My Computer Hardware

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"Complete" Computers: retro or modern, I don't actually play a lot of games.
This is a list of ALL of my computers. Yep, all 20 of them. I have too many computers.

This list is just a basic description and specs for all of my computers. Some of the more interesting ones have pages with more about them as well.

The amount of computers around here is getting extremely overwhelming so at some point in the future I will start selling some of the lesser used systems, but here is the whole list for now. The ones in "main setups" and "other main setups" are definitley keepers since I love those machines but some others I may part with.

Updated Mar 19 2022
- updated my main pc, the e520, macbooks, media center pc
- started adding photos
- update 05/06/22 updated mainpc photos

pics click for hi res version... well some of them dont have one but ok

My Main Setups - computers that are permanantly set up

My Main PC
- CPU: Intel Core i7 4790k @ 4.20GHz
- Mobo: MSI Z97 PC MATE LGA1150
- RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4gb) DDR3-12800 1333MHz
- HDD: 500GB M.2 NVME SSD (M.2 over PCIe) w/ Windows 10, 2TB Western Digital Gold (file storage)
- Media: LG SATA DVD-RW, Samsung 3.5 Floppy Drive, SanDisk USB Multi Memory Card Reader
- Video: Nvidia GeForce GTX970 4GB
- PSU: Corsair CX600 600W 80 Bronze PSU

- Monitor: Apple Cinema Display 20 (1680x1050 @ 60hz) 20" 16:10 monitor
- Keyboard: Modded Dell Quietkey PS/2 with Gatron yellow switches and blue keycaps
- Mouse: Logitech M-BZ96C USB Mouse (most normal mouse ever)
- Speakers: Logitech Z130 speaker set

< CPU-Z Banner

pix 05/29/22: main pc in temporary case- got tired of caseless. this case sucks incredibly much (it's a weird non standard slim case- it can fit a full atx mobo, but the power supply mounts in the front?!?! it's the only full atx case that I have, other than the win98 machine case.



New Main PC that I built mostly out of cheap, second hand parts. I'm not to crazy about having all the computing power in the world, I just needed something cheap and quick to get by on, and this thing works just fine. Yes, I can feel you pissing through your screen right now, but it works just fine. I don't need an AMD Ryzen and RTX3080ti. And I like Inte-... whoops, better keep quiet.

previous pix:
05/06/22 - desk pic ( friddy wallpaper :3 )
05/06/22 - the pc itself (caseless)

Oh yeah, it has no case. Um.

Q: why is your mouse in front of your keyboard?
A: not enough desk space. same reason why the right speaker is held up by a cardboard box.


My Alternate PC (Acer Aspire Z3-705)
- It's the most embarassing thing ever.
- CPU: Intel Core i3 (5005U) @2.00 GHz
- RAM: 8GB DDR3
- HDD: 1TB Seagate
- Media: DVD-RW, 3.5 Floppy [USB], Multi Memory Card Reader [USB]
- Video: Intel HD Graphics 5500 Integrated

Also known as my old main computer, I originally got this to replace the E520 back when I was too scared to open and upgrade my own computer, cause for years grown ups were telling me that I'd break my computer if I tried to work on it. I suppose that it works OK as an internet browsing and basic work machine but not much else, but I really pushed it to its limits in the time that I used it with video editing, video games, beamng drive, minecraft, blender, robloxstudio, video rendering and all sorts of intensive tasks. But I didn't complain, I wasn't weak or spoiled like you guys are, I PLAYED those games at 10fps damngit!

It's still around and is good for viewing websites, playing videos and very very light games.

Here's what it looked like back when it was set up at my desk where my new PC is now. Second pic is its current location as the garage PC.



Also another thing, that old Compaq keyboard was kinda crap, but I used the crap out of it. When I was learning to touchtype I sharpied the rows onto the front of the keys so I knew which fingers to use on which keys (the school never taught us how to type!!!). People come over to my house and see my disaster of a computer, what do you want?

