les vieux ordi (true test of geekiness)

[lowlifecat]

was just thinking back.. way back. thinking about all my old systems and all the good times..

my theory is that most of us here prolly remember most if not all of our ex-computers better than we remember ex-girlfriends/boyfriends.

come on, you know it's true think back, way back! yes! i feel the nostalgia like a brisk wind on my whiskers. wh00sh!

here's my list of exes (not counting clunky keyboard +tapedeck plugged into TV, just sit on your desk PC type systems).

Apple ][gs : i was in elementary, ACS London. we had a couple hours a week on the school's apple ][c and ][es. the middleschool and highschoolers got to play with some posh macs... bastards. i got a ][gs for a bday and let me tell you there was colour!
Loadrunner!!!

..or even better: LOGO the TURTLE!

80286x11mhz (i think it was 11) : this was kinda like a toy to me. it was my dad's autocad workstartion. I used to play making strange shapes and stuff.

80386sx16mhz : highschool time for me. this was the formative system. it had 256k VGA card, my first experience with hardcore graphics games like King's Quest IV *twitch!* got a Soundblaster Pro eventually and thus my first experience hearing my comp speak (original Dune game).

this sys eventually got a modem and not too long after that turned into a BBS (yes i know you can feel the wind on your whiskers too ) that remain online for a couple of years. Ran WWIV software, even had the source code that i modded in Borland C++.

...now that brings up leaving the comp compiling overnight, hoping your new exe didn't go over 500k because you only had 640k to play with (the rest was high memory).

the system was also my first experience with copy/paste. little program called telemate, for dailing out with the modem. it was a great alternative to telex. it had mouse support, a history, a clip board... before win 3 was around.

lest i forget: XTREE GOLD!!!

Pentium 166 : College/university. I worked at the same time so spent a bit on PCs.

Pentium 233MMX : these where the voodoo days. top of the line kick ass gfx was a matrox card plus a voodoo card or two

these where the days where my friends and i spent 4 or 5 guys bunched infront of 1 PC playing Need4Speed 2SE and NSF 3 after. w00sh!

Pentium 2 333 : initialy i went with the onboard intel gfx... man did the puppy heat up! I got a TNT card. this was the start of my nvidia days. this system only lasted a couple months.

Pentium 2 450 : reliable, commitement, loyalty... this system put up with everything i threw at it with cool reserve.
video cars: TNT, TNT2, TNT2 Ultra. Geforce 256. Geforce 2.

Pentium 3 850 : army/work years. first time i had 512mb ram in a system. the geforce 4mx was my last nvidia card. i got an radeon 8500 that stayed with me into the next system. also had an audigy card that also carried over into the next system. the cpu got upgraded to a 933 eventually.

P4 2.4 : first comp i got when i got back to canada. 533fsb and ddr333. started with 256mb, then 512 and eventually 1gb ram. this system actually lasted me a couple years till i got the current system recently. this system also supported a 9600xt. this system is my last intel system, they don't make them like the p2 450 anymore.

...finally, the current system in my life. it started out with a x700 pro. Don't think she needs much of an upgrade anytime soon.

What about you? what is that special system or systems in your life?

[TnT]

My family immigrated here in 1980, so they weren't invovled too much with computers. Not a long history for me:

Apple ][e that my brother traded his Atari for. Got my first taste of programming, making simple games in Basic. Played a lot of Spy Hunter, Pie-man and Karate. Ah yes I remember having to stick in the floppy disk to load the specific language to play most games.

From that we lept to a Pentium 75Mhz which was only second to the 100Mhz at the time. My parents worked for NEC and we got a discount. Still using the 15" monitor on my parents' computer! Got AOL because I was a stupid young kid. Back then you had to download the artwork for the "new Internet rooms" before going into the room. So I'd connect and wait 3 hours to realize the room sucked and go to another room and wait another 3 hours.
I eventually bought an upgrade chip and made it a 133Mhz or something. Also put in a sweet new 33.6 modem which became not so sweet when I had it years later and 56Ks were out.

I took the plunge, because I liked this whole computer thing, and built my own AMD K6-II system. Can't remember the speed (233 maybe?) but stuck in a cool Matrox Mystique card with the idea of getting the video add on later.

