So how has your rig EVOLVED over the years?

[Zugzwang152]

Packard Bell 486 --> Packard Bell 150 Mhz Pentium --> Dell 200 Mhz P2 --> then I got smart...


1.4 Ghz Tbird (fried) -- > 1Ghz T-bird
MSI K7T Turbo LE --> Shuttle AK11 --> back to the MSI board 😛
stock AMD hsf --> Thermalright SK-6 --> back to the stock
Creative 12 10 32 CDRW --> Lite-On 40 12 48 CDRW
added ATi TV Wonder VE

 

[Dufrane]

400 mhz celeron--------1.2 Ghz athlon------- xp1600

dell mb---------amd 761 chipset---------- kt266a chipset

8mb integrated graphics------- 32mb tnt II pci ------- geforce 2 pro 64mb ---------- geforce 3 ti 200 128mb ------- geforce 4 ti 4400

steel case-------- aluminimum case

64mb pc100 -------- 128 mb pc 100 ------- 256 pc 2100 ddr

15 inch monitor -------- 19 inch samaung syncmaster

4.2 gb 5400 hdd --------- 40 gb 7200 hdd

All upgrades have been extremely fun

 

[dszd0g]

Originally posted by: texun
1997 - Current
1. 286-16, 4 megs, 512 video, DOS 4.1 Used for $600

Are you sure on that year and price? I am pretty sure I built my K6-200 system in 1997 (I could dig up the receipts if its that important... I don't think it is). I'm pretty sure I paid about $1200 for the entire system including monitor. I don't see someone paying $600 for a 286 in 1997 and admitting to it 🙂

 

[Duvie]

then I got smart...


1.4 Ghz Tbird (fried) -- > 1Ghz T-bird

Hmmmm..smart???😉 LOL

I am ofcourse laughing at the fact you make the implication going to amd was smart yet you managed to kill one of those smart chip....Smart was you started saving money by using amd, right???

 

[Arcanedeath]

My Main Rig Since Late 1998

Vanguard PC P100 -> Celron 333 @ 550 -> P3 550E @ 733 -> P3 733 @ 825 -> Tbird 1.33ghz @ 1.6ghz -> Axp 1600+ @ 1.8ghz

custom motherboard -> Gainward 6IBA (bx based board) -> Tyan Trinity 400 + slocket -> Asus Cusl2 -> Msi Kt266 board -> ECS K7S5A

Vanguard oem case -> Midtower Supercase -> newer Mindtower Supercase -> yet another newer Supercase -> Antec 1040B clone

2x 32mb 70ns Edo sims -> 64 mb pc 100 -> 128 mb PC 133 -> 256 mb PC 133 -> 512 mb Crucial PC 133 -> 512mb Crucial DDR -> 1 Gig Centon PC 2100 DDR

2mb Voodoo1 + 2mb S3 968 -> 16mb Tnt -> 32meg Tnt2 ultra -> Geforce DDR -> 64mb Geforce 2 GTS -> Geforce 2 Ultra -> Geforce 3 -> Geforce 4 Ti 4400 @ 4600 speeds

Onboard Sound -> Sb 16 + Roland Daughter Card -> Sblive! -> CL Audigy

17" MAG CRT -> 19" EMC CRT -> 21" Hitachi CRT + 19" Hitachi CRT

250 watt no name AT power supply -> 250 watt Deer PSU -> 300 watt Deer PSU -> 300 watt Agi PSU -> 350 watt Enermax Dual fan PSU

10 gig WD 5400 Rpm -> 20 gig Maxtor 7200rpm drive -> 30 Gig IBM 75 Gxp (RIP) -> 40 Gig Maxtor D740X -> 120 Gig WD 1200JB

 

[dszd0g]

Just for the sake of embarrasing myself, here are some random receipts dug out from 1999 and 2000.
Sorry, my receipts prior to 1999 don't seem that well organized anymore.

It seems that the amount of money one spends on components has not really changed, just the performance of those components has improved with time. Too bad prices aren't falling at the rate they were between 1989 and 1993. I guess I'm just glad PCs don't cost what they did in 1989.

