Do you collect old PC nostalgia?

[HeXploiT]

Just wondering who else collects old PC stuff for nostalgic reasons or even the idea that old hardware might be on antiques roadshow some day.
I make it a point to keep an eye out for old graphics & soundcards and have a basement FULL of old cpus, ram, game controllers...you name it.

This week I actually decided to purchase a physx card just because they will probably be very rare in 20 years and because the (failed)story behind them will be a fantastic little piece of PC history.
Going to make sure I buy the very first one in box.
I also have a handful of really cool cpu heatsink/boxes some will wicked Japanese artwork.

Have anything PC hardware/software that you feel might be of value some day? How about old games on floppies?

Whaddaya got?

 

[CurseTheSky]

I hang on to old, still presumably working processors. I have several from the pre-Pentium era, several from the Pentium (1) era, a Pentium III, etc. Intel, Cyrix, AMD, and other flavors. They're just hanging around inside a box, and I keep them because they look somewhat cool and they're small enough to hold on to.

Other than that, everything is either too bulky or has no nostalgic value to me.

 

[Davidh373]

I haven't held on to anything yet because I've only been knowledgeable for around a year and a half. Down the line I may consider keeping my first custom build intact.

 

[mmntech]

I've got the usual graveyard of PC parts any DIY builder has. Oldest system I have that works is a Macintosh LCIII dating back to the early 90s. I think it's proprietary monitor got thrown out though.

For processors, I have a Pentium II 233, Duron 950, Athlon XP 2000, and an Athlon 64 X2 3800.


GPUs, I have a Geforce 2 MX400, Geforce FX 5200, Geforce 6600, Geforce 7600LE, and a Radeon HD 3850.

Motherboards... Slot 1 Tomato Board. They;re not even in business anymore. Unknown model. ECS K7S5A Socket A, ASRock 939Dual-SATA2

Various other junk. Cases, power supplies. One I semi-blew (12v rail stuck at 10v), and spare PSU. SDRAM. Old ISA modem, sound card, and SCSI card. Quantum Fireball 6gb HDD. Tons of old Mac games on floppies.

The pride and joy of classic computing is my parents old Motorola StarMax 3000. One of the few mac clones ever made. They're rare. Introduced my to PC gaming. Had TIE Fighter and a few other games for it.

This week I actually decided to purchase a physx card just because they will probably be very rare in 20 years and because the (failed)story behind them will be a fantastic little piece of PC history.

I remember when it came out. They were... controversial to say the least. The going rate on eBay seems to be $50 for one. Does it actually do anything? I'd be interested to see your results.

 

[Davidh373]

They were... controversial to say the least. The going rate on eBay seems to be $50 for one. Does it actually do anything? I'd be interested to see your results.

Only with PhysX enabled Games which include Crysis, and some others. I doubt it would do much. I just think about the "What if it became standard" question i'm sure many were thinking back when the tech came out.

 

[topmounter]

PC-wise I still have...

• My old 3dFX Voodoo2 3D accelerator card
• The keyboard and mouse from my 1989 IBM PS/2 (w/ MCA!)
• The CPU heat sync from my Micron Pentium 200MHz MMX PC
• My first 4-port 10Base-T 3Com OfficeConnect Ethernet Hub
• My US Robotics 56k Courier V.Everything Modem

 

[HeXploiT]

I remember when it came out. They were... controversial to say the least. The going rate on eBay seems to be $50 for one. Does it actually do anything? I'd be interested to see your results.

Bought mine today on amazon for $21 shipped(very first BFG model) brand new in box. I may not open it at all.
http://www.amazon.com/Physx-Card-128-Mb-PCI/dp/B000FLWCB4

 

[mikeford]

I'm on the classic computing email list, http://www.classiccmp.org/ and there are a lot of SERIOUS collectors out there, some with mini museums. I have pretty much half a 2 car garage packed to the ceiling with old stuff. Original Apple II, IBM PC with 48k (haven't found a 16k yet), a flock of IBM PS/2 model 95, 286, 386, 486 of various brands, and my main area of collecting was old Mac and apple stuff.

One of the email list guys runs http://www.vintage.org/ , some of the hardcore have a basement wired for 440vac and have complete VAX and older systems. One guy owned one of the few working IBM 1130 (circa 1965), perhaps the true "first" personal computer. http://ibm1130.org/

What has kinda of killed the hobby, at least the keeping of old iron in working condition, is that many excellent emulators are out that simulate operation at a tiny tiny fraction of the cost of running the originals. Years of collecting software fits on a DVD, etc etc. OTOH this has increased the number of people active, but on the emulation side, not the physical side of old computers.

