Mike_ wrote on 2026-02-21, 17:30:

Here's a 486 rig I built as a joint project with a friend recently. It's actually faster in Windows 95 than I would have expecte […]
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Here's a 486 rig I built as a joint project with a friend recently. It's actually faster in Windows 95 than I would have expected a 486 to be. I already had a retro setup based on P5A-B and K6-III+ so this was mostly just for the sake of it. I guess I can use it if I want to play some speed sensitive games. 😀

specs:
-PCChips M921 motherboard (UMC 8881F/8886BF chipset)
-AMD 5x86 133MHz
-32MB FPM ram
-Matrox Mystique 220 4MB GPU
-Sound Blaster AWE64

The attachment 486.jpg is no longer available

that's fairly top end for the 486 era, and lots of ram. windows 95 should be good on that, nice addition to your other setups

dries_86 wrote on 2026-02-21, 11:04:

Fantastic case

Do you run Windows 98SE on this or XP (I guess) ? How is DOS compatibility ? Is the CPU not too fast ?

And another question: is the fan in the top to cool the floppy drive ? 😁

I currently run 98SE on it but it would make a wonderful XP (or dual boot) system.

I usually run Win98 games on it but I have played limited late-DOS era games through DOS mode, although you are correct that this set up would not be optimized for that era.

As far as fans... You can never have too many fans.... 🤣

I know this looks like it's a generic Dell from the year 1998, and internally it is a generic Dell from the year 1998, but technically this PC is a tera-budget desktop from the year 2004 hooked up to cheap secondhand peripherals (some generic beige USB mouse and a Compaq keyboard that would also have been cheap in 2004). The only thing that makes it so is I put a PowerColor Radeon 9250 (unfortunately, 64-bit, but it has solder pads so I could upgrade it if I decided to) inside it. It's not like this is a huge modernization from the FX 5200 that was in there before the caps on that gave out, that was still a 2004 config, and either way this was the 2004 equivalent of getting one of those decommissioned office PCs with Haswell inside and slapping a GTX 1060 inside it to hide that fact in order to have a computer that plays video games for $150 or however much doing that costs these days. One day I do want to get a Rendition card to put in here instead though, probably a V2100 since they're usually not PCI 3dfx prices. I have a Voodoo 2 that would be perfect for it, but with the FBI missing and all of the e-waste recyclers in China fresh out of them, the only option I see (buying all three chips) is more expensive than just buying a working Voodoo 2

Other than that and the SB Live!, it's entirely stock inside. Pentium II 350MHz, 128MB PC100, original 6.4GB hard drive, graciously and thoughtfully soldered onto the AGP bus ATi 3D Rage Pro, the works.

2004 is actually not anachronistic for this machine (I mean, obviously it isn't if it still exists, it had to exist in 2004 to get here), I got it with the original owner's install of 98 SE still on there (all the dates match the date the hard drive was manufactured or are off by a day or two at most) and in the Juno folder there were cached files from 2003, so the last owner was at least using it that long. It also hangs when you try to change the theme for some reason but seems fine otherwise. I've been using it even longer, I got it from a thrift store in 2013-ish for a cheap price and I do use it regularly (including being naughty and using it for production tasks, at least writing), so it's more mine than theirs at this point, and it's probably the machine I'd sell off last.

HP computers 2003.

That HP monitor looks almost like a Eizo, but with slightly different styling. Interesting.

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2026-02-24, 04:29:

HP computers 2003.

Wait are you using the cable modem? My (former) cable ISP stopped allowing those long ago.

This cable modem was legendary back in 1990's
An early pioneer in Cable modem network technology.
Made in USA.

Guys, up thru Windows XP people were still using landline telephone dialup internet
This cable modem allowed me to get all my heterogeneous computers online and work from home.
Silicon Valley San Francisco Bay Area has always devloped the best home network technologies.

If we mean coaxial cable, it's still widely in use here in states. My main uplink is like that, but I have 2nd backup from cellular.

Old_mATX wrote on 2026-02-25, 17:49:

If we mean coaxial cable, it's still widely in use here in states. My main uplink is like that, but I have 2nd backup from cellular.

Sorry I left out a key piece of information. What I meant to ask was if the user that posted the photo of the cable modem was still using *that* one, which I thought was the Linksys. Now that I look at it again I don't think it's a cable modem, but anyway I used to have a Linksys CM that looked like that however it was DOCSIS 2 which my former ISP stopped allowing long ago.

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2026-02-25, 12:51:

This cable modem was legendary back in 1990's An early pioneer in Cable modem network technology. Made in USA. […]
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This cable modem was legendary back in 1990's
An early pioneer in Cable modem network technology.
Made in USA.

Your network shelf looked very similar to my early 2000's setup. Cable modem + Linksys BEFSR41 + 16-port 10Mbps hub (for the slower LAN stuff)

The LanCity modem is interesting. That was before they became the company known as Arris.

In the early DOCSIS days - from 1999-2000 I had a Samsung SCM100R, then 2001 a Com21. I never saw any LanCity in my area.

eesz34 wrote on Today, 03:08:

Sorry I left out a key piece of information. What I meant to ask was if the user that posted the photo of the cable modem was still using *that* one, which I thought was the Linksys. Now that I look at it again I don't think it's a cable modem, but anyway I used to have a Linksys CM that looked like that however it was DOCSIS 2 which my former ISP stopped allowing long ago.

I'm pretty sure that is a Linksys BEFSR41, which was basically the first consumer broadband router. It was before wireless, 4-port 10/100 Mbps. I remember it was $199 when released in spring 2000, as I ordered mine pre-release. It was a game changer. Prior to that, sharing a broadband connection between multiple computers required a PC running Unix/Linux acting for NAT, or other windows software (WinGate, iShare, etc) running in the background.

Linksys continued with that same 4-leg blue/black design for cable modems, switches, Wifi, etc.

I was involved with the cable/DOCSIS industry during the transition from DOCSIS 2.0 to 3.0. The simplified version of it - having a mix of DOCSIS 2 and 3 modems on the CMTS blocks/impedes some of the speed benefits made possible by channel bonding introduced in DOCSIS 3.0.

And in keeping with the spirit of this thread, found some old pictures.

I don't think the term "homelab" existed in 2000, but this was my setup. IIRC, the old Packard Bell desktop was web/FTP server, one AT tower was fileserver on Win NT 4, the other was probably Linux. There was another small desk to the right of the chair with my main PC.

Fazeshift wrote on Today, 17:36:

... I don't think the term "homelab" existed in 2000 ...

If you want to see a really-old home setup (1970s and early 80s)- check out "Daves Old Computers" under "Altair 8800"-> "Photos of complete system"

There's a couple pics there of my home setup with the Altair, and even one with my very first machine (a homebuilt 8080 - before I got the Altair)