My first rig specs to today

[FragFailure]

The comparison from my first rig built back in 1999 to my current one built in April of 2011. Yes, I played TFC on that hunk of crapola.

1999

OS: Win '98 (BSOD! At least I didn't bother with Vista.)
Browser: Netscape....
Proc: The infamous SL2W8. This was the pentium 2 that could be overclocked from 300mhz to 450mhz! Technology!
Memory: Bad...
Vid Card: Voodoo Banshee. There was nothing better than having to download a different driver for each and every game.
Hard Drive: A smokin' 40gb WD.
Monitor: 15" deep box of doom. The thing weighed more than my old bass amp.

2013 (built in early 2011)

OS: Win 7 (64 bit)
Browser: Google Chrome
Proc: Phenom II 1090XT Black Edition
Memory: 16GB GSkill Ripjaws
Vid Card: EVGA GTX 560 TI
Hard Drive: A couple of 1TB's, an external 1TB and a 3TB
Monitor: Viewsonic 23" LED HD

We won't even get into camera technology, no iphones, no media players and the brand spanking new thing in cdr's.

Technology is your friend.

[NerevarineKing]

The first computer I ever used (around 2000) was:
OS: Windows '98
Browser: AOL (dial-up)
Proc: 400 MHz Intel Celeron
Memory: 32 MB
HD: 4.3 GB
Vid Card: 4 MB AGP

My new rig (Built a moth ago):
OS: Win 7 (64 bit)
Browser: Google Chrome
Proc: Intel i5 3.1GHZ
RAM: 8GB G. Skill Ripjaws
Vid Card: ATI Radeon HD 5750
HD: 1 TB
Monitor: Dell 18.5"

[black_and_blue]

The first computer I ever used (Mid 1980s)

Model: Commodore VIC-20
OS: Commodore BASIC 2.0
RAM: 5 Kb
Keyboard type : Full-stroke keyboard, 4 function keys, 66 keys, Full cursor control.
Processor : MOS 6502A
Clock: 1.0227 MHz
Video: Screen: 22 columns by 23 rows. Character dot matrix: 8 by 8 or 8 by 16 (User programmable). Screen dot matrix: 176 by 184 with up to 16 colors.
Colour Palette: 16
Sound: 3 voices plus white noise.
Interfaces: Cartridge Port; two joystick ports; composite video output; serial bus connector for floppy disk drive, printer, or other peripherals
Power supply: External Power Supply

Come on, surely someone here can admit to having used something older than that!

[NerevarineKing]

Come on, surely someone here can admit to having used something older than that!

Extra points if it uses vacuum tubes!

[Gizanked]

The first computer I ever used (Mid 1980s)

I'm from the mid 80's

[Dog]

The first computer I ever used (around 1980) was:
Sinclair ZX80
OS: Sinclair BASIC/Z80 Assembly language
Browser: None
Proc: Zilog Z80
Memory: 1kB - yes...one kilobyte
HD: None - it had a cassette drive
Vid Card: erm...it had black and white and plugged into the TV
I had to solder the damned thing together because it was UKP50 cheaper....

My Alienware M14X (a year old, now):
OS: Win 8 (64 bit)
Browser: Google Chrome
Proc: Intel i7
RAM: 8GB
Vid Card: GT555M
HD: 750 Gb
Monitor: 1600x900 laptop screen

Actually, the first computer I ever saw was an Apple I - but all I could do was gawk as they wouldn't let me near it.

[Will T.]

First computer I got to use for my own purposes was an Apple II. No idea on the specs as it's in the basement and rather inaccessible at the moment.


First comp with a proper OS was a Compaq something-or-other in the early 2000s. Again no idea on the specs as it's long gone. It had a nasty old CRT though, and ran Windows ME.


