Need recomendation for gaming machine (windows XP)

[leandrodafontoura]

I would like to build a windows XP gaming machine. That means I will only run games from up to around 2006 on this, like FEAR, Age of Empires III. More recent games will play in Vista. having said that, I want these XP games to run of highest quality possible.

I already have a X-fi soundblaster and monitor, need everything else

would like to make something diferent and go with a mini-itx or perhaps micro-atx


No budget limits. Use your imagination.

 

[g-unit1111]

I already have a X-fi soundblaster and monitor, need everything else

You don't need the X-Fi anymore unless you're hooking your PC up to some really high end audio equipment.

No budget limits. Use your imagination.

I'm confused by this one - if you have no budget why would you use XP? Why not just get a Windows 7 license? :lol:

You're limited by a lot of choices when you use XP instead of 7. It's a 32-bit operating system which limits your RAM to 3.25GB when with most modern games they require 4 - 8GB.

You could always try this build: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/microatx-gaming-overclocked,3039.html

 

[Outlander_04]

Older DX9 games run fine on more recent operating systems , and never versions of DX

Dont build a machine for XP

 

[geekapproved]

You haven't even told us what your monitor resolution is, that's important in deciding what you need.

I think something like this mini-twr would be more your kind of build. It will play your older games and pretty much any newer game as well.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i5-overclock-performance-gaming,3097.html

If you want to kick it up a notch, change out the cpu for a i5-2500K, a inexpensive Z68 motherboard, a HD6950 1GB/GTX56oti and a good 650w psu.

You really don't want to go with mini-itx or micro-atx case for gaming, your going to have a lot of heat, but it is do-able if your set on that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157270
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125385
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207014
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820103002&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=404255&SID=231721 X 2

 

[g-unit1111]

I think something like this mini-twr would be more your kind of build. It will play your older games and pretty much any newer game as well.


http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,3097.html

If he said unlimited budget than the micro ATX build I posted would be more to his liking. :lol:

This one certainly isn't bad either.

 

[geekapproved]

I think something like this mini-twr would be more your kind of build. It will play your older games and pretty much any newer game as well.


http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,3097.html

If he said unlimited budget than the micro ATX build I posted would be more to his liking. :lol:

This one certainly isn't bad either.

Yeah but $2600 to install Windows XP and play AOEIII and FEAR would be a disgrace, especially if his monitor is 1280x1024, lol.

 

[geekapproved]

Killer deal on a 2GB card and free game
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150530&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=404255&SID=232398

8GB of memory for $20 after rebate (today only)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220570&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=404255&SID=232390

 

[leandrodafontoura]

Friends, the reason I started this thread was because Im unable to dual-boot XP and Vista, some unique compatibility with my hardware. So I want to install Vista wihtout knowing about XP and vice versa.....

If I install Vista on my PC on a separate Hard drive, while keeping XP drive OFF, and then connect both, will I be able to boot into a OS, or will the boot load from w diferent drives clash with each other?

Altough I know I wont get a dual-boot menu, I have no problem selectiong at BIOS wich drive I want to boot, I just need to know if its ok to boot with both drives online.

 

[geekapproved]

Unique incompatibility with your hardware??

I thought you wanted to build a new machine, how could you have incompatibility with hardware you don't even have yet.....?

 

[leandrodafontoura]

Unique incompatibility with your hardware??

I thought you wanted to build a new machine, how could you have incompatibility with hardware you don't even have yet.....?

I have a built machine already, but Im unable to install vista and xp together, so I tought of creating a cheap new one for XP as oposed to an expensive new one for vista, since xp games are less demaning. For some reason, dual-boot crashed the Os, so I want to install the 2 OSs but without making one aware of the other during installation.

 

[geekapproved]

You can dual boot any two os's, I just think your going about it wrong.

I can't help you, as I can't think of a single reason why I would WANT to have two os's to begin with. What's the reason you need two os's?

Also in your first post you said "No budget limitations" and now your saying you want to build a "Cheap" machine.

I think you just need to figure out how to do what your trying to do, or forget it altogether. You don't need to build a separate machine for XP, nor do I understand why you would want to. Why not just use Vista or 7 and forget about XP?

 

[leandrodafontoura]

You can dual boot any two os's, I just think your going about it wrong.

I can't help you, as I can't think of a single reason why I would WANT to have two os's to begin with. What's the reason you need two os's?

Also in your first post you said "No budget limitations" and now your saying you want to build a "Cheap" machine.

I think you just need to figure out how to do what your trying to do, or forget it altogether. You don't need to build a separate machine for XP, nor do I understand why you would want to. Why not just use Vista or 7 and forget about XP?

thanks for caring so much in my thread.



