• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Demo Discs

Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
854 (0.17/day)
I thought I would share a pic of my old demo discs that I have gathered through my teen years.

They're all originally bought at the time of their release with the magazine. I still have quite a few of those magazines too. :)




EDIT: More pics.



^ Here's a couple magazines that were with the discs. The ones I still had. It's just the oldest ones.



^ Just a few old magazines I still have. Right after the ones above chronologically.
 
Last edited:

64K

Joined
Mar 13, 2014
Messages
6,104 (1.66/day)
Processor i7 7700k
Motherboard MSI Z270 SLI Plus
Cooling CM Hyper 212 EVO
Memory 2 x 8 GB Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2070 Super
Storage Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB and WD Black 4TB
Display(s) Dell 27 inch 1440p 144 Hz
Case Corsair Obsidian 750D Airflow Edition
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply EVGA SuperNova 850 W Gold
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Logitech G105
Software Windows 10
Lots of good old games there. I think GOG is working on getting No One Lives Forever 1 and 2. I hope they do. I'm playing SiN (circa 1998) right now. I'm not sure when it turned up on GOG but I grabbed it as soon as I saw it.
 
Joined
Apr 19, 2012
Messages
12,062 (2.77/day)
Location
Gypsyland, UK
System Name HP Omen 17
Processor i7 7700HQ
Memory 16GB 2400Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s) GTX 1060
Storage Samsung SM961 256GB + HGST 1TB
Display(s) 1080p IPS G-SYNC 75Hz
Audio Device(s) Bang & Olufsen
Power Supply 230W
Mouse Roccat Kone XTD+
Software Win 10 Pro
Lots of good old games there. I think GOG is working on getting No One Lives Forever 1 and 2. I hope they do.

I'd buy that.
 
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
854 (0.17/day)
Lots of good old games there. I think GOG is working on getting No One Lives Forever 1 and 2. I hope they do. I'm playing SiN (circa 1998) right now. I'm not sure when it turned up on GOG but I grabbed it as soon as I saw it.


I remember trying to play the No One Lives Forever demo on my PC at the time, struggled soo hard to snipe even one guy at 5fps using a Virge GX. :( I tried though.
 

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast
Supporter
Joined
Jul 25, 2008
Messages
13,909 (2.43/day)
Location
Louisiana -Laissez les bons temps rouler!
System Name Bayou Phantom
Processor Core i7-8700k 4.4Ghz @ 1.18v
Motherboard ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax T40F Black CPU cooler
Memory 2x 16GB Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s) EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Xc
Storage 1x 500 MX500 SSD; 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 4TB WD Black; 1x400GB VelRptr; 1x 4TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s) HP 27q 27" IPS @ 2560 x 1440
Case Fractal Design Define R4 Black w/Titanium front -windowed
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster Z
Power Supply Seasonic X-850
Mouse Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)
I think GOG is working on getting No One Lives Forever 1 and 2.

Those two games are the most-requested games on the site. There's a page (if you didn't know) you can vote or even suggest one not listed and it will be voted on as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 64K
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
854 (0.17/day)
Some of the interfaces these discs used are priceless. The PC Gamer interface is amazing, even the April 2001 was great. Reminds me of the old Winamp look. It seems like they all had music that you could play, probably taking cues from rip installers like myth, etc. The CGW seems to have the best music though, it was even in their goodies tab, Thomas Mulhearn was in the Arcanum disc.
 

64K

Joined
Mar 13, 2014
Messages
6,104 (1.66/day)
Processor i7 7700k
Motherboard MSI Z270 SLI Plus
Cooling CM Hyper 212 EVO
Memory 2 x 8 GB Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2070 Super
Storage Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB and WD Black 4TB
Display(s) Dell 27 inch 1440p 144 Hz
Case Corsair Obsidian 750D Airflow Edition
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply EVGA SuperNova 850 W Gold
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Logitech G105
Software Windows 10
Those two games are the most-requested games on the site. There's a page (if you didn't know) you can vote or even suggest one not listed and it will be voted on as well.

Yeah, I've had my vote in on several games there. I figure it can't hurt. I think the problem GOG encounters when they want to add a game to their service but can't is because it is sometimes difficult to track down who actually owns the rights to the game. I hope they can.
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2012
Messages
6,402 (1.44/day)
Location
Florida
System Name natr0n-PC
Processor Ryzen 5950x/5600x
Motherboard B450 AORUS M
Cooling EK AIO - 6 fan action
Memory Patriot - Viper Steel DDR4 (B-Die)(4x8GB)
Video Card(s) EVGA 3070ti FTW
Storage Various
Display(s) PIXIO IPS 240Hz 1080P
Case Thermaltake Level 20 VT
Audio Device(s) LOXJIE D10 + Kinter Amp + 6 Bookshelf Speakers Sony+JVC+Sony
Power Supply Super Flower Leadex III ARGB 80+ Gold 650W
Software XP/7/8.1/10
Benchmark Scores http://valid.x86.fr/79kuh6
Nice stuff.

