2. Intel SIM4-01

Existing quantity: 1

Collection value: 10 stars

SIM4-01 is the motherboard of Design Kit Microcomputer using C4004, it is Intel's first motherboard. The production date of my SIM4-01 is a little later, and the serial number is SN 428. It can be calculated that the total output of SIM4-01 that year is about 500 yuan, and it is known that less than 10 pieces have been collected. When eBay auctioned this board in 2012, even though the above C4004 and other pluggable chips were all missing, the bidding price was still more than 2,000 pounds. In 2013, the complete SIM4-01 was even sold for 4,500 US dollars, showing its rarity.

Since the SIM4-01 is rare and very representative, it can’t be bought even if it is willing to spend money. For example, I will not sell it alone unless I purchase all the hardware collections. After all, this SIM4-01 has been developed and upgraded by Intel. Intel engineering sample-level motherboard, orphan!

3. Intel C8086 ES-2

Existing quantity: 5

Collection value: 10 stars

Intel released the 8086 on July 8, 1978. The 8086 is the first version of x86 with a clock speed of 5Mhz. On August 12, 1981, IBM developed a PC using a simplified 8088 CPU of the 8086, which made the computer miniaturized and entered the lives of the people.

The production date of the C8086 ES-2 in the picture is 7814 weeks, that is, early April 1978, which is an engineering sample three months before the release of the 8086.

In 2013, this C8086 ES-2 was auctioned at EBAY, and it took me nearly $2,000 to get it. The seller was an original Intel engineer. He also released a bid for the "8086 min/max test board" that removed the C8086 ES-2. I bought it at a starting price of US$100, and unexpectedly received 4 blueprints for supporting design. According to the seller, he was responsible for this project that year and produced 12 in total. After the experiment, a part of the CPU was removed, and a motherboard and blueprint were kept as a souvenir. He also put the introduction of this winding board on my website to recall the past: "The min/max relates to 8 or 16 bit external data and address lines and for backward compatibility with Intel's 8080/85 interface chips.the first IBM PC, three years later used the min 8 bit mode.Its source as Intel's 1979 San Jose, CA, Silicon Valley, R&D Systems Development Group and Chet McIntyre".

Although C4004 is a CPU collection bellwether, the value of C8086 ES-2 is much higher than it, and they are all NOT FOR SALE. This is because engineering samples are more rare. A few days ago, a collector wanted to buy this collection with 10,000 US dollars, which shows the high value of its collection.

4. Intel C80286 Sample

Existing quantity: about 50

Collection value: 7 stars

Entering the 286 era in 1982, the CPU's main frequency can reach 12Mhz, and the pins have evolved from DIP to Socket. The number of pins has changed from 16 pins of the earliest C4004 to 40 pins of C8086, and then to 68 pins of 80286. Now the number of CPU pins has exceeded 1000.From these we can see the power of science and technology.

From the above CPU and related motherboard display, everyone has a preliminary understanding of Computer hardware collection. Next, I will share some information about computer hardware collections.

Computer collection, CPU collection and Computer board & card collection have their own advantages:

In the 40 years since the birth of the PC in 1981, the number of hardware available has exceeded 100 billion. Most of the hardware has been quickly eliminated and destroyed due to technological advances. In fact, there are not many antique hardware remaining in the world. A lot of hardware disappeared, and no pictures remained. Even on online shopping platforms such as eBay and Taobao, it is difficult to buy and find favorite collections. Many precious collections have basically been in the hands of discerning collectors.

Although some collectors of computer hardware collection display their collections in a high-key manner and some are very low-key, the direction of collecting collections is nothing more than the following five:

I.Classic hardware

More classic hardware, such as star products, flagship products, representative works of each period, or representative works of a certain company. Even a series or even a whole series of products of a certain company. There are more people in this way of collecting.

II.Bellwether hardware

The first generation or the first product of each series, and early hardware. Due to the continuation of the product, the value-added is fast.

III.Boxed hardware

The boxed hardware contains all the accessories of a retail hardware and is a relatively complete collection. Due to the difficulty of collection and the large storage space, there are not many people who collect it like this, but most collectors have more or less boxed hardware.