I was finally old enough to have a job and I saved up my money for a new system. I ended up with a Celeron 466, Matrox G200 (that's where all the money went) and a couple nice IBM hard drives (which quickly got filled with music and my videos. Played a lot of Half-Life on that machine and had it all the way through half of college. Also started coming here because of my G200.

I again saved up from my sweet college job and got a ECS K7S6A (I think). There's discussions on this forum about that system. I bought that board specifically to move my G200 over. I didn't want to buy a new video card. At that point I had slowed down my game playing anyways and just wanted something stable.

After a couple years that motherboard died. The BIOS keeps getting corrupt on it, as I bought a replacement chip and that just died as well.

I didn't own a computer for about 8 months. Yes, I was a computer science student that managed labs full of computers and I didn't actually own one. Then I went all the way and bought my current setup (see sig).

You're right I couldn't be that detailed about any of my relationships...

[Mehen]

Well, I'm on about my 5th system now (200, 500, 1.6, 2.0, 3.0 all Intel) but the only one I will mention was my favorite - the 500.

Got it when the P3 500mhz was Intel's fastest offering (or the 550 might have been out, not sure). Had 256mb of ram, 13gb Quantum Fireball (STILL running 24/7!), and the video card, which I had to wait an extra couple weeks for because it wasn't released yet... (drumroll) a G400 MAX! Amazing system. Also upgraded to cable at this time (it was 10mbps!!! because no one else had it yet). I remember playing very early version of counterstrike with this, destroyed everyone. Everyone. When everyone else is on dial up and crappy computer - what a difference^^!. That and at the time there were maybe a couple hundred people playing the game (I played from the first release - go me) That computer lasted a loooong time. We are retiring it over the next few weeks. It will be missed. (currently it has a G200 in it, and 512mb ram, and 3 HDs totaling around 120gb)

[GuchiGuh]

Commodore 64 : Best entertainment system ever! I have so many games for it!

286 : My first years of MS DOS. I mainly used it to format my discs I used for saving music on my musical keyboard.

Nintendo Gameboy!

Pentium 133 : Fist colour Computer, brought it from Aldi. First game played on it: M.A.X. (Mechanised Assault and Exploration - turn based strategy game...still have it to this day )

Pentium 200 MMX : First computer since coming to Australia. It was all black! Got access to internet around the same time as well.

Pentium 3 500Mhz : Didn't upgrade computers for a very very long time. I got this machine towards the end of 2002. Got it for free from a classmate. Still have it to this day (P3 500Mhz, 256MB Ram, TNT16, Soundblaster 16, Seagate 40GB)

Centrino 1.4Ghz : First laptop (Acer Aspire 2000). Very happy, upgraded to 768MB RAM, 80GB. My work machine, my CAD machine, my simulation machine, my game machine, my entertainment machine, my communication machine.
Upgrading to Broadband now

[VJ]

my theory is that most of us here prolly remember most if not all of our ex-computers better than we remember ex-girlfriends/boyfriends.

Even more worrying is that in the spirit of true geekiness, a geek has had more computers than girlfriends.

Well, my list is:

Schneider Amstrad (dunno the model, bought around 1988), it had a 8086 cpu, 256 kB ram (192 kB available), ran CPM/+ and used 3" disks (which could hold 100k or so).

AMD 386 (40 MHz, 1MB ram, Trident 8900 videocard, bought around 1991)
I hated this system, as it didn't allow me to setup my novell networking (most likely a compatibility issue with amd)

Intel 486DX2 overdrive + Intel 486DX2 (bought in 1994)
I had 2 systems: one at home, and one at my students' dorm.
Both 66 MHz, 8 MB ram, 420 MB Connor HDD, video card: S3801 and Trident 9400CXi; 1 420 connor in removable rack, one had a Soundblaster AWE32 + mitsumi double speed cdrom drive.

HP48gx
A highly advanced calculator, which is what most early PCs were...

Intel Pentium (no mmx, 166 MHz, 32 MB ram, Matrox Mystique) (bought in 1996)
many of the equipment of the 486's was moved to this system.

