I want a windows 98 gaming computer for retro PC games

[atheistgod1999]

What's the cheapest way to do this? I'd like a Pentium III in it, as well as a high-end graphics card (for 1999). Should I buy a complete one for ~$110 on eBay, or should I build my own?

[Einzelherz]

If there's a complete working one, I'd take that just to save on headache.

[ZellSF]

If you have a modern computer (that can play 99%+ of retro PC games (with some research), often better than period accurate hardware) then I would waste minimal effort on a retro PC setup. Get a prebuilt one, just make sure it has good enough specifications for whatever you want to play on it.

[BazookaBen]

$110? Hell no. Just go to goodwill, they always have old computer stuff. I see Pentium IV stuff there all the time.

[beatsgo]

$110? Hell no. Just go to goodwill, they always have old computer stuff. I see Pentium IV stuff there all the time.

That or go to craigslist. You probably find people giving away their old PCs.

[BONKERS]

Yeah but guys, he probably wants a *Good* retro pc for old games. Gotta check that hardware make sure it's good stuff first. Not like they didn't make crap low end hardware back then that wasn't great for games.

[ZellSF]

A high-end Win98 computer is going to be a bit expensive to put together and a cheap PC from today could likely play the same games better: practically I don't think there is much a point to that.

However if he likes old computer hardware and dealing with it, then that's a good option, but it doesn't sound like that from his opening post where he's done zero research.

[Thomago]

a cheap PC from today could likely play the same games better: practically I don't think there is much a point to that.

Wrong. There are many old Windows games out there that can't be run on modern machines with modern operating systems, so building a "retro" Win98 PC makes very much sense. Also, a PC like that will allow you to run MS-DOS games natively (meaning without DOSbox emulation). In fact, I built a Win98 PC myself for these reasons.

A tip regarding the GPU: Go for a Geforce 4800 Ti, if you can find one. These cards are a) pretty fast and b) are still able to dither 3D graphics. Newer cards can't do that, making older games that only offer 16 bit rendering look like crap.

[ZellSF]

a cheap PC from today could likely play the same games better: practically I don't think there is much a point to that.

Wrong. There are many old Windows games out there that can't be run on modern machines with modern operating systems, so building a "retro" Win98 PC makes very much sense.

I've had a 99%+ success rate of running old Windows games on newer computers. Yes, in that 1%- pool there are "many" games that won't run. But the chances of him running into those are pretty small. When he does, he can invest in a setup that can play them.

Also, a PC like that will allow you to run MS-DOS games natively

Sure, but a period accurate DOS computer will do that better than a high end Windows 98 computer. Shouldn't he go for that for the 1% of DOS games that won't run on a high end Win98 computer?

A tip regarding the GPU: Go for a Geforce 4800 Ti, if you can find one. These cards are a) pretty fast and b) are still able to dither 3D graphics. Newer cards can't do that, making older games that only offer 16 bit rendering look like crap.

With a Geforce 4800 Ti, you don't have that good solutions for playing Glide games either, that's another 1% he could be pursuing.


Point is, no PC setup is going to have perfect compatibility, you need to figure out a setup for the games you want to play rather than fictional future needs. If you have a modern PC, try getting your games running on that first. And if you don't, getting one is going to get you access to a vastly larger game library than you would get with a old Windows 98 setup.

Then when you find games you can't play you can start considering what sort of setup you would need to play them. Maybe you don't need a high end Win98 setup (which might end up costing you), but any cheap piece of crap from that era can run the games you're struggling with. Maybe you actually need a very specific hardware setup and you end up regretting buying that perfect Win98 computer because you need another one.

[tacoguy64]

You are better off going with a newer pc. Check out a site like GoG and buy a bunch of the classic from there. They have a large selection of popular and even some more obscure titles. There are no DRM and games play with little issue for the most part. All while having the benefits of modern computers. If you really want to keep it retro feeling then just get a pc crt. Most people give those away on craigslist, though the good ones might cost you a bit but not too much.

[Thomago]

Then when you find games you can't play you can start considering what sort of setup you would need to play them. Maybe you don't need a high end Win98 setup (which might end up costing you), but any cheap piece of crap from that era can run the games you're struggling with. Maybe you actually need a very specific hardware setup and you end up regretting buying that perfect Win98 computer because you need another one.

It's a shame no further input comes from atheistgod1999, but given that he wants to build a dedicated Win98 machine I'm pretty sure that he already found several games that he can't run on modern machines.

[o.pwuaioc]

Not to mention you have to rebuy GOG games. What's the point of doing that when you already own the physical media?

My vote is to look through Salvation Army and Craigslist posts for a while. You could probably get a couple of cheap ones and put together a better machine.

[Josh128]

Rogue Squadron PC is one of the games Ive found that wont run correctly on a modern PC-- the camera drifts slowly away from your craft, making it unplayable.

Used to work fine on my old P2 / dual Voodoo 2 rig.

[BuckoA51]

Weirdly, Rogue Squadron does that whole camera glitch thing for me on Windows 7 but not Windows 8, last time I tried anyway, on otherwise identical hardware. Apparently the GoG version does it too.

