I'm getting into retro computers

Posted by Rollhound104@reddit | retrobattlestations | View on Reddit | 15 comments

So, a couple of days ago when I was looking through my basement, I found an IBM NetVista Stealth Black Tower with a Pentium 4 and Windows XP, along with a keyboard and mouse. Not sure if there is a graphics card inside, but I will just assume there isn't unless I boot it up and it proves otherwise. I'm still looking for a decent early LCD monitor for it. (The desk I will keep it on would be crushed by the weight of a CRT). Is this a good battle station?

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halfanirishman@reddit

The best battlestation is the one you already have. Sure, my first "battlestation" was a pentium D Lenovo thinlcentre with a passive 9800 GT.

But why an early LCD? They're all crap, and costly. You're probably better off with mid-2000's dell ultrasharp or a nice Samsung syncmaster. Probably far cheaper too.

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FozzTexx@reddit

The one you have is the one that's best.

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Rollhound104@reddit (OP)

also, its Windows XP Professional

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FozzTexx@reddit

It's whatever you want to install.

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lwrscr@reddit

Don't do it! Run, get into a cheaper less time consuming hobby like diamond collecting!

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stuccowhiplash@reddit

good battle station

A ways back I built a MAME arcade cabinet using Windows XP running on a motherboard from an old Dell office PC. I swapped the single core CPU for the fastest it would take and it ran arcade games all day long.

The most fun thing is how inexpensive it can be to have a bunch of weird stuff to mess around with.

Enjoy!

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JorgeYYZ@reddit

The best system is the one that is available to you.

Instead of the early LCD monitor, please consider getting something newer. Say, mid to late 2000s at least. This will give you better response times.

The same is true for storage. While mechanical HDDs are loud period-appropriate, getting an SD/CF to IDE adapter is VERY convenient when moving files across and quite fast.

I play most of my old PC games on a P4 2.0GHz machine. I get them from GOG (download the installer) and play the game there.

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