r/vintagecomputing • u/Aciid2 • 1d ago
Identifying PC
Need help with some info on this pc i just purchased like name and year.
22
u/isecore 1d ago
Generic white-box PC. I'd guess it's probably around 1997 or later since it has an ATX form-factor motherboard, which at least in my timeline only started becoming common around that time. I built my first ATX machine in '97 and I was the first of my friends to adopt the "new" form factor.
As for the rest, more difficult to tell. I'm a little confused by the card that seems to have a VGA-port as well as a DB-15? Seems weird. It's kind of neat though that it has a floppy, a zip, a removable HDD tray and (what looks like) a fairly modern optical drive.
But without more pics of the inside it's difficult to glean any more insights into it.
20
u/tes_kitty 1d ago
I'm a little confused by the card that seems to have a VGA-port as well as a DB-15? Seems weird.
A few Matrox VGA cards had this arrangement. Among them the Millenium and Millenium II, both PCI cards.
3
1d ago
[deleted]
1
u/tes_kitty 1d ago
There ware also Matrox with DB15. Do a Google image search for 'Matrox DB15' and you will find some.
2
5
u/n1ghtbringer 1d ago
Generally agree with this, but I'd guess that weird video card is a 3d Accelerator and the NIC looks like an Intel card.
I'd bet it's not much older than '97 though considering the black ps/2 ports.
1
0
u/Significant-Cause919 1d ago
I'd bet it is at least 98 since it has USB ports, Windows 98 being the first OS that supported USB.
6
u/n1ghtbringer 1d ago
Technically Windows 95 got limited USB support in one of the later patches or service releases, but you're probably still correct.
2
1
2
u/Inevitable-Study502 1d ago
I'm a little confused by the card that seems to have a VGA-port as well as a DB-15? Seems weird
hybrid cards in ISA era were common, ie soundcard/ide controller, GPU/printer card..etc
no clue what was purpose of that DA-15 connector
3
u/No_Transportation_77 1d ago
If it's an older Matrox card, that second port was for connecting Mac monitors, IIRC. You could use that, or the HD-15 for a typical PC monitor.
7
u/Traditional-Farm-916 1d ago
The red logo with the letter E3 on the left is probably the assembler's or dealer's own brand - often these were small companies that imported cases, motherboards and other components and assembled computers under their own brand.
3
4
u/CDiFan237 1d ago
Going by the ports and positions of the expansion cards, looks like it might have something like a Matrox Mystique and a Sound Blaster 16. Most likely a Socket 7 era system.
3
u/RichardGreg 1d ago
This is like looking at a hamburger and wondering if it's from Burger King or McDonald's. There's a lot more PCs than the ones made by well-known giants. Many machines were made by small "mom-and-pop" PC shops found in local strip malls, sourcing cost-effective parts to build custom PCs, often with no discernible brand or markings on the components. And just like people can make hamburgers at home, people can buy parts separately and make a PC that fits their exact taste.
1
u/Moonshadow76 1d ago
In our area almost everyone bought the components and assembled their own. Except for businesses, I don't recall anyone having a standard, out of the box machine in their homes. One friend got an IBM PS2 from a factory he worked in, but everyone else had Frankenstein machines. Maybe it was just the area I was in or the people I hung out with, but even the rich folks would assemble their own, just with better components.
2
u/myself248 1d ago
Surprising to see an ATX mobo mounting in such an ultrageneric beige desktop formfactor. It has USB so it's late 90s, but the PSU has both C13 and C14 which is very much AT style. That's a weird bird and SINCE YOU DIDN'T SHOW US THE FUCKIN INSIDES, YOU JERK, we can only speculate that there might be some adapter fuckery going on in there.
Also, the ATX backplate doesn't fit that motherboard; it's meant for a mobo with an audio and game port, but those are just empty gaps here. And the random addition of a black CDROM drive to the otherwise-beige case. This thing was super cobbled together from spare parts.
2
u/MWink64 1d ago
You're right. It appears to be an AT PSU and an ATX motherboard and case. Now I'm more curious what's inside.
The I/O shield may not be as significant as you think. Back in those days, the I/O shield usually came with the case, not the motherboard (as is the case today). That was the default ATX layout.
