I had this 486 tower for some years now. However I finally got around to upgrading it with a Sound Blaster 16 along with a full cleaning and retrobrite. She even boots up her original Windows 3.1 install!
Posted by -Techromancer-@reddit | retrobattlestations | View on Reddit | 21 comments
This Hewitt Rand is sporting a 50MHz 486 DX2. The CPU is highly unusual as the 66MHz quickly took over, leaving this an oddball that was top of the line for a couple months then out right discontinued.
The 66MHz model would see use for years by OEMs well into the Pentium era as a low cost option. The 50MHz one I have lived in a very small window in time.
It's fully loaded with 8 single megabyte 30 pin SIMMs for memory.
As mentioned in the title, I have installed a Sound Blaster 16. This is my only addition to this computer.
Storage is provided by a 210MB Maxtor HDD which was made before the Maxtor dark ages and continues to happily drum along with its original Windows 3.1 install 33 years on.
3.5in and 5.25 floppy drives round out the drives, both of which have been cleaned and greased.
A classic Trident 8900D provides VGA output with a whopping 1 megabyte of video memory.
A dial up modem is also original to the system. Overall this PC represents what was once a top of the line clone desktop in 1992 when it was built.
I hope you guys enjoy the post :3
juluss@reddit
What's the third 3.5in drive ? Is it a zip drive ?
trr94001@reddit
Top one is a 3.5” dusk drive. The other two are dummies.
-Techromancer-@reddit (OP)
You guys are onto me lol. I wonder why it was a fad to use fake floppy drive blanks. Its glorious though
HotCharlie@reddit
Hewitt Rand, bro. That’s pure sex.
JJDoes1tAll@reddit
First time seeing dummies used
splitfinity@reddit
You had this EXACT same post up 1 year ago. Exact same title and everything.
You didn’t finally get around to upgrading it. You just got around to reposting.
Go away Boy
-Techromancer-@reddit (OP)
Just tryin to rebuild my new account. Im not sure why my old acc got banned as reddit’s appeal system is completely AI now and does not give any explanations.
I already made posts about most of my collection and I really wanna share it with people and keep some of the more interesting info I learned on the web forever.
I guess I could move everything back out from storage and rotate through new photoshoots but Id essentially be making the same post anyways.
For example my favourite tid bit was learning about the DX-2 50MHz and how that basically died instantly. Then later I learned about the plain DX-50 with no multiplier which is madness.
I do have new projects I wanna share but I am waiting on the weather to make retrobriting possible along with other stuff I need to do so I can get my other systems running.
I got a Hyperion, IBM 350 PC, some cool old laptops and a bunch of other stuff in the works.
sa547ph@reddit
As long as you do not respond to anything political or controversial, given current circumstances in the US.
-Techromancer-@reddit (OP)
Fair enough. I think I remember your replies on my older acc too actually. Am not a bot though lol. I just don’t know how else to go about posting my collection again.
My dms are open too if you wanna ask about anything or have any other lingering doubts.
splitfinity@reddit
Keep up the good work! Glad you restored this beast! Looks good. Sorry for disparaging your name.
-Techromancer-@reddit (OP)
No worries. in hindsight I could mention in the title but idk if the reddit AI overlords would strike me down if I tried lol
splitfinity@reddit
Tbf, I only realized it was a repost because I googled the company name on the tower and your post from a year ago was one of the top hits
andrewbean90@reddit
Now all you need is a period correct CD-ROM drive.
EvilMenDie@reddit
Oh you plugged in a sound card and everyone claps meanwhile that kid put a floppy drive in and got made fun of? I love this community!
-Techromancer-@reddit (OP)
Some people can be rats. I saw that post and cant see how anyone could hate on someone experiencing retro tech for the first time
Calm_Apartment1968@reddit
Awesome, but get with the times dude, Windows98 all the way!
Actually Win 3.11 was good enough, but amazing you've got one of these which is still in working shape!
Besides that, Soundblaster was the the bomb.
-Techromancer-@reddit (OP)
Im actually working on the ultimate Windows 98 PC hehe. Dual Voodoo IIs, Pentium 4, two sound cards for max compatibility etc
majestic_ubertrout@reddit
SLI is fun but a single Voodoo 3 has about the same performance and really good video output.
Beware that not all Win 9x hardware and software plays well with P4 clock speeds.
-Techromancer-@reddit (OP)
I actually got an ATI Radeon X800 planned for anything not using Glide. The SLI setup beyond looking cool is also useful since its only a passthrough unless I want to play glide games
jack_from_the_past@reddit
I love that case
-Techromancer-@reddit (OP)
The tower of power! I forgot to mention in the title but the PC was rescued from ewaste. Not by myself but by someone who found it at their company’s ewaste department. It’s a shame there are people who see such awesome looking machines as trash.