now that's funny :rofl: :like:


us Offline Poncho65

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #17 on: June 16, 2020, 06:15:11 PM
Installed and played Quake 2 some last night :woohoo: I made use of my graphics card and it made Q2 absolutely great looking :dd: I am very happy how this turned out, I also got a audio cable extender for my earbuds :like: I can now listen to everything without having to lean forward because the audio jack was in the back of the tower ::) :D

Not sure what I will install next :think:  Gonna play what is on there for a bit first, perhaps... Then who knows what else I will add :ahhh :ahhh :ahhh

 :D


ie Offline Don Pablo

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #18 on: June 16, 2020, 06:23:11 PM
Tonight you're gonna game like it's 1999. :D
Hooked, like everyone else. ;)

All hail the hook!


us Offline Poncho65

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #19 on: June 16, 2020, 09:22:33 PM
Yeah :dd: It has been fun walking down memory lane with these games :like:


us Offline Poncho65

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #20 on: June 22, 2020, 12:21:20 PM
Spent a couple evenings this weekend with Warcraft 2 Battle.net edition :like: This along with a couple others have been played on my newer computer but I figured that I might as well have and keep it on this system :cheers:


Offline oliver

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #21 on: December 03, 2020, 05:48:54 PM
 :spamkiller:
« Last Edit: December 03, 2020, 11:32:39 PM by SteveC »


us Offline Poncho65

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Re: Retro Gaming PC
Reply #22 on: December 06, 2020, 02:24:08 AM
Spammer on my Retro PC thread >:( Good job, Steve :salute: :like:


 

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