First post, by JAKra85
Hello fellow PC enthusiasts,
I got into PC hardware at the age of 10 (in 1995). I was always tinkering with it, I disassembled and assembled back my first PC many many times.
For the past 20 years I started gathering old components, at first the target was to play old games on old PC's.
I don't like emulators, it doesn't have the feel, the sound, the smell. 😀
Phase I
As I got more and more stuff to the happiness of my wife... it started to clear-up in my mind on what I really want.
I don't want a collection of CPUs or video cards sitting there doing nothing on the wall or in a display case, I want a working technological history exhibition. For now, for myself.
A systematic way to follow the eras of AMD and ATi (and later the merged AMD) building upon ASUS motherboards (starting with Socket7 motherboards) as a backbone.
Each machine is a milestone of its era. Highest CPU and highest GPU of that era.
Phase I - is almost complete. I only lack a few very hard to find components. I did not concentrate on AMD Phenom and later generation, I can find everything as they are not that old.
S7 and SS7 boards - I decided to move them to ASUS, so the boards for the K5 and K6 series is under redesign, moving to ASUS if and when I can find.
I have also did "overlaps" in designing the collection. For fun: to test, compare, benchmark the evolution between products.
AMD K5 166 & AMD K6 166.
AMD K6-2@500 & AMD K6-III+@500 & AMD K7@500.
AMD K7 Athlon 1000: Orion and Thunderbird on Slot A and Thunderbird on Socket A.
AMD K7 Athlon XP 3200+ & AMD K8 Athlon64 3200+ (Socket 754)
Phase II
The attic is filled with boxes MBs, video cards, you name it...
Decided to move every single PC into it's own separate case. Stored still in the attic, no space elsewhere.
The case I choose is Phanteks Eclipse P400 TG, even for the 286 AT board! 😀
AT boards are using: ATX to AT I/O shield + this excellent ATX to AT power adapter. (I can use the case button to turn it on/off!)
https://amigastore.eu/en/419-atx-to-at-power-adapter.html
Moving them into such a case the whole thing has a 'hardware gallery' feel.
I place AMD history into a modern, clean environment where the aesthetics of the components (e.g. the imposing size of the Slot A processor with Golden Orb cooler) can truly shine.
With this case I can also do lighting: using subtle, warm white LED strips to create a 'museum exhibit' effect.
Phase II - is in very early stages. I have 5 completed builds, out of 30+.
Phase III
Install OS, copy games and configure all of them.
Plan for later, when the first two phases are completed.
The collection:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ara32t4rV … nU/edit?tab=t.0
It's a simple txt to track the progress.
Rarity is based on my opinion, on how easy or hard it was or still is to find something.
Regards:
JAKra