First comp that I actually played games on (although not very much) is from 2005, and is still here and hooked up. Specs:

HP Pavilion tower (system won't give me any more info on model name...)
15" HP flatscreen monitor, 1024x768 resolution (from that time when flatscreens weren't quite CRTs, but weren't quite thin or lightweight either)
WinXP Home SP3
Mozilla Firefox was my main browser, but I put Chrome on it a few months back as I was cleaning it up
30GB HDD (later added a second 300GB HDD)
1GB RAM
Intel 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV GPU (no idea what that all is supposed to mean, that's just what the Device Manager calls it)
Intel Celeron 2.53GHz CPU


Current comp, which I'm looking to upgrade by the end of 2013 as it hasn't aged well (one corner of the case is held shut with electrical tape ):

HP Pavilion dv7 laptop
17" laptop screen, 1600x900 resolution
Win7 Home Premium
Google Chrome browser
600GB HDD
8GB RAM
ATI Radeon 6370M GPU
Intel Core i5 2.67GHz CPU

[bluntspoon]

First computer was a microbee.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroBee

8kb ROM, 2MHz CPU, Cassette Tape to store programs.

I am old.

[Clay Pigeon]

My first PC: mid 90s
OS: Dos 5.0, eventually upgraded to win 95
Browser: What's that? That's like AOL, right?
Proc: IBM 486DX2-100S
Vid Card: a trident 2d card
Hard Drive: 120MB, 500MB + 500MB
Monitor: 15" CRT
pots modem: don't remember, but it got 33.6Kbaud

2013 (built in fall 2011)

tower:
OS: Win 7 (64 bit pro)
Browser: Firefox whatever version number its up to this week
Proc: Intel Sandybridge i5 2500k
Memory: 8GB Corsair
Vid Card: EVGA GTX 570 superclocked
Hard Drive: 1 1TB caviar black, 2x 2 TB caviar green, assorted externals
Monitor: Asus PA246q 24.1" WUXGA (1920x1200) P-IPS panel

laptop purchased in summer 2011
Asus K53TA
os: win 7 64 bit home premium
Browser: firefox
APU: AMD A6-3400m
Ram: 8GB samsung
discrete GPU: amd 6650m
hard drive: 500gb 5400rpm laptop drive
display: crappy 16:9 1366x768 tn panel

[Boss Llama]

My first home computer was:

Zenith 1000 (1984)
OS: MS-DOS
Internet: No such thing
Proc: 8088 @ 5MHz
Memory: 64k of RAM
Vid Card: No such thing
Hard Drive: No HDD - ran entirely on 5.25" disks
Monitor: 13" amber

Excluding laptops, it was followed by:

Gateway 2000 (1990)
OS: Win 3.1
Internet: Service was through Prodigy on a 2.4 modem (I later upgraded it to a 33.6). Had to manually launch TCP-IP and activate the dialer using seperate programs, before opening a browser.
Proc: 486 SX @ 25MHz
Memory: 1 MB RAM (I later upgraded it to 4 MB - the system maximum)
Vid Card: None
Hard Drive: 120 MB
Monitor: 15"

Compaq Presario (~1993 - I know the least about this one)
OS: Win 3.1 with Tabworks GUI
Internet: 33.6 modem
Proc: 486 DX2 @ 66HMz
Memory: 4 MB (I think)
Vid Card: None
Hard Drive: Don't recall, but I think it was probably in the 500MB range.
Monitor: 15"

Micron (1997)
OS: Windows '95
Internet: 56.6 modem (later upgraded to cable)
Proc: Pentium 166-MMX
Memory: 16 MB
Vid Card: A 1 MB stand-alone GPU - how I begged my father to get this!
Hard Drive: 1.1 GB
Monitor: 17"

Dell (2000) (Later just a custom build)
OS: Windows ME (later Windows 2000 Pro)
Internet: "High Speed" (My college system - Cable when I was at home)
Proc: P2 450MHz - later upgraded to a P3 800 iirc (with new MOBO). Later again a P4 3.4MHz (with another new MOBO)
Memory: 32MB, later upgraded to 128 (with new MOBO). Later a lot more (with another new MOBO)
Vid Card: Numerous. Started with a 16MB voodoo, went through a GeForce4 Ti4800, an FX 5600, and finally a GeForce 6800
Hard Drive: 40GB (upgraded repeatedly, ended with something around 100GB I think)
Monitor: 17"

Custom (starting 2006, but current specs given - in service as backup PC)
OS: Win 7 Home
Internet: Cable
Proc: Core2 Duo Wolfdale 8400
Memory: 8GB
Vid Card: 8800 GT
Hard Drive: 1 TB
Monitor: 24" widescreen

Custom (starting 2010, but current specs given - in service as primary PC)
OS: Win 7 Pro
Internet: Cable
Proc: Core i7 960
Memory: 24 GB
Vid Card: GTX 470
Hard Drive: 4+ TB on 5 drives
Monitor: 24" widescreen