I'm actually working tonight, going through boxes throwing stuff away, cleaning other things off and repacking. I still have the itch, but less of a rash, most of it, the non unusual non neat things, will end up at the erecycler, but I haven't given up on the notion of eventually running a home network with working segments back to Arcnet technology and token ring.

*** One of the systems that just bit the dust was a PowerWave from Power Computing. I still have maybe half a dozen StarMaxes, and still see the occassional message on the Starmax support email list. Its a quirky system though, and I haven't decided if a couple of them will be a part of my "permanent" collection. I'm very tempted to skip directly from a Mac 840AV to one of the G3 or even G4 systems. I'm more interested in the early macs, the 128k, the plus, SE/30, and IIfx ($10k and fastest thing on desktop when new).

 

[DominionSeraph]

Nope.
I don't keep my old sparkplugs, tires, underwear, used toilet paper, pens, or batteries, either.
The hardware was just there to run the software. It was the software that gave the experience.

 

[Gorthan]

I have the usual assortment of bits from building pcs over the years. I do try and grab unusual or rare bit of hardware when I can though. Mostly if I can make it a conversation piece amongst techies I'll keep it. Especially for the younger ones, always fun to see how much things have changed. I have nothing like mikeford above though, just bits.

Some of the bits I like particularly.
An old 10MB IBM hard drive for some mainframe (I assume AS/400, I don't really know where it came from) which is around twice the size of your average power supply.
Perfectly functional 386 Toshiba laptop with a B&W plasma display running Win 3.1. Mostly because of the plasma display. Always makes people do a double take if you mention a plasma screen on a lappy.
Voodoo 5500 PCI - Bought this when 3dfx was going belly up. For around 1/10th RRP. Still works and it's less impressive nowadays but I still love it.
Assorted VESA bus video cards - Initially because the size was hilarious, now they don't look so big compared to modern cards.
Working IBM XT computer - Was actually the first PC I ever used.

There's probably other good ones I can't think of at the moment either. Although I can't help thinking at some point I'm going to end up throwing it all away as junk, I like to keep reminders about how much and how quickly things change in computing.

 

[Blain]

Do you collect old PC nostalgia?

I do by default, because I'm a packrat and can't force myself to get rid of parts that I "may need some day".

 

[rudder]

I keep an old atari. It is small and sleek and easy to tuck away. The wife threw everything else out.. but with emulators and such... no need for old hardware as much.

 

[Fhistleb]

I just hang on to old games :3 I still have the original Alone in the Dark and X-Com to name a couple.

 

[mmntech]

Only with PhysX enabled Games which include Crysis, and some others. I doubt it would do much. I just think about the "What if it became standard" question i'm sure many were thinking back when the tech came out.

I remember thinking it was useless at the time since the PPU was just being used to enhance visuals. A dedicated physics processor for driving and flight simulations would have kicked butt.

 

[piasabird]

Use to have a Tandy 1000A, but I gave it away. Still got some old ram and junk parts. I have a working Intel Celeron 1.2Gig with XP on it. I had some old files on it. However, I just remember I pulled the IDE Hard drive and junked it at the last Community Techno Trash Collection Day, along with a couple old 19" Tube Monitors. I got tired of moving the junk around.

PS My wife got me motivated.

 

[somethingsketchy]

I keep an old Pentium D (925) chip in my PC toolbox as a souvenir. It was my first desktop processor, and I have fond memories of the hell that I put that processor through. It was a rock-solid processor then.

However I have no regrets upgrading to a then-kickass Core 2 Quad Q6600 and now Core i7 860. Both of which I'll eventually put in the toolbox as souvenirs as well

 

[RebateMonger]

I'll give you guys ten dollars for everything.

 

[Slugbait]

I bought a 3DFX baseball cap at a garage sale three years ago...never worn, new condition, not even dusty. Tried to pay the asking price of 50 cents, she said, "Just get it out of my house, thanks".

Wore it garage sailing last weekend, and hit a sale owned by a guy who works at Valve. He commented on my HL2 t-shirt, but it was obvious he considered me to be a long-time gamer.

Otherwise, I started purging hardware years ago. I think the oldest component I have in a drawer right now is a PlexWriter 48/24/48a.

 

[Blain]

I bought a 3DFX baseball cap at a garage sale three years ago...never worn, new condition, not even dusty. Tried to pay the asking price of 50 cents, she said, "Just get it out of my house, thanks".

Do you take PayPal?