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In this thread we show the first build (PC) that we have made.

OverHeat

« generous god »
I would like to see what yours first build look like…just to show everyone that it’s not that hard. Share some pics guys.
 

OverHeat

« generous god »
2020
FcnRlns.jpg
 
Technically my first gaming PC was a shitty eMachines that I had when I was like 7. First actual gaming machine was some hodgepodge of parts without a side panel because it would shut down with it on.

I actually have no pictures of any of my builds besides the one that is currently next to me.
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
You think we were wasting the film, the time to go get it developed, then waiting a couple of weeks to go pick up our pictures of our non-descript beige boxes?
God damn I am old.
Anyway they all looked like this:
fssc7eobhhob.jpg
 
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kruis

Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
This is the oldest photo of one of my computer setups I could find. February 2001. Note the PS1 games and stacks of CDs. I also had some kind of 3D glasses that I don't think I ever used.

xoGvCA2.jpg


That was not the first computer I ever owned. That was a second hand Olivetti M290 PC AT I bought from a rather shady seller in the late eighties.


product-95147.jpg
 
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analog_future

Resident Crybaby
No pics from 1998 :(

Me neither, unfortunately.

I remember using a dremel to cut a hole in the side of my old Antec case, then bought some plexiglass and rubber tubing to fit a window into it lol.

It's crazy how much things have changed since then. PC building, and everythat goes with it, is a whole damn industry nowadays.
 
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OverHeat

« generous god »
This is the oldest photo of one of my computer setups I could find. February 2001. Note the PS1 games and stacks of CDs. I also had some kind of 3D glasses that I don't think I ever used.

xoGvCA2.jpg
That look dope!!! Old school FTW
 
too long ago :messenger_crying:
pretty sure the first one i ever built had an amd k6 III 433mhz cpu and voodoo3 3000 pci gpu.

current build (one RAM stick was just for boot testing)
kWM4DDl.jpg
 

Papa_Wisdom

Member
CYr0oH4.jpg


Well I plugged it in so I guess it counts

I have built my own pc’s before but the last one was a core 2 duo so we’re going back a fair while now.
 
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Buggy Loop

Member
No pics from 1998 :(

My mother bought from a store our first computer, a 386, so I can't claim its my first build, even though back then you had to freaking open books to change the jumpers for things to work, was wild thinking about it now.

First real build was with 3dFX Voodoo 1, early 1997, with an ATI mach 2D card.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I built my first PC in 1991. I got a 286 motherboard, 20MB HDD, 2MB of RAM, and a 14 inch CRT monitor! Unfortunately, I had failed to budget for a computer case like an idiot, so this computer ran for several months with the motherboard just sitting on top of the box it came in.
 

DGrayson

Mod Team and Bat Team
Staff Member
I built my first PC in 1991. I got a 286 motherboard, 20MB HDD, 2MB of RAM, and a 14 inch CRT monitor! Unfortunately, I had failed to budget for a computer case like an idiot, so this computer ran for several months with the motherboard just sitting on top of the box it came in.


With all these open air cases now you were ahead of your time.
 

Papa_Wisdom

Member
I actually won one of my first ever pc’s can’t remember the specs of it but it was around the time of quake 3 and unreal tournament.

We had a small lan centre in our Morrison’s supermarket. You became a member then it was like a pound an hour to play. And for every hour you got a ticket with the opportunity of winning one of the same spec pc’s that we were gaming on at the place.

Every first Sunday of the month was a free to play day so that’s the only time me and my mates used to really spend a lot of time there.

Anyway I went to get my sister a birthday card and went in to see the guy who offered me a line of ticket stubs for £2 so I bought some thinking I wouldn’t win.

Anyway a couple of weeks later the draw was made and I won. Some of the guys had literally 100s of tickets and spent hours there getting them on the hopes they would win and I had like 5 that I had just paid for.

I wish I knew the specs now for it but at the time it was top of the range.
 
I don't think any pictures exist from my first PC build but if they did, they'd be on film and in an album that's stuck in the attic somewhere.

Just picture a mid 90's beige PC tower case and you have it.
 

PaintTinJr

Member
I built my first PC in 1991. I got a 286 motherboard, 20MB HDD, 2MB of RAM, and a 14 inch CRT monitor! Unfortunately, I had failed to budget for a computer case like an idiot, so this computer ran for several months with the motherboard just sitting on top of the box it came in.
Mine was a year or two before that IIRC, built from unused parts from where my Dad worked. The PC had similar specs, except for having a case, two 5.25" FDDs, and a 3.5" FDD, 1MB less RAM, a similarly small Miniscribe HDD, a EGA CRT monitor on long term loan, and a SVGA 256KB Orchid video card I bought at a computer auction hosted at a school 30miles away for £50. My Dad winning the auction for the card got very nervous when they asked him how many of the 20x cards he wanted.

I also had an AdLib soundcard which got some good support in games, and the card supported an old analogy PC joystick through the midi port. I had mouse, that came with a dos paint package with a wireframe bitmap image of the NASA shuttle, and I eventually used DR DoS with Windows ver 2.0 or Concurrent Dos, which I had access to.
 
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S0ULZB0URNE

Member
No pics from 1998 :(
^This right here.
Even though technically speaking my 1st build was 99...
I did have a taste in 98 by upgrading my intel 266mhz to 333,my ram to 64mb and my onboard software rendering to a Voodoo 2-then added another in SLI- 😎


Memories
 
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Fermbiz

Gold Member
I booked marked this thread because I wanted look for some old pics of my first PC builds.

This is my first PC that I've put together. This maybe around 2003 I believe. The wiring was a horrible mess but it was my 1st pride and joy. Also, this is the 1st lan party I attended. I bought the special protective carry straps for my rig and monitor. Man that monitor weighed a ton.

uHWSQxt.jpg


pZMb5cv.jpg


My second build was in a Cooler Master case. After going to a few lan parties, and seeing how others wire managed their rigs, I made this clean bad boy. I even attached a cigarette car lighter in the CD bay. Used it whenever I felt like lighting up a fat doobie.

rkKEVML.jpg
8uSJe8g.jpg


Been many many years since I built a PC, but this is my current rig I built Jan 2023.

youAVIO.jpg


AR3UOGl.jpg
 

Topher

Gold Member
You think we were wasting the film, the time to go get it developed, then waiting a couple of weeks to go pick up our pictures of our non-descript beige boxes?
God damn I am old.
Anyway they all looked like this:
fssc7eobhhob.jpg

Holy shit. I had that exact case.
 

kruis

Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
T5attUm.jpg
9tE11xg.jpeg
7GnFZfW.jpeg
8ygtpKO.jpg
1uBbMis.jpeg

Does this count as an early personal computer build? 🤷‍♂️

Nice! Amiga 1200 with 68030 expansion. (y)

I got an Amiga 500 at launch in '87 and added a 80MB SCSI/RAM expansion a few years later, but when the A1200 launched I had already switched over to PC and never replaced my trusty old A500. I had friends with a A3000 and A4000 and those experiences ruined the A1200 for me. The A1200 was not enough of an upgrade but the A4000 was far, far too expensive. So I waited. And when 18 months later Commodore went bankrupt in April 1994 it was more or less over.
 

dolabla

Member
Best gaming decision in a long time when I built my first pc last year. It was very fun putting it together. I look forward to building another one.

eZlQ9Y0.jpg
 
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