Next up I picked up an Alaris Cougar. These are harder to find and I have seen them go for over $500. I got mine for $299 on eBay. The one major issue with this motherboard is that I was unable to get any VLB video card I had to work. I tried 4 VLB video cards...Cirrus Logic 5426, 5429, 5430 and ET4000/W32P. With that not working I decided to go with the best ISA video card I had, a Diamond Stealth 64. I was able to run it, an Orpheus 1 sound card and 3Com 3C509B network card all at 16.7MHz on the ISA bus. I get 8MBs throughput, 35.7 FPS in 3DBench and 33 Million in Winmark 3.11. Not too bad for an ISA video card, so I was glad to be able to do this as an alternative. Here are my system specs and a few pictures.

IBM Blue Lightning 486BL3 CPU @756MHz
Cyrix 387DX Math Coprocessor @25MHz
512K L2 Cache
64MB 4x16MB 72-Pin FPM 60ns SIMMs
Diamond Stealth 64 2MB ISA video card
Orpheus 1 sound card
3Com Etherlink III 3C509B Ethernet adapter
2GB Compact Flash Card running MS-DOS 6.22 using a Compact Flash to IDE adapter
3.5" 1.44 MB/5.25" 1.2MB combo floppy drive

Finally is my latest system which had a rough time getting delivered. I found out this was an Advent 450-D computer sold by Dickson's in the UK in the early 1990s. This was actually a rebranded IBM Ambra computer. The eBay seller shipped it out in September 2024, but it got stuck in customs. I ended up getting my money back and never expected to see it as I thought the seller was going to have it returned. Well, it showed up this past February. The box looked like it had gone through a war zone. The case cover and frame were both bent. The power supply power switch button was broken off and there were several small broken pieces in the inside. I thought this thing was toast. I was able bend the case cover and frame back into alignment, so I can now slide the case cover back off and on. I replaced the power supply power switch button, but the power supply was totally dead. Luckily it was a standard international power supply and I was able to replace it. The special video card (Cirrus Logic 5428, 1MB ram) had a fault. It has a vertical line in the middle when using 1024x768 256 color mode. I suspect the video memory is bad. Luckily there is one VLB slot, so you can use a VLB video card instead and just remove onboard video card. In the end I finally got everything working. Here are the system specs and a few pictures.

IBM Blue Lightning 486BL@66MHz (It was originally running @50MHz, but it overclocks with no issues)
256K L2 Cache (It originally did not have any L2 cache)
64MB - 4x16MB 72-Pin FPM SIMM 60ns memory (It originally had one 4MB 72-Pin SIMM)
2GB Compact Flash card running MS-DOS 6.22 using a Compact Flash to IDE adapter
Lo-tech XTIDE adapter (Only using the BIOS for large hard drive support)
Diamond Stealth 32 2MB (ET4000/W32P Rev A) video card
PicoGUS sound card w/v2.2.0 firmware and DreamBlaster S2 Wavetable board
Gameport adapter
3Com Etherlink III 3C509B Ethernet adapter

You can read more about this in this post I just updated.

Need help with IBM Blue Lightning system information (***UPDATED***)

Some nice machines in general the fact your using Blue Lightning CPU's just makes them even more unique!
Very nicely done

chinny22 wrote on 2025-03-24, 04:58:

Some nice machines in general the fact your using Blue Lightning CPU's just makes them even more unique!
Very nicely done

Thanks!

Wow. Those All look great! I love the "Tower System" sticker on the desktop model. I LIVE for details like that.

Nice to see that Advent 450 is one piece again, too. I would've been stuck looking at that box for a while when it arrived, 🤣 Nice work!

Major Jackyl wrote on 2025-03-24, 22:44:

Wow. Those All look great! I love the "Tower System" sticker on the desktop model. I LIVE for details like that.

Nice to see that Advent 450 is one piece again, too. I would've been stuck looking at that box for a while when it arrived, 🤣 Nice work!

I picked up the computer that says Tower System from the local Free Geek Twin Cities. It originally had a 386SX motherboard and it's been through a few motherboards since then. I really like keeping the case badge that came with the system. It does add a nice touch, even if you swap out the motherboard.

I saved every last piece of the Advent 450-D and put everything in box. Someday I may be able to make the computer whole again, but that is for another day. I am just glad to have it in one piece and running as good as it is!

I find the badge that says "Tower System" to be extremely irritating when installed on a desktop case.

Anonymous Coward wrote on 2025-03-25, 05:08:

I find the badge that says "Tower System" to be extremely irritating when installed on a desktop case.

Tower System was the local computer company that sold the computer years ago, it is not meaning it's an actual tower case.

I realise that. It just looks very silly. Not to mention that they probably misspelled it, as it should be "Tower SystemS".

Anonymous Coward wrote on 2025-03-26, 07:49:

I realise that. It just looks very silly. Not to mention that they probably misspelled it, as it should be "Tower SystemS".

I understand where you are coming from, but for me personally I would rather keep the original case badge.

Just a quick update on the Advent 450-D. I never knew the blue CPU upgrade socket could take a 387 math coprocessor, not just a 486 CPU. I installed a Cyrix Fasmath and it works perfectly. This is about 6.5x faster that using Q87. There is always something to learn about these vintage systems!

Anonymous Coward wrote on 2025-03-25, 05:08:

I find the badge that says "Tower System" to be extremely irritating when installed on a desktop case.

Yes but they are all very nice looking systems !

A quick update on the Alaris Cougar build. I moved the motherboard to a desktop case. I think this looks much better and is more appropriate for this type of motherboard. I also now get a Turbo Button and Turbo LED!

Lastly, I decided for the Alaris Leopard build to put on a proper case badge. That should make Anonymous Coward a bit more satisfied and in the end I do agree this looks better:)

I purchased a NEW IBM Blue lighting CPU and put it in my IBM PS/1 computer and it worked.
But the IBM computer bios reported the CPU as a Cyrix

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2025-05-10, 18:09:

I purchased a NEW IBM Blue lighting CPU and put it in my IBM PS/1 computer and it worked.
But the IBM computer bios reported the CPU as a Cyrix

There were two versions of the IBM Blue Lighting. The original was made using a licensing agreement from Intel for the 386. These were all soldered on the motherboard or CPU upgrade board using a QFP package. The 2nd and more common were just rebranded Cyrix 486 CPUs. Cyrix did not manufacture their own chips, they used from IBM, SGS Thomson and Texas Instruments to manufacture their CPUs. You have the 2nd version and it is not the original IBM Blue Lightning.