After three off the shelf gaming pcs I finally copped on and started building my own rigs. My first was an Athlon 64 X2 build in 2006. I think I played half-life 2 and Doom 3 on that pc. It wasn't a bad pc, but the Core2Duo and 8800gtx I upgraded to the following year blew my socks off.
Weekend Open Forum: What was your first-ever PC build?
- Thread starter Polycount
- Start date
This.
My first PC was a 386 clone which I upgraded to a 486. Then got an awesome Compaq Pentium 133 system that was very top end, I later upgraded that to an AMD K6 CPU. But my first true PC build from scratch was a Celeron 300A overclocked to 450 since day one. From what I recall I coupled that with a Matrox graphics card that ran Unreal 1 decently which was quite the feat at the time.
My first PC build was constructed around an Intel 233MHz MMx CPU and an Abit AX5 motherboard. I used it primarily for gaming but also for watching movies on DVD and writing.
Last edited:
Celeron 333A(still hate the salesperson who convince me to take that cpu over the 300A), BX motherboard,64MB RAM, 6GB Hard Disk, I think, CDRW, SiS 6326 graphics card, AOC 15'' monitor. Sounblaster audio card. A huge upgrade over the Mega STe I was still enjoying until 1998.
After using Amiga computers for a number of years, I decided to build a pc, just for the fun of it. my pc comprised of : Amd k5 p120 cpu, viatech apollo socket 7 mobo, 4mb memory, cirrus logic 2d graphics card, Orchid righteous 3d pass through graphics card, Aztech sound galaxy pro 16 soundcard, 512mb hard drive( either a Quantum or Fujitsu hdd) with the beta version of windows 95 ! - at somepoint I added an analogue tv card with teletext. as well as using my computer for gaming, I set it up as a pvr recorder way before the onset of set top boxes, I actually had an idea of building a pc just for recording tv programmes, little did I realise that the Tv digital recorders (PVR or Set top box) would become mainstream in years to come.
SantistaUSA
Posts: 123 +62
Oh man I don't quite remember my whole configuration but my first build from scratch was back in 2003 with AMD 2500+ Atlhon and Geforce fx 5200 which I used to play world of Warcraft 2, Quake, Doom etc, before that I've always upgraded the computers I've bought on my own but since 2003 I build everything from scratch! Just a great feeling!
My current rig
i7 7700k
PNY GTX 1060 6GB
16GB DDR4
Claro Sound card
several SSD and HDD
My current rig
i7 7700k
PNY GTX 1060 6GB
16GB DDR4
Claro Sound card
several SSD and HDD
Last edited:
wiyosaya
Posts: 9,760 +9,644
I built quite a few Heathkits myself in that time frame, but not their computers. It was quite fun. Did you ever take the computer to the service department at the store?
I did not list a computer that I built - which was my first ever computer - because I thought the article was asking for PC builds. The very first "computer" I had was a Sinclair ZX-80 that I built from a kit that cost $99.00 at the time in, 1980 or so. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX80 It had a membrane keyboard, used an RF-modulator for TV channel 3 output, had a whopping 2K of RAM, a built-in BASIC interpreter, and a port that let you save programs to a cassette tape recorder. The screen flickered every time you pressed a key. Sinclair later released the ZX-81 which got rid of the problem, and kits to modify the ZX80 so that it no longer did that. I bought one of those and it worked like a charm. You could also buy a 16K memory expansion for them which I later bought. You could actually do a fair amount of stuff with them, but about the only thing that I remember is playing around with Z80 machine language on it.
Those were the days. IMO, it is amazing how far computer technology has come.
wiyosaya
Posts: 9,760 +9,644
I love it, too. Except for a laptop each for my wife and I, I have never bought a PC pre-built, and probably never will.
Danny101
Posts: 2,035 +842
My dad gave me a 386 IBM clone. I replaced the motherboard with a 486 board and installed an AMD 486 DX-80 (later with a DX-120. I played Doom (1 and 2), Wolfenstein, Hexen, X-Wing, Panzer General, and later Myst when I upgraded it to Windows 95. It had 8 MB of ram, 1.2 GB WD hard drive, Plextor CD drive and a Trident SVGA video card in it's final configuration. It was built in 94 and was still working in 1999 when I gave it to a friend for his kids. I regret that move since I still love those games and it would be good for the kids in my family. The next system was a pre-made eMachine in 1999. That was the last pre-made I bought. I built two AMD based systems since.
First build was in 2004. I don't remember some parts correctly, but it had the following specs:
Celeron 2.4 GHz
512MB DDR2700 RAM
VIA Motherboard
40GB IDE HDD
Sapphire Radeon 960Pro 256MB, AGP
Sony DVD-RW Drive
19" CRT Monitor
This was for playing Far Cry, Doom 3 and Half-Life 2.
