A few pointers concerning sound : there were three main types of music devices around that time, and the best is to have all three:
- A Soundblaster card for Adlib music – usually of inferior quality, but sometimes better than other options (Dune), or the only available option (most Infogrames and Coktel Vision games, for instance) – as well as digitised sound effets / voices / digital music. The best choice (most modern while still perfectly backward compatible) is a Soundblaster 16. Avoid anything later than that (AWE32) for backward compatibility reasons.
- An MT-32 module for high quality music in earlier games (let's say KQIV –> Indy IV). Exists as both an external module (MT-32) and an ISA card (LAPC-1).
- A General MIDI device for music in later games (QfG III/IV, KQVI, GK, etc.). There are many GM devices, but they all sound somewhat different, since each can have its own interpretation of how each instrument sounds. The device that was used by game composers at the time was a Sound Canvas 55. This is also an external module, and also exists as a card (SCC-1).
Note that the external Roland modules require a MIDI interface to be plugged into (MPU-401); the SB external MIDI port will not work for that. Note also that the ISA card versions of those modules also provide such an interface. So the best combination is probably to have one device as a card, and the other as an external device plugged into it (so either MT-32+SCC1 or LAPC-1+SC-55). Plus the SB16 in top of that, of course.
You'll also have to worry about memory management, which is horrible under DOS. You absolutely have to get your hands on a piece of software called
QEMM, otherwise you'll be in a world of pain to run certain games. Also, you'll want to use DOS 6 multiboot capacities, especially for games using a DOS extender (DOS4GW).
In terms of CPU, I'd recommend getting an early Pentium (133 MHz); those usually have a turbo option which you can turn on or off in the BIOS, allowing you to get them to run at roughly the speed of a 486 if you want to play older games, but enabling you to play more demanding games, such as Under a Killing Moon, if you turn on the turbo option.
Finally, I suggest you give up on the entire idea.
I built such an old PC a few years ago, with all the stuff I've mentioned, but now that DOSBox has made lots of progress, I end up using DOSBox on my newer computer all the time instead, while the old PC is just gathering dust. But, hey! it's your decision.
