If you had to limit yourself to six retro systems at most, what would they be?

I'm in the process of thinning my retro collection down to just six systems and was wondering what others would choose and why.
I was thinking of;
K6-2(3)+ @ 550MHz, AGP Voodoo 3, 384MB, SB16 clone, XR385, MT-32, SC-55, DOS/ W98SE.
Dual PIIOD @ 375MHz, PCI 5500, 1GB, Yamaha Waveforce PCI, W2k.
P3-S 1.4GHz @ 1575MHz, 4600 Ti, 384MB 300MX, W98SE.
Dual P3-S 1.4GHz, HD4670, Voodoo 2 SLI, PCI Physx, 4GB, Audigy 2 (ZS), XP
4400 x 2, dual 8800GT, 4GB, X-Fi, XP.
I5 2500K, dual GTX 670, 4GB, X-Fi.
It would be only four but I got to have some duallies.
What would everyone else choose or so you already have exactly what you perceive you will always need?

 

I currently 'only' have five. Two are kind of duplicates which might get rehomed. Then I need to add one, to complete a set of four that would satisfy me. I'm too lazy to post full specs.

- 386DX/40
- P200 with Voodoo 1
- PIII 1ghz (currently with MX440 PCI, one day will grab an AGP mobo to use my Ti4200)
- Planned: A dual core XP rig. Got a GTX275 ready to plug in.

Aside from the 386, none of these would be top line systems for their time. But they're all super fun, and they cover the eras. If something runs poorly on one, I can just bump it up to the next one.

 

- My C64 Breadbin with all accessories.
- My Amiga 1200 HD/40 with all accessories.
- My Atari 600XL with all accessories.
- My Pentium 3 Tualatin build.

 

Those are some sweet rigs OP

I seem to have settled on 2 here and they cover all the bases I'm interested in, including emulating 8 bits, etc.

- Cyrix MII 300, DOS and Win98
- P4 3.4Hz, Windows XP

 

Edit: My original post really didn't answer the question, so now I've had time to think about it, I'll have a proper go at writing an answer.

- The 'mame box': a PC that outputs VGA to my SCART capable television. It emulates a few systems but I use it mostly for mame.
- C128D (assuming I can use it in the future. I know the video works but I have no peripherals for it so all I can do is turn it on.)
- PS1 with PSIO to replace the dead CD drive.
- 440BX slot 1 with lots of CPU/card options (super flexible).
- Slot A Athlon 750 @ 1GHz because it's awesome.
- 486 with VLB (assuming I can get it going).

This is stuff I have rather than would like to have and don't because it costs too much!

 

This is something I've been thinking on for quite some time and have already made some progress having sold a couple of systems this year. But it's slow going as it can be hard to let go.

My "untouchable" list so far is mostly computers of sentimental value as I'm not too concerned about covering all bases etc. In no particular order:

Amiga 500
Atari PC3 (8088 Clone)
My "Ritron Classic" Pentium 100, 3D Blaster PCI, Creative DVD Encore Kit system.
IBM PCjr

I have more systems I could add but still weighing up if I really need them. Considering the prices of retro items thesedays you have to be really comfortable with the idea that you may not ever own one again once sold.

 

Six! Usually this sort of discussion stipulates "one"!

For six, I'm going to have to expand!

But seriously.. I sorta already do have what I want. With the major but-not-actually-important caveat, that almost everything I have could be upgraded to all sorts of better / higher-end versions and/or extras. But I spend most of my time on:

• A box that covers DOS through Win98 lower end : A K6/2-500 with Voodoo2 and CRTs, soundcards and MIDI modules.
• A box that covers WinXP: A dual-core thing I recently logged about here.
• A modern-ish low latency bar top arcade with Sanwa JLFs and soon-to-be Daemonbite adapters, running Retroarch via the clean, standalone Lakka distribution.

Throw in a couple of Nintendo consoles e.g. Wii, and a modern-ish PC for daily driving and the occasional (but not often) actual PC game from the past 10 years, and I'm set. The arcade is the one I game on most, lately. It's just fun.

So: 8, 16, 32, 64 bit, covered to my liking.

 

I've been thinking deeply about this too and have sold or given away some PCs and hardware that I've loved owning but which never get used. That's the rule of thumb I've been going by - if I haven't used something in the last 2 years then I'm never going to. Indeed when I've pulled most of them out of the shed their BIOS batteries have been dead

 

Six is pretty generous. Here's my picks:

-386DX40 with LAPC-I, ReelMagic decoder card, SB Pro
-Pentium 3 Tualatin 1.4, Geforce 4 Ti4600 and Voodoo 2, and Vortex 2
-Amiga 500 with Gotek
-Amiga 1200 with ACA1231-42
-Super nintendo w/everdrive
-Sega megadrive w/everdrive
(Do consoles count? )

If I had to pick one it would be the Pentium 3, everything else can be emulated.