Custom (starting 2011, in service as HTPC)
OS: Win 7 Home
Internet: Cable
Proc: AMB Phenom2 X4 840
Memory: 4 GB
Vid Card: GTS 450
Hard Drive: 500 GB
Monitor: Attached to my TV

[Checkm8]

My first home computer was:

Zenith 1000 (1984)
OS: MS-DOS
Internet: No such thing
Proc: 8088 @ 5MHz
Memory: 64k of RAM
Vid Card: No such thing
Hard Drive: No HDD - ran entirely on 5.25" disks
Monitor: 13" amber

Excluding laptops, it was followed by:

Gateway 2000 (1990)
OS: Win 3.1
Internet: Service was through Prodigy on a 2.4 modem (I later upgraded it to a 33.6). Had to manually launch TCP-IP and activate the dialer using seperate programs, before opening a browser.
Proc: 486 SX @ 25MHz
Memory: 1 MB RAM (I later upgraded it to 4 MB - the system maximum)
Vid Card: None
Hard Drive: 120 MB
Monitor: 15"

Compaq Presario (~1993 - I know the least about this one)
OS: Win 3.1 with Tabworks GUI
Internet: 33.6 modem
Proc: 486 DX2 @ 66HMz
Memory: 4 MB (I think)
Vid Card: None
Hard Drive: Don't recall, but I think it was probably in the 500MB range.
Monitor: 15"

Micron (1997)
OS: Windows '95
Internet: 56.6 modem (later upgraded to cable)
Proc: Pentium 166-MMX
Memory: 16 MB
Vid Card: A 1 MB stand-alone GPU - how I begged my father to get this!
Hard Drive: 1.1 GB
Monitor: 17"

Dell (2000) (Later just a custom build)
OS: Windows ME (later Windows 2000 Pro)
Internet: "High Speed" (My college system - Cable when I was at home)
Proc: P2 450MHz - later upgraded to a P3 800 iirc (with new MOBO). Later again a P4 3.4MHz (with another new MOBO)
Memory: 32MB, later upgraded to 128 (with new MOBO). Later a lot more (with another new MOBO)
Vid Card: Numerous. Started with a 16MB voodoo, went through a GeForce4 Ti4800, an FX 5600, and finally a GeForce 6800
Hard Drive: 40GB (upgraded repeatedly, ended with something around 100GB I think)
Monitor: 17"

Custom (starting 2006, but current specs given - in service as backup PC)
OS: Win 7 Home
Internet: Cable
Proc: Core2 Duo Wolfdale 8400
Memory: 8GB
Vid Card: 8800 GT
Hard Drive: 1 TB
Monitor: 24" widescreen

Custom (starting 2010, but current specs given - in service as primary PC)
OS: Win 7 Pro
Internet: Cable
Proc: Core i7 960
Memory: 24 GB
Vid Card: GTX 470
Hard Drive: 4+ TB on 5 drives
Monitor: 24" widescreen

Custom (starting 2011, in service as HTPC)
OS: Win 7 Home
Internet: Cable
Proc: AMB Phenom2 X4 840
Memory: 4 GB
Vid Card: GTS 450
Hard Drive: 500 GB
Monitor: Attached to my TV

Someone gets around. My first computer wasn't a computer at all. I think it was a tamagotchi or something. My family couldn't afford one until like 2002 and that was a hunk of crapola compaq presario something.

[Zork Nemesis]

I don't even know to be honest. Not counting my parents' old computer (an old HP, had Windows 3.1) my first computer is sitting next to me on the floor. It's still in working order, however it's mostly unplugged and hasn't been powered in at least two years. Lets see if I can glean some information from the stickers on the front.

I think I got the computer in 2004; I trace this date back to the Chains of Promathia expansion for Final Fantasy XI, which is about when I started to play the game myself, though I myself did not pick up the expansion for a few months after it was out. This is also pretty close to the first time I started playing City of Heroes, which I date my first play of that back to Halloween 2004.

