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My two retro PCs (third is still work in progress)

EvanK said:
This is insanity. I wouldn't even consider a 286 "vintage" and I'm only 36.
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Why? They're an '80s vintage processor. Old is probably the more appropriate term to what folk refer to as "vintage computers". Retro is often used these days but when it comes down to it it is just a fancy term for old/old fashion.
 
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EvanK said:
This is insanity. I wouldn't even consider a 286 "vintage" and I'm only 36.
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lol, I'm 33, and to me a 286 is "vintage", mainly because it is 16 bit, and the current generation is rapidly approaching 64 bit.

Anything capable of 64 bit computing is definitely not vintage, lol.

32 bit is a grey area.

I graduated from high school in 1996 and games like Doom and Wolfenstein 3D (both of which require a 386) were popular. I used to play Terminal Velocity in high school, and it requires a 486, which is a 32 bit processor, but way more powerful than a 386. Hence, from my perspective, the 386 is definitely vintage, and the 486 may be as well.

So I do agree with others that, at least in the 32 bit domain, it depends on what you grew up with. :)

--Brian
 
the majority of the available programs are still written in 32bit. it will take some until I can't see any *32 processes anymore :)
 
lutiana said:
I am a little confused by this statement. Computers have been 64bit capable for at least 5 or so years now. The hardware was way before the software was.
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True. It would have been accurate to say "The combination of hardware and software which forms the current mainstream PC platform will be fully 64 bit in the near future." ;-)

Point being that any PC capable of 64 bit computing is definitely not vintage. Although, once most mainstream users have a 64 bit OS and mostly 64 bit applications, and are using multicore processors, a processor which is 64 bit but only single core will be in the grey area of potential vintage, just as a 386 is potentially vintage, despite the fact that both it and the Pentium are 32 bit. ;)

--Brian

--Brian
 
imo that 486 is on the cusp of vintage/retro, but the others? not really. still nice machines to have to play old games. good stuff. 8)
 
neutrino78x said:
lol, I'm 33, and to me a 286 is "vintage", mainly because it is 16 bit, and the current generation is rapidly approaching 64 bit.

Anything capable of 64 bit computing is definitely not vintage, lol.

32 bit is a grey area.

I graduated from high school in 1996 and games like Doom and Wolfenstein 3D (both of which require a 386) were popular. I used to play Terminal Velocity in high school, and it requires a 486, which is a 32 bit processor, but way more powerful than a 386. Hence, from my perspective, the 386 is definitely vintage, and the 486 may be as well.

So I do agree with others that, at least in the 32 bit domain, it depends on what you grew up with. :)

--Brian
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maybe i'm nitpicking, but wolf3d doesn't require a 386. it'll work on a 286, and with some fairly minor mods (changing multi-count bit shift operations in assembly to multiple single shift, changing a few PUSHA/POPA instructions to a bunch of single PUSH/POPs, and disabling the 286 detect routine) i got it to run on an 8088. :)
 
wish we could click thanks in this forum lol...you can on discussanything.com, it is gratifying, it gives you a shudder to click "thanks" lmao...the forum keeps a record of how many times you have been thanked, and each of your posts has a display of who thanked you, that is to say, who indicated their agreement. ;)
 
EvanK said:
This is insanity. I wouldn't even consider a 286 "vintage" and I'm only 36.
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you're nuts! if the 286 isnt vintage, what is? i'm only 27, so maybe i'm biased because it came out just before i was born, but the 286 definitely is a vintage CPU.
 
Mike Chambers said:
maybe i'm nitpicking, but wolf3d doesn't require a 386. it'll work on a 286, and with some fairly minor mods (changing multi-count bit shift operations in assembly to multiple single shift, changing a few PUSHA/POPA instructions to a bunch of single PUSH/POPs, and disabling the 286 detect routine) i got it to run on an 8088. :)
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Yes I have seen it running on an 8088 on YouTube. I stand corrected. :)

Speaking of running it on an 8088, has anyone tried using the 8087 for floating point in wolfenstein 3d? (if it uses floating point)

--Brian
 
neutrino78x said:
Yes I have seen it running on an 8088 on YouTube. I stand corrected. :)

Speaking of running it on an 8088, has anyone tried using the 8087 for floating point in wolfenstein 3d? (if it uses floating point)

--Brian
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good question, i didn't really look whether it used it or not - my guess is it is all integer math though, to try and keep the speed good on a 286. that would be worth a look though!
 
I consider anything with 8 bit slots vintage. 286's are a grey area for being classified vintage, because one could argue a Compaq Deskpro 386 could be older then a noname 286 16mhz. On the other hand I definitely consider an XT 5162 286 a vintage pc since it has a few 8 bit slots...

Anything pre-pentium I call retro I guess, but I prefer to call it old skool myself. And anything newer using AT mounting, legacy aka boat anchors.
 
B2T, I think I will keep my 386 now this way (until I find a 8bit PAS to replace the PAS16 to free up another 16bit ISA slot):

- AMD 386DX-40
- Cyrix 387
- Orchid Kelvin 64
- I/O controller card
- Promise EIDEMAX LBA controller
- 6,4GB IDE HDD
- 52x CDROM
- Sound Blaster Pro 1.0
- Gravis Ultrasound MAX
- Pro Audio Spectrum 16
- MPU-IPC-T
- RS232-PS/2 adapter


Here is a tiny boot video: http://www.mediafire.com/?dlenp3y42bo3pw8






 
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