There’s an inevitable metamorphosis that takes place inside every PC gamer. We spend the first few years of our RGBinfused passion chasing the new, and then… well, we continue doing that for as long as the likes of Nvidia, AMD and Intel tell us to. But we also start to chase the old, too.
We hoard our old gear without a clear plan, and start to fetishise old beige wonders from bygone eras. And we’re absolutely right to: old gaming PCs are incredible.
Getting these old rigs operational again isn’t as easy as plugging them in and covering your nose while the exhaust fans disperse 17 years of dead skin across the room. Depending on the Windows version that’s installed on that creaking HDD, the panel and peripherals you’ll be hooking it up to, and the format of games you want to play, you’ve got a few separate workflows ahead of you.
BEIGE-ING GRACEFULLY
For the oldest machines – Windows XP era and older – it’s crucial to give everything inside the case a deep clean. And not just for the aforementioned scattering of dead cells – finding NOS [new old stock] parts for these PCs is really tough, and finding NOS parts that are actually compatible with your machine is roughly as complex as just soldering a new motherboard by hand. In other words: you’re going to want every fan and capacitor to last as long as possible.
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Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av PC Gamer.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Whale of a tale – Harold Halibut's big undersea adventure – Special Report
Inside the 14-year journey to hand-craft Harold Halibut’s big undersea adventure
SUNDOWNER
Wipe out a cult with one bullet in CHILDREN OF THE SUN
KENWAY AHEAD
Smooth sailing and pearly whites in ASSASSIN'S CREED IV BLACK FLAG
COUNTER INTUITIVE
PICK & POKE your way through this gorgeous tabletop roguelite
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Whatever happened to MULTI-GPU setups?
MICROPHONES
A good microphone can be the difference between a professional sounding triumph, or a crackly, tinny disaster
BORING PLATFORMER
In a good way! The superb drilling of PEPPER GRINDER is sublimely chaotic
MEIER'S BASTARDISATION
MILLENNIA attempts a spirited but messy coup to Civ's throne
LOOSE MORALS
BROKEN ROADS: a cerebral narrative adventure
CROWN WARS: THE BLACK PRINCE
Tactical medieval combat with a gory edge