Oldest rig that's still running, or still CAN run

K15 · 01-08-06, 04:03 AM

Just wondering who here has the oldest "working" computer (by working, there are no hardware failures, or none that would make the computer useless).
Asking mostly due to curiosity's sake, and wondering if the rig I just built will last until 2016.
Oldest running computer we have is a Pentium 166, 32MB RAM, Win 95, 6x CD-ROM, 2MB video card (or maybe 1MB, it's a PCI card, as far as I know), 1.2GB WD hard drive. The hardware was put in that case in 1996. In 10 years of off/on as well as 24/7 use, that drive STILL runs like it did when it was new. It's not even that loud.
I uninstalled all unnecesary things, so after boot, there is 1 or 2 processes running and the memory is about 90-95% free

It has an old ethernet card and it connects to the internet just fine. I think I put IE 5 on it. It can do basic stuff very nicely. Browsing the web is about as quick as it is on my rig. Though it can't do anything that I would find useful (any media work would be useless, a 1.2GB drive is TINY). Though I could always put a newer drive in it (16.6MB/s IDE haha

My aunt is using the computer now (daily, like I said, it's on 24/7 I think).
I hope she keeps it until something fails (most likely the HDD). The PSU already failed in 1999 or so. It's weird to browse the web and stuff on such an old computer.

_slh_ · 01-08-06, 05:10 AM

Ive got a zx81 thats still working. Doesnt get much older than that.

ghettocomp · 01-08-06, 05:13 AM

and the winner is:
_slh_
I havent seen one of those in a very long time.

Gnufsh · 01-08-06, 10:25 AM

My old school still has a bunch of Apple II Es that they use for stuff.

dfonda · 01-08-06, 12:34 PM

Packard Bell 166 powerleaped to a 233mhtz only goes back to 96 but still runs perfect. Upgraded everything in it except the MB.

K15 · 01-08-06, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by _slh_

Ive got a zx81 thats still working. Doesnt get much older than that.

Haha, I had to look that up. Never seen/heard of them. Then again, they were out 7 years before I was born

I have to suffer using my 5 year old rig, P3 600mhz @ 690mhz. 512MB ram. It wouldn't be THAT bad, but I have to use a Seagate U Series 5 drive

HD Tach tells me it has 19.7ms access, giving it a 14ms seek!

andyl33t · 01-08-06, 01:19 PM

damn a zx81!

Schalldampfer · 01-08-06, 03:10 PM

Haha... what the heck are zx81's? I've not heard of them.

Soichiro · 01-08-06, 03:12 PM

http://www.honneamise.u-net.com/zx81/

That, apparantly. o_o; That is old...

lowfat · 01-08-06, 03:12 PM

HP pentium 166 MMX @ 200

castroman · 01-08-06, 03:57 PM

I have one of the older IBM PS / Notes with windows 3.1 lol great for playing chips challenge

It's the one with out the rubber node on the keyboard for moving the mouse

Audioaficionado · 01-08-06, 04:25 PM

Just my trusty 486DX2/66 and Pentium PRo 200 duallie.

deRusett · 01-08-06, 04:36 PM

Took a Panasonic Desktop Personal Work Station appart about 2 years ago that was working no problems,

Proprietary OS, which was upgraded in January of 1981, Which it told you at every boot.

640K Hard drive, stock, dual 5-1/4" floppies. don't remember many other details, oh Mono crome Green 13" Monitor. I'm sure it would still be working had I needed the space, but I could not install anything on it, and Tetris was more fun on my Nintendo.

Schalldampfer · 01-08-06, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soichiro

http://www.honneamise.u-net.com/zx81/

That, apparantly. o_o; That is old...

Oh wow... I'm at a loss of words...

_slh_ · 01-08-06, 05:28 PM

Thats the one. Its got a massive 1k of RAM, but Ive got the 16k expanison for that. Although, as was always the case with the zx81, unless you plug it in then secure it with tape or something, the slightest knock to the table its sitting on will cause it to crash. Still have the tape deck and games as well. I still have a 48k spectrum in the loft as well, in full working order. The one with the rubber keyboard.

Wiggles · 01-08-06, 08:31 PM

My parents have a 486dx (I think 50MHz) that still runs. Of course, It hasn't been ran in a while, but I plugged her up about 2 months ago, and it started right up.

My oldest computer is my P2 400MHz that I'm using right now. It's not really old, but it's lasted me longer than I ever thought it would (got it back in 1998).

SuperFarStucker · 01-08-06, 09:41 PM

I have a pentium II 233 on active duty as a traffic shaper/firewall. Works like a champ although its guts have been upgraded to a more modern 128 MiB CF card with a parallel ata adapter

I reckon it nearly cut the boot time in half! Too bad it never needs to be rebooted.

aeiou · 01-08-06, 10:24 PM

we have a p pro 180 dually sitting around..... I works mostly, although I've gutted some of the components out, so I'd have to fix that. My parents used it with windows 98 (on a dually..... smack!) for quite a whil until it just got too slow.