7/25/99

Asus P3BF ATX 440BX JUMPERFREE
1 EACH @ 140.00

Asus V3800 TNT2 U DELUXE 32MB AGP
1 EACH @ 265.00

#A10 ATX FULL-TOWER W/250W
1 EACH @ 80.00

7/31/99

DIMM 16x72-8ns ECC 128MB PC100 SDRA
1 EACH @ 129.00

Case Fan
2 EACH @ 6.00

Hard Drive Cooler
1 EACH @ 16.50

Cooling Fan 9cm for Case
1 EACH @ 6.95

FC-100 Just Cooler
1 EACH @ 14.95

11/07/99

Creative PC-DVD Encore 6X REG
1 EACH @ 229.00

2/12/00

Asus V6800 DDR GeForce 256 Pure 32MB AGP
1 EACH @ 295.00

DIMM 16x72-8ns ECC PC100 128MB Unbu
1 EACH @ 115.00

2/26/00

DIMM 32x72-8ns ECC PC100 256MB Unvu
1 EACH @ 289.00

7/01/00

Asus P3BF 440BX 6PCI & 1ISA
1 EACH @ 134.79

7/17/00

NetGear FA310TX 10/100 PCI NIC
1 EACH @ 19.95

#A60 Antec ATX MidTower 300W (SX830)
1 EACH @ 99.00

7/20/00

APC BP-500U Back-UPS Pro
1 EACH @ 187.30

MS IntelliMouse PS/2 OEM
1 EACH @ 18.90

 

[Technonut]

I feel old.... 🙁

Let's just say that I have been through the TRS80, Osbourne (had a nifty built in screen), Tandy 1000, Packard Bell 486DX2, on up.... I even had an ADAM cassette drive rig. 🙂 EDIT: Anyone remember Daisy Wheel printers?

 

[ai42]

Hummm....

P166 --> P2 400 --> P3 700 --> Athlon 1Ghz --> Athlon 1.13 (I'm not kidding) --> AthlonXP 1600+ --> AthlonXP 1800+
Matrox 2d junk --> Voodoo 2 --> Geforce 256 --> Geforce 2 MX --> GeForce 3 Ti200 --> Radeon 8500
3.2gb drive --> 6.4gb drive --> 18gb drive --> 20gb drive --> 80gb drive (it was like whoa) --> 2x 80gb drives

(yea latter in there the hot deals forums plays a large role)

 

[0roo0roo]

486@66mhz-cyrix 586@120mhz p2 400@450mhz p3 celly 566@ 850mhz tualy 1.1a@1.48ghz 🙂

old m/b that started with p2 400 can now run 1.4+ghz tualies. talk about longevity🙂

 

[ProviaFan]

PCChips socket 7 > Gigabyte GA-5AA > Gigabyte GA-7ZXE
Cyrix 233 > AMD K6-2 400 > AMD Duron 800
integrated video > S3 Trio3D/2X AGP > nvidia TNT2 Vanta 8MB AGP > ATI Radeon SDR PCI 32MB > ATI Radeon VE AGP 32MB (OEM)> back to SDR PCI due to major 2D quality issues with OEM Radeon VE
32MB > 64MB > 192MB > 384MB > 256MB RAM (the drop was due to the necessity of a stick of RAM for a 2nd computer that I was building)
integrated sound > SB16 ISA > SBLive Value
Belkin "male" PS/2 mouse > Microsoft "female" Wheelmouse
Compaq PS/2 standard keyboard all the way
Gateway EV700 > Iiyama Vision Master 17 > Philips 109B
HP Desktjet [some really cheapo model, 530C iirc) > Epson Stylus Color 880

Most recent upgrade? Philips 109B - best monitor I've experienced by far (though I know there are better ones). The price/performance couldn't be beat - $200 (After rebates) and 1920x1440 max resolution, or 1400x1050 at 85Hz. 😀

Next upgrade? Probably Pentium 4, motherboard, and RAM. Possibly video card as well, if I can afford it.

 

[farscape]

386SX-25, 110meg wd hd, 1meg ram, onboard sound and video, 14" monitor, Citizen 24 dot matrix printer...

486-66, 720meg wd hd, 4meg ram, ? sound and video, 14" monitor...
upgraded to 8 meg ram (ooh, what a deal ... $145 on sale!!!)
upgraded to 486-dx4 100
upgraded to Cyrix 200+ on a Mustang board, ensoniq sound card, Stealth 3d (virge), Epson 640 printer, 17 monitor...

