If the intent is simply practical usage (e.g. playing games), then the only systems one needs is the minimum number of systems to accomplish that goal.

For myself, I could get by with just two retro builds:

1) 'All-in-one' Pentium 4 / industrial MB build to cover DOS to the early XP era.
2) i7-3770k WinXP build for everything else.

Between these two systems, I can cover gaming from the late 80s to late 2000s using fully native OS installs (DOS, Win9X, etc.) and hardware.

Hmmm.... I think everyone should at LEAST have the computer they grew up with, whether or not it is the original or a replica, it is usually the most flavourful build in any collection. Lots of generations here, so it really could be ANYTHING. I grew up with many computers in the house; us kids had a 286, 386 and 486 and the parents had a 486 and K6.

More practically, any socket370 board (with AGP) and 1G P3 will hit the sweet spot. A real HDD, too. You can't simulate that thing in there, going away at it!

As far as performance, I see a i7-3770k winXP system was mentioned, I would like to mention it too. Covers a lot of ground and can look good doing it.

Speaking for me. Only what I had and what I'd wished for. As this would be too many. I'd go for the early years only (1992-1995) as these were the most influential for me.

But in reality I have much more parts and zero built systems I once had. My projects have a long time span... So it's even possible they will never be finished at all. What a waste of time & money... I need a new hobby 🤣

I want to say DX2, but that's the nostalgia over it being my first computer talking. There isn't anything my DX2 does that my P233 MMX can't, including speed sensitive titles. And there isn't anything my 233 can do that my K6-2+ can't do. My p3 1000 however, I've never tried slowing down. So I can't really say how well it handles speed sensitive games. It definitely puts the k6-2 to shame, and is much more broadly useful in the critical range of games from 1999 through 2002 or so.

So I guess my answer is torn between a Super Socket 7 K6-2+ and a high end P3. Just depends whether 99-02 high end shooters matter more to you than the smattering of speed sensitive dos games.

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-09-20, 22:37:

Hmmm.... I think everyone should at LEAST have the computer they grew up with, whether or not it is the original or a replica, it is usually the most flavourful build in any collection. Lots of generations here, so it really could be ANYTHING. I grew up with many computers in the house; us kids had a 286, 386 and 486 and the parents had a 486 and K6.

Funny thing is having built a recreation of our original family computer (a 12 MHz 286), once the nostalgic itch was scratched, it's not really a system I'd want to use on a regular basis.

What fuels my modern day interest in retro hardware and nostalgia is the opposite of what we owned: collecting and building systems that I didn't have growing up. Just to see what I was missing. 😀

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-09-20, 23:21:

Funny thing is having built a recreation of our original family computer (a 12 MHz 286), once the nostalgic itch was scratched, it's not really a system I'd want to use on a regular basis.

What fuels my modern day interest in retro hardware and nostalgia is the opposite of what we owned: collecting and building systems that I didn't have growing up. Just to see what I was missing. 😀

I with you. I wanted to build my first PC 286-16 for the longest time just to relive the (horrible) experience. But somehow still didn't manage to built it even though I have all the parts - the last one actually only a few months ago.

Someone on another thread said that retro systems tend to multiply, and I've found that to be true in my case. I don't think I have a single system that I would need to have if I could only choose one. They each have a purpose in my collection.

I suspect the "must have system" will be unique to the individual. I don't mind reading about what other people prefer, though.

It's a shame there isn't something like a widely available "Retro computer library" that you can sign a machine out for a week to borrow, in which case I'd suggest everyone spend a week with each of these machines...
1) 5150 IBM PC
2) 5170 AT 286-6mhz
3) 386sx16
4) Pentium 75 socket 5.
5) Celeron 266 Covington.
6) Celeron 766
7) Pentium 4 1.5 or slower, SDRAM system. .. ...

Not because everyone should have one, more the reverse, so ppl don't be tempted into one blindly. To see how for their architecture generation, they are sucky slow. 386sx16 isn't bad on middling 286 stuff, P75 isn't bad on 486 stuff, but sx16 on 386 stuff, P75 on pentium required stuff, ouch.

