Before you read any further, this is a historic computer. Many of the modern conveniences or expectations you have from modern PCs are simply not here. There is no USB, and it is very limited in the resolutions it can use. This computer will not be able to play games released after 1998, and is not capable of hardware-accelerated 3D. You should be knowledgeable with computers of this era or highly motivated to learn before purchasing this.
A mixture of brand-new and expertly refurbished used parts. My classic computers are a little more special than the others you see here on . Mine come with new and refreshed versions of their old operating systems, and come loaded with lots of fun games and useful software.
I think you will agree that my standard of cleanliness and presentation are a touch above.
I have been building PCs for the last 23 years and have built over 300 computers in my career. I used computers like these back when they were new and relevant and have intimate knowledge and experience of how they work.
This computer:
is another fascinating piece of computer history I've been able to bring back to life. Mid-90's, Clinton administration Packard-Bell desktop format PC. 32-Bit PCI was new at the time and I used it's single PCI port to install an ATA card to bypass it's extremely restrictive BIOS which has a hard drive size limit of 1GB. I've installed an 80GB drive manufactured in 2005.
-It originally came with a 100Mhz Pentium 1 but I had a 133Mhz model in stock which I replaced it with. New thermal paste applied.
-It had only 16MB of RAM when found, I expanded this to 80MB.
-Added ISA Ethernet card
-Added Yamaha OPL3-Sax ISA Sound Card (works in REALMODE)
-Replaced original CD-ROM and Floppy Drive with working models.
-Laboriously treated several areas of rust with steel and brass brushes, these are visible as dark areas on the metal frame.
-Carefully bent (and hammered) several warped areas of the metal frame to make them straight again.
-Soaped and scrubbed all plastic down vigorously to make it as clean as possible.
-Completely disassembled entire system and case and deep cleaned *everything*, including the PSU, all caps checked.
-Added Brand-New Blue LED 80mm Intake fan
-Be advised this computer has a maximum resolution of 1024x768.
Windows 98 installed with the 98lite modification which removes the slow internet explorer-based Win98 explorer shell and replaces it with the shell from Windows 95, which is much faster on an older system like this.
ATX LEGACY COLLECTION 98 SE lite-Intel Pentium CPU @133Mhz-90MB SIMM RAM-80GB Hitachi Deskstar IDE HDD-S3 Trio 64 GPU-Yamaha OPL3-Sax ISA Audio Card w/ Gameport-3COM ISA Ethernet Card-CD-ROM Drive-Floppy Disk Drive
A huge wealth of pre-installed games with no CDs required to play. (see WILL NEED:
-A computer monitor with a VGA connection. I recommend older square-aspect models. I do not recommend using a TV even if it has a VGA port. I do not recommend using a VGA converter of any kind.
-A PS/2 port mouse and/or keyboard will be needed to log on to Windows 98 for the first time. USB peripherals do work with Windows 98 but you will need a PS/2 model to log in for the first time. You can also use a serial mouse. I do not recommend using a PS/2 converter of any kind.
If you need a PS/2 mouse and/or keyboard I sometimes have these to include, just leave me a message with My computers are only guaranteed to work as they are. That means with the operating system and hardware that they came with. I make no guarantee, written or implied, that this PC will be compatible with any piece of hardware or software other than what is included at purchase unless otherwise stated.
Please do not blame my PC if a CD-ROM that has been on a shelf for 20+ years is not reading. CDs were not made to last for decades and they decay and become less readable over time. This goes double for floppy disks. Many if not all of the computer games from the 90's and 00's are freely available on the internet archive. Mounting CD images is a much better and more reliable way to install old games.
SIMS 2 NOTE: This game does not run well on any computer. I've had several of my powerful XP machines returned over the years because of poor performance in Sims 2. This is simply a poorly programmed game with bad optimization that will run with bad framerates on literally any computer. I'm sorry!
^^^INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS, YOU NEED TO CONTACT ME BEFORE PURCHASE, YOU NEED TO READ THE ABOVE TEXT.^^^
If you intend to use this PC to run an old industrial machine, software, or interface with expansion cards YOU NEED TO CONTACT ME BEFORE PURCHASE.