IV.Engineering sample

Engineering samples are informal products used for R&D and testing, and the production volume is small. Most of the engineering samples are destroyed after the official products are retailed, and the ones left are rare, and many have become orphans. It is a high-end collection method with the most difficult collection and rapid value-added. It must have a wealth of hardware knowledge, superior identification skills, luck and courage.

V. Souvenirs and crafts

In order to promote and promote their products, hardware manufacturers will give away and sell various souvenirs and crafts specially made with computer hardware. Its collection value is high, see below.

5. Motorola Chip Crafts

Existing quantity: about 2

Collection value: 8 stars

The two pen sockets are chip crafts authorized by Motorola. The plexiglass seals are silicon wafers from the 1960s and 1970s, countless small cores, several unpackaged semi-finished and finished chips. To show the nobility of technological products of that era, even gold can only be used as decoration. Today, it has become an impossible task to find the above-mentioned 2-inch wafers and unpackaged chips.

6. 3Dfx Voodoo5 6000 Graphic card

Existing quantity: Within 100

Collection value: 10 stars

Voodoo5 6000 graphics card's 4 core cool design, unreleased products, and 3Dfx's myth of creating a market share of 3D graphics cards that year have gained extremely high popularity. Voodoo5 6000 graphics card has become the Bellwether of graphics card collection and even board collection with an Existing quantity of less than 100.

In October 2001, 3Dfx's Voodoo5 6000 graphics card was auctioned on eBay for the first time, at a high price of US$2025, which announced the birth of the graphics card collection. At the beginning of 2006, I bought this Voodoo5 6000 graphics card for US$1,300, and the price is now more than US$4,000.

7. 3Dfx Obsidian Graphic card

Existing quantity: about 4

Collection value: 10 stars

The 3Dfx Obsidian graphics card in the picture above was purchased from eachnet.com for RMB 100 in 2003. When domestic and foreign collectors saw this scanned image, they all thought this graphics card was a fake. It wasn't until a few detailed pictures were taken with a digital camera that collectors realized that it was the earliest graphics card and engineering sample of 3Dfx, and they searched wildly. Today, this green 3Dfx Obsidian graphics card is owned by only 4 people in the world, and these 4 people are the top collectors of graphics cards. The green 3Dfx Obsidian graphics card has become a sign, and several Voodoo5 6000 graphics cards may not be interchangeable.

8. 3Dfx Obsidian 100DB-4440 Graphic card

Existing quantity: 1 pair

Collection value: 10 stars

The 3Dfx Obsidian 100DB-4440 graphics card is composed of two Obsidian Pro graphics cards SLI, the originator of SLI. Obsidian 100DB-4440 graphics cards are very rare, less than 10 pairs are known in the hands of collectors. This 3Dfx Obsidian 100DB-4440 graphics card is a Qualification Sample, and only one pair was found.

9. Intel Actionmedia 750 Graphic card Evaluation board

Existing quantity: about 1

Collection value: 10 stars

Actionmedia I is called Actionmedia 750, because it is a product optimized and upgraded for its PRO 750 graphics card after Intel acquired DVI, and uses Intel i750 chips. Actionmedia 750 is Intel's first PC graphics card. The Actionmedia 750 graphics evaluation board code-named DS1-AT in the picture was developed in 1989 to verify the feasibility of the Actionmedia 750 graphics project.

10.Intel Actionmedia 750 Graphic card Test board

Existing quantity: about 2

Collection value: 9 stars

After the Actionmedia 750 graphics card evaluation board was verified and feasible, the Actionmedia 750 graphics card test board was designed. After a series of repeated shaping, testing, and adjustments, the official version of the Actionmedia 750 graphics card was directly mass-produced.

11.Intel Actionmedia 750 Graphic card

Existing quantity: within 10 boxes

Collection value: 7 stars

The Actionmedia 750 graphics card in the full set of the official version of the Actionmedia 750 graphics card can be connected to the supporting secondary card through a cable. The retail price of Actionmedia 750 graphics card that year was US$9,998, and its retail volume is extremely small. Now it is not necessarily available for US$9,998.