Audioaficionado · 01-08-06, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aeiou

we have a p pro 180 dually sitting around..... I works mostly, although I've gutted some of the components out, so I'd have to fix that. My parents used it with windows 98 (on a dually..... smack!) for quite awhile until it just got too slow.

That's what I had to do with my PPro200. I couldn't afford to pay the extra $600 for a second processor and $100 more for NT4. So I ended up with one processor and 95b for over $3k and that lasted for over 5 years. Then upgraded to 98lite for awhile. I eventually got a second processor and VRM module for $50. Finally I got an original w2kpro gold edition holograph disk with the legit key for $70 from a guy I met online. However the first SMP OS that computer ever ran on was Knoppix Linux live CD.

OkydOky · 01-08-06, 10:59 PM

I have a Pentium3 650 Running.
I am currently working on making an original Pentium @ 200MHZ to work.

01-08-06, 04:03 AM	Thread Starter #1
K15 Member Join Date: Nov 2005	Oldest rig that's still running, or still CAN run Just wondering who here has the oldest "working" computer (by working, there are no hardware failures, or none that would make the computer useless). Asking mostly due to curiosity's sake, and wondering if the rig I just built will last until 2016. Oldest running computer we have is a Pentium 166, 32MB RAM, Win 95, 6x CD-ROM, 2MB video card (or maybe 1MB, it's a PCI card, as far as I know), 1.2GB WD hard drive. The hardware was put in that case in 1996. In 10 years of off/on as well as 24/7 use, that drive STILL runs like it did when it was new. It's not even that loud. I uninstalled all unnecesary things, so after boot, there is 1 or 2 processes running and the memory is about 90-95% free It has an old ethernet card and it connects to the internet just fine. I think I put IE 5 on it. It can do basic stuff very nicely. Browsing the web is about as quick as it is on my rig. Though it can't do anything that I would find useful (any media work would be useless, a 1.2GB drive is TINY). Though I could always put a newer drive in it (16.6MB/s IDE haha My aunt is using the computer now (daily, like I said, it's on 24/7 I think). I hope she keeps it until something fails (most likely the HDD). The PSU already failed in 1999 or so. It's weird to browse the web and stuff on such an old computer. __________________ <CPU>AMD A64 3700+ 2.2ghz San Diego \| <Motherboard>Asus A8N5X \| <Case>Cooler Master Centurion 530 \| <PSU>Antec TPll 380 watt \| <Hard drive>Seagate 7200.9 SATA2 160GB \| <RAM>1GB Kingmax DDR400 PC3200 \| <Video card>Cheap ATI X300 PCI E16 (save money)
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01-08-06, 05:10 AM	#2
_slh_ Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Sheffield, UK	Ive got a zx81 thats still working. Doesnt get much older than that. __________________ - Toshiba Satellite Pro C660 --- Xbox 360 - - Sony PSP Phat ---Nintendo DS Mk1 - - Samsung Galaxy s3 --- Samsung Galaxy Tab -
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01-08-06, 05:13 AM	#3
ghettocomp Master of teh Ghetto Mods Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Choosing between two evils, I might pick the one I've never tried before.	and the winner is: _slh_ I havent seen one of those in a very long time. __________________ I find that most people are like Slinkies.. They are not really good for anything, but can still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs. :P
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01-08-06, 10:25 AM	#4
Gnufsh Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: June Lake, California	My old school still has a bunch of Apple II Es that they use for stuff. __________________ Lost access to the classifieds? Look here. Forum Policies Sig Rules "Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened." -Sir Winston Churchill
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01-08-06, 12:34 PM	#5
dfonda Senior Member Premium Member #16 Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: PA N. of Splat W. of Torin	Packard Bell 166 powerleaped to a 233mhtz only goes back to 96 but still runs perfect. Upgraded everything in it except the MB. __________________ #1Win7Rosetta2600k@4.5GHZ(Hyper212+)Msi P67 G65 16GB RAM evga560Ti #2UbuntuSMP BA 4P 6128's on a SuperMicro Phones:GNexus, Nexus 4, Galaxy S2(PGNexusROM), iphone5 Folding for Tim and his wife, Mark and his wife,Pete_Scout Oldskool and Adak
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Oldest rig that's still running, or still CAN run

