VOGONS


First post, by ddoyle525

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Back in the mid 1990’s my first real IT job was as a desktop support technician for Knowledge Adventure in California. We had a Novell network of about 200 Windows PC’s and several Macs. It was a dream come true! I remember many of the PC’s were Gateway 2000 486 DX33’s/DX2 66’s. Looking at the PC landscape today I noticed how boring today’s PC’s are: black or white glass cases with fancy lights, but no drive bays – none! So I decided to restore a Gateway PC I bought eBay and have some fun with it. Most of the parts are original except for the CPU which I upgraded from a P4 1.4GHz to a P4 1.7GHz, I upgraded the memory, and I replaced all the fans. The motherboard is the original Intel D850GB workstation board of excellent build quality. Overall the system is very clean and runs extra-quiet because of the new quiet fans. The OS is Windows Me that shipped from the factory (see below). I also tested Windows 98 which ran flawlessly.
I was also able to purchase a Gateway FPD1520 LCD monitor, Gateway-branded keyboard, mouse and mouse pad and I was able to purchase the original system restore CD's.
I'd like to sell the whole system but I don't know how other than E-bay so suggestions are welcome.

Specs:
• Computer: Gateway ATXSTF Performance 1400 – MFG Date: 08/08/2001
• Motherboard: Intel D850GB, Intel i850E chipset, ICH2 southbridge (original)
• CPU: Intel Pentium 4 1.7GHz SL57V Socket 423 Willamette (upgraded from 1.4GHz original CPU)
• Memory: 1GB 400MHz Dual-Channel RDRAM (2x512MB RAMBUS RIMMs)
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 32MB AGP
• Audio Card: Creative AudioPCI 9550 (ES1373)
• Network Card: RealTek RTL8139C PCI LAN (A.K.A. RTL810X)
• IDE Storage: 32GB CF Card in HX-118 dual-port CF Compact Flash to 40-pin IDE in 3.5" floppy bay carrier
• Optical Drive: Teac DW-552G ATAPI DVD/CD-ROM Combo Drive
• Floppy Drive: Standard 1.44MB 3.5in floppy drive
• Speakers: Cyber Acoustics CA-1000 5.25 Drive Bay speakers
• Fans: Antec UFO 120mm LED case fan; Be quiet! 80mm PSU fan; Noiseblocker 60mm CPU fan
• OS: Windows Me installed from factory restoration media
• Monitor: Gateway FPD1520 15in LCD flat screen
• Accessories: Gateway-branded keyboard, mouse, mousepad and factory-restore media.

Benchmarks:

3DMark 2000 = 5076 3D marks

Wintune 98
CPU Integer 3103.95 MIPS
FPU 949.1528 MFLOPS
Video(2D) 71.03001 MPixels/s
Direct3D 141.3622 MPixels/s
OpenGL 19.19324 MPixels/s
Memory 3472.222 MB/s
Cached Disk 273.1319 MB/s
Uncached Disk 0.9503059 MB/s

DOS Benchmarks
3DBench 1.0c = 437.9
Chris's 3D Benchmark = 864.2
Chris's 3D Benchmark 640x480 = 149.2
PC Player Benchmark (VGA 320x200 8bpp) = 280.0
PC Player Benchmark 640x480x8bpp = 45.8
Doom max. details = 1234 gametcis in 665 realtics 112.32 FPS
Quake Timedemo = 213.0 FPS
Landmark System Speed Test 2.00 = 18490.50 CPU 5175.86 FPU 28912.94 chr/ms
Landmark System Speed Test 6.00 = 15600 CPU 23000 FPU 28912.94 chr/ms
TOPBENCH 3.8 = 339
Speedsys 4.78 CPU = 923.69
System Information 8.0 CPU = 629.1

"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." - John 14:6

Reply 1 of 4, by dukeofurl

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In terms of selling old PCs, I've had decent luck selling locally via Facebook marketplace. Generally I have to sell for less than full eBay price for there to be interest, but given the overhead that eBay charges and the hassle and expense of shipping large and heavy things, it seems to be worthwhile.

A pentium 4 may be a little harder to sell just because it's not a modern computer so it doesn't attract that audience looking for a cheap used PC for a modern daily driver... But it's also not usually considered an antique or rare historical piece yet, so it may not command the price that something like a good condition 486 might... However that is changing by the day as the hardware gets older, fewer examples survive, and people who used it get old enough and settled enough to look back on it with nostalgia. Good luck with the sale 😀

The vintage computer federation forums also have a marketplace/for sale forum as well, though I've had more interest selling old PC things locally for the things I've put up for sale.

Reply 2 of 4, by scj312

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Beautiful system! I have a soft spot for basically any beige Gateway system, I'm sure there are others who do as well.

Since dealing locally is always much easier than shipping, do you mind specifying where on this fine planet you are located?

Reply 3 of 4, by ddoyle525

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scj312 wrote on 2025-09-21, 20:15:

Beautiful system! I have a soft spot for basically any beige Gateway system, I'm sure there are others who do as well.

Since dealing locally is always much easier than shipping, do you mind specifying where on this fine planet you are located?

Yes, Phoenix area.

"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." - John 14:6