Choosing a Retro Gaming PC: What to Look For [LGR+More!]

I really enjoyed this video and can totally relate to the woes of making all the little madness work in order to get a vintage pc running. I struggled to get an old Gateway 2000 p5-75 up and running. The biggest stumbling block for a while was finding device drivers for the cdrom lol!

Clint, have you made a PC using the ICYDOCK multi boot hard drive docking station yet? I want to make one so I don't have to keep messing with multiple machines. They are taking over my house and I need to thin the herd so to speak and ICYDOCK looked like a good option for most gaming.

Thank you! And yeah, ATX PSU will work just fine. Might need an adapter if the board only supports AT-style PSUs though: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ATX-Motherboard-Power-Converter-Cable/dp/B000E7JUVO" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com/ATX-Motherboard-Power-Converter-Cable/dp/B000E7JUVO</a>

LGR

Awesome video! I have a Socket 7 Pentium 100 myself. Totally built from parts people just gave me for nothing, including a sweet AWE64. One question though - I was thinking about buying a 486 motherboard and CPU that I could swap in when I wanted, but I wasn't sure if the ATX power supply would be ok?

Other than Internet Archive, I am not ware of any super active organizations trying to preserve these games. At least, not in a way where they can be continually accessed by the public. There are services like GOG that provide some of this, as well as more private groups like the Software Preservation Society, but none of it really meets what I'd hope for in terms of the best solution for long-term preservationion and accessibility for classic PC games.

LGR

:/ Calling my friend a "charlatan with no integrity?" That's outta line. I'm not going to pretend all of his decisions are something I would've done (they're not) but I've also never seen anything privately or publicly from Jason to make me think he's lacking integrity. Yes, he's found himself in situations that got out of hand, and maybe the fact that he's gotten into those waters at all is reason enough to for you to dislike him. But not for me. All I've personally seen him do is try his best to learn from those things and move forward to do better in the future. That's more than I can say for other YouTubers I've known in the past, and I as long as that remains the case I have no problems working with and talking to him. But maybe that's because I'm a content creator who understands a lot of behind the scenes stuff. I'm sure it's different if you're a viewer on the other side of the screen with little context to go on, and frankly that's something all of us YouTube folks need to do a better job of: being open and clear with viewers.

LGR

One of my favorite videos as of lately, specially because of the topic and the fact that you got a lot of other YouTubers' opinions. I have to say I'm kinda disappointed that you included MJR in it, he's proven many times to be a charlatan with no integrity. And I'm sad to admit I was a patron of his for about a year and his videos were in my regular daily playlist for years before I caught up to his true nature. If you don't want to take my word for it, watch how the whole GameCube HDMI adapter drama went down, but I bet you have more productive things to do so maybe skip it. That said, I still loved the video and I'm happy to continue to support your channel regardless of who you decide to collaborate with.

iCach0

Awesome video! Great to know that the options I was pursuing for emulating games are viable for the foreseeable future! I am concerned, though: is there an organization that's actively trying to preserve these games in perpetuity? I know that the DosBox team was, but their software hasn't had a real update for years according to their site, and most of the software emulation solutions do nothing for the mid-90s to early 2000s era of gaming. And what about the eras beyond that? We take for granted that we can play a game from, say, 2005 on a modern PC right now, but we can't always expect OS/hardware manufacturers to support this stuff (32-bit software in a +64-bit world, as just an example of possible future "quirks"). So what do we do when our OS is no longer compatible with Windows XP?

I was able to run One Must Fall with Retropie DosBox and with a gamepad. Next step is to test Dreamcast and PS2 with overclocking when I get my bernoulli case printed. <a href="http://pekkanen.brinkster.net/b-case.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://pekkanen.brinkster.net/b-case.jpg</a>

Teemu Pekkanen

Thank you ! I tried DOSBox-X, DOSBox-Daum, and PCem, VMWare, and all of them have some downsides. This sounds promising !

Maximilien Noal

Dunno if anyone else has mentioned this, but another great alternative to DosBox for 90's Windows games is an emulator called 86Box (derived from another project called PCEm), has Voodoo2 support among other things, and emulates at the bios level, so it's more demanding, but more versatile and accurate. It's also actively being developed, much more rapidly than any DosBox variant I know of.

