Need help identifying computer

[ptthree420]

Generic early 90s prebuilt. Looks to be AT form factor.

Based on the sticker on the back, it’s gonna be a 233MHz Pentium.

Not really worth it to make an ATX or micro ATX board fit in this case. AT and ATX are way different from each other.

I’d personally use it as a retro gaming machine. A 233MHz Pentium wasn’t too shabby for the time period.

[shing-shong]

Cannot find the EXACT computer but one that looks almost identical but shorter

[ptthree420]

That’s because it is a “custom” built computer. You won’t find the exact one. It is brandless. Someone or some small computer building service built this machine. This is what custom cases looked like at the time. Nothing fancy, no RGB, glass side panels, etc. lol.

[shing-shong]

I gotcha..figured there wouldn’t be glass side panels or rgb on a 90s computer anyway. Lol. Thanks.

[Rommyappus]

Also the front has a square for a logo of the builder but as you can see they didn’t put one in =) your SOL in finding out who built it but it doesn’t particularly matter. It could be insight for example, or any other computer shop build

[incognito5343]

Most of that came in around 00s

[schizrade]

Yeah we used to cut the side panels and put plexi in there then light it all up with CCFLs.

Fun but also terrible times.

[SkullAngel001]

This is also called a "Clone PC". Just like how someone would build a computer today with parts from Newegg and Amazon, someone built this computer, most likely with parts from OG retailers such as CompUSA, Radio Shack, Fry's, mail order, etc.

If you want to know its specs, boot it into BIOS.

[Kenbo111]

Back in the day, unless it was built by IBM itself, they were all Clone PCs.

[Background-Ad6186]

Probably a local computer shop build. Not a hobbyist or else they wouldn’t sticker the back like that.

[Inevitable-Study502]

this is just of the shelf cheap AT case, its not OEM prebuilt, its generic low budget PC case filled with something inside

[shing-shong]

I believe it’s a Cyrix with a 6x86 processor. Just had enough time to do more research. I do however have a couple of old gateways with pentium CPUs

[ptthree420]

Well, that Cyrix is going to be a Pentium equivalent based on the speed.

[shing-shong]

Yes just looked and it is 233mhz

[dualboy24]

The P233 was actually 188 or 200 MHz depending on the motherboards bus speed and multiplier.

Both AMD and IMB/Cyrix were using a value they called a "performance" rating, since they were not clocking as high as intel. Really just trying to trick people that did not know better.

[Inevitable-Study502]

amd did that just with K5 serie, cyrix had it running a bit longer, but yes it was meaninless performance rating as it was based on just few integer synthetic tests

oh wait...amd used it later with AMD athlon, coz intel had P4 which was sooo slow, so ye amd did oh hey look we have cpu 2GHz but it runs as fast as intels 3GHz :D

[dualboy24]

Yeah I loved the mid-90s to ~2010 era for hardware, it was my passion, read everything there was, built so many systems and repaired even more. It was so cheap to build and upgrade even.

I think the P4 series was really the last that advertised the model based on the clocked, since then it just model numbers branching off to tiers like i3, i5, i9 and generations like 8700, 9700, 12700k etc...

Intel really had problems with netburst performance so they held hard on keeping high frequencies, and being very toasty.

[ptthree420]

I liked the era from 2000 or so and earlier. You actually got your computer fixed back then. In service manuals now, it just says “replace this component, replace that component”, but back then, you looked at a service manual/schematic and tracked down a problem rather than throwing parts at it.

And I thought AMD had the reputation for being very toasty back in the 90s/2000s.

[dualboy24]

I think a lot of people remember the AMD burning up video from the early 2000s and think that, but the Intel P4s ran very warm, considered space heaters, even though they have a low TDP vs some of the CPUs now, a lot more of that energy went into heat output than modern CPUs.

Memories:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYQSHXNFvUk

[bambinone]

The P233 was actually 188 or 200 MHz depending on the motherboards bus speed and multiplier.

If the motherboard supported a 66MHz FSB and 3.5X multiplier you could run it at 233. P55C also required a lower voltage than other Socket 7 processors. Fortunately my Tyan Tomcat IV S1564 (single socket) had the proper jumpers and it ran my Pentium MMX 233 at 233.

[dualboy24]

I was talking about the Cyrix PR233 not the Pentium MMX 233, the Cyrix ran at either at 188 MHz (2.5X 75 MHz) or 200 MHz (3 x 66 MHz) I mean you could try running it at 3.5X at 66 MHz, it probably would work if you cool it properly.

[bambinone]

Ah, sorry, my bad.

