using old computers

[mrynit]

i have two old computers. P2 266mhz with 64MB 72pin ram & K6 AMD 400Mhz 128MB PC100 ram. the video cards i have are old ati RAGE 2 and 4 MB vram. what type of mame or emulators and FE could i use on them?

[AMDman13]

Heck, I think I was using DOS mame .29 back in the days of those computers. Of coarse I'm sure they will probably work for a great deal of versions around that time period.

[USSEnterprise]

don't plan on playing anything from after 1985

[SirPeale]

The 266...not much.  Pac-Man, maybe.  The 400 will net you a bunch of games.

[mrynit]

well i was thinking the comps could run NES and older games....

[zaphod]

The 266 is plenty powerful for Vantage and ArcadeOS over DOS.  I can run that on a P90 with 32MB RAM with full framerates.

[Mark70]

My P2 233 will run all of the classics like defender, centipede, etc.... think black background coloured sprites. 

It actually ran WWF Superstars well enough for my brother and I to have a game.  It was really poor framerates though.  I wouldn't call it playable for enjoyment, mostly just to show off the cab in progress.

I'm trying to get sorted out to buy a new computer so I can put my 1.7GHz in.

If you stick to way back classics, not much problem.  You limit your game list seriously though.

[mrynit]

The 266 is plenty powerful for Vantage and ArcadeOS over DOS.  I can run that on a P90 with 32MB RAM with full framerates.

tell me more! i havent heard or those before. how do i install DOS only?

[USSEnterprise]

You can use Freedos or MS-DOS 7.1. Both can be obtained free, and installed onto a freshy formatted FAT32 Hard drive

[zaphod]

You can use Freedos or MS-DOS 7.1. Both can be obtained free, and installed onto a freshy formatted FAT32 Hard drive

Agreed.  And DOS uses very, very little HD space.

Vantage: http://www.mameworld.net/pc2jamma/vantage.html
ArcadeOS: http://www.mameworld.net/pc2jamma/frontend.html

[miles2912]

i have two old computers. P2 266mhz with 64MB 72pin ram & K6 AMD 400Mhz 128MB PC100 ram. the video cards i have are old ati RAGE 2 and 4 MB vram. what type of mame or emulators and FE could i use on them?

What I have done to see if the PC would play a game is to plug it in and try.  You could have a few emulators up and working in 10 minutes if you know what you are doing.

Don

[TOK]

Both those machines are fine for oldies. I found MAME at .3something and it ran all the golden age stuff great on a Pentium 133. Just use an old build and keep the fluff to a minimum and the early to mid 80's stuff will be fine.

[SirPeale]

The 266 is plenty powerful for Vantage and ArcadeOS over DOS.  I can run that on a P90 with 32MB RAM with full framerates.

This I know.  VAntAGE has it's uses (I maintain the website) but these days I go for authenticity over speed, so I stick with Mame.  Might require more pony-power, but it's more accurate.

[USSEnterprise]

The only problems you may have with DOS is setting up config.sys, autoexec.bat, and the many drivers for various devices. I know I did at first

[mrynit]

yeah drives for DOS could be a pain. how about win95 or 98? drives for that should be easier but then more CPU would goto OS.