Anything that is up-down-left-right and one fire button works for me, so the early stuff is my choice. I grew up with 70's and 80's consoles, PCs and home computer systems, and was a little sad to see the early 8088/86/286 didn't get much attention save emulation. If I hadn't chucked my Amstrad 1512 out and repaired it instead.....

Glen Rea

That was fantastic, Clint... Hope you do more collabs like this in the future!

Evan B

I would like to see a really different setting, like Raspberry Pi 3 and RetroPie with DosBox. Here is a tutorial for using DosBox with RetroPie: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dcubuDfdxY" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dcubuDfdxY</a>

Teemu Pekkanen

It's probably just a coincidence, but sometimes I'll start looking at some of the game boxes featured prominently in the background, and think.. "Boy, it'd be great if Clint reviewed that game", and within a few weeks, that review magically comes out. It's gotta be coincidence. All the same, I saw the box for Raptor in the background there and my desire intensified. Awesome video as always, Clint. Must've been a challenge collaborating and editing all the footage from your guests!

Adam Chan

I've gone for a 486 DX myself for dos stuff, and a P90 for win98se stuff needing a bit more power

SuperBunnyBun

I haven't gotten into emulation too much, but I certainly appreciate that it's available. That being said, old hardware is what I go to. I just love tinkering with the stuff to get it working. I have an IBM 286 XT, a Packard Bell 486 DX 66, and a Pentium 4 w/ Win 98 SE. Those machines do most of what I need. I would like to get into more of the flash card hard drives though, since I'm still running spinny disks on all of the above. Great video Clint &amp; friends, keep up the good work!

yes like Rose and ADG i use DOS emulators like what old games on GOG and steam use

My favorite part of this video is that lego rock raiders box, I'm surprised you found one so quickly, I've still had no luck. Can't wait for a review, hope you like it. As for me I built a late 90's/early 2000's rig awhile ago. Pentium 4 3.2ghz, 2GB RAM, Nvidia 6200 running Win2k. Still looking for a 6800 so I can run games towards the mid 2000s

steinaech

What a lovely video, so many viewpoints made it all the better. I'm an emulation person myself. I once had a pair of Amiga's (500 &amp; 1200) and after learning only more &amp; more ways they could break, I finally gave up on hardware. Commodore did not build them to last. Thanks to Amiga Forever, though, I can emulate until the cows come home!

JennaKay

Brutalmoose has one of my computers, yeah - this is my main old rig that i have set up right now

Dan Milner

Amazing video! Very enjoyable and informative. I recently bought a Pentium 3 laptop for win98 and Dos gaming... it’s pretty good for most games but I’m thinking of going back to Dosbox. In an ideal world I’d have a few PCs from my past all set up but space is an issue... Dosbox / Gog.com / Steam provide a great compromise and if you can set up a 4:3 monitor for it, life is pretty peachy!

Stuart Marshall

Fascinating and comprehensive video, Clint :) I primarily like to use things like ScummVM and Dosbox, like Kris and Roses said it saves a lot of hassle and covers pretty much anything you could need. I did buy my own Win98 machine, an old Compaq Deskpro with an Intel Celeron CPU for the purposes of playing late 90's to early 2000's Windows games on, which I myself upgraded with a GeForce Ti 4200 card and a beefier PSU (which is actually quite similar to what Ian uses, coincidentally). Unfortunately the CPU seems to be a bit on the slow side for later Windows games so I tried upgrading it to Pentium III but the motherboard wouldn't take it, so I'm probably gonna end up building my own machine by salvaging what parts I have and finding the others I need online. Don't suppose you could point me in the right direction for a motherboard to use? Also, completely off-topic, I noticed you have the collector's edition of Star Trek TNG A Final Unity on your shelf. I read on The Obscuritory one time that it came with a neat little LCD pin, but his had a flat battery and he never got around to seeing if he could get it working, so perhaps you could show off yours if it works and/or review the game itself proper sometime ;)

Not Clint, but I can answer this one anyway. It's the Collector's Edition of Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Final Unity. I own the regular edition myself but had no idea there was a collector's edition, so I've no idea what's special about it.

