NationStates Jolt Archive

So how fast was the processor in your first computer?

A mighty 4MHz in my case, but I grew up with a 1.77MHz machine.

We've come a long way.

We got our first computer in 1992; I know for certain it was an Intel 80386 which means it was probably a 30-40 MHz processor given the relatively late age of the 386 at the time.

3.25 MHz.

But more impressively, mine only had 1kB of RAM.

The mighty, mighty, Sinclair ZX81. It actually turned off its display during calculations to speed up processing.

My personal first processors were the Zerom Z80 and the Motorola 68000 that came with the Sega Genesis. I've only recently started playing around with them, and they're neat little things.

An Intel 80486, running at 66mhz.

I think I still have it stowed away in the garage somewhere. Not quite as old as some of the machines mentioned so far, but I'd hardly call her new. :)

I really don't remember.

A 486dx. Or was it mx?

Well, mine as in not my parents, is a 1.8GHz Dual-Core Opteron. But if you count my parents computers too (which is plausable, I've been the admin since I was 13), it would be an Intel 80386 @ 33MHz (IIRC).

My family had an Acorn Electron (I have no idea what that has in it), and our first PC was an 8086 running at just under 10MHz.
The first one I bought myself was a PII 300.

All I know is that it was a Commodore 128/64

Whatever they put into the old Tandy TSR80.

It was the most advanced PC of its time.

It could only be started in DOS mode, so my parents had to keep busy typing C:\>so-and-so. It had a total speed of something like 3.3MHz. It had a built-in floppy drive and something like 24kb of RAM.

Those were the good old days, apparently. I don't know. I rather like my 1.5GHz capability myself.

Whatever they put into the old Tandy TSR80.

Zilog running at 1.77MHz - it was the one I mentioned in the first post.

Zilog running at 1.77MHz - it was the one I mentioned in the first post.

I learn a new thing every day. Thanx.

*You know we just outed ourselves as geezers, right?:D *

All I remember is that it was an 8088 with a Hercules monochrome monitor and a 5 1/4" disk drive. And that was it, no hard drive.

All I remember is that it was an 8088 with a Hercules monochrome monitor and a 5 1/4" disk drive. And that was it, no hard drive.

Disk drive? Disk drive? We used to dream of disk drives. We had to encode all t'data onto strips of magnetic tape which were transfered from one spool to another by a cunning mechanical device. We were technologically poor, but we were technologically happy.

The first computer I owned was an Oric-1 48K. This had a 6502 processor so it ran at somewhere between 1 and 2 Mhz. Exactly what in this case I don't remember. But it was quick at the time.

The next machine was an XT whgich more than doubled the speed to a magnificent 4.77 MHz.

An Intel 8088. No, I did not mean 8086.

All I remember is that it was an 8088 with a Hercules monochrome monitor and a 5 1/4" disk drive. And that was it, no hard drive.
Ha! Ours had an EGA graphics board and monitor! Also a 3.5" FDD and a 10 meg - yes, MEGABYTE - hard disk!

Ha! Ours had an EGA graphics board and monitor! Also a 3.5" FDD and a 10 meg - yes, MEGABYTE - hard disk!

Luxury!

Luxury!
I know!

We never managed to fill that disk. Sigh... Can't say that about modern hard drives...

So how fast was the processor in your first computer?

A mighty 4MHz in my case, but I grew up with a 1.77MHz machine.

We've come a long way.


My first computer was an 8088 with a 20Mg hard drive.
The scary thing -- I think it's still in the garage.

No, it was a TI-99/4a computer/game console. How could I have forgotten? http://www.99er.net/

A 486DX2 with 4mb of ram and a 128mb hard disk. It completely lollerpwned.

Excluding my Commodore 64 console which I don't call a computer :D

Intel 8088 in an XT clone.

Every since - 286 16Mhz with maths co-processor, Athon64 3200+ (current), Pentium 75Mhz mobile (current), Pentium 4 1.7Ghz mobile (current), AMD K6-2 350Mhz, Pentium 133, Pentium 200

grew up with 386's and 486's (the staff of the company accross the hall all came in to gawp when we got the first one of those :p), but at home the first one i remember was a Pentium (one) 90 Mhz

first computer i had myself was 133 Mhz


first computer i built myself was 1.7 Ghz


ah... memories :)

First processor was a Celeron 733MHz thingy. I think.

grew up with 386's and 486's (the staff of the company accross the hall all came in to gawp when we got the first one of those :p), but at home the first one i remember was a Pentium (one) 90 Mhz

first computer i had myself was 133 Mhz


first computer i built myself was 1.7 Ghz


ah... memories :)

Hehe, just upgraded the RAM on my P4 1.7Ghz laptops from 256MB (2.5.-3-3-6) to 512Mb (2.0-3-3-6). I also have a collection of RAM chips ...

http://www.romaone.it/immagini/QuiRoma/04/intelevision.jpg

this thing...

Then I had an 8086 with a 5 1/4 disk drive and an Hercules Monochrome screen, in amber tones.