Also, I took this pic in Christmas 2021. Even though this was recent I get a lot of nostalgia from this for some reason.


The Dell Dimension E520 (my secondary PC)
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad [Q6700] @2.66 GHz
- Mobo: Dell 0WG864 Socket 775
- RAM: SK-Hynix 8GB DDR2-6400 800MHz
- HDD: ADATA 256GB SSD SATA (Windows 7 Ultimate), Kingston 256GB SSD SATA (Lubuntu w/ XFCE), Seagate Pipeline 1TB (File storage)
- Media: LG SATA DVD-RW, LG USB DVD-RW (mounted in case), 3.5 Floppy, Multi Memory Card Reader
- Video: Nvidia [EVGA] GeForce GT740 2GB SC PCIe
- PSU: Corsair CX450M 80 Bronze Modular PSU
- WiFi: ASUS PCE-N15 FAST WiFi PCIe

- Monitor: AG Neovo F419 (1280x1024 @ 75hz) 19" 5:4 monitor
- Keyboard: HP 5187-7583 PS/2 Keyboard
- Mouse: Logitech M510 USB Wireless Mouse
- Speakers: Labtec LCS-150 speaker set
- Webcam/Mic: Logitech Communicate STX USB Webcam
- Scanner: Canon CanoScan LiDE220 USB Document Scanner
- Printer: HP Photosmart A526 USB Photo Printer

yes, it has a LOT of usb ports, and it can actually power them unlike the Acer Aspire Z3-705

Also known as my old old main computer, this is probably my favourite computer for some reason. I see so many of these BTX dells being trashed because well, they are really not that good and are very limited due to the strange proprietary case, but I absolutely love this computer, and in late 2020 I was browsing around cheap eBay parts, and with around $100 I practically maxed out every single aspect of the system, and it's actually extremely usable for the base system being from 2006.
I do actually use this daily just for normal tasks like web browsing, drawing, torrenting, and even a couple games as it's fairly capable actually! I'm still very impressed with the performance of this machine and it would make great budget system. I've mostly seen limits in the CPU itself which is a Q6700, which is weaker than the i3 5005u, which sucks since it's the best CPU supported on the "motherboard".



10/16/16 : The original page about this PC

Q: what the F*CK is that font?
A: it was sort of a joke with some friends. one was complaning about "this disgusting font that white girls have on their phones" so I set it on my PC.

Q: why is there a cement pinecone on top of the case?
A: that is the power source. if you remove it, time and space will collapse.

Q: why are the drives mounted like that?
A: you are witnessing the limits of this case. other than the CPU, the case is the biggest limitation on these BTX dells in my opinion.


My Mid-2010 MacBook Pro (my laptop)
- Model: 15in Mid-2010 MacBook Pro 6,2
- CPU: Intel Core i5 @2.53GHz
- RAM: aTECH 8GB DDR3-8500
- HDD: Kingston 256GB SSD SATA (MacOS 10.13 High Sierra)
- Media: DVD-RW SuperDrive
- Video: Nvidia GeForce GT330M (non-functional)

These 2010 MacBooks are actually very usable machines today. With an SSD and 8GB of RAM, you can really get them going again. I actually use this laptop every day, and it's awesome. The Macbook Pro 15in Model Cost $1800 when it was new, and boy does it hold up today.



I would have installed Windows on this, but due to the Mid-2010 GPU failure, the system instantly crashes on Windows when the dedicated video driver is automatically installed, as there is no integrated graphics driver for Windows on this model. The only alternative to actually fixing the capacitor in the GPU switching hardware is to install a software patch which limits the GPU power. The GPU will perform poorly, but this saves you from hours of crashing troubles on this model. I paired this patch with gfxCardStatus to switch between GPUs on the fly, since I mostly use integrated.