This was a great watch. Space is killing me for hardware right now, but I find I'd probably go for a nicely specced 486 DX2 for a prime DOS rig. Probably because that was kind of my first DOS machine too :) Another perspective for me is that for real early stuff, I'd probably want to hit up one of my other 8-bitters over a CGA DOS machine (probably a heretic for that), and for late 80's stuff, I can't help but be seduced by my Amiga instead. I'm not sure whether that's an option for everyone, and whether that's a valid alternative. (But I also wonder if it's just I had more exposure to those over DOS machines at the time…)

Rob Caporetto

Christmas came early! Thanks folks.

Awesome :D

floverSaeu09

Very nice, informative video. Lots of good advice for anyone wanting to play their old favorite PC games again or try them out for the very first time. For me though, I already knew what I wanted for my retro PC gaming needs. In the end I settled for three particular builds: - Pentium 166 MMX (Socket 7). This one takes care of all my DOS and early Win9x games. Windows 95a/DOS 6.2 dual boot. <a href="https://i.imgur.com/8hppjE5.png" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://i.imgur.com/8hppjE5.png</a> <a href="https://i.imgur.com/lxvF11s.png" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://i.imgur.com/lxvF11s.png</a> - Pentium 3 1GHz Coppermine (Socket 370). For my late 90s/early 2000s Win9x games fix. Windows 98 SE. <a href="https://i.imgur.com/urK9KHK.png" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://i.imgur.com/urK9KHK.png</a> <a href="https://i.imgur.com/g2MdhC2.png" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://i.imgur.com/g2MdhC2.png</a> - Pentium 4 2.4GHz Northwood (Socket 478). For the few games that don't run well in the Pentium 3 build. Windows XP SP3/Linux Mint 17.1 dual boot (yes, I'm learning Linux ^^). <a href="https://i.imgur.com/t1kANnS.png" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://i.imgur.com/t1kANnS.png</a> <a href="https://i.imgur.com/bn7U794.png" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://i.imgur.com/bn7U794.png</a> Any game or application that doesn't run well/at all on any of them goes to my Core i5 Ivy Bridge main PC with DOSBox.

More than once even. ;)

Kris Asick

Forgive my off-topicness Clint (did I just create a new word?) but what is that Star Trek box on the shelf behind you in the video?

I'm only about 9 minutes in so far, but I can already tell that this is going to be one of the better videos you'll have made... but I have a side question... can you direct me to where I can find more info about that Star Trek A Final Unity Collectors edition box? I didn't know that was a thing that existed until I saw it sitting behind you. :)

Zem Hysong

Man, this video makes me want to head back to my Dad's house, find my first computer that's squirreled away in storage (an Acer Aspire with a Pentium processor running at 120MHz, 8 MB of RAM, and TWO 1 GB hard drives) and bring it back to life. As always, many thanks to Clint and all the contributors for a great and informative video!

Travis Howard

I love videos like these :) I'm a big fan of Phil's Computer Lab channel, great work!

Great video I have heard about scrum vm (excuse spelling) but never really thought about it using it Also have thought about building a retro pc in the past

Paul Unser

I really enjoyed this video. Its very nice to see such a large collaboration. Its nice to see everyone working together to get everyones view together. I am subscribed to everyone you featured! Thank you Clint, for taking the time to make such an enjoyable video!

Jamie Cruickshank

Kept the best for last eh? ;)

Malbeth

It depends on which Sierra games you want to play. The ScummVM website has a compatibility list to refer to, so first make sure the game you want to play will run there. I usually opt to play the DOS Sierra games in DOSbox, just feels more natural. But Scumm can handle Windows games and makes them very easy to play. There's really no harm in trying either to see which one you prefer; some people like ScummVM for old Sierra games over DOSbox simply because the UI is easier to understand.

PushingUpRoses

I'll put a note about PCem in the next iteration of the video!

LGR

Dang it I just realized I referred to Windows 98 Second Edition as SPECIAL Edition... I'M A FRAUD

LGR

(I should preface this with the fact that I'm more towards consoles, handhelds, and microcomputers than PC, but this still applies to things like my 486, 98SE, and XP machines.) Yeah, the challenge of getting things running is exactly why I choose real hardware over emulation. Aside from the obvious situations where the only way you can play everything is real hardware, typically because the emulators are lacking or non-existent, I find emulation to be "too easy." Almost anyone can just grab an NES emulator and a big romset, but it takes skill and effort to get that NES looking and playing well on modern displays with a respectable library, especially when hardware modifications and specialty equipment are required. I have one hell of a desktop that could easily emulate a lot, but my wall of consoles that sits nearby should be enough proof that emulation isn't my typical go-to.

