I am currently 10,000 kilometers away from my computer, but I have been building it for over 10 years (close to 15 probably now) to re-create my early 90s dream 386. I'll snap pics of it when I rejoin it later this year.

My first computer was a shitty Compaq Deskpro 386e (SX) @ 20 Mhz with a 40Mb HDD, VGA monitor, 639k of RAM (not a typo) and no real ability to update it. I was "stuck" with this computer until 1995 when it was joined by a HUGE NCR 386/16 (DX) - 39 Mb Hdd (later 212Mb), 4Mb RAM (Via massive, full length expansion boards) and later on about at least a hundred others as I started to work under the table at a computer store as a young teenager. I made quite the coin selling the computers privately - I've had some odd machines - a 486DX 50 VLB (I held onto it for a while, sad that I sold it), a P60, IBM 486/66 CPU (Blue Lightning), a few Cyrix 486s, etc.

Here's (one of my) CPU collection:

http://imgur.com/XAnnQuF,7zMJFkJ,r3HsAN0,zY3Y … X72WN,47KYOyu#0

The specs of my 386 (from memory) are (AT compatible):

-SIS 386 8 slot ISA motherboard with 128K Cache
-Am80386DX/40 CPU
-Cyrix FasMath 80387 FPU (40 MHz)
-32 Mb 70NS RAM
-ATI MACH32 2Mb (NVRAM) ISA Video
-Adaptec AHA2940 SCSI Controller
-SB16 PRO
-2X Panasonic "IDE" CDROM
-540 Mb Western Digital HDD (IDE)
-1Gb Seagate SCSI (for games, nearly full)
-Internal 100Mb ZIP drive (have 3 spares and a bunch of media)
-External 250Mb ZIP drive
-Colorado 350 Mb tape backup (which unfortunately crashes Windows 3.11 when its used)
-3.5 and 5.25 Panasonic floppies
-300W AT power supply
-Microsoft BUS mouse and port
-IBM loud click keyboard (from the mid 80s) through a PS/2 converter
-17 inch NCR SVGA monitor
-NE2000 Network card
-HP Scanner of some sorts (SCSI)
-Gravis joystick
-I had an HP LaserJet III for it, but I don't know what I did with that beast.

The system has Windows 3.0 and 3.11 installed over DR-DOS 7, which has amazing memory management tools. 3.11 uses the Calmira XP shell/skin. I've been wanting to configure the network card to work so I can go on the internet with it (that would be so cool!) but I couldn't figure it out. Perhaps I will ask about it when I am reunited with the system. There's a TON of Windows add ons: Lotus suite, Office suite, Photoshop 3.0, all from boxes of diskettes that I have kept for the last 20 years. Also, Goodwill was a great source of add ons for this computer in the very early 2000s as most of these PCs made it there, as well as tons of software for it (that's where I got Novell DOS and the 35 disk installer for Lotus suite - All the diskettes worked!) - Indeed, into the mid 2000s I would be able to pick up 386s and 486s from there dirt cheap, refurb them, and sell them on eBay for decent coin. I've actively used this computer up until about 2008 or so, when my wife would be using my more powerful P4 (at the time) to do her work on - I mainly typed out reports and essays for Uni, and I even did some Photoshop work (PS 3 is really easy to use!)

I bought a 386/486 combo board on eBay and downloaded the instructions, but I can't get the 386DX40 CPU to work - Other CPUs work fine (386 and 486 33MHz (Intel). What I wanted to do with it is upgrade it with VESA components, which I still have some of at home. However, I gave up on it but didn't quite reassemble my 386 back into its full slim tower.

Also, I want to upgrade the cache to 256K - Where can I get the chips, including the TAG RAM? I've also been toying with the idea of putting in 128 Mb RAM via 16Mb chips, but I think that's gonna be overkill.

Where can I get the Cache chips?