wierd_w wrote on 2024-10-15, 10:21:

The first REAL computer I used was an AST Advantage 486, with an integrated Cirrus Logic video chipset, a sound-galaxy-washington, and 4mb of RAM. I have some fond memories from that period.

Oh ASTs... I had an AST 486 with a Cyrix 486, an integrated Cirrus Logic video chipset, a real ISA SB 16, 4MB of RAM (later upgraded to 8 and then 20), 420 megs of HDD (effectively unupgradeable, thank you AST...) and... let's just say my memories of that thing have gotten less fond with time...

Storage was 'solvable' with EZ-Drive, which came bundled with consumer drives back then.

Not in an 'ideal' manner, but still 'solved'.

The real issues were the slow/not installed cache, and the slow cirrus chipset. Win9x was 'possible', but not ... enjoyable.

It was just fine for *era appropriate* (so, NO on quake and pals! Duh!) DOS games.

I played the SHIT out of Tie Fighter on that thing.

I like to think more about "golden games" more than computer eras,. Mark those games as blips on the timeline, and see where the concentration lies (then probably work a computer era from there)... that would be a golden age for me.
Because despite the hardware and software environments, there always is that special game that deserves building a machine for.

I like games that give me time to enjoy and appreciate them, so I have lots of favorite games from mid 80s until now.. but my most dense concentration of blips would probably fall in the 90s. So that would probably be my golden age, but I'm not clinged into that, and I still appreciate some modern masterpieces that aren't any less legendary than earlier 90s big hits IMO (e.g. Metal Gear V, Batman Arkham Knight, the new Donkey Kong Countries).

VivienM wrote on 2024-10-15, 22:30:

wierd_w wrote on 2024-10-15, 10:21:

The first REAL computer I used was an AST Advantage 486, with an integrated Cirrus Logic video chipset, a sound-galaxy-washington, and 4mb of RAM. I have some fond memories from that period.

Oh ASTs... I had an AST 486 with a Cyrix 486, an integrated Cirrus Logic video chipset, a real ISA SB 16, 4MB of RAM (later upgraded to 8 and then 20), 420 megs of HDD (effectively unupgradeable, thank you AST...) and... let's just say my memories of that thing have gotten less fond with time...

I have a couple AST Bravo 486 computers.
They were marketed as some of the first “Multimedia computers” of 1993
This is what computer builders like IBM, AST, etc ….were building of the public in 1993.

They came with the following components.
486 CPU
4mb RAM
64kb cache
SVGA onboard video
16-bit ISA Sound card
2x CDROM
IDE 5400rpm hard drive ( 170mb )

Well, these were marketed as multimedia computers but could not play allot of Multimedia CDROMs with Video.
They can’t play MP3s or Video CDs either.
They did NOT have enough memory, CDROM drive was too slow. And CPU was too slow.

You actually Need a:
486dx4-100 CPU
8mb RAM or more
4x CDROM drive or faster.
1mb SVGA video card

So if you want to build a 486 you are best to build one like LGR did and build it from Scratch.

Don’t use these prebuilt computers from AST they use proprietary motherboards and case that can’t be modified without allot of work.
You are better off putting together your own 486 computer with NON-proprietary parts.
Easy to Assemble, repair, upgrade, and fix. .

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2024-10-16, 10:28:

So if you want to build a 486 you are best to build one like LGR did and build it from Scratch. […]
Show full quote

So if you want to build a 486 you are best to build one like LGR did and build it from Scratch.

Don’t use these prebuilt computers from AST they use proprietary motherboards and case that can’t be modified without allot of work.
You are better off putting together your own 486 computer with NON-proprietary parts.
Easy to Assemble, repair, upgrade, and fix. .

The biggest problem I had with my AST was just the lack of expandability. Only one PATA channel already filled up by the HDD and CD-ROM. A BIOS that I don't think could support more than 528MB drives. 8250 UARTs so forget about replacing the internal modem with external. Lousy parallel ports. Etc. All you basically got was one free ISA slot - the case looked like you had 3 free slots, but I'm pretty sure the riser card only had slots on one side...

VivienM wrote on 2024-10-16, 23:04:

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2024-10-16, 10:28:

So if you want to build a 486 you are best to build one like LGR did and build it from Scratch. […]
Show full quote

So if you want to build a 486 you are best to build one like LGR did and build it from Scratch.

Don’t use these prebuilt computers from AST they use proprietary motherboards and case that can’t be modified without allot of work.
You are better off putting together your own 486 computer with NON-proprietary parts.
Easy to Assemble, repair, upgrade, and fix. .

The biggest problem I had with my AST was just the lack of expandability. Only one PATA channel already filled up by the HDD and CD-ROM. A BIOS that I don't think could support more than 528MB drives. 8250 UARTs so forget about replacing the internal modem with external. Lousy parallel ports. Etc. All you basically got was one free ISA slot - the case looked like you had 3 free slots, but I'm pretty sure the riser card only had slots on one side...

So personal preferences come into play.
I had a similar experience. Our first PC was a DX2/66 in 1995 which wasn't upgraded till 1999 and complained almost every year about upgrading.
However I now love that PC being the one I was stuck with for the longest means it's now the one I'm most nostalgic of.