In-law's gaming rig set up

[Kiefer]

As I am the closest thing to a PC 'guru' in my family, lol..., I have been tasked with helping my father-in-law with a replacement for his gaming rig which has finally burned up.  His only requirement is that it will be able to accept his old games which I guess are all CD-based, and he has had trouble getting them to work on his updated windows 10 PC (the one that burned up).  I would like to get him a PC but one that will see him to the end, lol.  He is still without internet (though I am working on that, too). He is an old board gamer from way back.  An Axis and Allies on a 4x8 sheet of plywood type of guy.  Poor guy just had his wife retire... so he is kind of desperate to get his home away from home back up and working, lol.

Any ideas on the ideal set up that will let him enjoy his retro collection, while still being able to play new games?  If I don't help him, his expert at the local Wal-Mart will... and that guy had him take a Sawzall to his Alienware... (I kid you not...).

$500-1000 with some room to wiggle, I am thinking for the budget.  Though he paid a lot more for that Alienware way back... 

Any leads/advice would be much appreciated.

[Crice]

https://www.amazon.com/CYBERPOWERPC-Xtre...=gaming+pc


Buy an external USB CD-Rom if he wants his 1990s games to play.

[Snowreap]

There are some old games that just won't run properly on modern systems. If they're super-old (pre-CD days) they will probably work in DOSBox, but there's a middle area of games that are too new to work in DOSBox, but too old to run under 64-bit Windows 10. So as time goes on you'll be less and less able to have a single system that runs everything.

For retro gaming there's really no substitute for a retro rig to run them on. If you can find a used machine, preferably an enterprise-grade system because those have a better chance of being built to last, and put Windows XP on it (not the x64 version!) you should be able to run most old stuff. There might be a few games that actually require a Windows 95 install.

[Slamz]

I would think there are some VM solutions for old games. You could (I assume) create a Windows 7 virtual machine underneath your real Win 10 machine and artificially limit its resources (like give it 1 core).

[Kiefer]

Update (for those who were just dying to know...)

I printed that page provided by Crice, and a few models $ above and $ below it... To show him that it is indeed affordable for him to upgrade. He has opted to visit some retro computer place he drove by. You just can't win with this guy...

Much appreciate the advice, though.

[strife]

Update (for those who were just dying to know...)

I printed that page provided by Crice, and a few models $ above and $ below it... To show him that it is indeed affordable for him to upgrade.  He has opted to visit some retro computer place he drove by.  You just can't win with this guy...

Much appreciate the advice, though.

Hahah, so he will probably spend the same for half the computer

[Kiefer]

Sounds about right for the guy, lol. Can't wait for him to show it off to me, lol.

[Diggles]

you arent going to be able to run anything made before like 2005.  VM for an elderly person is ridiculous and so is buying an ancient computer.

Get something modern under 1K with a decent bang for your buck video card and buy the games he wants to play from sites like good old games https://www.gog.com/

[Kiefer]

Internet access is his biggest obstacle.

[Kiefer]

Tried to tell him he just needs a bare bones connection to get the job done.. but he won't listen.

[Diggles]

Tried to tell him he just needs a bare bones connection to get the job done.. but he won't listen.

unlimited data plan + hotspot.

I mean if he bought it and shipped it to you to setup, installed the games and made a good backup, whats he need internet for?