Help me build a badass PC circa 2001

[Afrodziac]

Yes 2001. I want to build a box just to play Pre 2001 Windows 98 games that wont run in Xp. Redneck Rampage, Dino Crisis 1 and 2, etc. Reason I am looking into a 2001 rig, is because thats basically when 98 games kinda slowed down and new games were mostly released for xp and 2000 and ME. if memory serves me correct the system to have back then was

Athlon Xp 1800+
Geofrce 4 Ti or Radeon 9700/9500 Pro
256 Ram ( for Win98 dunno if u want to go higher)

does this sound about right?

[Phil]

dude, just get a modern laptop. that should be enough for you

[mudlord]

dude, just get a modern laptop. that should be enough for you

Why?

A authentic system is much better than using DOSBox, thats for sure.

I daresay though, Afrodziac, you could go much lower for the video card and CPU, like a Pentium 3 and GeForce 2. If your using pre 1998, 128MB should be plenty.

[Phil]

well just hit up ebay. "put gaming pc" into your search box, and put the money cap at 350. youll find lots iof nice systems

check out this one: Custom Built Gaming PC-80GB - eBay (item 140223657201 end time Apr-17-08 18:20:53 PDT)

[PCXL-Fan]

DAMN YOU lucky to have me as a member of this forum. :P

I'm bored so I'll have a little fun with this.

Lucky for you I am a videogame magazine collector and thus have many PC magazines from 2001. Grabbing an April issue of PC Gamer they have a computer hardware section that lists what a entry level, mid-range and dream system looks like.

Since you wanted specifically a badass mofo 2001 system, I'll read off the specs for the dream system.

What you have listed up top is too powerful for a genuine authentic realistic 2001 gaming experience.

The Athlon XP 1800+ was too powerful. And would be for a 1st or 2nd qtr 2002 computer. You'll want an Amd Athlon thunderbird based system if you want an amd computer. Compatability wise the athlon xp will be just as good for old games but it won't give you the genuine, authentic, realistic 2001 gaming experience.

Also Geforce 4Ti/ Radeon 9000 was mid to late 2003- early 2004. You'll need to go back to Geforce 2.

And please for the love of god don't tell me your gaming on an LCD. They didn't become prominent till after 2005/06

Here are the stats from the PCGAMER April 2001 Dream gaming machine.

Case: 300watt ATX formfactor
Processor: Intel PIV 1.5GHZ (top of the line at the time of magazine printing)
Motherboard: intel D850GB
Memory: 256 MB PC800 RDram
CD/DVD drive: Pioneer 16x DVDrom
DVD Decoder: RealMagic Hollywood PlusPCI card
CD Burner: Plextor 12x10x32x CD-RW
Floppy Drive: Samsung 3.5"
HDD: 81.9GB DiamondMax Proxima 98196H*
Sound: Creatiave Labs SBLive! MP3+
Modem: 3Com 56k v.90 hardware modem
Monitor: 19" Optiquest Q95
VideoCard: NVIDIA Geforce 2 Ultra :costing $499 lowest price available on pricewatch.com
Speakers: Klipsch ProMedia v.2-400
USB Mouse: Original IntelliMouse with IntelliEye technology (one of the first laser mice)

happy shopping.

[Afrodziac]

Mudlord I was thinking lower myself, like a ATI Radeon 7500 which is like $25 on pricewatch. but for Ram 128 is a bit low no? I remember UT 2003 recommended Ram was 256 and that supported Win98, sure its the higher end of the spectrum but I never know what "newer" win 98 games I may wanna add. although for now my objective is to play 95-98 games.

and I don't want to Run Dos box through a laptop. I have Dos box with one of the simplest frontends and it still doesn't deliver. some games are fine, but games like the original Need for speed doesn't work well in Dosbox, Redneck Rampage also doesn't work well I cant remap the keys, sound is fuzzy and its a bit slow even with doz box set to utilize 100% Cpu and I am running C2D E400 oc'ed to 3.0ghz with 2 gigs of ram and Raid 0.

I want to build a real 98 box with a 16 bit soundblaster card etc, and all old school stuff and play it at full speed. like I did back when I was a teen. I have tried everything from Dosbox to Vmware to virtual PC . and believe me for some games you just need the real system. i plan on buying all "brand new" old parts. you can still get parts that were never liquidated over the years on pricewatch.

[skoreanime]

I actually have a system like that lying in my closet .

But it's an AMD Duron with a GeForce2 MX 400 .

[Phil]

hey i have my trusty ibm laptop, circa 1996

[Afrodziac]

Here is my battle plan..

PCPROGRESS.com Athlon xp 1800 CPU

xiertekusa Creative Labs SB(CT4780) Live,6.1 5CH,Digital,Dolby,PCI Sound Card Soundblaster pci 128

PC Parts Unlimited::Item Details MSi Mobo

PCPROGRESS.com ATi radeon 7500 Video card

Without Dvd, hard drive and ram the grand total is $90 for a Kickass gaming rig

Question is, should I go Ati over Nvidia? Im almost positive back in the day, games were more Ati biased, just like these days most games are Nvidia Biased.. no?

[runawayprisoner]

Originally Posted by Phil

well just hit up ebay. "put gaming pc" into your search box, and put the money cap at 350. youll find lots iof nice systems

You know what? PM me about a $250 desktop. Heck, I'll even throw in Wi-fi support!

[PCXL-Fan]

Damn you didn't read my post did you... all that work for nothing . =/

[Phil]

dang, i forgot all about RAP!! XD

[Afrodziac]

Originally Posted by PCXL-Fan

Damn you didn't read my post did you... all that work for nothing . =/

No I did read it and I appreciate your input, matter of fact u did clarify something of me, but I am not trying to build a era specific pc, just something a little overkill for that era, that would cost peanuts today. truth is, back in 2001 I had a xp 1800+ overclocked, 512 pc2700 Ram, and a 80gig HD and some geforce mmx card( forgot which one) all on a 19" envision crt that is now in hibernation in my closet which i will use again once my new 98 rig is built.

[Phil]

what games are you interested in playing??

[runawayprisoner]

Yep... that's the most important point. You don't know if you only need a $150 desktop... (and yeah, I can do $150 desktops. )

[Afrodziac]

Alot of FPS games, duke nukem, Doom,Redneck Rampage, Tomb raider series, Resident evil, Final Fantasy 7, Dino Crisis, Myst 3d lemmings, bad Mojo,The need for speed series the list goes on, and on but basically games from Early 90's all the way up to 99. I cant possibly name them all I have ALOT.

[Phil]

then just gety a borderline cheap pc....my cheapest laptop plays some of those games TOO fast (like ff7)

[runawayprisoner]

Dammnnn... then all you need is a $150 desktop, my friend. I happen to have one right now. Let's see... P3 800MHz, 384MB RAM (is that right?), and something like a voodoo graphics card.

P.S.: I feel really hard parting with that one, too... since it's an almost perfect classic PC!

[Afrodziac]

What brand video card was better back in a classic rig? ati or nvidia?

[PCXL-Fan]

nvidia definetly if your going with a geforce 256, or geforce 2 series cards compared to the ATI equivanent. All my magazines (dozens) prove they are the best in various review and tech articles.

NVidia also had great cards along side 3dfx when they had their tnt2 cards out.