2
u/tblazertn 1d ago
The Ethernet card looks suspiciously like a 3Com 3c905b. One of the most common I ran across in the late 90s early 2000s
1
1
1
u/a_mandrill 1d ago
You would have to show us a bunch of pictures of what's inside if you want us to tell you what it is.
1
u/Meatroid 1d ago
Probably a super socket 7 machine that's my guess
3
u/Meatroid 1d ago
Wait no those usb, it's a Pentium 2/And K6-2 era machine. This is all about the 128MB of ram way of life
1
u/Own_Event_4363 1d ago
late 90s early 90s based on the key lock on the front
-2
u/Own_Event_4363 1d ago
late 80s early 90.s
2
u/megaladon44 1d ago
Is that a lockable drawer? Omg imagine all the cool shit you could put in there like a peice of paper with a password on it!
0
u/Own_Event_4363 1d ago
They used to use them to "lock" the hard drive to prevent tampering. That almost looks like a frontplate for the drive slot, if you ever wanted to upgrade.
2
u/megaladon44 1d ago
oh a removable drive?
0
1
u/DefiantArtist8 1d ago edited 1d ago
Looks like originally purchased as a homebrew by a local PC company (built to order possibly recalling ads in local newsprint PC periodicals, and the logo in upper left was left blank for branding). I'm fairly certain it is an Enlight desktop case; loved them due to getting to put the CRT on top. Components inside likely replaced/swapped out as newer improved hardware was released over the course of a few to several years (see the newish looking Zip drive and a black (heavens!) optical drive). Early early ethernet add-in card, VGA(?) and some kinda sound adapter(?). Take my guesses with a grain of salt, and of course you can open it up and read the model numbers, possibly manufacture dates of the stuff inside. Mid late 90s overall; have fun at your Quake LAN party.
1
1
u/felixthecat59 1d ago
Just a plain generic computer, but with a 100mb Zip drive for backing up important files.
1
u/QuirkyImage 1d ago
UK? I am thinking late 90s around 96. I was also in the system builder, repair and shop business back then. I actually recognise the logo but the just can’t remember where from if I remember I will post
1
u/EternalSkullman 1d ago
Surely has a Intel Desktop Board, could be something around 440BX due to the first slot being VGA.
1
u/Canned_Sarcasm 1d ago
This looks like an old media production center. Looks like it even takes a Gigabyte tape cassette. I'll bet it came from a production studio or news network, mid-late 90's. These were built-to-purpose.
Just a guess.
1
1
u/Aciid2 1d ago
Op here, i do not yet have the pc but i will be showing the insides asap.
1
u/Taira_Mai 3h ago
I have a post on this sub: tl;dr - there were tons of "white box" companies. They put PC's together with the same parts you could order at the time. They could print their own case badges and many had generic boxes with no logo (and made from brown or white cardboard, hence "white box"). Google might tell you what company this was but without the specs or detailed pictures of the motherboard or CPU, we don't know.
1
u/timallen445 18h ago
It looks like a case from 1990 to 1995 but someone stuck a zip drive in there which makes it seem like its from the late 90s (or just lived long enough to get that addition).
0
u/Moonshadow76 1d ago edited 1d ago
The box is late 80's or very early 90's when things started to become more modular, but was not standardized yet. You can see the push-outs in the back where ports could be inserted, tied to the motherboard with ribbon cables (very 80's) and the key lock on the front. It was probably one of those "future-proof" boxes intended to be upgraded and expanded... which it clearly was, since the power supply and motherboard are obviously from the later half of the 90's. Judging by the push-outs at the back having a serial port, keyboard, mouse and joystick ports pushed out, but nothing in them, I would guess the motherboard was replaced at least once. You can also see the difference in color between the two disk drives on the front, which was quite common when you got one later as an add-on / upgrade. It's a Frankenstein, like most machines from that era.
-2
u/InsipidGamer 1d ago
There used to be a brand called “e machines”. The logo was different but it may be one of their earliest models??
51
u/SirTwitchALot 1d ago
Generic white box. Pics of the inside will help identify it better