Seen in the picture, I also later acquired a White 13in Macbook Mid-2010 from eBay for $25, it even came with a geniune charger, and 8GB of RAM, so good deal overall. As of right now, the keyboard is practically unusable, since pressing any key on the right hand side of the keyboard will type a blackslash instead of the key you pressed. It was only sometimes at first but it has deteriorated to this point.

It's in rough shape. There is a 3.5 inch long candle burn on the back of the screen that is visible on the display. It's funny how common it is to see this on laptops. There are scratch marks on the screen, drop marks on all corners, and the plastic around the ports is all cracked and falling off, but with a lot of cleaning, and a fancy orange case made it look pretty nice. I installed a 256GB SSD and Bootcamp Windows 7. I could also do Windows 10 on here if I felt like it, but I probably won't.

Other than being banged up, this thing was filthy when I got it. The previous owner had a keyboard cover on it, and I thought it was unusual that the seller had not removed it for the sale. I immediatly find out why when I peel off the keyboard cover and it's brown underneath. What the hell? Thankfully, my normal solution of soap, water and alcohol in a spray bottle + some paper towels, it cleaned up nice. For the rubber coating on the bottom, a Magic Eraser does wonders. It's had a rough life in the past, but it's safe here now, and still, it's not quite as good as the Macbook Pro, but you can still get by with it!


The Media Center PC (for testing stuff and running software, aka the VidCap PC)
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650
- Mobo: Gigabyte GA-G41MT-S2P Socket 775
- RAM: Corsair 4GB (2x2) DDR3-6400 800MHz
- HDD: 250GB Samsung 980 EVO SSD (Windows 10), 2TB WD Gold, 2TB WD Gold, 2TB Seagate Barracuda, 2TB WD BLUE
- (all 2TBs pooled into 7.4TB pool (no resiliency, backed up onto many smaller HDDs in case of failure, 2TB Toshiba backs up most important data offsite)
- Media: LG IDE DVD-RW, TssT IDE DVD-ROM
- Video: Nvidia GeForce GT430 PCIe
- WiFi: Linksys WMP54G PCI

- Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster 206BW (1680x1050 @ 75hz) 20" 16:10 monitor
- Keyboard: Compaq SK2800C PS/2 Keyboard
- Mouse: Compaq Logitech M648a PS/2 Mouse
- Speakers: Logitech S-120 speaker set


Okay, the reason for the weird HDD setup is because these are the drives I have and nothing else. They are backed up reguarly onto several other HDDs (I don't have enough 2TBs to mirror).
This is the Media Center PC, or the TV PC, because it's a PC that I use as a TV. I do actually sit back and watch some TV and Movies on here that are saved on the HDD. Just open them in VLC, fullscreen them and it's like a real TV! The keyboard stays up top and I bring the mouse down to control volume and to pause/play. The 7.4TB pool stores all of my TV shows, movies, music, videos, pictures anything that I would want to play, as well as backups of other random crap that needed a place to go, which is ALL backed up onto other stuff. I... understand the importance of backups. You learn from experience!



Q: What TV shows do you watch?
A: Brooklyn Nine Nine, Corner Gas (the NOT animated one), It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Kim's Convenience, King of The Hill, Parks & Recreation, Schitt's Creek, SCTV, South Park, The Goldbergs, The Office, The Littlest Hobo, The Red Green Show, Top Gear, and some others

Q: Why are you on Windows for a media center PC?
A: I also use this system for recording HDMI from the AverMedia card, and there are only Windows drivers so yeah :/

Q: Is that a Lenovo J Series 3000?
A: It's the case from a Lenovo J Series 3000. It had a lot of HDD bays. :D

Q: Why aren't you setting up your "raid" like this or that?
A: I don't have enough hard drives. What I do have is many small hard drives that I can throw sections of the main "raid" onto as backups.