I still have demo discs from playstations magazine back in the day.
 
Joined
Mar 6, 2009
Messages
5,976 (1.09/day)
Location
Cybertron aka Canada
Processor Intel Core i5-3570K
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V Pro
Cooling Noctua NH-D14
Memory 8GB Mushkin Blackline DDR3-1600
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 670
Storage Intel 520 60GB, Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB
Display(s) BenQ 24" XL2420T
Case Corsair 550D
Audio Device(s) Sennheiser HD600, Audeze LCD-3F, Mytek Stereo 192 DSD, La Figaro 339, Burson HA-160, Geek Pulse X
Power Supply Corsair AX650
Mouse steelseries Sensei MLG edition
Keyboard Cooler Master QuickFire Pro
Software Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium
I thought I would share a pic of my old demo discs that I have gathered through my teen years.

They're all originally bought at the time of their release with the magazine. I still have quite a few of those magazines too. :)



Giantbomb has a premium feature called "Demo Derby" you would like. Fans mail them hundreds of demo and promo discs everything from Playstation Underground to Burger King Sneak King.

 

dorsetknob

"YOUR RMA REQUEST IS CON-REFUSED"
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Messages
9,105 (1.31/day)
Location
Dorset where else eh? >>> Thats ENGLAND<<<
"" back in the day (before widespread internet )"" demo disks from magazines were often the only way to get software
mags that had decent cover disks sold out quick while those with no or crap disks stayed on the shelf

shit people used to steal the cover disks off magazines from newsagents ( not me says he with a smirk )
 

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast
Supporter
Joined
Jul 25, 2008
Messages
13,909 (2.43/day)
Location
Louisiana -Laissez les bons temps rouler!
System Name Bayou Phantom
Processor Core i7-8700k 4.4Ghz @ 1.18v
Motherboard ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax T40F Black CPU cooler
Memory 2x 16GB Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s) EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Xc
Storage 1x 500 MX500 SSD; 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 4TB WD Black; 1x400GB VelRptr; 1x 4TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s) HP 27q 27" IPS @ 2560 x 1440
Case Fractal Design Define R4 Black w/Titanium front -windowed
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster Z
Power Supply Seasonic X-850
Mouse Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)
I always enjoyed those disks, and not only for the games demos. There were many times other programs as well which got reviewed described and included on the disk in mags like PC World and MaximumPC.
 

peche

Thermaltake fanboy
Joined
Nov 7, 2014
Messages
6,709 (1.96/day)
Location
San Jose, Costa Rica
System Name Athenna
Processor intel i7 3770 *Dellided*
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Rev. 1.1
Cooling Thermaltake Water 3.0 Pro + Tt Riing12 x2 / Tt ThunderBlade / Gelid Slim 120UV fans
Memory 16GB DRR3 Kingoston with Custom Tt spreaders + HyperX Fan
Video Card(s) GeForce GTX 980 4GB Nvidia Sample
Storage Crucial M4 SSD 64GB's / Seagate Barracuda 2TB / Seagate Barracuda 320GB's
Display(s) 22" LG FLATRON 1920 x 1280p
Case Thermaltake Commander G42 Window
Audio Device(s) On-board Dolby 5.1+ Kingston HyperX Cloud 1
Power Supply Themaltake TR2 700W 80plus bronce & APC Pro backup 1000Va
Mouse Tt eSports Level 10M Rev 1.0 Diamond Black & Tt Conkor "L" mouse pad
Keyboard Tt eSports KNUCKER
Software windows 10x64Pro
Benchmark Scores well I've fried a 775' P4 12 years ago, that counts?
noooooo .... fresh wounds... many days ago realized that i have lost halflife 1 demo disc :cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry:
 
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
854 (0.17/day)
Yes, before I got 33k dial up this was how I got to play ANY games and try programs. In a way these magazines and discs were my teacher.

When I got dial up the games were still an issue :p
 

peche

Thermaltake fanboy
Joined
Nov 7, 2014
Messages
6,709 (1.96/day)
Location
San Jose, Costa Rica
System Name Athenna
Processor intel i7 3770 *Dellided*
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Rev. 1.1
Cooling Thermaltake Water 3.0 Pro + Tt Riing12 x2 / Tt ThunderBlade / Gelid Slim 120UV fans
Memory 16GB DRR3 Kingoston with Custom Tt spreaders + HyperX Fan
Video Card(s) GeForce GTX 980 4GB Nvidia Sample
Storage Crucial M4 SSD 64GB's / Seagate Barracuda 2TB / Seagate Barracuda 320GB's
Display(s) 22" LG FLATRON 1920 x 1280p
Case Thermaltake Commander G42 Window
Audio Device(s) On-board Dolby 5.1+ Kingston HyperX Cloud 1
Power Supply Themaltake TR2 700W 80plus bronce & APC Pro backup 1000Va
Mouse Tt eSports Level 10M Rev 1.0 Diamond Black & Tt Conkor "L" mouse pad
Keyboard Tt eSports KNUCKER
Software windows 10x64Pro
Benchmark Scores well I've fried a 775' P4 12 years ago, that counts?
t
Yes, before I got 33k dial up this was how I got to play ANY games and try programs. In a way these magazines and discs were my teacher.

