Gaming World Forums

General Category => Technology and Programming => Topic started by: Monty on May 31, 2008, 05:59:18 am

Title: Old PC Upgrading ftw
Post by: Monty on May 31, 2008, 05:59:18 am

So, I have a 1994 model Hewlett-Packard Vectra VL Series 4 P133 (originally). It was the first computer that I owned and I got it second hand from my grandfather.

When I got the computer, it had a whopping 500MB hard disk, 32MB of RAM, a Pentium I 133MHz and a 16-color graphics card,  which was stunningly poor for running the Windows 95 that was installed on it. It had an 8x CD-ROM drive and a single floppy drive. Big whoop. No USB, no Infrared, so it was utterly useless for connecting my Pocket PC to, which made my PPC more useful than my desktop.

I upgraded the computer to a Pentium MMX 233MHz, 64MB of RAM and a 3.5GB hard disk, which I then installed Windows XP onto and added a 32x CD Burner, and a USB PCI card. I also added a Trident video card shortly after I got the computer, as 16 colors wasn't enough, but I couldn't find an old enough 3D accelerator, so I stuck with SVGA, 4MB of memory. Meh.

The computer worked well, but then I got a new HP Pavillion 310n a while back, and this orange beast has been my baby ever since. I took this old Vectra apart and used the parts in various other computers.

Yesterday, I slapped it together, running DOS 6.22, Windows 3.1 (Nostalgia ftw) and added some other stuff, such as a Matrox Millenia SVGA video card, a TRUE SoundBlaster 16 (Don't ask where I got it, and I won't tell.) and removed the USB card.

I got bored with Windows 3.1 and installed Windows 95, a bootleg off of a tablet computer I had, which I took the mini-IDE hard drive out of for use in my Hitachi Laptop.

So, anyone else build anything relatively nostalgic?

Also, links to some free Windows 3.1/Windows 95 programs would be nice :)

Title: Old PC Upgrading ftw
Post by: Carrion Crow on May 31, 2008, 09:53:35 am

I put a new(er) hard drive in a Maintosh SE and it started up in 13 seconds. Check it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_SE

Title: Old PC Upgrading ftw
Post by: Monty on May 31, 2008, 10:04:44 am

Nice. If I was more interested in Macintosh, I'd be tempted to find an old Mac SE somewhere and try that, but I'd rather play with PCs.

Also, I once put a computer, motherboard screen and all, into a suitcase. I would walk into a room, open it, plug in the cords, and start computing. It broke after I steeped on it and broke the screen.

Title: Old PC Upgrading ftw
Post by: Carrion Crow on May 31, 2008, 10:09:35 am

Have you ever seen engadget's PS3 laptop? You should well do something like that!

http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/10/the-ps3-laptop-from-ben-heck-to-engadget-with-love/

Title: Old PC Upgrading ftw
Post by: Monty on May 31, 2008, 11:43:15 am

Actually, that unit was designed by my fucking idol, Bejamin J Heckendorn, whose website I frequent on a weekly basis AT LEAST.

Title: Old PC Upgrading ftw
Post by: Carrion Crow on May 31, 2008, 01:31:11 pm

Do you have your own workshop?

Title: Old PC Upgrading ftw
Post by: goat on June 01, 2008, 02:25:35 am

When I first moved out here, and my PC that I shipped hadn't arrived yet, I got an old Pentium 90 with 4MB of ram from Savers for about 4$, and ran Ultima Underworld on it to keep me entertained till it got here. I used it as a footrest for a while after that.

Title: Old PC Upgrading ftw
Post by: Monty on June 01, 2008, 10:16:58 am

No, I don't have a workshop >_> unless you count my garage.

My next major project is to get my Celeron-powered HP up to speed with a Pentium 4. First thing I want to do is get a new motherboard. Any suggestions, anyone?

Title: Old PC Upgrading ftw
Post by: Carrion Crow on June 01, 2008, 10:22:19 am

Ebay/JunkSale

When I was at my friend's house once his dad RANDOMLY GAVE ME a powerbook 180. That was a great day.

Title: Old PC Upgrading ftw
Post by: goat on June 02, 2008, 03:35:48 am

Make a list of what you need on the mobo, and find a mobo that has those and nothing more. So many models of mobos out there, best to just get what you need, and not to pay extra for frivolous features. I personally go with the cheapest motherboard to meet my needs, because the more expensive ones aren't much "faster", just more feature ridden.

Title: Old PC Upgrading ftw
Post by: losc on June 02, 2008, 04:03:27 am

I recently acquired an ancient packard bell with a 500 mhz celeron cpu and stuck xubuntu on it just for the hell of it.
It runs surprisingly well and the packaged games are better than windows XD

Title: Old PC Upgrading ftw
Post by: Monty on June 02, 2008, 08:14:18 am

I just recently acquired an ancient Packard Bell myself. But even more ancient with a 486DX at 33MHz. And DOS/Win3.1 came on it OEM.

And I'm looking for motherboards now. Just a run-off-the-mill P4 compatible is fine by me ;)

Title: Old PC Upgrading ftw
Post by: goat on June 02, 2008, 08:28:18 pm

What are your plans for the 486DX? If I recall, that system barely had the power to run doom smoothly, and I can't see someone using anything below a pentium 133 for anything besides nostalgia, especially if you have ANYTHING faster lying around.