Q: Why are you calling it a "raid"?
A: I used Windows Storage Spaces like a noob. >:(... I will get a proper RAID card later and spend hours restoring from the several backup HDDs. (mobo only has 2 PCIe slots so I will have to part with either HDMI capture or GPU, I might move HDMI cap to another PC)




- Other Main Computers - computers that I set up often


The Minecraft Machine IIx (my DOS machine)
- CPU: Intel Pentium I MMX @ 166MHz
- Mobo: Shuttle HOT-565 Socket 7
- RAM: 64MB SIMM
- HDD: 4.3GB Seagate IDE HDD [MS-DOS 6.22], 6.4GB Quantum Fireball IDE [Win98] 8.9GB Quantum Bigfoot TS IDE HDD [Win2000]
- Media: HP cd-writer 9100 CD-RW, Epson 5.25 1.2MB Floppy, Tandberg Data SCSI QIC Tape Drive, Mitsumi 3.5 1.44MB Floppy
- Video: ATI Mach64 GT PCI
- Sound: Creative SB AWE64 CT4380 ISA
- Network: D-Link DFE-530TX PCI
- Control: Adaptec AHA-2930 SCSI Controller PCI


The Windows XP Machine
- CPU: Intel Pentium 4 @ 2.8GHz
- Mobo: ASUS P4R800-VM
- RAM: 2GB DDR
- HDD: 250GB WD Caviar Blue IDE (WinXP)
- Media: TSSTcorp DVD-ROM IDE, Mitsumi 3.5 Floppy
- Video: WinFast A340 [GeForce FX5200] AGP 8x
- PSU: InWin PowerMan IW-P240L1-0 240W SFX PSU
- Sound: Creative SB Live! CT4830 PCI
- Network: ASUS PCI-G31 WiFi PCI


The Windows 98 Machine
- CPU: AMD Athlon @ 1050MHz
- Mobo: ASUS A7V133 Socket A
- RAM: 384MB SIMM
- HDD: 40GB Seagate IDE (Win98)
- Media: LG DVD-RW, Cold swap IDE HDD bay, 3.5 Floppy
- Video: Nvidia GeForce 2 MX440 AGP
- Sound: Creative SB Live! SB0100 PCI
- Network: Netgear FA310TX PCI


My ASI 486
- CPU: AMD Am486 DX4-100
- Mobo: Arvida Technology S802G v2.0 Socket 3
- RAM: 16MB SIMM
- HDD: 428MB Seagate HDD w/ Win95
- Media: Matsushita 8x CD-ROM, Samsung 5.25 1.2MB Floppy, Teac 3.5 1.44MB floppy
- Video: Cirrus Logic CL-GD5426 VLB
- Sound: Aztech Sound Galaxy Nova 16 Extra ISA
- Network: Intel EtherExpress 8/16 ISA
- Control: Winbond UN1082 Multi I/O VLB


The Windows 95 Machine
- Model: Packard Bell Legend 2440
- CPU: Intel Pentium I @ 75MHz
- Mobo: Packard Bell PB600 Socket5
- RAM: 32MB SIMM
- HDD: 1.6GB Seagate HDD (partitioned 1GB, 500MB)
- Media: Sony CD-ROM
- Video: Cirrus Logic CL-GD5440
- Sound: Packard Bell I38-MMSN831 ISA (Aztech Sound Galaxy PRO 16 II)
- Network: D-Link DE220PCT ISA




- My Other Systems - systems that are stored away

Packard Bell Multimedia F170
- CPU: Intel Pentium 166
- Mobo: unknown
- RAM: 16MB SIMM
- HDD: 2GB Seagate HDD (Win95)
- Media: 8x CD-ROM, 3.5 Floppy
- Video: Cirrus Logic
- Sound: Packard Bell SoundModem

The WinTower 486
- Model: Leading Edge WinTower 486
- CPU: Intel 486 DX2 @ 50MHz
- Mobo: Daewoo Leading Edge Board?
- RAM: 16MB SIMM
- HDD: 270MB Quantum ProDrive HDD
- Media: Creative 4x CD-ROM, 3.5 Floppy
- Video: Daewoo CPA-209 VLB
- Sound: Creative SB16 CT2770 ISA
- Control: Proprietary Multi I/O Card, Creative CD-ROM Controller

