Gaming on an older PC

[HannibalX]

I have an older PC that for some reason I prefer to game on. I mostly play CSS, nothing to taxing. The PC has an overclocked AthlonXP 3200+, 1GB of Cas2 DDR400 ram and an X1600 Pro 512MB AGP card (also overclocked). It's not blistering fast or anything but it does play CSS at 1440x900 @ between 60 and 80 fps depending on the map. Obviously no AA or AS but I do keep everything else on high.

I built the system a few years ago and have basically left it alone for the most part. No real upgrades over the years. This system has been so stable and reliable for me (has had the same load of XP Pro since mid 2006) I just love gaming on it. I have two faster PCs but it just isn't the same. Not sure how to describe it.

Anyone else like gaming on their older PC?

 

[KaOTiK]

I like playing on one of my old PC's as well. Everything I have thrown at it just works while my new one likes to be a PIA sometimes

 

[Chapbass]

on games that are coded where gamespeed is directly proportional to processor clock speed...sure!

past that...eh, doesn't really matter to me much so long as it runs smooth. i cant stand the low fps jitters, gives me a headache!

 

[AstroManLuca]

I don't have an older PC to game on, but I do agree with you. Two reasons why I think older PCs are sometimes more fun despite being older... one, if it's dedicated entirely to gaming, then you don't have to worry about anything going wrong. If something gets screwed up, you don't lose anything but some time. Two, when games do run well on it, it's a small victory every time. You expect them to all run poorly, so when they're smooth, it's a pleasant surprise. When you're gaming on a fast, new PC though, you take the performance for granted, and every time you see a little stutter you are reminded that you elected to save $50 on your graphics card and could have gotten a better model, and now you'll have to either live with the performance or turn the game settings down slightly.

 

[Bateluer]

The only time this occurrs in when I wish to play older games, such as 2D games or those that don't support widescreen. Then I play on an older rig. But modern games will always be played on my state of the art desktop.

 

[idiotekniQues]

i just have one rig. too expensive to maintain 2 rigs. id want to use the faster one for everything no matter what though - and that would be the gaming rig since i play newer games, since it generally will do everything faster anyways from ripping music to multi-tasking.

 

[potato28]

I know what you mean, I used to play CS 1.6 on a P4 Northwood 1.8ghz, 768 megs of PC2700 RAM, Nvidia Mx440 and a crappy CRT screen.

 

[TheVrolok]

Originally posted by: Chapbass
on games that are coded where gamespeed is directly proportional to processor clock speed...sure!

past that...eh, doesn't really matter to me much so long as it runs smooth. i cant stand the low fps jitters, gives me a headache!

Ditto!

 

[Frodolives]

I'm fine with playing on "older" computers to some extent, but not necessarily for the same reasons. Older gamers such as myself have experienced pretty much the whole arc of video game development, and I think in general it makes us less anxious about always playing the latest game right away.

My upgrades are also later than most of my friends, but staying a cycle or two behind the state of the art hardware is fine since I am not hooked on buying games at their release date.

That's not to suggest that I have anything against innovation. I am all for the advancement of graphics and other elements as long as they serve the end result of good gameplay. I usually end up playing most anything that interests me, just later than the average gamer.

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
I don't have an older PC to game on, but I do agree with you. Two reasons why I think older PCs are sometimes more fun despite being older... one, if it's dedicated entirely to gaming, then you don't have to worry about anything going wrong. If something gets screwed up, you don't lose anything but some time. Two, when games do run well on it, it's a small victory every time. You expect them to all run poorly, so when they're smooth, it's a pleasant surprise. When you're gaming on a fast, new PC though, you take the performance for granted, and every time you see a little stutter you are reminded that you elected to save $50 on your graphics card and could have gotten a better model, and now you'll have to either live with the performance or turn the game settings down slightly.

I completely agree with this. Until recently I had an AXP 3200+ setup with 1GB DDR400 and a 6800GT and I loved to game on it and just generally mess around. It was not my "baby" so if something happened it was like "who cares?". I took it to lan parties, lent it to people in need of a pc, and just plane abused it. I sold it a few months ago for a couple hundred $ and now my oldest PC is my opteron 165. Since it's a dual core it just does not seem like it should be considered old so I don't have the same feelings for it like I did with my AthlonXP

 

[Oyeve]

Some game i have to play on an older PC. I have a P3 1ghz slot 1 system with a generic AGP card and 2 Voodoo2 cards with win98 so I can play some Tomb Raider in all its 3dfx glory. I even have an old Pentium Pro system with Windows 3.1 and a SoundBlaster Pro ISA card to play the old sierra games and Lucasarts games as well as Duke Nukem 3D. Havent gotten into dosbox or such on my current main pc.

 

[Golgatha]

I have kind of a Frankenstein of old and new stuff computer.

2.0Ghz Celeron, 1GB DDR (2x512MB), 200GB SATA 1.5Gbps HDD on PCI expansion card, Pioneer slot load DVD-ROM, and an AGP Voodoo 4 4500 32MB (please don't ever die little video card), Viewsonic 19in CRT.

Plays Final Fantasy VII and VIII in all their 3dfx glory (with AA even!) mostly. I like some of the old Need for Speed games and a few older FPS on there too. I love to game on it. I game less on it now that ATI has GPU monitor scaling working correctly. I may have to revisit Diablo 2 under Glide now that Diablo 3 is announced though.

Now for new(er) games it's Q6600@3.0Ghz, 4GB RAM, Crossfired 4850s or bust .

 

[SZLiao214]

I have 1 desktop and 1 notebook. The desktop scores 14k in 3dmark2003 and the notebook scores 13k. I really do prefer to game on my notebook due to the screen being nicer compared to my desktop's lcd.

The notebook is a lot newer then the desktop so maybe that is why i like playing on it more.

 

[HumblePie]

eh, my "old" computer right now, or otherwise known as the second computer isn't a bad computer at all really.

Opteron 165 dualie that overclocked to 3.1Ghz on air at 1.4v (even has the lid on it!)

4GB of DDR400 running at 257 FSB 3-3-3-8

8800 GTX at 660/2160

Can't really say it's an old box as I think it still can beat out quite a few of the main rigs on many on this site. Does practically every game but Crysis. Soon as I get the 4870x2 for my main rig, putting my 4850 CF's in the "old" rig and selling the 8800 gtx off. That's how it goes!

 

[imported_Imp]

I don't understand... my only system is the same as OP's except it has a 7600gt. If I got the chance to have/play on a dual core, 8800gt, 3Gb Ram, I will trash this POS in a second.

The only reason I'd like to keep this system is that I've customized everything, but I could just transfer all files and redo the settings in a few hours.

 

[HannibalX]

I picked up an HD 3850 512MB AGP card today for $65! Will make a nice addition to the rig and give it another few years of life.

 

[Marty502]

You may have just killed the appeal!

 

[HannibalX]

Perhaps! The rig originally had a 9800 Pro 128. I bought the X1600 in 2006 and decided to keep it two more years. Now with the HD 3850 I'll keep it two more years.

 

[slugg]

Well it's not like I have a choice. My rig is complete crap.

College student budget FTW? I'm just glad that I have an E2160 running at 3 ghz on a $50 motherboard. Not too shabby!

 

[dug777]

I wish I still had my 9800 Pro, but the OEM HSFs on them stunk. I went through about 3 (all started artifacting, didn't even know what overclocking was then ) before my supplier stopped stocking them and gave me a 6600GT.