Recently retired the last bits of the first computer I ever built

[Exterous]

Finally retired my Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 motherboard. It still runs like a champ after ~11 years but my needs even for the tertiary functions it was recently serving have moved on. Kinda fun nostalgia thinking back to building it and how tech and my life has changed since then

 

[BurnItDwn]

I still have the keyboard and 3.5 inch floppy drive I bought when i assembled my first PC back in 96. (I was in high school at the time and working only part time. Built a sad Cyrix box which was enough for Doom, Diablo and Duke Nukem, and worked well for C&C and Warcraft 2, and even managed Total Annihilation decently well...

WIth a Pure3d, it could do Quake, though it was replaced pretty quickly with a k6 box when $$$ was available.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Only 11 years? n00b.

For those of us who measure our lives by what computer equipment we were using, and when, the retiring of a trusty piece of kit is always a seminal occasion. Pour one out.

 

[Exterous]

Only 11 years? n00b.

Yeah I was late to the nerd game

 

[lxskllr]

I'm still using the computer I built 11 12 years ago. It's slowly coming apart at the seams, but it still works well enough. I really need to get off my ass and build another one before it completely dies.

 

[John Connor]

Finally retired my Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 motherboard. It still runs like a champ after ~11 years but my needs even for the tertiary functions it was recently serving have moved on. Kinda fun nostalgia thinking back to building it and how tech and my life has changed since then

I just retired my GA-965P-DS3 last May. Built the system in my sig on May 5th to replace it. I was loooong over due. I do need to get a new vid card though. I'm thinking GTX1060, but I just haven't been in the mood to do it and I should replace the PSU at the same time. Right now I just play FSX and BF2 with the AIX mod. I do want to try GTA V since I'm a GTA fan.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I regret not keeping my first computer, it would be kinda cool to fire it up for fun. I still have some parts around of some of my older builds though. I tended to switch stuff around more back then and when I did build new I would reuse some parts like the case.

 

[Rumpltzer]

I never "kept" a computer because one would just roll into the next as upgrades were made. The first build was in the summer of 1996. It was a Pentium 120 that I overclocked to 133!! I used the most adorable PC Power & Cooling heat sink/fan. The fins must have been all of 8mm tall. I had to buy all the parts over a two month period because my credit card had like a $600 limit. I think I paid like $450 for a Sony Trinitron 15-inch CRT monitor. US Robotics Sportster 14.4 modem. Windows 95.

Tyan Tomcat II motherboard... I can't remember if that was the first one or the second... I know that I never filled the second CPU slot.

Freaking Zip drives! So much bigger than a floppy!

I've only had three different computer cases in 21 years.

 

[Kaido]

I've only had three different computer cases in 21 years.

Wow, you should get a trophy for that haha. I don't even want to look at my Newegg ordering history now...

 

[Red Squirrel]

I used to do NCIX/Tigerdirect orders at least once a year, a typical order was usually like 2-3 grand as it was typically a PC/server build. I've slowed down over the years though. Must have been at least 5 years since my last build which is my current Linux box and it was sort of a budget build, think it was maybe like a grand at most. Can't really get any lower than that without buying used. I've mostly slowed down on spending on stuff like this as with costs of living going up every year I have less disposable income. I'm hoping whoever wins the next municipal election does something about the taxes as that is one of the primary costs that keep going up.

 

[John Connor]

I used to do NCIX/Tigerdirect orders at least once a year, a typical order was usually like 2-3 grand as it was typically a PC/server build. I've slowed down over the years though. Must have been at least 5 years since my last build which is my current Linux box and it was sort of a budget build, think it was maybe like a grand at most. Can't really get any lower than that without buying used. I've mostly slowed down on spending on stuff like this as with costs of living going up every year I have less disposable income. I'm hoping whoever wins the next municipal election does something about the taxes as that is one of the primary costs that keep going up.

Oh Canada.