Slow Poke (my oldest computer)
- CPU: Intel 486 DX @ 33MHz
- Mobo: Elite Group UC4913 Socket 3
- RAM: 8MB SIMM
- HDD: 170MB Conner HDD
- Media: 5.25 360k Floppy, 3.5 1.44mb Floppy
- Video: Cirrus Logic CL-GD5420 ISA VGA

Dell Inspiron 6400 laptop (the current freetop)
- The Freetop: My project for a usable $0 laptop computer
- The PC: A Dell Inspiron 6400 from my friend's grandma
- CPU: Core 2 Duo T2400
- RAM: 4GB DDR2 from my bin of memory
- HDD: 100GB from a smashed laptop I found on the side of the road
- OS: Lubuntu
- Price: $0

Dell Latitude C600 laptop (my first old computer)
- My first retro computer. I bought it on craigslist for $40 in 2014.
- CPU: Pentium III @ 750MHz
- RAM: 384MB (odd amount that I pulled out of the Armada M700
- HDD: 8GB with Windows 98

Compaq Presario 1610
- I found this at a thrift store for $10.
- I don't have a power adapter to test it, but it seems like a very nice retro Win95 laptop.



- Non Functional Systems - laptops that don't work, or I don't know if they work

Compaq Armada M700
- I found this in a very disassembled state in a pile of computer stuff.
- I don't have a power adapter to test it, but most of the vital components are still there.

Lenovo G575 laptop (my old old main PC)
- Specs: I don't remember
- HDD: 500GB Windows 7. I still have the drive, and booted it on the e520 with Acronis Universal Restore

Toshiba Satellite A100 laptop (the old freetop)
- Similar specs to the new freetop, but this laptop had a lot of problems...



My Past Systems - systems that have been parted out or parted with

(*specs at the time of retirement, all have been parted out)

Dell Dimension 3000 w/ dual IDE sleds (the old ide imaging machine) PARTED OUT
- CPU: Intel Pentium 4 @ I forget
- RAM: 1GB DDR
- HDD: 30GB WD w/ Windows XP home
- Media: none
- PSU: Whatever spare was in the closet when I needed to use it

The old IDE imaging machine. I used this to connect IDE drives to image them over the network.
I also used it was the Windows XP machine, until I built a new, much better one. (the new one even has an AGP slot!)

Celeron Custom Build (trashpicked celeron with bad caps mobo) PARTED OUT
- CPU: Intel Celeron @ 1GHz
- RAM: 256MB DIMM
- HDD: 80GB WD w/ Windows XP Home
- Media: LG DVD-ROM, Samsung 1.44MB floppy
- PSU: Sunny Tech 200W ATX
- Other: SMC Ethernet Card PCI

Trashpicked custom celeron machine that I found. Mobo was toast. All the caps were exploded, and that board was not worth repairing at all. It was a Scoket 370 ASUS board, similar to the one in the old Win98 machine (ASUS TUSI-M). Just another 370 with a Celeron and no AGP slot. Parted out the system. Got rid of the mobo and case. The case was alright. Kinda wish I'd kept it. Oh well.

Dell Dimension 3100 (trashpicked dell to part out) PARTED OUT
- Trashpicked Dell Machine. Thing was rusted and covered in grass and water and stuff.
- CPU: Pentium 4... not sure what type
- RAM: 1GB DDR2
- HDD: 80GB Seagate SATA w/ Windows XP Home
- PSU: non-functional Dell original
- Other: ASUS PCI WiFi Card

This thing was not worth my time. Not even sure why I brought it home, let alone even touched it.
It actually uses the same case as my Dell Dimension E520, but in black.
I kept the front panel, so if I swap it with my E520, I could get a cool 2 tone look or something.

~ more from dvd3000.ca ~
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