It's a Dell machine.
OS: Windows XP SP2 by the time I stopped using it; it didn't start with SP2, but it had XP the whole time.
Browser: Internet Explorer 8 and an earlier version of Firefox
Processor: Sticker says Pentium 4.
Memory: I want to say it has 4GB, but I'm not entirely certain without opening it up for a look
Video Card: ATI Radeon X-700 Sapphire. Best PCI-slot video card available for the time, however it was prone to overheating. I had to replace it at least once and had to install an extra fan just to keep it under control.
Hard Drive: I don't know. It had two (not partitions, I put a larger extra drive in the thing), I think one was an 80GB, which I reserved for the operating system, while there was a 160GB loaded for everything else.
Monitor: 19" flatscreen monitor, not HD but it didn't take up a whole lot of space. Default resolution was 1024x768

My second computer was an HP Laptop, picked it up in 2008 as my reward for graduating from US Navy Basic Training. Was barely able to afford it with the money I made from those two months. I suspect I may have been ripped off a bit on it in terms of price, but I got a good amount of mileage out of it, I sold it to my brother, and the laptop recently quit after four years of good use. Suspect the motherboard just up and failed, or something.

OS: Windows Vista 64 bit
Browser: Firefox and IE8, refused to upgrade to 9 while I had it
Processor: Can't remember, Intel-something.
Memory: Thinking 4GB again.
Video Card: Can't remember, had no problems running TF2 or any of the other games I used it for though. I think it was an ATI card.
Hard Drive: 320GB total, partitioned into three sections, an 80GB OS drive, 220GB for files, and a 20GB factory recovery partition.
Monitor: unsure of the size, want to say the default resolution on it was 1440x990.

My current machine is an ASUS Republic of Gamers laptop. Bought it on NewEgg for a good deal back in 2010 and still going strong.

OS: Windows 7 64 bit
Browser: Google Chrome. IE9 is installed but generally unused.
Processor: Intel Core-i7
Memory: It came packaged with 4GB. When I opened it up to replace the DVD burner with a Blu-Ray burner, I found two empty memory slots. A trip to my brother's house, and my laptop currently has 8GB ram.
Video Card: NVidia GeForce GTS360M, another high end card for it's time
Hard Drive: 500GB (technically only 465GB, 1GB is actually 1024MB, the 500 doesn't account for the extra 24s) partitioned into 3 again, 120GB for OS, 320 for data, and i'm guessing a 20GB partition for factory recovery, but it looks to be blank. Also connected is a 1TB external drive which is used for mostly extra storage and backup.
Monitor: Not sure of the dimensions, default resolution is 1920x1080 though.

Planning on building a new computer in the coming months, going back to a traditional tower. Primary reason I've been on laptops is because I was in the Navy, and was expecting to travel a lot. Since i'm no longer in the Navy, hauling my computer around is no longer an issue.

[Mortis462]

The first computer I ever used was and Apple IIe:
OS: 2 I think?
Browser: N/A
Proc: 1.023 MHz
Memory: 64 KB
HD: N/A to speak of
Vid Card: Nope

First computer I actually used at home was and Acer.
OS: DOS then Win3.1 then Win95
Browser: Compuserve/AOL
Proc: 486/66 DX
Memory: 2MB I think
HD: 500MB then a 2GB
Vid Card: Don't remember

First computer I purchased was a Dell in 1998(also still my most expensive computer to date)
OS: Win98
Browser: AOL
Proc: 400MHz Pentium 2
Memory: 1GB
HD: I think 120GB
Vid Card: 16MB VooDoo2
Monitor 15" CRT Dell

Way too many computers to list here in the middle

My new rig (Built in Sept 2012):
OS: Win 7 (64 bit)
Browser: Google Chrome
Proc: Intel i7 3770k 3.5GHZ
RAM: 16GB G. Skill Ripjaws
Vid Card: GTX760 2GB OC edition
HD: 240GB SSD for OS and programs, 120GB SSD for Steam, 2x 2TB drives one for storage one for backup
Monitor: ASUS 24"

[black_and_blue]

Not counting my parents' old computer

I think your parent's computer counts, unless you never used it. The vic 20 that was the first computer that I ever used certainly didn't belong to me individually.

[Zork Nemesis]

Not counting my parents' old computer

I think your parent's computer counts, unless you never used it. The vic 20 that was the first computer that I ever used certainly didn't belong to me individually.

Hardly remember anything about that computer besides the fact that it had Windows 3.1, and Chip's Challenge. I was too young.