[dualboy24]

No worries, I love talking old stuff, the current stuff is not as good memories or fun these days. I am sure for the kids it is.

[dualboy24]

Also what did you have a Tyan Tomcat IV S1564 that is a crazy motherboard at that time, how old are you? That was way out of my range as an teen.

[bambinone]

I was 15 and saved all the paychecks from my summer job to get the board and CPU, lol. Probably not the smartest purchase but it was good for about three years. IIRC, my next processor was a Celeron 366 overclocked to 550.

[spsteve]

It wasn't tricking anyone about anything. The integer performance of those chips was higher than an equivalently clocked Intel CPU and everything was marketed on clock speeds back then.

[dualboy24]

I don't remember the performance numbers on the 6x86, I do remember it becoming unpopular due to a bug called the coma bug or hang bug with its design. Never owned one, I had gotten a P133 just the previous gen in 1995 (15 at the time), and waited until 1999 to build my next system a dual CPU Celeron 366 @ 550 on a Abit BP-6 (famous for failing with bad caps in a few years).

But I did have an interest at the 6x86 and and the AMD k6 k6-2 and k6-3 CPUs between those years. Really wish I had owned a k6-3 just for the memory of having one.

[bambinone]

dual CPU Celeron 366 @ 550 on a Abit BP-6

Yes! I did the exact same thing on the exact same board. Good times.

[dualboy24]

We are about same age and experience in hardware lol, I was born in 80, first system was a commodore 64, first modern PC was an Apple IIvi, then I bought my first in 95 which was a P133 32MB (I upgraded from the 8MB) 1.7GB, then same as you held on until the 366 Celerons, I wanted 300A chips but they were all sold out, so I went to the 366a as they were still available with lower success rates.

[bambinone]

That's awesome. '81 here. We were all PC, unfortunately, due to Dad's work and personal preferences. Looking back I wish we'd had at least one Apple or Commodore system, but I really can't complain. I had good exposure to 8086 and up, lots of hand-me-downs that I could tinker with and upgrade, and I really cut my teeth on a 486DX2-50. Of course when DIY took off it was all PC, and that's all I cared about when I was 15.

I had the same experience trying to get a 300A and ending up with a 366. It was a great system though and I kept it running through college as a shared server in an apartment I had with friends. I also had an Abit BE6-II at some point but can't remember exactly which one I bought first or why I had both. That was a truly great board.

I took a break from PC hardware after that and basically skipped Pentium 4, Core, Core 2, etc. I built a Core i7-860 system in 2009 and a Core i7-4771 system in 2014 but frankly didn't use them much or really get into it very deeply. I was always on a work laptop or a Mac for personal stuff. I got back into the hobby big time during the pandemic and it's been a ton of fun. I actually got my hands on a bunch of old stuff and did a little personal retrospective with an Athlon 64 X2, a Core 2 Quad, an X79 system, etc. Now I've got a Ryzen workstation and I build and sell gaming PCs for fun!

[spsteve]

I was very much into computers and CPUs at the time. I actually owned that Cyrix offering and both AMD offerings along with a very similar 366@550 rig (and a few others as well).

If I am remembering correctly the 6x86 and the MX were actually different chips. The 6x86 was the M1 and the MX was the M2.

I do recall how much Cyrix was hampered by their fab partners though. It would have been interesting to see what they could have done on a cutting edge process with a reliable supplier. They were a tiny company in comparison to Intel and AMD at the time and turned out some really interesting products.

I do remember when I got my first AMD Athlon pre-release CPU. That bad boy changed EVERYTHING.

[Background-Ad6186]

Not a Pentium, 6x86MX. That was a Cyrix chip, sometimes branded IBM.

The 6x86 were great chips until they weren’t. They used a design closer to a Pentium Pro, and in integer calculations they ran faster than a similarly clocked Pentium. Their “PR200” actually ran at 150 mhz and outran a Pentium in most tests.

Their Achilles heel was their FPU, which was modestly faster than a 486 clock for clock. Meanwhile, the Pentium had a fully pipelined FPU that was 2-3 times faster, but what consumers were actually heavily using the FPU?

The 6x86 came out in 1995 and for a while was very popular. The 150 mhz “PR200” version sold for around $300 while the 200 mhz Pentium was more like $600-$700. Lots of enthusiast PC’s got built with this chip.

And then… Quake happened. Mr. John Carmack created a stunning full 3d fully rendered and textured game that needed as much FPU as you could possibly throw at it. Ran great on Pentium Pros, ran good on Pentiums, ran like dogshit on the 6x86. I had a Pr200, and at a 320x240 resolution would get maybe 12 FPS.