I need XP because I want to play some games using EAX. Moreover, I have some games wich do not run on Vista. I happen to already own Vista and XP. I do plan on getting 7 in the future, but I have some old games to play first. I could simply install XP, but this OS has some trouble seeing my 1TB drives, wich are in a 3TB RAID. Doenst matter, the HDD in wich XP is installed is big enough already. So Im also putting Vista in order to acess my media files, like birthday videos, etc, I have a lot. In addition, I like Vista "Aero" and reflective buttons, its a better experience for me, I enjoy eye candy. To conclude, I happen to also have a HD-DVD drive, and I only have Vista drivers for it, not 7.

Now, XP and Vista in my system dont mix well together. I believe this is due to the fact that My XP is brasilian, while Vista is american or perhpas, due to the fact that I wsn installing them on the same HDD, even tough separate partitions.. Somehow they clash together. If I install Vista after XP, then XP ntldr goes mising. If I install XP after Vista, XP destroys Vista boot. If I repair Vista, Vista destroys XP's ntlder again.....so I give up.

Im now installing each on a separate drive and while the other is offline (still waiting for SSD to arrive in the mail for Vista...) And Im gonna set in BIOS wich drive to boot from each time I want to change OS. My only remainin questions is:

Can I leave both drives online all the time, or would it be wiser to leave the other off....I woudl hate to see one OS to destroy the other again...I do plan after finishin some old games to abandon XP/Vista and migrate to 7

 

[g-unit1111]

Now, XP and Vista in my system dont mix well together. I believe this is due to the fact that My XP is brasilian, while Vista is american or perhpas, due to the fact that I wsn installing them on the same HDD, even tough separate partitions.. Somehow they clash together. If I install Vista after XP, then XP ntldr goes mising. If I install XP after Vista, XP destroys Vista boot. If I repair Vista, Vista destroys XP's ntlder again.....so I give up.

That shouldn't matter. I know there's programs out there that allow you to boot more than one operating system but I'm a bit naive as to how that works.

Can I leave both drives online all the time, or would it be wiser to leave the other off....I woudl hate to see one OS to destroy the other again...I do plan after finishin some old games to abandon XP/Vista and migrate to 7

No - you'd have to switch back and forth between the two. The BIOS on your motherboard will look for which ever drive is running the active operating system that's hooked to the SATA-0 port. Let's say you have one drive running Windows 7 and that's hooked up to SATA-0 and you have the other drive running XP hooked up to SATA-1. If you tell the BIOS that you want SATA-0 as the boot drive, it will find that one every time and load the OS from it every time.

I need XP because I want to play some games using EAX. Moreover, I have some games wich do not run on Vista. I happen to already own Vista and XP. I do plan on getting 7 in the future, but I have some old games to play first. I could simply install XP, but this OS has some trouble seeing my 1TB drives, wich are in a 3TB RAID. Doenst matter, the HDD in wich XP is installed is big enough already. So Im also putting Vista in order to acess my media files, like birthday videos, etc, I have a lot. In addition, I like Vista "Aero" and reflective buttons, its a better experience for me, I enjoy eye candy. To conclude, I happen to also have a HD-DVD drive, and I only have Vista drivers for it, not 7.

Windows 7 Pro will solve that. You can run programs in backwards compatibility all the way up to Windows 95 and it works fine. I have a bunch of XP legacy drivers and programs (like Access 2000) that I have to run in Windows 7 and when I do that it works fine for me.

 

[leandrodafontoura]

Let's say you have one drive running Windows 7 and that's hooked up to SATA-0 and you have the other drive running XP hooked up to SATA-1. If you tell the BIOS that you want SATA-0 as the boot drive, it will find that one every time and load the OS from it every time.

Windows 7 Pro will solve that. You can run programs in backwards compatibility all the way up to Windows 95 and it works fine. I have a bunch of XP legacy drivers and programs (like Access 2000) that I have to run in Windows 7 and when I do that it works fine for me.

So, if XP is in SATA-1 and I tell BIOS to load SATA-1, will it load ok?

BTW, this windows 7 compatibility thing doesnt use acelerated hardware, so I dont think it will use EAX, bsides, I dont feel like spending R$ 600

 

[g-unit1111]

So, if XP is in SATA-1 and I tell BIOS to load SATA-1, will it load ok?

By default your motherboard will load the operating system from the SATA-0 drive.

The BIOS has a "specify boot device" menu that should look like this:

BOOT 1: HD
BOOT 2: CD-ROM
BOOT 3: USB
BOOT 4: Network

The screen looks something like this:

You can change the order of how you want the drives to work, but no matter how many hard drives you have hooked up, you can only use one drive with one operating system at a time. There are programs out there that allow you to boot multiple operating systems from a single disk, but from what I know is that they don't work very well and emulators (like Virtual PC) don't work very well either.

BTW, this windows 7 compatibility thing doesnt use acelerated hardware, so I dont think it will use EAX, bsides, I dont feel like spending R$ 600

I'm not sure what EAX is so someone else will have to help you there.