When I got dial up the games were still an issue :p
ohhh dime memories of installation discs for games instead insane downloads.... what a memory you brought to my day! thanks sir!

Regards,
 

Bow

Joined
Jul 25, 2008
Messages
3,061 (0.53/day)
Location
South of Planet Earth
System Name SLOW-MO-SHUN III
Processor AMD RYZEN 9 7950X 4.5ghz 16 Core
Motherboard MSI MPG X670E Carbon wifi
Cooling Quench 360 Liquid Cooler
Memory 2x 16GB Kingston Fury Beast DDR 5-5200
Video Card(s) NVidia GeForce RTX 3090 24 GB GDDR6X
Storage 1TB Kingston NV2 M.2 SSD 2TB 2.5 SanDisk SSD Plus
Display(s) Asus 28" VP28UQG 4K 3840x2160
Case Athena M1, 6 Chassis Fans
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply EVGA Super Nova 1000W
Mouse Razer Deathadder
Keyboard Razer Ornata
Software Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
I still have a bunch of those same discs
 
Joined
Mar 2, 2011
Messages
1,226 (0.26/day)
Location
Omaha, NE
System Name Graphics Card Free...
Processor Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX Wifi
Cooling Cryorig M9a w/ BeQuiet! PureWings 2 ~ 92mm
Memory Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 3200 ~ 16GB(2x8GB)
Storage Samsung EVO 870 SSD - 1TB
Display(s) AOC 24G2
Case Cardboard...
Power Supply eVGA SuperNova 550w G3
Mouse Logitech t400 Zone Touch Mouse
Keyboard IBM Model "M" Keyboard
Software Manjaro ~ KDE Plasma
Benchmark Scores She's a Runner!
Thanks for displaying these....they bring back some memories.

It's been so long ago...:)....circa late 80's, early 90's. The only thing I can remember about all of those magazines is getting excited when I saw the new "Computer Shopper" on the rack. You couldn't miss it. HUGE! Back in the day I think I bought Wired quite a bit too. Although there was a hacker magazine I liked better...I can't even remember if I got it online or in print. 2600 or something like that. It had some decent stuff in it.

Best,

Liquid Cool
 
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
854 (0.17/day)
t

ohhh dime memories of installation discs for games instead insane downloads.... what a memory you brought to my day! thanks sir!

Regards,

Thanks for displaying these....they bring back some memories.

It's been so long ago...:)....circa late 80's, early 90's. The only thing I can remember about all of those magazines is getting excited when I saw the new "Computer Shopper" on the rack. You couldn't miss it. HUGE! Back in the day I think I bought Wired quite a bit too. Although there was a hacker magazine I liked better...I can't even remember if I got it online or in print. 2600 or something like that. It had some decent stuff in it.

Best,

Liquid Cool

Not a problem! :)

1st post edited with two more pics.
 
Joined
Nov 29, 2011
Messages
5,975 (1.33/day)
Location
Hi! I'm from the Internet
System Name Selene / Yoda
Processor Fx 8350 @ 4.4 / Phenom II x6 1090t @ 3.6
Motherboard Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 r4.0 / Gigabyte 890XA-UD3
Cooling H100i / Xig Dark Knight
Memory 4x 8gb G.Skill Snipers / 4x 4gb G.Skill Ares
Video Card(s) Gigabyte R9 290x / XfX DD & VisionTek HD6850's C'fired
Storage 256gb ssd, 2x 2tb Wd Blacks & 1x 1tb Wd black / 1x 1tb
Display(s) Dell Ultra Sharp 2408 WFp / Hp w2207
Case Raidmax Vampire / Chieftec Alum. Dragon Blue
Audio Device(s) Onboard Hd Audio / Onboard Hd Audio
Power Supply Corsair TX 850 watt / Corsair TX 750 watt
Mouse Logitech G500s
Keyboard Corsair Strafe
Software Win 10 pro / Win Vista Home prem. 64 bit
Benchmark Scores What are benchmarks anyway?
I have a big binder full of demo discs from Pcgamer and Maximum pc. Hell I have every issue of Max pc from 1999 through 2005.
 