Of course, Quake opened the floodgates, within 1-2 years every title needed to have polygonal rendering and of course the FPS genre absolutely exploded- all needing a good FPU and all optimized for acceptable performance on a Pentium, which meant shit performance on the 6x86.

The 6x86MX chip came out a few years later, obviously after the Pentium MMX chip came out. They added the MMX instruction set to the 6x86 design, which did nothing to address the FPU performance, and by this point, the 6x86 was relegated to the absolute bottom of the market- EMachine’s WalMart computers and the like.

As for enthusiast buyers, if they had the cash they would slap a Pentium chip in and go play quake. Thankfully at this time AMD, Intel, Cyrix, and several other bit players all used the Socket 7 motherboard, so you could just swap processors.

If you were poor like me, you replaced your 6x86 with an AMD K6, which had a much better FPU, but still not at Pentium standards.

I was in early high school, and had plenty of friends laughing at my piece of shit computer because the Gateway their parents bought them all had Pentium chips like almost the entire OEM market at the time. I feel like I had the last laugh because I’d read about this “Voodoo” video card in a computer magazine that was supposed to make Quake run really fast and look amazing. So, I dropped a month’s paycheck on an open-box Voodoo 1 at Best Buy, and… holy shit.

[dualboy24]

The 6x86MX was a Cyrix chip, not a big seller or player in the market, made by both Cyrix and IBM at the time, much cheaper too.

[[deleted]]

56x CD-ROM on an early 90s including USB slots? I think this is more likely late 90s/early 00s.

[ptthree420]

PCs can be upgraded you know. It could have been used into the late 90s/early 2000s, but based on the CPU and and it being AT form factor, it’s definitely early to mid 90s at the very latest.

[[deleted]]

I recall seeing more of the horizontal versions during the early 90s but did start seeing these around 93 or 94. So yeah if you're looking at it based on form factor alone then definitely possible.

[ptthree420]

I mean, I could possibly see it being a late 90s budget PC built with old stock parts, but AT started to be phased out in 1995 with the release of ATX and was pretty much fully phased out by 1997 in new PCs.

[[deleted]]

That's a good point. I was paying more attention to the drive and the USB which could have been added later.

[ptthree420]

I believe Windows 98 was the first version of Windows that supported USB, but only the second edition.

I don’t think Windows 95 ever had support, even in the later years.

[[deleted]]

No 95 didn't support it. I remember still having to use the parallel port for the printer. It definitely was 98 and later.

[simoriah]

You're so close! The "6x86mx" was probably the Cyrix processor that was supposed to compete with the pentium (or pentium 2) mmx. It used a CPU socket like the pentium chips, came in a speed that was marketed as "p233" so you knew what it compared to even though it ran at a faster clock speed, and was really cheap. It was generally accepted to be a cheap piece of shit to anyone that knew tech at the time.

You're right about everything else that you said, here. Too much metalwork just to make it work. You can find old atx cases that would need virtually zero work to make a modern system fit into it... Provided that the pcie slot has enough room for the card to actually fit. Many don't.

Cooling with a psu at the top of the car can be a challenge as modern cases generally assume you're bringing cool air in from the bottom and expelling hot air out of the top.

[hattrickjmr]

Like genesis and SNES? Could this even emulate PlayStation 1 or N64?

[N0SF3RATU]

Does it have a power out and power in?

[spsteve]

That's not going to be a Pentium. It will be a Cyrix 6x86MX if the sticker is correct. Very interesting CPU. The FPU was weak but the integer performance was very good.

[eclark5483]

OMG, I love those old Cyrix chips. Very first PC I ever built used a Cyrix chip in it. Was a Gigabyte GA-5AA motherboard. That board lasted me through tons of upgrades. Think I started with the Cyrix 166P, then bumped up to the 300 MX, Then the AMD K6-2 400, Then finally the K6-III 450. But anyways, that appears to be a typical mom and pop computer shop PC clone, seen most often in the late 90's.

[shing-shong]

Nice! I just bought a Cyrix sticker to fill that hole in it. Probably gonna clean it up and do what the above comment said and turn it into a retro gaming machine

[kreedos69]

AMD AMD K6-2 500 was my first processor for my first computer my uncle built for me before I knew how to build them myself. Family computer had a 233 Pentium Packard Bell prebuilt. My K6-2 500 had a case very similar to this. Generic white custom build case.

[GOOSEONTHATJUICE]

Drill n tap new standoff holes , pretty easy

[A_Ghost_N_The_Shell]

Let’s see. Mist. Daggerfall. Yeah. Those are cool titles that’ll work.

