Describe your first built PC

[strollin]

I built my first PC in 1984. It was a clone of an IBM XT with an 8Mhz "Turbo" Supercom mobo, NEC V20 processor, 640K of RAM, CGA graphics and 20M hard drive. The hard drive itself cost me $500! I copied the BIOS ROMs out of an XT so it actually had an IBM BIOS complete with ROM BASIC. Compared to an IBM XT, it was a screamer.

I've built many computers since that first one but I still have fond memories of that first one. I still have it and it still works!

How about you? What was your first?

[David M]

My first computer build had an AMD FX-57 CPU that required registered RAM because it was essentially a server chip meant for home use. It was hot stuff back then because it was 64 bit capable although there was no 64 bit OS for home users back then. In retrospect, I wish I had known better.

[Khalil]

My first build was in 1986 that had a 386DX 33mhz, I cant remember what else it had in it. To put it mildly it was a nightmare build compared to these days, all the jumpers and trials and errors with the motherboard were a joke but it ended up working out real good and the system served me well until 91 or 92 when I built a 486DX2, again I can't remember what that had in it either.
All I can remember is how very expensive everything was.
I recall how disappointed everone were in the first Pentium, advertising made such a big deal about them and they turned out to be worthless.
In 1995 I bought my first AMD and it was a K5 , after that purchase I became a huge fan of AMD processors.

[glc]

I don't remember what the first one I built was - it was probably some kind of 486 - but the first one I built for myself was a 486DX4/100. It was a powerhouse for its time - 32mb ram, 2gb hard drive, and a 2mb video card.

[pam123]

The first one I built had an AMD Athlon 800 MHz cpu, 128 mb ram, a 32 mb ddr Radeon and a Creative Soundblaster card.
It was nearly sunk by an FIC AZ 11 motherboard and saved by glc's recommendation of an Epox 8-KTA3 to replace that turkey.
Finally I could play games like Home World and The Longest Journey without being dumped back to the desktop.

[Khalil]

I loved Home world Pam, that was like one of my all time favorite games, I still sometimes play Home World II.

[Tin]

My first build:

Athlon 600MHz Slot A
256MB PC100 (256MB was overkill at the time, most folks were running 64MB to 128MB)
MSI Mainboard
Voodoo3 3000
Soundblaster Live Platinum
250MB ZIP drive
4x CD-RW
8GB HD

I still have this beast in all of its beige tower glory. Well, some of it anyway. As of right now, its just a case, mainboard, CPU, and memory.

[rwest]

A trip down memory lane! Sounds like fun.
My first build was a cause of a series of upgrades. We had an HP PII that the hdd went out in, replaced the dead 12gig with a 40gig Maxtor. Then the psu went out, bought a No name 450w. Then I took it from onboard graphics to a Geforce 2 mx 400. I then maxed the processor to 600mhz /100mhz bus and maxed ram at 512mb. I wanted to play a game that required more procesing power, but I had very little money. I researched for a board that could use my existing hardware and allow me to upgrade slowly(one piece at a time).

This I would say was my first build: The same HP case modified to accept a standard ATX MB, and PSU. It had a Soyo SY- 6VCA MB and I reused all my existing hadrware. Win 98

After upgrades the final build looked like this:
Moified HP case - never-ever, ever again!
SOYO SY-6VCA mb
866mhz slot one processor on the 133 bus oc to 945mhz
1gig of pc133
No name 450w psu
AIW Radeon 9600XT 128mb AGP video card
HP cd-writer
HP floppy drive-modified face plate
40gig maxtor hdd for OS
80 gig WD caviar for apps
Windows XP serv pc1 Loved it . It ran like a top.

BTW the original ASUS HP MB (P2b-VE)is back in the case and is running today in my sister-in-laws basement. It's for her babysiting kids to play games on. It's using the original PII processor. I kept he original disks and it looks like it did when first purchased -from the front.

Strollin, Did you just say, "8Mhz "Turbo" Supercom mobo"? 8mhz turbo huh? LOL

Hey, didn't you guys that built 386/486 machines have to assign IRQs manually back then? I slightly remeber working on somrthing like that, and the IRQ confllicts were a real pain in the butt. I think it was a socket 7 board? That's as far back as I go with the guts, I rembember my friends talking about 3/4/ & 586 machines. Some where in that time frame too(I think) couldn't you put an AMD processor on an Intel board, if you used the right chip for the bios? or something like that?

I sure rember hearing the name Voodoo3! Wasn't it like the card to 'have'? Did you own it during it's heyday? If I'd have to guess , if there was such a thing as a a pc museum that Voodoo3 card would probably be the main diplay!

[strollin]

Originally Posted by rwest ... Strollin, Did you just say, "8Mhz "Turbo" Supercom mobo"? 8mhz turbo huh? LOL ...

Yup! An IBM XT had an Intel 8088 processor that ran at 4.77Mhz so my XT with an 8Mhz NEC V20 processor was roughly twice as fast. The V20 had all of the 8088's instructions plus a few of its own but was also 15-20% more efficient than the 8088.

[rwest]

That's just rich! I bet you thought you had something special too.

[Tin]

Originally Posted by rwest I sure rember hearing the name Voodoo3! Wasn't it like the card to 'have'? Did you own it during it's heyday? If I'd have to guess , if there was such a thing as a a pc museum that Voodoo3 card would probably be the main diplay!

The Voodoo3 3000 was a fast card, but the GeForce256 and ATI Rage had many more features, such as 32-bit color (Voodoo3 was 16-bit), 2048x2048 textures (Voodoo3 was 256x256) and a higher max resolution (Voodoo3 could only achieve 1024x768). At the time, very few games actually supported those "advanced" features, so the Voodoo3 did quite well. 3Dfx went bankrupt back in 2002, nVidia acquired quite a few of their resources and employees during the bankruptcy. The GeForce FX series was primarily of 3Dfx design, and SLI originated with 3Dfx cards in the Voodoo3 2000.

[rwest]

Thanx for the history lesson.

[Slynky]

Just turned 59 last month and been into computers as my main job since 1971--for 40 years now. Bought the IBM PC in 1982 when it first came out. Nearly $4,000.

In all those years of working on mainframes, minis, and micros, I've never built my own. Trying now/here for the first time and trying to finalize my configuration in this very forum.

Can't teach an old dog new tricks they say...we'll see about that.

[Force Flow]

First computer at home was a custom build with a 300MHz Cyrix II with a Gigabyte motherboard and 3D Rage II vid card.

[hyg71886]

My first built pc was in february of 08, my current pc actually. I had just got my tax return at 12:03am and I had been inticipating it all week. As soon as the money hit my account at 12:03am, I ran trhough 2k in about 5 minutes between newegg and zipzoomfly. I ordered a q6600 go, evga 680i sli a1 mobo, evga 8800 gts (g92) gpu, 2gb crucial ballistic ram, 150gb raptor, 500gb seagate, 750w power n cooling psu, merc stealth keyboard, logitech m518x, gateway 24in hd lcd, and the stacker 830m cm case. I told all my professors I wasnt coming to class because of the shipment, and the scheduled day of delivery none of the parts came. The next day half the parts came, followed by the rest the day after. Took me about an hour to put it all together but man, when I ran crisis and saw all those blue lights coming from my case, I had finally built my dream pc. Its been giving me hell the past few weeks, When I get a knew job I think I'm gonna box my evga mobo after this last rma and keep it for spare parts. I'm planning on my 2nd build sumtime in the coming months.