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01-08-06, 01:19 PM	#7
andyl33t Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: U.K	damn a zx81!
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01-08-06, 03:10 PM	#8
Schalldampfer Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Under a ceiling.	Haha... what the heck are zx81's? I've not heard of them.
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01-08-06, 03:12 PM	#9
Soichiro Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Indianapolis	http://www.honneamise.u-net.com/zx81/ That, apparantly. o_o; That is old... __________________ Heatware ~~ "Recent studies show that guys who fold for team32 get more girls." - sno.lcn Shindou: AMD Phenom II X4 @ 3.6 Ghz, 8GB G.Skill DDR3-1333, 3.5TB Total Storage, eVGA Geforce 460GT 768MB Railgun (RDP): AMD Athlon 64 X2 @ 2.0 Ghz, 4GB RAM, 1TB Total Storage
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01-08-06, 03:12 PM	#10
lowfat Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: stoon, sask, can	HP pentium 166 MMX @ 200 __________________ Intel Core 2 Duo E6600. Gigabyte GA-P35-DQ6. 4GB Crucial PC2-8000. eVGA 8800GTS 320 Superclocked. Cooler Master Stacker 830. OCZ GameXStream 700W. DTek Fuzion + Weapon 302 Heatercore + AquaXtreme 50Z. JVC RX6042, Soundstage Center 5 + Surrounds, Athena A1-B1s. 3D06-11115 3D05-19593 3D03-37303 3D01-61781
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01-08-06, 03:57 PM	#11
castroman Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Cortland, NY	I have one of the older IBM PS / Notes with windows 3.1 lol great for playing chips challenge It's the one with out the rubber node on the keyboard for moving the mouse __________________ The-Computron Specs: CPU: Intel Core I7 920 Stock Heat Sink: Corsair H70 Mobo: EVGA X58 FTW3 1366 Intel RAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) GPU: XFX GX-275X-ADQF GeForce GTX 275 Case: Corsair Graphite Series 600T PSU: Silverstone ST1000-P 1000W OS: Windows 7 x64 Professional
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01-08-06, 04:25 PM	#12
Audioaficionado Super Moderator Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Medford, Orygun	Just my trusty 486DX2/66 and Pentium PRo 200 duallie. __________________ .....................................My Heatware MyFAH Stats .......................Folding is a marathon, not a sprint © audioaficionado Asus Commando, 8GB GSkill 5-5-5-15-2t PC6400, Q6600 @3.0GHz >SMP2+GPU3 FAH 24/7 Gigabyte DS3, 3GB GSkill 5-5-5-15-2t PC6400, E6400 @3.0GHz Asus P5Q PRO Turbo, 4GB GSkill 5-5-5-15-2t PC6400, E6600 @3.0GHz Iwill DH800, 2GB OCZ4002048PFDC-K 2.5-3-3-8-1t, Dual 2.4 M0 Xeons 1.5v/880/3300 Help improve overclockers.com! Get involved! You have over 101 posts and Can't see the classifieds???Click This Link Anyone we catch cookie stuffing at this site will be banned on the spot!!
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01-08-06, 04:36 PM	#13
deRusett Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Midland, Ontario	Took a Panasonic Desktop Personal Work Station appart about 2 years ago that was working no problems, Proprietary OS, which was upgraded in January of 1981, Which it told you at every boot. 640K Hard drive, stock, dual 5-1/4" floppies. don't remember many other details, oh Mono crome Green 13" Monitor. I'm sure it would still be working had I needed the space, but I could not install anything on it, and Tetris was more fun on my Nintendo. __________________ Success is.. At age 4 .... success is .... not peeing in your pants. At age 12 .... success is .... having friends. At age 17 .... success is .... having a driving licence. At age 20 .... success is .... having sex. At age 35 .... success is .... having money. At age 50 .... success is .... having money. At age 60 .... success is .... having sex. At age 70 .... success is .... having a driving licence. At age 75 .... success is .... having friends. At age 80 .... success is .... not peeing in your pants At Any Age ... success is ... Folding for Team 32
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01-08-06, 05:28 PM	#15
_slh_ Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Sheffield, UK	Thats the one. Its got a massive 1k of RAM, but Ive got the 16k expanison for that. Although, as was always the case with the zx81, unless you plug it in then secure it with tape or something, the slightest knock to the table its sitting on will cause it to crash. Still have the tape deck and games as well. I still have a 48k spectrum in the loft as well, in full working order. The one with the rubber keyboard. __________________ - Toshiba Satellite Pro C660 --- Xbox 360 - - Sony PSP Phat ---Nintendo DS Mk1 - - Samsung Galaxy s3 --- Samsung Galaxy Tab -
	QUOTE Thanks

01-08-06, 08:31 PM	#16
Wiggles Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Sanford, NC	My parents have a 486dx (I think 50MHz) that still runs. Of course, It hasn't been ran in a while, but I plugged her up about 2 months ago, and it started right up. My oldest computer is my P2 400MHz that I'm using right now. It's not really old, but it's lasted me longer than I ever thought it would (got it back in 1998).
	QUOTE Thanks

01-08-06, 09:41 PM	#17
SuperFarStucker Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Seattle, WA	I have a pentium II 233 on active duty as a traffic shaper/firewall. Works like a champ although its guts have been upgraded to a more modern 128 MiB CF card with a parallel ata adapter I reckon it nearly cut the boot time in half! Too bad it never needs to be rebooted.
	QUOTE Thanks

01-08-06, 10:24 PM	#18
aeiou Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Madison, WI	we have a p pro 180 dually sitting around..... I works mostly, although I've gutted some of the components out, so I'd have to fix that. My parents used it with windows 98 (on a dually..... smack!) for quite a whil until it just got too slow. __________________ 20" iMac 2.4Ghz C2D 4GB ram
	QUOTE Thanks

01-08-06, 10:59 PM	#20
OkydOky Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Calgary, AB, Canada	I have a Pentium3 650 Running. I am currently working on making an original Pentium @ 200MHZ to work.
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