This was useful as sometimes I want to just play old games (namely Sierra) without messing around with hardware. As heady as those days were back then, it was also expensive, frustrating, time consuming and ultimately left me burnt out over building computers. So would SCUMMVM be the best for playing Sierra games?

Gary Leigh

Absolutely man, glad to have you on-board. And Phil's setups make us all need a towel.

LGR

Massive thanks for inviting me to be part of this Clint. I've gotta agree with the 8 Bit Guy; sometimes I love to just opt for PC speaker sounds over a sound card. Those harsh tones warm my soul. Also Phils Computer Lab setups make me wet.

Nostalgia Nerd

Great video LGR! You and your partners really did cover almost every angle for anyone looking into older tech. I myself am a emulation guy but the 486 seemed very versatile. Would have liked to had a somewhat (2 minute) summary at the very end to clear things up and reiterate some points. A good powerpoint style slides probably wouldn't have hurt lol. Though I come to the conclusion myself, if you want actual hardware, you almost cannot go wrong with a 486. Again, very much good information in this video, keep it up!

Christopher Bassett

I have a Backpack brand 5-1/4 floppy enclosure that runs over a parallel port. It is a life saver when you don't want to open a case! :D

All the emulation fans should check out PCem, that thing can recreate almost any IBM/DOS machine from the first PC with an 8088 and a MDA to the early Pentiums with a Voodoo running Windows 98.

BastetFurry

This week on eBay - prices skyrocket. Time to list all the crap I've got in the loft I suppose!

David Rickard

Absolutely! Tech curse or not I knew you'd be a good addition :P

LGR

Thanks for asking to share my opinions, LGR. I love talkin' emulation and "dealing" with old games.

PushingUpRoses

Totally, he's got some super in-depth stuff and is great for DOSBox tips!

LGR

486 4evah!

LGR

That'd be great! I recently restored an IBM laptop here, it's a fun machine

LGR

You bet man! And yeah I'm glad my hunch that each person I chose would have a slightly unique take on things :)

LGR

Have to check out Pixelmusement. Awesome vid LGR.. Which I had Nolstalgia Nerds setup.

Amazing video Clint! All of my favourites on one video! What more could a 30 something retro pc gamer ask for! :D Ahhhh the 486 nostalgia!

Mat Cooper

Thanks again for inviting me to be a part of this video, Clint! It's pretty neat that each of us brought at least one unique piece of insight into the mix! :)

Kris Asick

Not that I don't have old PCs to work with, but emulation is just way more convenient for me and often ties into that part of me from childhood who would play a game and be like, "How can I make this game play BETTER?" ;)

Kris Asick

Thanks for the great video, now I want to a retro DOS machine in my life :D I recently saw a cool old school IBM laptop on the flea market, it would be perfect for it!

László Viktor Lajos

That is pretty much what it comes down to! Once your needs get specific enough, going with classic hardware of a certain time period makes loads of sense

LGR

I like real hardware, of course it is limited in terms of era, but if you are into only one era of games, like I am, then you only need one machine. It all depends on your needs, but if your needs can be accommodated with it, then go with real hardware.

I am so glad I moved to separate cards for each type of OS install myself. Makes messing around with various configs so much more fun.

LGR

Gotta love a solid 90s Compaq

LGR

We are all algorithmically bound to find each other eventually, it seems!

LGR

All good tips

LGR

Heh, yeah there was a bit of a disparity between the two cameras. I thought it was all right though, really liked your point of view!

LGR

Yikes.. my video looked so bright.. I think I had the exposure on my camera set too high for that one!

The 8-Bit Guy

8088. What's up Buck?

himem.sys

Great video. I used to have a dedicated p166 that had a dual 98se/dos boot. Never needed moslo because it had so many bios options for both limiting the cpu and disabling cache. Some things not mentioned. If you're going with DOS, look into newer, smaller drivers for things like mice. I remember a tsr called ctmouse saving me a lot of conventional RAM. I also used a light version of ansi, and a newer version of DOS4GW Also, look into setting up a config.Sys boot menu. Or just find one online. It also helps with memory issues. Mine had options for any combo of Cd-rom drivers y/n, various emm386 settings (including not loading it at all for Ultima 7 &amp; Star Trek :a final unity) . It also had the option to boot with network support so I could transfer files. However we've got other options now. Now that it died, I just use DOSBox, munt &amp; D-Fend reloaded.

