Anyone have old PC or parts lying around?

[killerkebab]

As title really, I could really use a small, old PC that I can install DOS 6.22 or whichever version would work best and Win98 on top of it to run old games on. I've been looking for something like a P2 or at most a P3 500 with a Sound Blaster to save on hassle.

A shop down my road does PC repair and I asked them to sort me something out but they say they have no motherboards that can take the old P3s (slot 1?).

I'll pay for any postage or hassle incurred with the sender's choice of cash or booze :P

[Darrin]

I'm upgrading my wife's old PIII 866 to my old AMD XP 2500. You can have the Intel 810 mobo, CPU, fan (and I think memory) if you want it. Call it good if you can pick me up a package of Flake bars. PM me with an address to send it to and that may be the motivation to get off my lazy arse and get the work done on my wife's computer......

[EDIT] It has onboard AGP, sound, and LAN.

It would have to wait until this weekend, though. Got that appraisal thing happening this week. I'm only on here while eating a snack.

[Davey_Pitch]

Heh, you have a thing for the Flakes don't you Darrin? :D

[Darrin]

Of course!! Best damned chocolate bar ever made and I can't get them!! ;)

[leowyatt]

killer, I think I have a cpu, motherboard, psu and stuff, just not a case. I'll get together a list for you and post some pics.

[Admiral Huddy]

Couldn't you run the old games through and emulation or DOS box..?

[killerkebab]

Couldn't you run the old games through and emulation or DOS box..?Running DOSBox fullscreen is a fool's errand if you want a good FPS, and the windowed box is small and it takes from the experience. It has been fun for the last couple months but I want something a bit more true.

Also, some games require or run better on Win95 so if I could just have a machine that will run the lot of them it would save a lot of hassle :)

[Del Lardo]

May have an old dual processor MB with a couple of PII400 laying around somewhere. Let me know if you are interested and I'll have a dig.

[mejinks]

I have several mobos and one with a PIII 450 if thats any good

[killerkebab]

A P3 450 with motherboard sounds perfect! What sort of memory do they want?

[mejinks]

A P3 450 with motherboard sounds perfect! What sort of memory do they want?


SD-Ram I believe. I will have a look to see if I have any of that lying around too.

[killerkebab]

Sorry for the bump :)

Anyone still have anything?

[Mark]

Missed this first time around, so thanks for the bump.

PC-Chips motherboard and XP1700+. Been worked to death for 4-5 years but never overclocked. I can probably find enough bits to make a usable PC out of it, though I'm not sure about a PSU.

[killerkebab]

Would a 1700+ be overkill if I were to install DOS6.22 on it?

[semi-pro waster]

You'd probably have to run some sort of speed limiting app if you are going to be playing really old Dos games but it would work fine. I think I've still got an old 300w PSU that you can have if Mark can't find one. :)

[Mark]

It'll probably be a few weeks before I can turn attention to it though, and we'll have to sort out getting it to you.

If it's slow you're after, I also have a 550MHz PIII (actually, I'll have to take that out of the case to put the XP1700+ in).

[killerkebab]

Oh man, the 550 P3 chip is MUCH better :D
Any chance of a point towards a board and other parts to make a machine out of it?

[Mark]

I'll see what I can find. It takes special RAM but I think I still have some. Going to be a couple of weeks (15th September) before I can look though due to personal reasons and being away next weekend. If that's OK, let me know and I'll set to it then.

[killerkebab]

That's fine :)

I may check the OC MM for any budget parts to source - may save you some hassle :)

[Mark]

Actually, if you *really* want slow. I have a P100 box you can have, pre-built and ready to go. It's a bit non-upgradeable, but it'll certainly run DOS. I have everything for it - monitor, keyboard, mouse, the works - though I'd have to find them.

Cover shipping and it's yours. :)

[killerkebab]

Pondering whether that might be *too* slow. Sorry for being incredibly picky, but I also need it to run Win98 ;)

I have a few games I could run on that too, I was also going to ask you if dual booting Win98/DOS is as easy as I think it is :)

[Mark]

It'll run Win98. I think it came with 95 and I upgraded it to 98SE, which is what's on there now. Granted it'll not be quick, but it can do it.

You'll need a boot manager to dual boot (or just use floppies). You can of course use the DOS environment included with Win98 (unlike WinMe, Microsoft didn't disable it).

[Mark]

Have you decided which one you'd like yet? :)

If you want the P3, would you object if I asked for a small contribution to cover a few parts I expect I'll need to pull from the spares box (FDD, cables, DVD drive, that sort of stuff) - say £20, plus whatever ParcelForce 24 costs (I already have all the packaging)?

Thanks. :)

[killerkebab]

Don't worry about it mate - I didn't want to make you pull parts and hassle you as such, so I've sourced a P3 box though I don't know what exactly will be in it.

I can't remember what DOS is like with non-Creative labs sound drivers so I might need to source a card for that, and I've just realised that since my KB/mouse is USB I may have problems for input (I was hoping to have the PC on top of my current one and to just use a different input on my TFT if that makes sense).

How do KVM switches work?

[Mark]

OK - fair deal. I wasn't worried about the parts tbh. I'd rather you had them than they go in the bin (I would have done it for nowt had you said no). Oh well, that'll teach me. :(

[killerkebab]

How hard is it to have a Win98 based PC and a WinXP based PC exist on the same network?

[Mark]

Dead easy, though you might have to fiddle with the Win98 box a little, and the networking features in Win98 aren't as good.

I used to have Win98 and WinNT on the same network btw.

[Daz]

How hard is it to have a Win98 based PC and a WinXP based PC exist on the same network?
Depends on what you want the two of them to do :p But as Mark says, it's mostly fine. The client for microsoft networks (that lets you browse file shares and printers etc) is a bolt on in 98, but it does work.

[killerkebab]

Get ready to shout noob...

... I forgot that DOS/Win98 probably won't like USB keyboards and USB wireless mice out of the box. I guess I'm off to buy some PS/2 crap :p

[Mark]

n00b :p

Win98 supports USB devices. DOS support is BIOS-dependent.

[killerkebab]

Would Win98 support KVM switches?

[Mark]

PS/2 or USB?

PS/2, definitely (I have lovely PS/2 AdderView KVM behind my monitors at home and work). USB, should do - it's only like a USB hub.