I also have a collection of RAM chips ...
lol! i used to steal old ones in ICT class in school and carry them round as nerdy little mementos.... or something. actually, not sure why i did that, but it was cool at the time! :p

We used to have a Spectrum with cassettes. I still remember the whirling and crashing noise it made as it loaded up.

My first personal computer was a 386, although I have no idea about its specs. I remember my later 486 computer had an 80Meg harddrive, which seemed like loads at the time.

An Intel 80486, running at 66mhz.

I think I still have it stowed away in the garage somewhere. Not quite as old as some of the machines mentioned so far, but I'd hardly call her new. :)

Second time we've had something in common.

Although, the first computer in my house was a 286.

We had some old Apple with two to disk drives where one served as a sort of hard disk.

Well, the first computer my family actually owned was a 100mhz 486 - fast for a 486, it was an "overdrive" model, or something. That was in '93....I think. I can't remember the exact model number (I could dig out the old manuals, but eh), but it was pretty state-of-the-art for the time.

But before that, I used to tinker around with an old 386 or something that my dad had repatriated from his work. I used to play Elite and Starglider on it. Fond memories :p And before that, I vaguely remember a monochrome screened thingy.

Well, the first computer my family actually owned was a 100mhz 486 - fast for a 486, it was an "overdrive" model, or something. That was in '93....I think. I can't remember the exact model number (I could dig out the old manuals, but eh), but it was pretty state-of-the-art for the time.
I remember some old office 486's that had a big button on the front marked 'turbo' that, when pressed, did absolutely nothing. At least not that I could see. And, even if they did work, I always wondered why not just leave it in that setting anyway?

Well, the first computer my family actually owned was a 100mhz 486 - fast for a 486, it was an "overdrive" model, or something. That was in '93....I think. I can't remember the exact model number (I could dig out the old manuals, but eh), but it was pretty state-of-the-art for the time.

But before that, I used to tinker around with an old 386 or something that my dad had repatriated from his work. I used to play Elite and Starglider on it. Fond memories :p And before that, I vaguely remember a monochrome screened thingy.

Oh those overpriced Overdrive Intels? I've got magazine saying the 486 100Mhz was the "fastest computer ever". These days instead of overdrive, it's "overclock". Starglider, used have that game once ...

Apple II - Mod 0.
16kB Ram, 16kB ROM, taperecorder.
6502 running at 1Mhz.
1977, I think.

Made me happy as a clam!

I remember some old office 486's that had a big button on the front marked 'turbo' that, when pressed, did absolutely nothing. At least not that I could see. And, even if they did work, I always wondered why not just leave it in that setting anyway?

Yeah, mine had that. I can't recall if it ever did anything.

I remember some old office 486's that had a big button on the front marked 'turbo' that, when pressed, did absolutely nothing. At least not that I could see. And, even if they did work, I always wondered why not just leave it in that setting anyway?

IIRC the default setting was 'ON', and it was only intended to be turned off for backwards compatibility with software which depended upon slower processor speeds in order to work correctly, or be slow enough to play in the case of games.

I had a TRS 80, I don't remember much about it, other than I thought it was the coolest thing ever, and it had about 4K of RAM.

:p

I remember some old office 486's that had a big button on the front marked 'turbo' that, when pressed, did absolutely nothing. At least not that I could see. And, even if they did work, I always wondered why not just leave it in that setting anyway?

Those "useless" Turbo buttons fiddled with the CPU speed I think. If the switch was off, the CPU speed dropped to half.

Oh those overpriced Overdrive Intels? I've got magazine saying the 486 100Mhz was the "fastest computer ever". These days instead of overdrive, it's "overclock".

lol, yeah. I really wish i'd kept the thing. It'd be awesome for playing old games.

Starglider, used have that game once ...

I haven't played it in years. Hm, I wonder if it's on any abandonware sites....

I remember some old office 486's that had a big button on the front marked 'turbo' that, when pressed, did absolutely nothing. At least not that I could see. And, even if they did work, I always wondered why not just leave it in that setting anyway?
The first IBM PC worked at 4Mhz. Later clones came out that were able to work at 8MHz but that speed would cause incompatibility problems with some programs, so they had this switch to make them work in the normal 4Mhz mode or the Turbo mode.

A bit later PCs became much faster, software was able to adjuts to the different speeds and all the turbo button did was switch the turbo light on and off.

On topic: My first CPU was the Zilog Z-80 inside a Timex/Sinclair 1000, the US version of the ZX-81 that also had 2Kb of RAM.

The first laptop was a CP/M but Compaq produced the first portable IBM clone. It looks like box connected a keyboard. Weight? 12.5KG.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compaq_Portable

386

my first CPU was an apple LLIC since i was about 6 or 7 i dont remember the processor......but the hitchhikers guide to the galazy game was awesome!

So how fast was the processor in your first computer?

A mighty 4MHz in my case, but I grew up with a 1.77MHz machine.

We've come a long way.

Heh, mine was the 3MHz Texas Instruments 99/4A. There were other peripherals available besides the one listed. I just put the one I had.

