I love a VM myself, is that an option?
I love a VM myself, is that an option?
I think you could go either way but in all honesty I would go 2 computers over a dual boot.
your going to run into software and compatibility issues with the old stuff, some of the turn of the century stuff has a problem recognizing a "compatible render device" in a newer computer.
plus with the hassle it would almost be worth it to scavenge really SUPER CHEAP parts for your old school machine and then build a halfway decent modern machine
I think for your old school machine you could probably get away with something with DDR2 and a 1st gen pci express video card. that combo puts it pretty squarely in XP compatible era albeit near the end.
just remember to get a KVM so your not having to swap cables around all of the time
Windows 7 will run 99% of all software and peripherals from 1999 on. I was using a USB MS Sidewinder stick with Windows 7 just fine.Originally Posted by Niku-Sama
The only reason I was suggesting a dual-boot with XP was for that other 1% unknown, and to run an older version of Direct X.
Last edited by Gamevet; 09-30-2016 at 05:31 PM.
there will come a time soon that windows 7 wont be the one to have and 10 will be whats needed and 10's backwards compatibility blows.
The occasional random game can be a source of great headache. Shadow of Destiny has a reputation for being completely broken on systems too new.
Lum fan.
I would build a Windows 10 machine. Then start installing the games you want to play. Many games have patches or workarounds to get them to run on a modern machines, and some just work. Basically decide what games you want and google them to see what the community has created. I have multiple machines myself. I find playing some games with ridiculous frames per second is a little inauthentic.
Apparently someone at old-games.ru finally licked that problem.
http://www.old-games.ru/game/downloa...=15049&modal=1
http://www.old-games.ru/forum/thread...2#post-1321849
"There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." --Bertrand Russel (attributed)
He cut it off at 2015.
Yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of Windows 10; I've installed it on 2 PCs because it was free. I still have 1 PC that I've kept Windows 7 on, because I know it will still support older devices and software that 10 will neglect.
Sometimes I second guess why I did it, but then I realize I was coming off Windows 8.1 so it's not like I was making things worse.
It is if you can setup GPU pass-through. Just remember that a VM has overhead.
Also, Win9x will run like shit inside a VM.
Last edited by RP2A03; 09-30-2016 at 10:57 PM.
⃟Mario says "... if you do drugs, you go to hell before you die."
Yeah, if you plan to use 9x you're better off with legit old hardware.
I've mentioned my Mazinkaiser before. Here's what it has:
Motherboard: Epox-8KTA
Processor: AMD K6-2, 700mhz (tho the mobo could actually handle up to 1ghz)
RAM: 512mb of PC-133mhz (this is something you'll have to be conscious of because there are indeed different kinds of ram and its not all universally compatible, so make sure what kind of memory your mobo takes)
Video card: Voodoo 3 2000 (the Voodoo 3 can handle all three major APIs--Glide, OpenGL, and Direct3D. It's the only one that can do all three).
Sound card: Soundblaster 16, ISA slot version (ISA slot sound cards work natively in DOS, while PCI ones will require extra tinkering. If you don't plan to ever use real DOS then this won't matter).
Game range: Can technically play anything up until late win98 era, so... 2003-ish? Which is a little below what the OP was asking, but from the sounds of it he'll need two computers for the entire range of games he wants anyway.
I myself have never been able to figure out what a good build for an XP computer would be, as apparently even in just XP's time on the market the requirements for games changed radically. That's just what I've heard though, and I've never tried to build one (not enough money).
I have an old HP Windows XP computer that I'd bought in 2002. I didn't know about AGP, at the time, so I ended up using PCI based graphics cards like the GeForce 2, Geforce 4 MX440 and finally the FX 5200 Ultra. It has a 2Ghz Celeron CPU and 756 MB of RAM. I believe the HDD is only 250 GB. I was running games like Halo, Doom 3, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars: Empire at War and GTA: Vice City. The only game that it really struggled with was Knights of the Old Republic, and it was because of how badly that game ran, that I bought an Xbox in 2003.
You don't have to use desktop PC hardware, there are a lot of really great laptops from the early 2000s, many of which can support Windows 9x with just a little driver elbow grease.
Generally speaking, you can't go wrong with most Dell models as they usually have Intel chipsets that are supported by Windows 9x. Try to look for a Latitude or Inspiron with a Pentium III, Pentium 4 or Pentium M. The Dell Latitude D600 in particular is excellent, usually has an ATi Radeon 7500 or 9000 video chipset and are very inexpensive. With some Dell laptops, you may luck out and find one with an Nvidia chipset.
2nd place would be IBM, but that's mainly because a lot of Thinkpads use Intel integrated graphics. That said, if the Thinkpad was made before the Lenovo sale in 2006, there's pretty good odds it will at least have an ATi chipset. I have a Thinkpad T42 which has a Radeon 7500 chipset, it works fantastically.
I do not recommend anything by HP or Compaq, mainly because most use AMD chipsets which are poorly supported by Win9x. That and at least in the middle 2000s, HP made a lot of poorly built laptops, mostly dying from overheating and melting solder all over the board. I haven't had much experience with Toshiba to really recommend them.
Don't be discouraged by a bit of driver hunting, often times you'll be able to find Win9x drivers right at the manufacturer's website, Dell still has pages for their early 2000s laptops, for example. Even if that's not the case, there have been efforts by fans to compile driver packs. I have previously put together driver packs for the Dell D600 and Thinkpad T42 over at VOGONS.org.
By the way, if you are at all interested in using contemporary PC hardware for older games, you need to sign up at VOGONS.org, it's a great resource.
Last edited by Guntz; 10-15-2016 at 06:08 PM.
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Using a Laptop for Win9x gaming? No. Screw that. I did that before, it turned out to be a costly mistake.
The problem with it is that one benefit of Win9x is the very fact that it has native DOS support, but that's all moot if the built-in sound and video (sound is more likely to be an issue here) isn't something that the game recognizes--whcih its very likely to be something not Sound Blaster compatible. This was precisely the problem I ran into, and it even affected things like the Windows port of Doom, so its not limited to just DOS games.
Frankly this is something that makes me think laptops would be bad for WinXP gaming as well--you have no control over what hardware is in a laptop. Besides which, do you really want to play your FPS games with a trackpad for the mouse? If you want to game and have everything be optimal, you need a desktop.
It's not easy, but it's no harder than getting serious into obscure home consoles.
Regardless of laptop you buy, if it has Win9x driver support, it will for sure have General MIDI support, that accounts for a decent portion of newer DOS games. Doom, Doom II, Duke Nukem 3D and many other games will all work even if your computer has no proper Soundblaster-16 support.
Like I said, if you stick to machines old enough to have a P3, P4 or PM, it will work very well for most Win9x gaming. There do exist laptops with Soundblaster support, but they're hard to find. Believe it or not, similarly to how it's satisfying to custom build an older PC, it's satisfying to track down a laptop model with everything you want. It's kind of like shopping for a vintage car, it's all part of the hunt.
I've heard many people complain that keeping an old desktop isn't practical due to space requirements. That's what a laptop is for.
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