Intel Pentium II (450 MHz, fsb:100 MHz, 128 MB ram, Matrox G200, bought in 1999)
The soundblaster AWE32 was moved to this system.
This system was later extended with 256 MB (to 384 MB), a US Robotics v90, an adaptec 2940UW, a Plextor 4220, a Quantum Atlas 10K, a scsi zipdrive 250 and agfa snapscanv1236.
My dad currently still uses this system for his photoediting and internet access.

Psion 5mx (32 MB, StrongArm)
Might not fall in the PC category, but it can do more than most early computers.

Dual Xeon (2.4 GHz, fsb:533 MHz, 1GB DDR ECC, Matrox G450, bought around 2003)
Holds a number of 10K scsi disks, dvd drive, dvd writer, was later upgraded with a Parhelia (the G450 moved to the PentiumII), bluetooth, photoprinter, ups, firewire 800, ...

Pentium M 1.2 MHz (8.9", 512 MB, 60 GB hdd)
First laptop: Fujitsu Siemens P1510 ultra portable TabletPC, has an external dvd drive


Initialy, I would say the PentiumII is my favorite, if for no other reasons but its robustness. It's been running for almost 7 years without much problems (only hdd crash), and even today it runs WindowsXP suprisingly smooth.
But my favorite is the dual Xeon. The responsiveness of the system is addictive, despite the noise it makes. I can imagine this system to be with me for years to come.


Jörg

[Brian Ellis]

Even more worrying is that in the spirit of true geekiness, a geek has had more computers than girlfriends.

Must be a geek, then.

I started with a PDP-11 but my first "PC", many years before the term was invented, was a Commodore Pet, with a whole 8 kb RAM! It cost as much as a top-level PC today, if not more. I used it to explore the possibilities of using it for low-cost instrumentation applications. I abandoned it fairly rapidly for the HP-80 series, which I used for ~10 years, the first HP-85 promoting me to 14 kb RAM. They were fantastic machines and so versatile for the late 70s. I bought an original IBM PC clone (was it a 7088 processor?) but quickly abandoned it for a 286 running at 4.77 MHz, 640 kb RAM and a 5 Mb HDD to see whether it would be OK for instruments (which it wasn't). I continued with the HP ones for several years and it wasn't until a 16 MHz 286 came out with a 287 co-processor came out that I was able to start serious programming for instruments, switching to a 25 MHz 386/387 by the time I had all the software debugged. All in all, I guess I probably bought ~300 'puters of all types, 250 of which were for resale with instruments, 35 for internal use in my company and 15 for "home/small office" use. I certainly have not had 300 girl friends, probably less than 15! So, I'm a geek with mes vieux ordis (et les nouveaux)!

[Admiral]

A bunch of IBM, ICL 386 notebooks (early 90's), one of them had 6MB of RAM, don't ask me how

desktop era since 1997 (sort of familly PC), I'm proud to say all of my desktop systems were built by components

1997

PII 266, 128 SDRAM (Acorp, micron chips), Intel SE440BX mobo, Acorp Intel i740 8MB video, teac 32x CDROM, Quantum Fireball 4GB (Made in Ireland ), some 17" Targa (Diamondtron) monitor

this system eventually evolved all the way to 2003

CPU --> PII 300, 350; P!!! Katmai 450, Coppermine 650 (my first overclocking attempt, got it to 900MHz 1.9V), Athlom XP Palomino 1600+

MB --> Intel SE440BX II to accomodate the PII 350 and 100MHz fsb and later the Katmai; MSI 6163 (i440BX) paired with the Coppermine; Some Leadtek SIS 735 mobo

RAM put a 256MB stick to reach 384, eventually got rid of the 128 stick and got another 256; cheap OEM memory- 2x256 MB Mushkin DDR333 for the Athlon system

video --> Matrox G400 Dual head 32MB, Hercules Kyro II 64MB, Leadtek GF3 TI200 128MB

sound from onboard crystal to Aureal Vortex 1 and 2 and further to creative SB Live! 5.1

eventually changed case and PSU to some noname 300W ATX, got a TEAC 8x CDRW and an IBM 40GB deathstar hdd

2003

new system, the old one was left to my brother to further evolve...