P3 450, 10 gig wd hd, 128 meg ram, Aureal 3d sound, Voodoo 3000, 6x Toshiba DVD, 19" monitor...
upgraded w/, 8x4x32 HP burner
upgraded to Epox 8KHA+, Athlon 1700+, 48x24x48 VeloCD burner, added 40 gig wd hd, 256 meg 2100ddr

and starting to get the itch again....

 

[apoppin]

Mine didn't EVOLVE . . . it was directly CREATED (by me). 😀

No natural selection or survival of the fittest here. 😉

My latest rig began with silicon, plastic and metal and came to "life" with (the breath of) electricity . . . Parts were ugraded and changed as necessary.

(Abit BX6 r.2) Celeron 333/450 >- PIII600E@800Mhz >- PL adapter and 1.2Ghz Tualatin Celeron
(Soyo TISU MB) Tually Celeron 1.2Ghz@1.5Ghz

Rage Fury 32 >- Geforce SDR >- Radeon 64 DDR VIVO >- Radeon 8500 128MB retail

WD 13GB HD >- 30GB Maxtor Ata 100 >- 40 GB Maxtor Ata 133

15" Fishbowl HP monitor >- 17" Acer >- 19" Samsung 955DF

Same 245w Sparkle PS, case and SBlive (256MB Generic PC-100 >- Crucial CAS 2 PC-133, 256MB + 128 MB)

 

[majewski9]

Intel 400 mhz Celeron --------------------------------------------------> AMD 1.33 ghz Athlon Thunderbird C
Gainward Intel 440lx---------------------------------------->Iwill KK266 KT133A ----->ECS K7S5A
32megPC66----> 96megs PC66--------->128 megs PC133 -------------------->256 megs DDR266
4meg PCI-------------------> RadeonLE 32megDDR -------------------------------> Radeon 8500LE 128meg
50x CDrom ---------------------------->16x10x40 CDRW and 16x DVD
3gig HD ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------->60gig 7200rpm ATA133
Generic case 120watt PSU ----------------------------------------------->Inwin case 300watts

 

[lung]

386 - can't remember too much else other than that..

P2 233mmx Dell - Matrox Millenium 4MB + Canopus 6MB - Soundblaster 16 - Dell 1028L 17"

-upgraded to dual Voodoo2 12MB

Celery 500 - Geforce Pro - Diamond Monster 3d - MSI BX Master

-upgraded to Soundblaster live

P3 1Ghz - Geforce2 GTS - MSI BX Master

-upgraded to Audigy
-replaced dead GTS with GF4 mx440 until something better came out


and at the moment:

P4 1.6@2.4 - Radeon 9700 Pro - Audigy - Epox 4BDA+ - Viewsonic PF95+B 19" - Dell 1028L 17" - Maxtor 80GB

 

[bluemax]

I don't really wanna' say... between "finally being able to afford to get something" and swinging back to "I'd better sell some stuff off because I'm out of money" I've had lots of good and bad stuff. 😛

Let's just say it starts at a TI99 4/a, Tandy1000SX (upgraded a couple times), IPC 385DX-25 (upgraded more than a dozen times right up to AMD K6-200), a generic box P2-266 (replaced with Cel300A@450! Lasted a long time!), desktop AMD Duron 700 (changed video a few times), BookPC Cel400 (thanks Tom!), finally, Dell 4300 P4-1.5 (upgraded/changed video several times, added HD and DVD).

Video changed the most. Hard drives and monitors changed the least.
The details would take far too long to list. 😉 That's almost 20 years..... yikes!

 

[owensdj]