Texas Instruments TI-99/4A
Released: June 1981
Price: US$525 (without monitor)
How many: 2.8 Million
CPU: TI TMS9900, 3MHz
Memory: 16K RAM, 26K ROM
Display: Video via an RF modulator
32 characters by 24 lines text
192 X 256, 16 color graphics
Ports: ROM cartridge (on front)
Data storage cassette
Audio/Video output
Joystick input
CPU bus expansion

Peripherals: Speech Synthesizer

Then a few years later we moved up to a generic Montgomery Ward Brand 8088 or 8068 that actually had a CD Rom Drive. It didn't have windows, it had some other proprietary OS, I believe. I can't remember the name of the computer or I'd try to find a site with the specs.

lol! i used to steal old ones in ICT class in school and carry them round as nerdy little mementos.... or something. actually, not sure why i did that, but it was cool at the time! :p
http://www.thinkgeek.com/images/products/zoom/love-my-geek-black.jpg
:D :fluffle:

So how fast was the processor in your first computer?

A mighty 4MHz in my case, but I grew up with a 1.77MHz machine.

We've come a long way.

Apple IIe was what I grew up on. 1 MHz, IIRC...

The first laptop was a CP/M but Compaq produced the first portable IBM clone. It looks like box connected a keyboard. Weight? 12.5KG.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compaq_Portable

But this baby was the 1st 'puter that was all mine, mine, mine! So That'd be an Intel 8088 at 4.77MHz.

I'm kinda happy to see so many old school folks around. :D

A mac 8mhz 68000 In a mac classis
A Zilog Z80 in Some weird comp,
and an Intel 8080 in a XT (I got all 3 of them at around the same time, so Im not sure which was first) I was like 6 or 7 and my dad got them used for me to fool around on.

My first computer that was current for its time was an Intel Penitum 75mhz.

The mighty ZX-Spectrum 48k.
yep that k stands for kb.
Games came on Audio tape. Have to wait for what felt like forever to load them up and, of course, the tape would usually freeze or crap out just before it loaded.
I still have it at my parents home. Mum wants to throw it out, but I won't let her. The damn thing's an antique!

First pc I bought was a 486 DX-66, with an incredible 8Meg ram and 210Meg HDD. Wooo...did that thing ever kick butt!

my first was a ti 99 4a, too. hooked up my tape recorder to save programs to audio cassettes.

in college, my computer was an ibm pc jr. http://www.brutman.com/PCjr/pcjr_hardware.html#MemorySubsystem

it ran wordperfect like a dream. (if you have a lot of nightmares) i had a thermal printer for it. the slightly shiny and strange texture of the paper confused my professors to no end, and now, when i find old term papers, they've faded to the point where i can barely read them. i finally took to taking those floppy disks (when they were still floppy) to a computer lab to print out my work on real paper.

All I know is that it was a Commodore 128/64


Ahh the commodore 64....good ole days :D...That was MY first computer...the first family computer I think was around the early 90s and i was too young to remember that then..but ya i loved playing with my commodore 64 :D

http://www.thinkgeek.com/images/products/zoom/love-my-geek-black.jpg
:D :fluffle:
lmao!! yay! :D :fluffle:

My first was the Apple IIe from 1985 (I was three years old then). It was such a neat computer for me and my parents. My mom would write reports in Appleworks, which my Cisco instructor developed ( :eek: ), and I learned how to read on it with Stickybear Reading. My brothers also taught me how to play videogames on it. 21 years later, I still haven't kicked the bad habit my brothers taught me....I'll get them someday.... :D

Anyway, the important stuff:

CPU: MOS 6502, 1.0 MHz
RAM: 4K min, 48K max
Display: 280 X 192, 40 X 24 text
6 colors maximum
Ports: composite video output
cassette interface
8 internal expansion slots
Storage: generic cassette drive
external 143K floppy (1978)
OS: Woz Integer BASIC in ROM

Ok to make it more interesting for me cause there have been a few, systems i have put together (FYI im a 16 year old kid and i didn't have anything older than the duron, except the Snes processor :P).

Amd duron 500 (in a system with 128Mbs or ram, a agp compatible mobo and a 10gb harddrive).

Intel celeronD 330 2.67Ghz. (in a system with 512Mb of ram, a asus p4s800 mobo and a 110 GB hard drive).

Amd Athlon 64 3700+ (running at 2.53Ghz, on 1Gb of ram, a gigabyte board and 120gb harddrive).

Commodore 64
64k RAM
1.023 Mhz 6510 processor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOS_Technology_6510
Tape drive (as in, it wrote to cassette tapes)
1541 Disk drive: 60 Hertz (!)
Bell 110A accoustic coupler modem (that's 110 baud, you youngin'!)

...at one point, I was up to 3 disk drives in a chain and went through no less than 5 modems. The most common were the Video 7 series, the last was a 2400 baud of some brand that blew up in a haze of ozone smoke.

We had 2 ram--Paid $50/ram to take it to 4--Then paid $35/ram to take it to 8.

Modem was 2,400. (2.4 K)