 

I'm sure some of you would question why, but I'm at that stage with my breadbin C64. I brought it because not only is it such an iconic machine, but it does have some nostaligic value to me. My mate had one before he had an Amiga 500 (which is why it's also my collection) so I had plenty of play time on it, but it doesn't have as much of a pull for me like the A500 does. If you asked me to name the games we played on the C64 I could list Skool Daze, Spy vs Spy and Paperboy but struggle to name others. The Amiga however I could go on for days.

I'm still torn though. I want to keep it because it's such an iconic machine to have in my collection and I don't think I'll ever own another one again, but at the same time I feel guilty it's just gathering dust and I feel I'm keeping it away from someone else who will actually use it. I haven't used it for years since the intial excitement of first buying it, doing a few upgrades (Lumafix, SD2IEC etc) and playing a few games.

 

I guess everyone goes through different phases about this stuff. For example it's probably a lot easier to let go of things after you've had the privilege and experience to your heart's content.

Only a minority of my retro parts are purpose bought, most are made up of what people (including myself) considered to be useless trash at some point. Honestly, half of it I only have because I was too lazy to throw it out years ago - a huge blessing in disguise.

That's put me into a Keep All Of The Things mindset, in conjunction with a low-spending ethos (one way of saying low income).

 

Cannula

"Dual P3-S 1.4GHz, HD4670, Voodoo 2 SLI, PCI Physx, 4GB, Audigy 2 (ZS), XP"

/drools

 

Hmm, let me think:

- Twentieth Anniversary Mac - yes I know the ultimate snob Mac (mine cost $350 US from the streets of NYC though, so please give me some cred), bridges old and new so well, runs pretty much anything pre OS X I want, fun to upgrade

- Mac SE/30 - iconic compact for all older Mac software, once you spend hours restoring the bloody thing

- Toshiba Libretto 70CT - covers most bases for DOS and early Windows gaming, reliable

- Amiga 1200 - largely stock with basic '030 accelerator, iGame and I'm all set

- PowerBook 540C - nice 68K portable

- My generic 486 AT tower - just fun to tinker with, almost unlimited options to upgrade to and improve performance of

 

Wow, you've got a TAM, bYrd ? Nice.

 

Yes, purchased on my honeymoon and blindly met up with a seller outside TekServe (now closed), a precursor to the Apple Store in NYC. Bought extra luggage and bought it back with me to Oz, because the sub kind of looks like a bomb the luggage was cracked open at every single stop.

 

I wouldn't bet on it. I reckon most of the well priced retro stuff gets picked up by the same group of hoarders.

I follow one of the Amiga user groups on Facebook and they'll often post about Amiga machines listed on Gumtree or Marketplace. If they consider it expensive they'll ridicule the advertisement and go on about the last great deal they got on the same piece of equipment. If it is actually going cheap then one of the group will inevitably grab it, add it to their collection and then brag about the great deal they just got. Their other Facebook posts are about what they can do to attract more members to the group...

I'm exaggerating slightly but this is what it looks like from the outside looking inwards.

 

I could never limit myself to just one. The K6 is for 386SX to PIII 500ish gaming with midi options. It covers so much I'd probably build two to be honest, maybe three so I can play with a mate and have a spare.
The dual P3 is getting rebuilt early next year into a Sunbeam acrylic case and I have a MU80 for the K6 in my storage shed somewhere too I forgot about that I plan to use. I guess I'll use one or two of my Raptor-X drives since they will be visible too.
I wasn't thinking about consoles though. I guess that would be another list.
I've got a 2600 Vader from new from when I was a kid, several PSes including light guns, steering wheels and pedals, and an add-on VCD player too.
An original Xbox with two controllers and remote.
Lastly would be my N64 with 4 controllers, so four consoles but about five PSes.

 

Yep there's a few guys like that in those retro groups and honestly it kills a lot of my enthusiasm for this hobby, seeing the same guys jumping on bargains and then throwing it on the shelf, never to use it. Especially if its stuff they already have. I'm sure a lot of them are just building up a stockpile to flip sometime down the track. I left a few of those groups and am happier for it.

I've said before in this forum, this is what makes the difference between a collector and an enthusiast. Thankfully it seems most of the people here are the latter

 

Yes to be fair I think it is only a few members that partake in the hoarding behaviour. There are other people in this group, the organiser in particular, who are absolute legends and donate a lot of their time and money to keeping things alive.

 

Six? I only need my Amiga.