For alternates to experience their era of software, I would suggest.
1) A Turbo XT clone, one that does a true 4.77 in case you get any awkward stuff, but turbos to 8Mhz or better.
2) 286-16, this puts you just out of reach of "normal" Turbo XTs, someone would have to build a hotrod to outdrag you, full 286 experience without paying thru nose for fast boards.
3) 386 wakes up at about 25Mhz, I would not suggest anything slower unless you want the fast 286 guys to laugh.
4) If going for "original socket 5" remember, the P90 was actually out a little earlier, the P75 was an infill after...but for pleasant Pentiuming a 133 is pretty good.
5) Do the Mendocino Celeron As if you want a slot1/370 Celeron, don't get higher than a 366 if you wanna blow your pants off running at 100 though.
6) Yeah unless this is a nostalgia point the next couple of speeds up on 100Mhz are not so sucky, it was really topping out the 66Mhz FSB here. Ideally you want a Tualeron.
7) None get an Athlon 🤣 okay, 2 Ghz is starting to get out of the way of fast PIII and Tualatin, but DDR is recommended over SDR.

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2024-09-20, 22:03:

What CPU / Motherboard combos do you think Every Retro computer enthusiast should have ? For Playing games in Good Quality and P […]
Show full quote

What CPU / Motherboard combos do you think Every Retro computer enthusiast should have ?
For Playing games in Good Quality and Performance.

Here is my list of Bare Minimum
:
Intel 486dx4-100 with ISA Motherboard or VLB motherboard
AMD 586-133 with PCI/ISA motherboard

Pentium 100mhz thru 233mhz MMX with Socket 7 Motherboard
AMD K6-2 or K6-3 450mhz or Faster with Super Socket 7 Motherboard.

Pentium-3 , 400mhz or faster with Bx440 motherboard
Pentium-3 , 650mhz or faster with Socket 370 motherboard

AMD Duron 600mhz or Faster with motherboard combo
AMD Athlon XP with Motherboard combo

These will cover playing games from DOS to WinXP

Man, your "Bare Minimum" consists of eight machines. 😅 Sure, the more builds you have, the more options and combinations you can create for more games spanning wider time frames, but not everyone could afford their prices, the space they occupy, or the time to tune-up and maintain each and every one of them.

If, and I mean IF, I could only have one single retro build for practical usage (i.e. gaming), I'd pick

• Super Socket 7 MB with ATX form factor and an AGP 2x slot, preferably Gigabyte GA-5AX rev. 5.2
• K6-III+ 500MHz CPU for easy downclocking and possible overclocking
• 128MB SDRAM (maximum cacheable with ALi Aladdin V chipset)
• Voodoo3 3000 AGP 16MB*
• Sound Blaster AWE32*
• 30GB PATA HDD (to play it safe under the 33.8GB limit encountered by many BIOS in late 1990s)
• PATA optical drive (preferably DVD/CD-RW combo, but CD-ROM would be acceptable) with native DOS driver
• CF to IDE adapter for easy file transfer
• MS-DOS 6.22 and Windows 98 SE

*While there are better options for video and sound (Voodoo5 5500 AGP 32MB and Roland MT-32 + MPU-401AT, respectively), their scarceness have raised prices to a high-end modern GPU or a nice week-long trip abroad. That's beyond what I'm willing to spend on retro computing.

This build is not quite suitable for games released in 2002 and beyond; one could still play them but might have to reduce resolutions and/or features. If a second build is feasible then I'd build a high-end Win9x rig (either P4-Northwood with 865 series chipset or Athlon 64 with K8T800 Pro chipset, paired with AGP 8x GPU and SB Audigy, etc.). The third build would be an XP-era rig as most XP-based games can be played on modern systems with ease but maybe not to the fullest enjoyment (e.g. EAX / Vortex).

If you mean to collect and put them in display cases, I'd like to have

• IBM 5150/5160/5170 "triplets"
• Compaq Deskpro 386
• HP NetServer with Pentium Pro
• Tualatin P3-1400S
• Socket 939 Athlon 64 4000+
• ASRock ConRoe865PE

Et cetera.