Also 99% success rate for Windows 98 games seems a little high to me, you must have got really lucky if 99% of the Windows 98 games you tried actually worked. Along with Rogue Squadron I've encountered a number of titles with issues on newer machines. Star Wars Racer, Requiem Avenging Angel, Fighting Force, Sega Rally 2 (works but can't reconfigure controllers) all spring to mind.

On a modern PC DOSBox covers you well for DOS and Windows 3.1 games, while XP can often be persuaded to run even on the very most modern hardware (Nvidia still do drivers for XP, though how long for now is anyone's guess), or run in a VM like VMWare that supports hardware acceleration, but there's no good solution for running/emulating Windows 9x with 3D hardware acceleration that I know of. PCEm looks promising in that regard but is still in development.

[ZellSF]

Not to mention you have to rebuy GOG games. What's the point of doing that when you already own the physical media?

GoG usually don't use any specific patches: if it's on GoG, you can in most cases make it work if you have a physical copy.

Also 99% success rate for Windows 98 games seems a little high to me, you must have got really lucky if 99% of the Windows 98 games you tried actually worked.

Or you're just extremely unlucky.

[BazookaBen]

GOG is a lot less headache for sure. If it's a good enough game I don't mind buying it a second time for $10. And you know it will work out of the box with no tinkering necessary.

And GOG is one of the best digital games stores in the business (DRM free), so it's nice to support them.

[SuperDeadite]

The biggest issue for modern computers is controller support imo. Unless I've missed something Gameports simply can't be used on a 64bit windows build, which is a damn shame.

[NightSprinter]

SuperDeadite is right on that one. I can attest from experience that gameport capability in a 64-bit Windows OS is deprecated. All the port has done for me on my Audigy2 ZS was function as a multi-client MIDI port. What's worse is some games (like the PC port of Street Fighter Alpha 2 GoG sells) may not be fully-configurable (SFA2 only sees the thumbstick buttons as "Start" and "Select" like one would expect on an MS Sidewinder Gamepad or a Gravis Gamepad Pro).

[tacoguy64]

I've been doing some more reading on this and there seems to be some validity to actually owning one of these old pieces of junk. But before going that route I would still highly recommend going with a newer computer first and checking out this a site that has tools to help you run these old games like this one;

http://www.play-old-pc-games.com/

There are even some other paths you can take that are not mentioned in that site like going with a dual boot of Linux and WINE but those require a steeper learning curve.


Most of the old games that I've played on my newer pc really havent given me too much of a hassle to run them. But like others have said here, not everything works out great. Especially when it comes to controller support.

[ZellSF]

The biggest issue for modern computers is controller support imo. Unless I've missed something Gameports simply can't be used on a 64bit windows build, which is a damn shame.

Can't you just use a modern controller? There are plenty of options for practically any need. I'm also guessing there's adapters available.

[SuperDeadite]

Gameport->USB adapters exist, but they only support normal buttons, anything fancy requires a fully functioning gameport. It depends on what you want to play of course. Microsoft used to make the best joysticks you could buy, playing Mech Warrior 2 with a Microsoft ForceFeedBack joystick is sublime. This is a similar topic to emulation really, while the majority of people will be perfectly happy with emulation, there is some cool stuff that will never be replaced.

Also I just find using the real machine enjoyable. I remember getting Doom for my birthday and spending 2 weeks learning how to actually run it on the family 486. Later on I got Privateer Gold and spent about a month figuring out how to make it work (required EMS memory). It was a puzzle and when it finally worked it was pure magic.

Do I think youngsters should have to learn how to use the DOS prompt and go through all the BS? Nope, but I find it strangely relaxing to go and edit an autoexec and create a bootdisk these days. It's also just faster for me to do it the original way then having to sit down and learn the modern replacements.

I had that 486 until university when I finally got a Pentium 4. In the years between I drooled over my rich friend's Riva TNT2 card. Going back and having those machines I always wanted today just feels like a personal achievement of some sort.

[BuckoA51]

Or you're just extremely unlucky.

Na somehow I doubt it, I've tried a LOT of old games in the course of things. While a sizeable chunk of 9x games will work on 7/8/10 there are plenty that have some serious issues too.

I've been doing some more reading on this and there seems to be some validity to actually owning one of these old pieces of junk. But before going that route I would still highly recommend going with a newer computer first and checking out this a site that has tools to help you run these old games like this one;

http://www.play-old-pc-games.com/

That's my site, thanks for the plug Haven't had much chance to work on it with Windows 10 looming though (my other site is sort of a Windows for beginners site so new training materials are a priority), but come August/September I should be able to again.

The whole gameport thing was something I wanted to look into but I was an Amiga gamer back when DOS was around so don't actually have any legacy controllers. My best friend at the time did have the Sidewinder stick though and you're right it was incredible. I should maybe message him see if his mum still has it, (he moved to Australia and didn't take much with him) knowing them they probably threw it out.

As a workaround I guess you could just dual boot with a 32 bit Windows? Even Windows 10 is still getting a 32 bit version.

[ZellSF]

Or you're just extremely unlucky.

Na somehow I doubt it, I've tried a LOT of old games in the course of things. While a sizeable chunk of 9x games will work on 7/8/10 there are plenty that have some serious issues too.

That wasn't a question?

I've gone through a lot of games too, if I found basically no games don't that work and you've found a lot then it's either bad luck on your side or good luck on mine. Both equally likely.