Question Looking To Purchase and Setup Retro gaming PC

[hawkboy1592]

Looking To Purchase and Setup Retro gaming PC. I have been collecting original PC games from back in the day from thrift stores. I don't know anything about building computers or working with hardware. I'm just looking for something that I can buy, plug in and play with. I can easily find hardware at some of my local thrift stores like monitors, cords, and mouse, etc to use. I need to know if there is anything I should watch out for. I know buying an old machine is a risk, and I have people in my social circle who are IT certified experts, so they've given me a few recommendations. The main purpose of this machine is to have a setup so my boys can play some of the good educational games I grew up, like kidpix, math blaster, jumpstart kindergarten, etc. Is there a setup that will definitely work, and are there PCs that I should stay away from? I don't really want to install a virtual machine or do something fancy with my crappy windows 10 PC. It's not in the best health, and I don't really want to put anymore money into it just to make the old stuff work. Any advice on a budget friendly setup that will most likely be plug-n-play would be much appreciated!

 

[USAFRet]

I'm just looking for something that I can buy, plug in and play with.

Retro PC's are the direct opposite of plug and play.
Even when they were the new thing, it often took a LOT of work.

 

[hawkboy1592]

It won't be connected to the internet or anything. It doesn't need to have updated security or antivirus, it just needs to basically have sound, a CD-rom drive that works, and is able to play windows 98 games.

 

[CountMike]

It won't be connected to the internet or anything. It doesn't need to have updated security or antivirus, it just needs to basically have sound, a CD-rom drive that works, and is able to play windows 98 games.

Did you look at emulators available for DOS. early windows as well as for Commodore, Atari and consoles. Some can be played even directly on internet thru a browser.
As desktop PC you should be looking for x386/x486 and no later than early Pentium or AMD Athlon processors all before year 2000.

 

[hotaru.hino]

You'll have more luck getting a mid to late 90s PC together by scrounging for parts on eBay rather than trying to find complete PCs. Otherwise you'll have to go to retro computer conventions (like the Vintage Computer Festival) and hope someone has something whole. Or just get lucky with either thrift stores or the odd Craiglist ad.

The only thing that might be a problem is around the turn of the millennium, motherboard manufacturers started to use cheap capacitors that had a tendency to pop after a few years. Though it's really easy to spot said board these days, their caps would be bulging by now. You can replace the caps if you really want to.

Regarding drivers, you can find driver suites for popular hardware at the time on Phil's Computer Lab. Barring that, you could go on Vogons to see if they have anything (or rather, just go to Vogons in general, since they're a retro PC community). The only gotcha is if you're using Windows 98, it's also compatible with NT based drivers to varying degrees. You should always get the VxD version if possible since that's the driver format Windows 9x natively uses.

You also won't need any of the "unofficial service packs" or whatever. I found they kinda cause more trouble than its worth.

 

[stonecarver]

Retro Gaming PC for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for Retro Gaming PC at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

In offerup.org go to Computers and Accessories and in search put key words" XP computer "or "98 computer"

You can do the same on craigslist as well in computers or computer parts.

Make sure seller will show you it's functioning.

I will give you some heads up to look out for .
Back in the day when you bought a motherboard or a prebuilt computer the motherboard was basic. Meaning you had to add a sound card, a network card and your own GPU. Keep in mind there were 2 types of AGP ports as well but most computer after 2000 has the normal modern type.

educational games I grew up, like kidpix, math blaster, jumpstart kindergarten, etc. Is there a setup that will definitely work

But to be honest most of those games will play off motherboards IGP. Happy gaming

 

[hawkboy1592]

Retro Gaming PC for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for Retro Gaming PC at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

In offerup.org go to Computers and Accessories and in search put key words" XP computer "or "98 computer"

You can do the same on craigslist as well in computers or computer parts.

Make sure seller will show you it's functioning.

I will give you some heads up to look out for .
Back in the day when you bought a motherboard or a prebuilt computer the motherboard was basic. Meaning you had to add a sound card, a network card and your own GPU. Keep in mind there were 2 types of AGP ports as well but most computer after 2000 has the normal modern type.



But to be honest most of those games will play off motherboards IGP. Happy gaming

Thank you for helping me find that website! There are some listings there that I'm gonna checkout. Appreciate it.