40MHz AMD 386DX --> 120MHz Pentium --> 200MHz Pentium Pro --> 667MHz Pentium III --> 1GHz Pentium III
Unknown Motherboard --> Intel Advanced/EV --> Asus P6NP5 --> Tyan Trinity 400 --> Asus CUSL2-C
4MB RAM --> 8MB --> 16MB --> 160MB --> 512MB
Basic VGA Card --> 512KB SVGA Card --> 2MB Diamond Stealth 64 Video VRAM --> ATI Radeon 64DDR VIVO
120MB Hard Drive --> 1GB Western Digital drive --> 4.5GB IBM Ultra SCSI --> 30GB Western Digital drive
No Sound Card --> Sound Blaster Pro --> Diamond Monster Sound MX300 --> Sound Blaster Live Value Edition
No CD-ROM --> 2X Panasonic Proprietary CD-ROM --> 4X Sony IDE --> 40X Plextor SCSI --> 12x10x32 Plextor SCSI
No Modem --> 33.6K Cardinal ISA modem --> 56K Lucent Tech PCI modem
14" Monitor --> 15" Mag Innovision DX15F --> 19" Viewsonic GS790
Windows 3.0/MS DOS 5 --> Windows 3.1/MS DOS 6.2 --> Windows 95 --> NT 4 Workstation --> Win2K Pro

 

[dszd0g]

Originally posted by: apoppin
Mine didn't EVOLVE . . . it was directly CREATED (by me). 😀

No natural selection or survival of the fittest here. 😉

This is offtopic, but I hope you don't mind. The above reminded me of this quote:

Here was a world of simplicity and certaintly no acidhead, no revolutionary
anarchist would ever find, a world based on the one and zero of life and
death. Minimal, beautiful. The patterns of lives and deaths....

...it would all be done with keys on alphanumeric keyboards that stood
for weightless, invisible chains of electronic presence or absence. If
patterns of ones and zeros were ``like'' patterns of human lives and
deaths, if everything about an individual could be represented in a
computer record by a long string of ones and zeros, then what kind of
creature would be represented by a long string of lives and deaths? It
would have to be up one level at least -- an angel, a minor god,
something in a UFO. It would take eight human lives and deaths just to
form one character in this being's name -- its complete dossier might
take up a considerable piece of the history of the world. We are digits
in God's computer... And the only thing we're good for, to be dead or
to be living, is the only thing He sees. What we cry, what we contend
for, in our world of toil and blood, it all lies beneath the notice of
the hacker we call God. -- Pynchon (1990)

I wonder at what point will we have enough storage capacity to store everything about a person...

 

[bluemax]

Originally posted by: Technonut
I feel old.... 🙁

Let's just say that I have been through the TRS80, Osbourne (had a nifty built in screen), Tandy 1000, Packard Bell 486DX2, on up.... I even had an ADAM cassette drive rig. 🙂 EDIT: Anyone remember Daisy Wheel printers?

I remember all of the above! That Adam computer had an add-on that would let you play Atari 2600 game cartridges! 🙂
My friend had a C64 with a HUUuuuuge library of software. I kinda' regret not going the Commodore route - I'd have been messing with tracker music during the salad days rather then just catching it on the way out.

Now I'm a tracker has-been... *sniff* 🙁

😉

 

[poopaskoopa]

In the last 3 years, I've really used just 1 PC as the main machine at home, and I kept the case the whole time. Before this machine, I had a Gateway P133 PC

Mobo: lameass Chaintech -> Abit BF6 -> Asus A7V -> Shuttle AK31
CPU: C366 -> C466 ->Duron 600 -> AXP1800
Mem: 1x128 ->2x256 ->128+256 ->2x256
HD: 13-> 13+4.3 -> 13+40 -> 40+20
NIC: None -> None -> 3C905B(RR! 😀) -> 3C905B + Intel Pro 10/100
Modem: USR 56K -> USR 56K -> None(yay!) -> None
Video: TNT2 -> GF2Pro -> GF2 Ultra -> GF4 ti4200
CD-ROM: 16x -> 4x burner -> 12x burner
DVD: None -> 12x Lite-on -> None -> 16x Pioneer(?)
Monitor: some 17-inch from Gateway -> Sony GS200(17-inch) -> Optiquest V95 -> Dell p1110
Power supply: some 250W PS -> Sparkling Power(?) 300W

I feel like I've really paid for like 3 PCs but I only have 1 to show for. But I haven't really paid for 3. There're like 6 PCs in my apartment for some reason.