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
12,280 (2.37/day)
Location
Oregon
System Name Juliette // HTPC
Processor Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s) ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s) ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s) Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro
I remember those
 

peche

Thermaltake fanboy
Joined
Nov 7, 2014
Messages
6,709 (1.96/day)
Location
San Jose, Costa Rica
System Name Athenna
Processor intel i7 3770 *Dellided*
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Rev. 1.1
Cooling Thermaltake Water 3.0 Pro + Tt Riing12 x2 / Tt ThunderBlade / Gelid Slim 120UV fans
Memory 16GB DRR3 Kingoston with Custom Tt spreaders + HyperX Fan
Video Card(s) GeForce GTX 980 4GB Nvidia Sample
Storage Crucial M4 SSD 64GB's / Seagate Barracuda 2TB / Seagate Barracuda 320GB's
Display(s) 22" LG FLATRON 1920 x 1280p
Case Thermaltake Commander G42 Window
Audio Device(s) On-board Dolby 5.1+ Kingston HyperX Cloud 1
Power Supply Themaltake TR2 700W 80plus bronce & APC Pro backup 1000Va
Mouse Tt eSports Level 10M Rev 1.0 Diamond Black & Tt Conkor "L" mouse pad
Keyboard Tt eSports KNUCKER
Software windows 10x64Pro
Benchmark Scores well I've fried a 775' P4 12 years ago, that counts?
when HL3 gets on pre-purchase i will get a retail pack ...
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Messages
1,401 (0.29/day)
Location
Romania
Processor Ryzen 5700x
Motherboard MSI B350 Gaming Pro Carbon
Cooling be quiet dark rock pro 3
Memory GSKill Aegis 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 3200MHz CL16
Video Card(s) PowerColor Radeon RX 7800 XT Hellhound 16GB GDDR6 256-bit
Storage Seagate Barracuda SATA-II 1TB , HyperX Savage 240GB SATA 3
Display(s) Benq EX2780Q
Case Be Quiet! Dark Base Pro 900
Audio Device(s) Sound BlasterX G6
Power Supply Seasonic prime TX-650
Mouse Marvo Scorpion G981
Keyboard Razer Blackwidow Elite - Yellow Switch
Software Windows 10 Pro
Pc gamer Far Cry. I got that one.
 
Joined
Oct 12, 2008
Messages
1,619 (0.29/day)
Until a year or so ago I had a stack of PSM demo discs that I remember playing fondly.
Best one I remember getting for PC was when PC Gamer I think gave out the holiday pack and had Deus Ex for free (full game) and a few other demos.
 

DevinWatson

New Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
1 (0.00/day)
"Thomas Mulhearn was in the Arcanum disc."

:eek:OMFG!:eek:

I have had this MP3 forever Kickbeat-Thomas Mulhearn and Frank Sinatra.mp3. I copied it off of a demo disc a long time ago because I really liked it. I can even remember copying it over to my first MP3 player that held all of 12 songs. I have been searching forever to try and find the demo disc was from. For some reason I remember it being a AoE2 demo disc, maybe I was just playing a ton of AoE2 at the time. Apparently I'm not the only one searching for it: https://soundcloud.com/nomat3rz/kick-beat-thomas-mulhearn

Can you please for the love of god confirm that it's on the Arcanum disc? If so can you post the original MP3 or even the ISO of the disc?

The Internet Archive has a bunch of demo discs but it seems a bunch are missing: https://archive.org/details/cgw-coverdiscs

They also have a bunch for other magazines: https://archive.org/details/coverdiscs

It would be totally cool if you could upload ISOs of all the demo discs you have that are missing from the internet archive. These demo discs were so much of my childhood that I'm even willing to pay shipping both ways just to upload them to the archive.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
854 (0.17/day)
The Dark Place by Thomas Mulhearn is on the Arcanum disc. It's the only one on that disc unfortunately. I think the Giants disc has quite a bit more music on it.

I will do what I can with uploading the ISOs etc, but I woke up today to a dead PSU in my PC. :(
 
Joined
May 18, 2011
Messages
1,047 (0.22/day)
Processor 7800X3D
Motherboard ASRock X670E Lightening PG
Cooling Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120SE CPU cooler, 3x 140mm, 1x 120mm case fan
Memory 32GB G.SKILL Flare X5 DDR5 6000 (PC5 48000) F5-6000J3038F16GX2-FX5
Video Card(s) ASUS RTX 4070
Storage 2TB Sandisk SSD, 2TB P31 SK Hynix, 4TB WD SN850X, WD Black 6TB, WD Red Plus 12TB
Case Fractal Design Definse S
Power Supply Seasonic Focus 750
Mouse Logitech Pro
Keyboard Corsair Strafe Cherry MX Silent w/red LED
VR HMD HTC Vive
Software Win 10 Pro
I have some demo discs lying around somewhere. Never really collected them though.
 
Top