Gigabyte 8IK1100 (i875), PIV Nothwood B 2.4 GHz change with a Northwood C 2.4 a few months later (overclocked to 3.2GHz), 2x512MB Corsair PC3500 (still use them today), Hercules Radeon 9700PRO 128MB, Teac 52x CDRW, 36GB Raptor, Audigy 2, Antec 550W True Power, Antec Plus View 1080 AMB case, Leadtek TV2000XP Expert tuner, 19" LG F900P monitor.

this system eventually got another 36GB Raptor and an 80GB WD JB, a Leadtek 6800 128MB video card --> Leadtek 6800GT 256 MB; 8X dual layer Benq DVDRW, Asus 52x CDRW, Asus A8V Dlx (VIA K8T800 Pro), Winchester 3000+ (@2.5 GHZ), Antec P160 aluminum case, 17" Samsung 710N

2006

Bits and parts of old system were put in my brother and dad's systems and some parts I still use in my sytem.

Asus A8R-MVP, Athlon 64 X2 3800 (Toledo @2.6Ghz), 2x512 Corsair memory, Audigy 2, Gecube Radeon X1800XL 256MB, ASUS 16x DVDRW, ASUS CDRW, Antec P160, Enermax 600W Noisetaker, 2x36GB Raptors, 74GB Raptor, Leadtek TV2000XP Expert tuner, 2x Samsung 710N

[ZokesPro]

OMG, I've owned over 25 different systems since the late 80's, I don't remember half of them.

[Nowhere]

Well, I don't really rememebr my computers better (I even don't have to, still have them all...), but I suppose you don't want to listen all the bullshit about girlfriends...

Anyway:
Started win Commodore 64, in 92, I think, bough by my own money. It was pretty much standard home computer here back then, together with Amiga 600 (bought by the ones who could afford it...). Practically only a gaming machine - thankfully I've never ventured into Basic . Still have it, although it's dead (PSU had some problems and, over long time, was gradually killing the machine)

Not sure if this one counts...Playstation bought in 98 (when C64 was dead for some time - basically a replacement for it). It's dead too righ now (do you see some pattern? ). While consoles are great to play on with 3 buddies before/after pub, the hazards of killing them with some liquid are big in such enviroment (still, mine isn't so bad - I witnessed on one after-party morning one that...well, apparently someone step on it )

Now something more serious...
First PC bought in 2000 (and in some form it still serves as my main machine...). Even though I was "in the dark", I menaged to buy quite good config for the time - but retailer thought it was weird . In a world with P2/P3 Celerons running on 66MHz bus/Via board, I bought fresh, new, Duron 600. Unfortunatelly only 64MB of RAM (prices spiked through the roof at that time). More heresies except the Duron one:
- Matrox G400 16MB SH (still here) and good (but a bit expensive) 15' monitor - for years to come people wondered why I don't need glasses.
- best possible case one could find back then here, from Enlight (still here)
- a modem based on Lucent/Bell chip, over twice as expensive as typically sold here - for years to come people wondered why I get full 56k speeds when they're glad when having 36,6
Not so good choices: Fujitsu 15GB HDD and Asus CDROM (both died eventually, first one superseeded with Maxtor 60GB, which also died, and second with bulletproof Teac x40, still good). Debatable is mainboard - MSI based on Via KT133. Somehow...it was all good. Perhaps thanks to older southbridge, NOT 686B one.
One "good" experience in first week: I rendered Windows inoperable with virus. So nothing really lost yet, but made me more carefull and more open to alternatives of Windows .
Added 128MB at some point, after that due to pluging of audio cord, while loud music was playing, mobo and CPU died, replaced on warranty with MSI based on Via KT133A (at this point it ceased to be nice...) and AthlonXP 1700+. Added soundcard, Aureal Vortex SQ2500, which made things even nicer...
Then CD burner from LiteOn. Finally, in 2004, it was time for some rebuilding - swapped mobo for ASRock based on SiS746FX with 256MB of Kingston RAM. There's also nice and silent (12cm fan) Chieftec 350W PSU and Zalman 9000 heatsink in there. And newest version of 3com 905 NIC. And two 80GB Barracudas 7200.7. And Eizo 17' monitor, quite nice (1280x1024@90Hz), even if used. And, instead of CD-burner, DVD one from Benq, together with, yes, Teac CDROM (using it till the end - it's now worse than Benq in reading scratched CD's. When it'll die, there's LiteOn in row waiting to be next)
Does this still count as the same machine?