Retro console gaming fans love to extol the virtues of playing on original hardware, but what about retro PC gaming? There’s a distinct subculture of people who go out and find old computer parts to build period-accurate computers, so they can enjoy retro PC games as intended.
Sure, you can play just about any PC game on your computer right now, with a little software magic, but there’s something to be said for running that game on exactly the hardware it was developed for. So if you’re thinking about making your own retro gaming PC, here are a few key tips to keep in mind.
10
Pick Hardware That Covers the Most Eras
There’s a good chance that you’re interested in a specific era of PC gaming, but it’s always a good idea to build a period machine that covers as much time as possible. So it can play games that span decades natively. This can be tricky, because some older PC games from the early days were designed for CPUs running at a very specific frequency. If the CPU ran faster, the game ran faster. Which is why some old PCs had “turbo” buttons, which (counter-intuitively) let you slow the PC down so that older software would run at the right speed.
However, for the most part, it doesn’t matter if you run a game like DOOM on an 80486 PC or a Pentium 4, it will run at the correct speed. So you might as well get the fastest computer that’s still natively compatible with the games you want to play.
Just keep in mind that some games will only work natively with specific expansion cards, such as the original Sound Blaster, which needs to go in an ISA slot. So, if you want to play games that require cards that are only available in ISA slot form, then you’ll have to stick with a motherboard (and generation of CPUs) that offers this expansion slot standard.
There are some sweet spot motherboards. For example, some socket 370 motherboards like the Gigabyte GA-6VXE7+ have an AGP slot for more powerful 3D accelerator cards, while still offering two 16-bit ISA slots.
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9
Some Vintage Parts Need Alternatives
While it’s tempting to want a period computer with all of its parts from that period, in some cases it’s either not possible, or just not worth it. Peripherals are the key example here. You don’t want to use an old ball mouse from the 90s or a ratty old keyboard that’s 20 years old. Well, maybe you do, but if it were me I’d just get a decent modern mouse and keyboard, and use a USB to PS/2 converter for keyboard and mouse. The same goes for speakers, which are much better now than in the 90s, and you have no reason to torture yourself.
Perhaps most important of all are alternatives to storage. Old hard drives and floppy disk drives are unreliable and slow. Sure, it would be more authentic, but you run the real risk of data loss and disk failure. So, instead of a mechanical drive, you can hook up an SD card to IDE adapter or connect a SATA SSD using a SATA to IDE adapter. You don’t need a real floppy drive, instead you can use something like the Gotek floppy drive emulator.
The Gotek emulator might need alternative firmware to work with your specific computer. Be sure to check whether your use case requires the FlashFloppy firmware. It probably will.
8
Pick the Right Operating System
If you’re looking to play both MS-DOS and classic Windows games, you can have multiple disks with different operating systems, or one large drive partitioned so that you can boot into different OSes.
However, picking something like Windows 98 gives you basically almost complete MD-DOS compatibility alongside Win9x game compatibility. The choice is yours, but personally I’d rather deal with one OS instead of three or four.
One of the biggest challenges with retro PCs is finding drivers for all the old hardware, which makes sites like VOGONS Vintage Drivers crucial to making it all work. Remember, without software that hardware is useless.
7
A CRT Monitor Is a High Priority
A CRT monitor isn’t a hard requirement or anything, but all the games from the classic PC gaming catalog were created with CRTs in mind. LCDs only started becoming popular for gaming in the late 2000s, and besides, CRTs look good and play even better. You can often pick one up for next to nothing or even free, and if you’ve never played on one, or you’ve forgotten how good they look, building a retro PC is the perfect time to become acquainted with the allure of the tube screen.
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6
Some Games Need Specific Hardware
I already mentioned this when talking about older ISA sound cards, but in the days before DirectX and other similar APIs, game developers had to write their games for specific hardware. So if you had a graphics card or sound card that wasn’t popular enough, you’d be out of luck. This is why so many sound cards were “Sound Blaster Compatible”, because games were written for Sound Blaster cards, and so the competition had to make cards that looked like Sound Blasters to the software.
If you want to play the Glide version of Quake II, you’ll need a 3Dfx Voodoo card, as another example. Again, there are ways to get around this on modern computers using emulation or compatibility layers, but if you’re happy with that, then why build a retro PC at all?
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5
Use a Modern PSU Where Possible
If the computer you’re building isn’t too old, its motherboard should still be compatible with modern, new power supplies. The older power supplies get, the more likely they are to fail, and when a power supply fails there’s a fair chance it can damage the computer it’s connected to. So if at all possible, try to get a new power supply for your retro PC build that’s still compatible.
4
Consider a Swappable Hard Drive Solution
If you do end up wanting to run multiple operating systems, you may want to consider using a swappable hard drive solution, where you can change out the boot drive without opening the computer.
If you go with something like an SD to IDE adapter, you can 3D print an SD to IDE adapter front panel mount and change out “drives” as needed. If you want to use traditional drives, then you can get a hard drive hot swap bay.
3
Source Your Games Legitimately
Except for true abandonware, there’s no need to pirate your classic PC games in order to play them. Thanks to GOG.com you can buy and download the installers (or installed files) for classic games that will run on a modern computer, but, crucially, they will also still work on period hardware.
These games are usually just a buck or two, and the money you spend here, though it might not go to the original creators of the games in all cases, still goes towards the preservation of these classic games. Now, I know you care about these games if you’re building a retro PC, so show a little support!
2
You Don’t Need an Old Chassis
Having an original beige box is the done thing with retro hardware and, for a lot of people, myself included, it’s part of the experience. However, it’s important to remember that you don’t have to use a period-accurate PC case. Depending on the era of PC you’ve built, the components should still fit inside modern cases that conform to the same ATX standards.
This is especially true if you’re going to use solid state alternatives instead of real hard drives and floppy drives. Obviously, if you need front-panel drive bays, you won’t be able to use super-modern cases that lack front-panel drive bays, but you still have options that are much more modern than a 90s beige box.
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1
Don’t Overpay (or Pay at All)
One of the best things about building retro gaming PCs, is that you can pretend you’re back in 1999, but this time you’re filthy rich and can afford the best, most expensive computer hardware of the day. It’s a blast to pick up old Pentium chips and RAM sticks for cents on the dollar.
The thing is, as retro gaming has become more popular, used computer part sellers have gotten wise to it, and you might see old computer parts skyrocket in price. Often with words like “vintage” and “retro gaming” attached to them, which is a warning sign. Sure, some vintage PC components are definitely rare and worth a bit of dosh, but for the most part, the sorts of components you’ll want to get just for the purposes of playing games without any sort of emulation should be plentiful. In fact, there’s a good chance you can get most if not all of it for free if you spend some time looking around.
Of course, pay what you feel comfortable to get the components you want, but don’t fall into the trap of thinking that this stuff should cost a lot of money, and it’s good practice to work with the idea that it should all be very cheap!