Okay, being absolutely forced to pare down to about one compact car load or around 8 machines, out of what I've got mostly....

5155 PC Portable, with PC Sprint accelerator (to be made) and V20, ATI EGA Wonder, to get mono EGA on internal screen, rig to have a composite out also.

Patriot SL4100 with "Cobalt" class LPX board by IBM Microelectronics with a BL3 Blue Lightning @100, but adjustable multi and freq options, 16MB RAM, 4GB HDD, CF slot CDROM, 1.44. Should do low 286 to 486/66 speeds, maybe squeeze it up to DX2-80. Onboard 5426 or ISA GD5434 VGA.

The mid 90s nostalgia chip Cyrix 5x86 onnnnnn which board? a UMC-VLB was the original, a PCI board would be nice, but might go Asus SV2GX4, Mach64, 16-32MB, will adjust low 486 to low Pentium.

Cyrix MII 366 GP on Lucky Star 5V-1A, 32-64MB, another hugely adjustable board, should get 386 to 233MMXish, plus integer top end closer to PII 400, think I'll go with the Virge GX2 and one of the Voodoo2 12MB, 20GB HDDs

K6-2plus modded to 3, 570, oc to moon on GA-5AX plus multi setting utils, freq adjustments, do 386 to PIII-500 numbers, GF2MX400 plus V2 plus PVR2 128MB

Dual PIII 1100 in Slotkets on P2B-D (If I get it fixed) 512MB this one not very tweakable, but should go down to where K6-2/3plus leaves off, GF3 in the AGP slot, Voodoo3 in a PCI slot, will have to dual monitor or switch. Dual because dual.

Mobile modded TbredB 2400, in VIA KT400A board, 512-1024DDR tuneable down to 300Mhz, up to 2500ish, Radeon 9600Pro AIW, may have Voodoo3 or other PCI secondary.

FX8350 AM3+ board, DDR3, forgot what the hell it is, Asus higher end, wanna get HD7970 seems classic combo, or it gets the R9-390 that's available. 16GB RAM.

That's my big 8 but I might sneak in a shoebox ITX with a C2D quad xeon and GT440 for a bit more XP mid, and a compact 386 build, could prolly hide both of those and the Patriot LPX in a full tower case 🤣

I don't think there are specific CPU+motherboard combos every retro enthusiast should have. It's all personal preference which era are we interested in, how much overlap can we tolerate, how much space we have to store all our computers, how much money and time are we willing to spend on this specific hobby.

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2024-09-20, 22:03:

What CPU / Motherboard combos do you think Every Retro computer enthusiast should have ?
For Playing games in Good Quality and Performance.

It depends on your definition of Retro and at which date your Retro starts and ends. So it is highly subjective.
How many here run a C64? See.

RandomStranger wrote on 2024-09-21, 05:22:

I don't think there are specific CPU+motherboard combos every retro enthusiast should have. It's all personal preference which era are we interested in, how much overlap can we tolerate, how much space we have to store all our computers, how much money and time are we willing to spend on this specific hobby.

Pretty well this^^.

C64? Never have and I guess I never will. I had Atari 800XL back then and I also have a few instances now... but they also only sit in the storage...

kixs wrote on 2024-09-21, 07:17:

C64? Never have and I guess I never will. I had Atari 800XL back then and I also have a few instances now... but they also only sit in the storage...

That is my point. Not every machine, era, OS is everyones concern. Choice of CPU/motherboard depends on what you want to play on it. So there is no universally shared need. I personally have decided that I simply need no IBM/DOS machine from the 80s. Back then I did own an Atari PC1 (a 8088 DOS machine) among other computers, but I don't have to play any game of those days in DOS, when I can use Atari, Amiga or C64 as (emulated) alternatives. And that works nicely on my newest PC (i5 gen9 win11).

So the whole discussion is a bit pointless.

