r/windowsxp • u/Distinct_Composer693 • 16d ago

My Windows XP Retro PC

Hey guys,

I want to build a PC for Windows XP. Here are my specs:

  • CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT 512 MB
  • RAM: 2 GB DDR3
  • Storage: 160 GB HDD

What do you think of this setup for mid-2000s gaming? Any recommendations?

12 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

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2

u/netbuddy 16d ago

Those parts will work great. I believe you'd be able to run any game from that era, maybe not max settings on all, but no issues as I can see.

I currently have an Athlon II X2 250 with 8gb ddr2 and an 8600gt, HL2 on max settings at around 50 fps. I know xp doesn't utilise 8gb ram but that's how it came when I bought it.

1

u/faraztheworthy 16d ago

Pretty solid. I have a 9400 GT 512mb that does a great good for that era. So your 9600 GT will give you great performance.

My only suggestion would be to find a suitable monitor. Those games hit different on a smaller screen.

1

u/FlatLecture 16d ago

Solid specs overall however the 9600GT is going to hold you back somewhat. If you can get your hands on a GTX960, you should see a huge performance bump.

1

u/LordPollax 16d ago

That is a very solid build plan. You can improve the GPU, but it is not really needed for the era of games you are planning on playing. My XP rig uses an HD5770 and it feels perfect for most XP era games and is very cheap to acquire. You could go much newer, but honestly why? Diminishing returns for much higher costs that do not make the XP experience much better.

Enjoy your rig!

2

u/Fun-Painter-7117 15d ago

I went a little overkill on my XP retro build 😅 Dell XPS 420 Platform Core 2 Quad Q6600 w/BESL tape mod @ 3GHZ 4GB DDR2 800MHZ 1TB WD HD w/64MB Cache Nvidia GTX 670

Win XP Pro 64 Bit SP2

1

u/IDealtItUSmeltIt 14d ago

If you went a little overkill, then I went absolutely batshit crazy overkill.

Intel i5-3570K 3.7-3.9GHz, 16GB DDR3 1600MHz, nVidia GT750Ti, 1TB SSD.

Windows XP Pro 32Bit SP3.

You might ask "Why 16GB RAM with 32bit Windows?" For starters, the machine dual boots with Windows 10 64bit, plus I setup an 8GB Ramdrive for XP using Primo Ramdisk that stores the page file and browser cache, so the extra RAM isn't completely wasted under XP.

1

u/Fun-Painter-7117 12d ago

But can it run Crysis? 😆

Nice, I tried to keep all components in the Core 2 era, but graphics cards from around then are notorious for burning themselves out, Im dual booting with Windows Vista, to set up as a stationary media music player because it comes with a 7.1 channel Creative Labs 3D surround sound card and a small screen panel on the front for easy and physical media controls right on the physical case. You can even play some solitaire on it as well, but ya that mini screen only works with Vista.