   Construction of a simple computer
  Just for the sheer sport of it, I'm thinking of building a very simple, late 80s-early 90s computer composed of only the following essentials:-keyboard-mouse-monitor-single speaker-motherboard-RAM-old graphics card-old sound card-hard drive-floppy drive-homemade operating system (most likely using an existing open kernel)-anything else essential for it to run properlyI'm sure it'll be a HUGE project to undertake, but I'm young and have too much time on my hands, as well as a major nostalgia for the early 90s (even though I was only a toddler then.) Any answers, feedback, advice?   
  Haha I just built a beast like this. The video card has like 14kb memory. It has a 4gb HD, 1 speaker built into the case (which was an old IBM case from like when the Pentium Pro was released), 192 megs RAM. I origionally had an old Pentium Pro in it, later upgraded to Pentium 2, and just a couple weeks ago put in a Pentium 3 somewhere around 600ghz. The biggest pain was getting the drivers to function correctly on it, but I managed it somehow.It was probably the biggest waste of time ever, but I DID FIND A USE FOR IT! It can play Half Life 1 awesomely LOL!!   ;  And I ask, why are you building this "piece of shit"?  When you can build a fine machine that can handle most modern day apps. and games for just a little more?  My first machine I ever built was very easy to make and can run any game I've thrown at it yet with ease.  It's estimated price is about $400 new now.I recommend TigerDirect.  They have unbelieveable service with even better prices.  I've spent thousands of dollars on their website.  Very fine computer parts dealer.  And by the way, I too was young when I built my first PC.  If you need any help you can contact me at:AIM - mntlinstituteflrMSN - pcason@comcast.netEmail - pcason@comcast.net   ;  IDK about the OP, but I did it because I had the parts available (I have tons of old graphics/sound cards/ HDs/ MOBOs/ etc. stockpiled in my basement) and It's sort of a hobby of mine. I built the computer I'm currently on now, too. It's pretty decent, probably valued at like $450 or more now. Newegg has some good prices too.   ;Quote:Original post by mntlinstituteflrAnd I ask, why are you building this "piece of shit"?I think he is doing in just for fun, not for dayly use. It would be cool to construct such an ancient thing [smile]I have myself a pentium 1 pc with some ram and 2mb gfx, win 95. and it was fun to run my tetris on in, it was horrible slow but after some optimizations it was ok, and i was happy i did it work [grin]   ;Quote:Original post by coding penguinQuote:Original post by mntlinstituteflrAnd I ask, why are you building this "piece of shit"?I think he is doing in just for fun, not for dayly use. It would be cool to construct such an ancient thing [smile]True, but I don't know.  I usually use computers because I need to, not to marvel at their ancient-ness.   ;Quote:Original post by mntlinstituteflrQuote:Original post by coding penguinQuote:Original post by mntlinstituteflrAnd I ask, why are you building this "piece of shit"?I think he is doing in just for fun, not for dayly use. It would be cool to construct such an ancient thing [smile]True, but I don't know.  I usually use computers because I need to, not to marvel at their ancient-ness.I even sometimes wish that i had an old amiga, or sharp [grin]   ;  I have a few old machines. They're great.As for the OP, I'd recommend not trying to build a modern full PC initially; something that's the functional equivalent of a programmable pocket calculator will easily challenge you for months.Head up to Sparkfun or a similar site and pick up components, brush up on your soldering and get a good book on electronics. I'd like to try out what was formerly known as Essential Electronics for Software Folk, but you may opt for a more generic tome such as The Indispensable PC Hardware Guide, which assumes you know basic electronics.   