The above three graphics cards are a relatively complete demonstration of all aspects of the Actionmedia 750 graphics card from product development, product testing, and product retail. It is a perfect collection example of a model of hardware.

12.Intel Actionmedia II Graphic card Evaluation board

Existing quantity: about 1

Collection value: 10 stars

The i750PA/DA chip of Actionmedia 750 was developed in 1986 and uses a PGA pin structure. In the late 1980s, the advanced chip production technology in board card manufacturing became mature, and the chip manufacturing technology also made great progress. In 1990, Intel upgraded the plug-in i750PA/DA chip to a compact PQFP-mounted i750PB/DB chip. The chip package was changed from a gold package to a lower-cost plastic package. In the picture, the Actionmedia II graphics chip evaluation board is code-named DS2-AT, with a removable Chip socket that is convenient for testing new chips. This kind of Chip socket card is a particularly rare engineering sample, and each piece will be crazy.

13.Intel Actionmedia II Graphic card Evaluation board

Existing quantity: about 10

Collection value: 9 stars

With the advancement of integrated circuit production technology, the secondary card of Actionmedia 750 has been miniaturized into a daughter card in the Actionmedia II series, which is directly inserted into the main Actionmedia II card through two rows of slots.

14. Intel Actionmedia III Graphic card Evaluation board

Existing quantity: about 1

Collection value:10 stars

　Intel has not released any information on the Actionmedia III graphics card, but this project does exist, based on the graphics card code-named QUARK from my collection. The Actionmedia III graphics card in 1992 was also the main daughter card structure, and by 1993 it was highly integrated as a single card. Due to the rapid development of graphics display technology, the performance of the Actionmedia III graphics card was outdated, and it was finally abandoned by Intel, becoming an extremely rare unannounced, unsold productn.

The Actionmedia series of graphics cards listed above have fully demonstrated the powerful role of technological advancement in the upgrading of computer hardware in the past five years, and the charm of computer hardware collection has thus been revealed. In order to collect these Intel graphics cards, I used to stare at a seller on eBay for nearly a year. The scraps of Intel’s scraps that the seller recycled contained engineering samples of Intel’s various hardware, and even engineering samples of other companies. Sellers will sell items from time to time during my sleep time (jet lag) in the middle of the night. Although the harvest was huge, it also added a lot of white hair and wrinkles. The hardship of collecting is hard to say!

15. IBM XGA Graphic card

Existing quantity: about 1

Collection value:9 stars

As the initiator of the PC, IBM has produced a large variety of sophisticated computer hardware, which is the key goal of hardware collection, but its engineering sample control is very strict and rarely flows out. Each engineering sample is a very rare collection. This IBM XGA graphics card is an evaluation board. There is a large test grid on the left to facilitate the addition of additional components and circuits. This is the usual practice for engineering samples in earlier times.

16. Intel PCI interface card

Existing quantity: about 1

Collection value:10 stars

The above hole board is the first PCI interface in history, very primitive, and still in the initial signal configuration stage. The PCI interface production date is late February 1990, which strongly proves that the development of the PCI standard began before 1990.

17.ATi Graphics Ultra Pro Graphic card

Existing quantity: about 1

Collection value:10 stars

This ATI Graphics Ultra Pro graphics card is the first PCI interface graphics card in history, and the earliest known ATI engineering sample graphics card in the hands of collectors, from a former ATI engineer. The graphics card production date was early August 1993, only three months after the PCI-SIG published the PCI standard on April 30, 1993.

18.Trident 3DImage975 Graphic card

Existing quantity: about 1

Collection value:9 stars

Intel formulated the first dedicated graphics card interface standard-AGP on July 31, 1996, and it was not widely accepted until 1997. Trident first launched the first AGP interface graphics card in history: 3DImage975 graphics card, which was successfully developed in February 1997. Later, the official product was called 3DImage9750 graphics card, with an extra 0, but its collection value was quite different.

19. ATi Radeon PCIe Graphic card

Existing quantity: about 10

Collection value: 7 stars

This is the first PCIe interface graphics card in history developed by ATI in October 2003. In the past two decades, the PCIe interface has remained vigorous and is the longest-lived universal interface.