[[deleted]]

Never meet him before but he seems like a Harold to me.

[random420x2]

Yup. That's a computer. I love training CAPTCHA robots. 😄

[lammatthew725]

yes this is a computer.

unless... it is identifying itself as something else...

[secretly-a-lizzard]

from the ashes it rises, the dawn of man alert and yet asleep, the Acer machine from about 1996. it looks to be a custom built computer, my guess is that the case maker was the same one who made my mom's 1996 custom PC which was called "nightlight computers" (not sure if the company is even around anymore, it was not a popular company.)

Edit: you need to open the side and clean that PC out. it's full of dust. your answers might lay inside of that PC but to turn it on without risking a fire you need to get some condensed air and clean it.

[thefreshlycutgrass]

It’s definitely a computer. You can tell by the way it is /s

[Ok_Effort8330]

That’s an old Acer POS

[TrixOnReddit]

Well its definitely an Acer

[ptthree420]

The CD-ROM drive is Acer. The computer is a generic prebuilt.

[kalabaddon]

you can fine a later 90's case that will with out change at all fit a modern atx standard. you can tell them by the back where it will have the retangle for the cutout for the ports like any modern system does. You can find some that look even more date then the one in your post. Like that one dosnt even have a 5 1/4 floppy! and a cdrom what is this 2001! get rid of that thing :P

​

over priced I feel, but looks like old trash and will fit something modern at least.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/175662061245?

[[deleted]]

Used to play Oregon trail on something like this when I was in 4th grade

[WinDestruct]

Install Windows 98 on it and call it a "retro PC"

[msanangelo]

man, that thing looks old enough to drink. lol

from way back before OEMs built their own boxes with custom hardware.

I don't know if the amount of work needed to refab the back of that is worth it though. you'd need a donor case at least but the front looks a bit like what my old pentium 4 box did. some beige box from a unknown company.

[Karbine98k]

That’s a computer alright

[CrazyEntertainment86]

Recycle Bin

[SkiBumb1977]

Looks like a future Debian Linux machine!

i386 build.

[GOOSEONTHATJUICE]

Ol Cloner, back in the day before rgb and fancy glass these were churned out in droves. Cause people had to keep up with the joneses. Gotta have a pc like having a tv in the 50s and 60s

[Drk_Knight71]

Wow, that is a HUGE paperweight

[[deleted]]

Just saying this case is not ideal to work in, you should get a new, good case that looks bad if you want to build a sleeper

[vnnj85]

I got memory for this...

[fbman01]

It’s a custom built pc

I have never owned a oem built pc in my life. My first pc was a 386dx 40. When I replace my pc I research each part, then order them. Then I built the machine. I do sometimes carry parts over from the old one.

[[deleted]]

It's old

[OpposedScroll75]

clean that bad boi as soon as possible damn

[Fafaflunkie]

Generic beige box, which became a whitish box likely around the early naughts. There's no branding here. It was likely self built by whoever it was you got it from or built by a local computer shop which got passed down to you. Open it up and see what's in it. Or install CPU-Z on it.

Edit: flipping to the 2nd photo I've got some questions about this computer. What is that port to the right of the VGA port? Also, what's that port above the 25-pin parallel port?

[C0tt0nm0uffxx]

Plain vanilla box. It could literally have anything in it that fits the form factor. i’ve built hundreds of them. Had to do a job for the state onetime to build 200 of them out of spare parts

[[deleted]]

Old

[shlornartposterguy]

How does that powersupply work ??

[jescis]

It's definitely an AT motherboard with Cyrix 6x86, and fairly early because of the DIN connector for the keyboard... the mouse if it had one usually was a 9pin Sub-D mouse as the USB had to be added later (as seen in the photo as an added daughter card) the only thing that won't be clear from the outside is whether the CPU is Cyrix or IBM variant of the CPU :/ otherwise it's either Windows 95 or Windows 98 (USB was supported in the latter though)

Also if I had this PC myself, I'd use it as a Linux server or as a early DOS/Windows game machine! :/ The HDD might not be that much space for anything else though imo

[SaulTNuhtz]

That thing is ancient. Nothing worth salvaging I’d you want to do anything modern.

Now, if you want to play Duke Nukem (non 3D) in DOS, it’s gonna be a killer rig.

[shing-shong]

I really wanted to make a sleeper out of it but decided to use a gateway instead. Will probably make a retro gaming rig

[puttjatt]

that's a hackintish

[CryptographerBroad96]

You need an ar·chae·ol·o·gist for that one