Computer Love

A short history of my former and current PC hardware. Most of the information below was retrieved from an entry I made on March 8th, 2009. I have revised its contents and attached a few photographs. Yes, the new title is a reference to a Kraftwerk song.

#1. IBM (486/66MHz)
August, 1994

My first PC was a beast. 66MHz of raw computing power, 8 megabytes of memory enhancing RAM, 16-bits of surreal audio processing (Sound Blaster 16) and 2 megabytes of mind blowing onboard video memory. It could run Doom II: Hell on Earth at maximum settings. This PC was originally packaged with MS-DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.1. Later, I upgraded to Windows 95. "Where do you want to go today?"


IBM in 1995

#2. HP (Pentium/366MHz)
December, 1998

This PC had a 366MHz central processing unit, 128 megabytes of RAM, Sound Blaster Live! and GeForce 2 MX (64 megabytes). It shipped with Windows 98 which I later upgraded to Windows 2000. This was the PC I used for my early Goalsoft games.


HP in 2001

#3. Compaq (AMD/2GHz)
February, 2003

I went to OfficeMax for this PC, where I filled out a customization form. It had a 2GHz central processing unit, 1 gigabyte of RAM, Sound Blaster Live! (5.1 Channel Surround Sound) and GeForce 4 MX (128 megabytes). I later upgraded to a GeForce 6800 Ultra (256 megabytes). It could run Doom 3 at maximum settings. This PC shipped with Windows XP. Toward the end of its life, I tried to install Windows Vista, but the PC took a dump. Que sera, sera.


Compaq in 2006

#4. MikeBox (AMD64/3GHz 2-Core)
June, 2007

MikeBox was the first PC I built myself. It had a 64-bit 3GHz dual-core processor, 4 gigabytes of RAM, Sound Blaster X-Fi and GeForce 8800 GTX (768 megabytes). It could run Grand Theft Auto IV at maximum settings (sort of). I installed Windows Vista on this PC, but I alternated between that and Ubuntu 8.10.


MikeBox in 2007


MikeBox Logo

#5. MikeBox 2 (AMD64/4GHz 8-Core)
July, 2014

MikeBox 2 is my current PC. I took what I learned from my first build and applied it here. For example, a case with better air flow, properly applied heatsink thermal compound and active temperature monitoring. It has a 64-bit 4GHz eight-core processor, 16 gigabytes of RAM, Sound Blaster Audigy FX and GeForce 660 GTX (2 gigabytes). It can run Grand Theft Auto V at maximum settings (again, sort of). I installed Windows 7 on this PC, and though I have been prompted to install Windows 10 on multiple occasions, have not yet made the switch.

In May of 2018, I swapped out the GeForce 660 GTX (2 gigabytes) for a GeForce 1060 GTX (6 gigabytes). It can run Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition (with a few minor hiccups).


MikeBox 2 in 2014


So very much code...