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Best gaming rig for 1989?
- Thread starter ryoder
- Start date
Trixter
Veteran Member
And a 386sx-16 was about $1500. That's what mine cost (an Insight 386sx clone with VGA and an 80MB IDE drive).
That sounds about right. I reviewed some old magazines and a 386 DX 20 was around $2500 with a monitor and hard drive. Flight Simulator 4 had 386 optimizations and VGA and at least AdLib were supported in a good number of games. When I say ultimate gaming rig I mean if an adult wanted to play mainstream games and get the best possible experience, what would it be running on? I chose 1989 to see what the 80s had to offer at the pinnacle. I have an Amiga 600 and am learning about them but back in 1989 I played games on a Tandy 1000 HX and my Genesis. The Genesis had better graphics and sound but the HX had deeper game play.
In 1989 I knew all about VGA but I was 13 and could afford to buy a Genesis with my own money but not a $3000'gsming PC.
In 1989, there weren't gaming PCs. Nobody bought a PC to play games. They bought PCs for other reasons and played games because they had the PC.
There was this mindset at the time that PCs were for business, and business machines don't play games. Computers that were good at games were not to be taken seriously because they weren't for business, they were for playing games.
There was this mindset at the time that PCs were for business, and business machines don't play games. Computers that were good at games were not to be taken seriously because they weren't for business, they were for playing games.
Great Hierophant
Veteran Member
I think that when you are putting together a "best gaming rig of 1989", you have to have a balance of forward and backward in mind. Before the 90s, I would agree with what KC9UDX said, "Nobody bought a PC to play games. They bought PCs for other reasons and played games because they had the PC", although having more advanced hardware inside a particular PC which was capable of playing the latest and greatest may have been a factor in an individual's purchasing decision.
When building a PC gaming rig, you should try to balance the machine's abilities to play games released before it as well as a PC for playing games after it. For 1989, a Tandy 1000 is a good choice looking back but not looking forward due to its lack of expandability and speed upgrades. A 486 was definitely in the breaking the bank category and unless its speed could be knocked down, very unfriendly toward older games.
I would suggest a happy compromise with a 386DX-25. Still pricey for 1989 without a doubt, but much less difficult than an early 486 machine. Slap in a compatible VGA card (one with a PVGA1A chip comes to mind), a Sound Blaster, 2MB of RAM and you should be good to go for gaming until 1993. If you want a high end system, include a Roland LA device.
When building a PC gaming rig, you should try to balance the machine's abilities to play games released before it as well as a PC for playing games after it. For 1989, a Tandy 1000 is a good choice looking back but not looking forward due to its lack of expandability and speed upgrades. A 486 was definitely in the breaking the bank category and unless its speed could be knocked down, very unfriendly toward older games.
I would suggest a happy compromise with a 386DX-25. Still pricey for 1989 without a doubt, but much less difficult than an early 486 machine. Slap in a compatible VGA card (one with a PVGA1A chip comes to mind), a Sound Blaster, 2MB of RAM and you should be good to go for gaming until 1993. If you want a high end system, include a Roland LA device.
krebizfan
Veteran Member
Yes, there were a few 486 systems on the market; mostly $15,000 servers. No real benefit over the 386s for gaming for several years and by then DX2 was both available and lots cheaper.
* Also some of those early patch 486s had a math coprocessor bug that would be triggered by calling sin, cosine, and tangent in quick succession. So not much use for any of the games that started using the FPU in the mid-90s.
* Also some of those early patch 486s had a math coprocessor bug that would be triggered by calling sin, cosine, and tangent in quick succession. So not much use for any of the games that started using the FPU in the mid-90s.
I sure remember that. It made quite a stir in the CAD/CAM world.
1ST1
Veteran Member
Try to get an Olivetti M380XP1 to XP9, there were several models from desktop to pedestral tower, CPU range from 386DX-20, 25 and 33 Mhz. Another good choice, but only if you don't want to get poor by buying a soundcard is an IBM PS/2 mod. 50, 70 or 80. Top for 1989 would be an IBM PS/2 mod. 90 or Olivetti CP486 / LSX 5010 / 5020 / M486 EISA system. (I have two LSX5020 amd a M380XP1)
facattack
Veteran Member
Do you want "Gaming" or a "Rig"? For the money you'd spend on a non Tandy or non Amiga or whatever you could possibly own a NES, Genesis, Master System, and maybe a turbo grafx 16. Heck, go all out and get the Turbo Duo and a 3DO and sega CD.... Now that'd be gaming glory! Don't forget SNES.
Agent Orange
Veteran Member
You're right about that. Folks who were fortunate to have a PC at home in those days, perhaps because of their job requirements or other technical interests, most likely subscribed to AOL if they had kids. Remember "Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?". On-line gaming at its best and probably responsible for kick starting the whole gaming thing.