Jessie Cook

A great video as always Clint! I really enjoyed the different viewpoints from the contributors. The fact that I know and watch all of these channels already was both reassuring and disconcerting at the same time. It seems YouTube knows me too well :/

André Waage Sørensen

I have a vision that there will be projects using FPGAs to replace old hardware.

Kenneth

Good video, nice to hear those perspectives. I’d probably stick to emulation myself if I ever wanted to dive into that pre 2000’s era. Space concerns haha. Pc gaming was never really my thing (though I did have a 100mhz or so Highscreen with DOS and Win 3.1 as my first computer, it even had 3,5 inch and 5 1/4 inch floppy drives and I absolutely remember enjoying some good games on that machine) ;) More of a console/Nintendo gamer myself though I’m a bit curious about more modern pc games like Cities Skylines, so I might try to build my own pc some day (probably in a Powermac G5 case as those are awesome looking). :D

DOSBOX? ADG is a heretic, we must sacrifice him to the vintage PC gods. J/K obviously......maybe....

Justin Laughlin

Pure delight! Nostaliga Nerd has the same Compaq I have... 486 FTW! :D

Anders Enger Jensen

I went with Phil's route. This is the most flexible PC you can build for mid/late DOS to Windows 98 era games. The clock and caches of the AMD K6 II and III+ can be switched using software only. I use separate SD cards for various versions of Dos and Windows which is great for avoiding compatibility issues.

Erwin Bierhof

I am slightly saddened by the reminder that all these old bits of hardware and software wont last forever. Then I remember things like the Wayback Machine and all the people archiving old software. I hope emulation does develop further so that it can stay around.

Garoninja

You bet 👍

LGR

I never knew exactly what kind of a nerd I was until I found 8-Bit Guy and LGR. Thanks so much for what you do.

Andy Goergen

Thank you! And his is pretty much the same as my main Win98 rig, minus the beefier video card. Although I've recommended he grab a Voodoo3 3000, which is what I use (and several other folks here ;)

LGR

Aw yeah

LGR

Socket 7 is where its at for me. Sure I can just power up my dual Voodoo 2 rig with a Diamond monster sound mx300 and a 650MHz K7 and pwn noobs in Unreal Tournent (which I stilldo from time to time), but its a whole different experience with a pentium 133 or a K5 - the games from this era are really weird and interesring since 3D was a new thing and very few knew how to create 3D games. Not to mention all the weird propretary APIs, sound hardware, etc. And there is just something about weaker hardware that makes is enjoyable to work with and see it run those early 3D titles.

To add to that... I will say that currently in my home theater system I do run my 486DX4 machine so I can enjoy MS-DOS games right on the OLED display and all out with my sound system. Who wouldn't love retro gaming pushing several thousand watts of power through massive 18" and 21" subwoofers. =D

ReeseRiverson

What a great video! Felt almost like one of those BBC documentaries about musicians...but for retro gaming instead. Also, Brutalmoose's 98 machine is way OP, but that's fine!

Tim

Awesome video that gets a lot of points across. :) There's a lot of potential with every option available between legit hardware and emulation. Even though my first computer was an Acer with a 75MHz Intel Pentium, MS-DOS and Windows 3.1, I ended up really liking the 486 machines I've later acquired. Something just seems so special about those, and they deserve love too! :)

ReeseRiverson

Excellent, that's the kinda feeling I hope to stir up with this one :)

LGR

Love the collaboration, both with channels that I follow and new one I hadn’t seen before. Love it. I really want to reassemble my youth and get a retro pc... 😍

Because Why-Nerd

I hope you enjoy it!

LGR

PCs from that era certainly have their place, I think! Even then, they're the ones I use the least, likely due to my own preference of 90s gaming.

LGR

Wow, pretty much zero love for 1980s hardware. I guess I'm a decade older than the target audience for DOS gaming. Maybe it's time I get off my ass and dedicate real time to my own channel.

Jim Leonard

This is the video I didn't know I needed! So excited to watch this later