A dual processor motherboard

RandomStranger wrote on 2024-09-21, 05:22:

I don't think there are specific CPU+motherboard combos every retro enthusiast should have. It's all personal preference which era are we interested in, how much overlap can we tolerate, how much space we have to store all our computers, how much money and time are we willing to spend on this specific hobby.

All of this plus regional availability and what hardware people grew up with.

Ask this question at a European centric forum like Amibay, and a lot of people will probably recommend various Amiga computers. Where as on VOGONS, things tend to be more PC focused.

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2024-09-21, 15:43:

A dual processor motherboard

^Probably this, from a true enthusiast perspective.

I can relate with those who prioritize scratching that specific nostalgic itch for the first system they had, whatever it may have been. It's probably the main motivation that got a lot of people into the hobby along these years.

It's funny thinking about the differences of what may satisfy you, scratching that itch. Read a lot of posts of people being nostalgic about specific hardware, even for a single GPU or sound card. For me it's primarily all about the cases themselves and then probably the OS. I remember we had a Voodoo 3 build around the house at the time, but I never had any interest in getting one these days. On the other hand, I didn't rest until I had my hands again on the exact case model of that computer, along with the exact CD-R drive and CD-R burner. I'm not a collector in any way, but I'm still missing one case to complete the three computers I remember we had along the years. It's probably the last thing that motivates me to look around from time to time.

As for the hardware, in general for me it naturally ended up along these lines: depending on the OS, got a period correct high-end CPU for the time, and then a GPU maybe 2 years younger than that. Gives that extra oomph to the builds and still feels from the period to me. Like someone else said, we want to relive the best of those times without the inconveniences typical of those times, at least in a broad sense.

Nowadays for a newcomer who just wanted a retro build for Win9x games and Duke 3D/Doom/ etc. and had no nostalgic pre-notions, I'd just give him my two cents: Socket 370 motherboard, 1Ghz Pentium III, passively cooled GF MX440. Cheap, simple, great compatibility, and cooler/quieter than the norm. If feeling fancy, the classically advised TI4200.

I sure love both of my P-III-S 1.4Ghz Tualatin builds paired with ATI 9600XTs with Zalman passive cooling plus Auzentech cards, but Tualatin builds these past years became more and more widespread to the point I wouldn't even consider them "enthusiast" anymore.

andre_6 wrote on 2024-09-21, 16:38:

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2024-09-21, 15:43:

A dual processor motherboard

^Probably this, from a true enthusiast perspective.

I've never really understood the want or need behind dual processor systems. From a gaming perspective, multi-processors didn't become relevant until maybe late 2000's or early 2010's?

I suppose I feel like it would be no different than when I built a Pentium Pro system. After building it, I was like, "okay, I have a Pentium Po... now what?".

It's funny thinking about the differences of what may satisfy you, scratching that itch. Read a lot of posts of people being nostalgic about specific hardware, even for a single GPU or sound card. For me it's primarily all about the cases themselves and then probably the OS. I remember we had a Voodoo 3 build around the house at the time, but I never had any interest in getting one these days. On the other hand, I didn't rest until I had my hands again on the exact case model of that computer, along with the exact CD-R drive and CD-R burner.

I agree with the appeal of specific cases. Even though I have little interest in building all the same systems we had growing up, I did go out of my way to acquire the same computer cases we had used. Just that part of the retro aesthetic is hugely appealing.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-09-21, 16:50:

andre_6 wrote on 2024-09-21, 16:38:

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2024-09-21, 15:43:

A dual processor motherboard

^Probably this, from a true enthusiast perspective.

I've never really understood the want or need behind dual processor systems. From a gaming perspective, multi-processors didn't become relevant until maybe late 2000's or early 2010's?

I suppose I feel like it would be no different than when I built a Pentium Pro system. After building it, I was like, "okay, I have a Pentium Po... now what?".

Couldn't tell you, as a nonenthusiast it's just what I imagine an enthusiast would do! I tend to associate the gradual hobby curve being inversely proportional to a lack of reasoning!

My Win95 build is a Pentium Pro funny enough, but in my defense it used to be my grandad's computer (HP Vectra VA6) and it just came with it!