 

[GT578]

for the past two years or so....i haven't changed anything:

Athlon Tbird 1.0ghz(unlocked to run 7.5 x 133)
512MB Mushkin PC133
DFI AK75-EC(KT133A)
Quantum Fireball AS 40gig
Radeon LE@183/183
TDK 12x CD-RW
Toshiba 5x DVD(old....came out of a dell comp)
Samsung 900NF
WinTV-FM(401)
SB Live Value(retail...the first version back from '98)
Intel Pro100+ NIC
Promise Ultra100 controller w/ seagate 8.4gig(ATA66)


RUns everything fine......I have a DirectTV receiver hooked up and I use Dscaler to watch TV on my comp. Its usually that and IE that I use most now....
I was going to upgrade last week to XP2000+...etc. but decided to get new subs for the car instead...

 

[SupermanCK]

ok...here i go:

486 @25MHz...400MB HD...don't remember much from it...i know i was running windows 3.1
self built:
Pentium 166MMX@200...2GB seagate HD...Diamond MX 4MB Pro (later 8MB)...generic case...Tyan Mobo

Pentium III 650@800+...20GB maxtor diamondmax+ (later 45GB WD deal from AT, and then 60GB WD)...ABIT BE6-II...Voodoo 2 SLI (later GF2 GTS 32mb)...creative sound blaster live value!...viewsonic gs-2 17" (later nokia 445pro 21" flat)

about 1/2 year ago:
Pentium IV 1.6A@2.4...ASUS P4B266-C...80GB maxtor...visiontek GF4 Ti4400...liteon 32123s and dvd-163d...chemming 1030...turbolink 420W psu...creative audigy oem...happauge wintv-d...thermaltake volcano 7+...nokia 445pro...logitech z-560...

Current System = continuous upgrade
check sig below for complete current set up

 

[DT4K]

1983 - Commodore 64 w/ Cassette drive - about $200
upgraded to 5.25 floppy for $150

1989 - 386 33Mhz w/ 2MB RAM, 200MB HD -about $2000

1999 - Compaq Presario K6-2 380Mhz w/ 64MB RAM, 8GB HD - about $1200

Feb 2002 - Built my own :
ECS K7S5A(sucked) ----->Epox 8kha+(I broke it installing HSF) -------->Abit KR-7A Raid (kicks a**)
Athlon XP 1700+
Gainward GF3 Ti200
256MB PC2100 DDR --------------------------------------------------------------> 512MB PC2100 DDR
Same 8GB HDD --------------------------------------------------------------------> 80GB WD 800JB

 

[dbrown39]

My first computer was the Timex/Sinclair 1000 (I still have it)

Next was a PII 350 mhz, SE440BX-2, 64 MB ram, 6.4 G HD, CD-rom, ATI rage IIc

Then I upgraded the video card to a Voodoo3 3000 then to a Geforce2 MX I also added another 64 MB of ram and then 128 MB of ram.

My next upgrade was to add a nic card and I picked up another computer as a hand me down for a home network.

I then added a CD burner.

My latest upgrade was a slotkit with the Tualatin 1.2 Ghz celeron CPU.

DB

 

[aceO07]

IBM PS/2 386 20mhz ->
DELL Pentium 100mhz ->
Friend's 'broken' home built K6-2 300mhz (I fixed it and kept 🙂) ->
My home built P3 800mhz @ 900mhz ->
Borrowed friend's P3 1Ghz chip ->
Currently have P4 1.6Ghz @ 2.4Ghz

Ram -> 2MB -> 32MB -> 96MB -> 256MB -> 512MB
Sound Card -> IBM? -> SB16 -> SB Live value
Video -> ? -> Viper 330 -> Onboard -> Radeon AIW
Harddrives -> 20MB -> 1GB? -> 3GB -> 15GB -> 45GB -> 110GB
Monitor -> IBM 13"? -> Sony 15" vert flat -> Sony 15" all flat -> Planar 17.4" LCD

 

[microAmp]

CPU:Intel 200 Mhz-----Celeron 400@450-----K7 750@893-----Tbird 1.2@1.35-----1600+1.4@1.75
Mobo:Unkown-------------AOPEN AX6BC-------EPoX 7KXA------ASUS A7V133--------Epox 8KHA+
2nd mobo:------------------------------------------ ABiT KA7--------------------------------ASUS A7V333
RAM: 64 MB-------------------192 MB---------------512 MB------------512 MB-------------512 MB DDR.
Video: Matrox+Voodoo 1/2- TNT 1---------------GF 1 DDR----------GF3 Ti200----------- ATi 9700 Pro.


That reminds me to update my rigs...