Celeron 2.4 GHz
512MB DDR2700 RAM
VIA Motherboard
40GB IDE HDD
Sapphire Radeon 960Pro 256MB, AGP
Sony DVD-RW Drive
19" CRT Monitor
This was for playing Far Cry, Doom 3 and Half-Life 2.
I think that the previous PC I built for my sister was the only one I ever built where I put together everything from scratch. Usually I just upgrade stuff. It might result in a complete (or almost complete) PC replacement over time (for example in my Phenom system, where I upgraded the CPU, then replaced motherboard+RAM, then replaced the case; I even remember switching motherboard+CPU under Windows 95 OSR2, and the PC continuing to work without reinstall), but I think that this particular aforementioned PC was the only one where I took all separate parts and put them together into one PC. That was about 4 years ago.
If you're interested in the spec, it was an AM2 board with 2x2GB DDR2, Athlon II X2 240 and Radeon 4650 for graphics.
If you're interested in the spec, it was an AM2 board with 2x2GB DDR2, Athlon II X2 240 and Radeon 4650 for graphics.
~2005/2006 I bought and assembled Sempron 3000+ s.939 on Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI, with 2x512MB of DDR1 GoodRam memory, with Gigabyte GV-NX66T256DE, replaced some year later with Galaxy GF 7900 GS Zalman, overclocked from the box to awesome speeds of 640/1800, solid stable, yet died pretty quickly, warranty replaced by GVNX96T512H (this one working in my younger brother's PC till this day - 9YEARS!!!). HDD was HD160JJ from Samsung, also died pretty quickly, warranty replaced by WD2500KS. All of this served by reliable ModeCom MC-350 and enclosed in some dirt cheap PC case.
Tgard
Posts: 99 +37
486 DX4 100 @ 1994-ish if I remember correctly was my first full build. I kept the harddrive, cdrom and soundcard from my 386DX 40 which I had upgraded a couple times. I still remember making levels for Warcraft: Orcs and having so many exploding sheep that my computer would bog down - or maybe that was Warcraft II. Anyways the DX4 100 seriously speeded me up.
I remember still using 5 1/4 floppies when that 3.5 inch floppy was kinda new, and when harddrives were measured in MBs instead of GBs. I also still remember paying $200+ for a 5 Gb Harddrive when it was the cutting edge. Yes I am old.
I remember still using 5 1/4 floppies when that 3.5 inch floppy was kinda new, and when harddrives were measured in MBs instead of GBs. I also still remember paying $200+ for a 5 Gb Harddrive when it was the cutting edge. Yes I am old.
Recently built my first PC. Ryzen 5 1500x, Auraflow 240L RGB Liquid Cooling, 16GB of Corsair Vengeance LPX RAM at 2666mHZ, an EVGA GTX 1060 6GB, all on an MSI B350 Artic Tomahawk. Storage is a Western Digital 1TB Blue HDD and a 500w EVGA bronze rated PSU, all housed in the budget af Aerocool 500. I'm thinking of getting a modular PSU and an SSD during the Black Friday sales.
Kris95
Posts: 15 +18
My first PC build was around 1999, following my first PC, a Compaq Presario. I hated that the Compaq couldn't be upgraded at all. Everything was proprietary, crammed into a tiny case, then when OS/2 Warp 4 would not even install on it I had enough and sold it vowing to never buy another OEM PC again and I haven't. My first PC build was a Pentium II 450, 256MB RAM, and an nVidia Riva TNT2 Ultra using an ASUS P3B-F motherboard and some generic beige case I bought. I also bought a Viewsonic 17" CRT and an IBM Model M keyboard which I'm still typing on at this very moment almost 20 years later.
MarkHughes
Posts: 341 +345
I think it was something like a 75mhz 486 ? I want to say 16MB of ram ? Pretty sure I put Windows 95 on it from something like 15 install floppies.
I forget the details as I was still using an Amiga for everything and it was aaaaages ago...
I forget the details as I was still using an Amiga for everything and it was aaaaages ago...
Pennywise69
Posts: 20 +3
TheBigT42
Posts: 792 +866
1st X86 PC Build
Intel 8088 running at 10 Mhz
640K Ram
RLL 30 Meg Seagate HD
1.2 Meg 5.24 Floppy
1.44 Meg 3.5 Floppy
12 inch VGA with .20 dot pitch
Running Dos 3.30
Intel 8088 running at 10 Mhz
640K Ram
RLL 30 Meg Seagate HD
1.2 Meg 5.24 Floppy
1.44 Meg 3.5 Floppy
12 inch VGA with .20 dot pitch
Running Dos 3.30
Similar threads
