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Collection of
science and technology - computer hardware collection
yjfy |
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When it comes to collection, the first thing that comes to mind is the
traditional collection categories such as antiques, coins and stamps.
Computer hardware collection is a new type of collection of science and
technology. The collection of hardware, accessories, and software of
computers and related information equipment is divided into Computer
collection, CPU collection and Computer board & card collection. The
Computer collection was born in the 1990s. At the beginning of this
century, CPU collection and Computer board & card collection gradually
emerged.
The threshold for computer hardware collection is slightly higher, and
collectors must have a certain knowledge base of computer hardware, so
the development has been slow over the years. However, as a new
collection of science and technology, the prospects are still very
bright. As a leading figure in computer hardware collections in China
and the world, the author has a wide range of collections with more than
5,000 pieces, especially rare hardware. The board card collection is
temporarily ranked first in the world. At the beginning of the 21st
century, a hardware collection website-www.yjfy.com
was created. The detailed text information on the hardware information
section of the Hardware Fengyun website, the detailed pictures of the
hardware museum collections, and the interaction of collectors in the
hardware collection forum have become a holy place for hardware
collection enthusiasts.
In order to lower the threshold for computer collection and enhance
communication among collectors, the author also pioneered the
scoring
standard for computer hardware collections. The value of the
collection was determined by six indexes: classification index, History
index, rare index, confidential index, perfect index, and classic index.
Create a ranking of “Top
100 Computer Hardware Collection”, reveal the collectors and
collections of the computer hardware collection circle, and greatly
promote the popularization of computer hardware collections.
Why is it said that computer hardware collection is a collection of
science and technology? Here are some representative collections of
various types as examples to gradually reveal the technological
brilliance of computer hardware collections.
When it comes to computer hardware, first think of the core of the
computer-the CPU. Now let Intel’s C4004 welcome you into the world of
computer hardware collection.
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1. Intel C4004
Existing quantity: about 2000
Collection value: 9 stars
Intel C4004 is recognized as the first micro processor, which is often
referred to as CPU. In 1969, a Japanese manufacturer brought the design
to Intel to order it. Intel optimized the design and obtained the
property rights and published C4004 on November 15, 1971. Although
Intel's C4004 is the first microprocessor, it has weak computing power
and its main frequency is only 0.104Mhz. It is mainly used in
calculators and controllers.
The 5-series white porcelain C4004 with plate in the picture was
dismantled from an airplane in 2007. I bought it at RMB 4000 and is now
worth over US$1500. The earlier gray-patterned white porcelain C4004 is
the most expensive, more than US$3000, and is worth collecting. Up to 10
stars; ordinary white porcelain C4004 is the most, the price is about
700 US dollars, and the collection value is only 8 stars. C4004, as the
CPU collection bellwether, is the most representative collection of
CPUs. It is a must-have item for heavyweight collectors. Naturally, the
collection price is extremely high. However, C4004 had a large output
that year, and there were a lot of stocks in the world. As long as you
were willing to spend money, you could still buy it.
2. Intel SIM4-01
Existing quantity: 1
Collection value: 10 stars
SIM4-01 is the motherboard of Design Kit Microcomputer using C4004, it
is Intel's first motherboard. The production date of my SIM4-01 is a
little later, and the serial number is SN 428. It can be calculated that
the total output of SIM4-01 that year is about 500 yuan, and it is known
that less than 10 pieces have been collected. When eBay auctioned this
board in 2012, even though the above C4004 and other pluggable chips
were all missing, the bidding price was still more than 2,000 pounds. In
2013, the complete SIM4-01 was even sold for 4,500 US dollars, showing
its rarity.
Since the SIM4-01 is rare and very representative, it can’t be bought
even if it is willing to spend money. For example, I will not sell it
alone unless I purchase all the hardware collections. After all, this
SIM4-01 has been developed and upgraded by Intel. Intel engineering
sample-level motherboard, orphan!
3. Intel C8086 ES-2
Existing quantity: 5
Collection value: 10 stars
Intel released the 8086 on July 8, 1978. The 8086 is the first version
of x86 with a clock speed of 5Mhz. On August 12, 1981, IBM developed a
PC using a simplified 8088 CPU of the 8086, which made the computer
miniaturized and entered the lives of the people.
The production date of the C8086 ES-2 in the picture is 7814 weeks, that
is, early April 1978, which is an engineering sample three months before
the release of the 8086.
In 2013, this C8086 ES-2 was auctioned at EBAY, and it took me nearly
$2,000 to get it. The seller was an original Intel engineer. He also
released a bid for the "8086 min/max test board" that removed the C8086
ES-2. I bought it at a starting price of US$100, and unexpectedly
received 4 blueprints for supporting design. According to the seller, he
was responsible for this project that year and produced 12 in total.
After the experiment, a part of the CPU was removed, and a motherboard
and blueprint were kept as a souvenir. He also put the introduction of
this winding board on my website to recall the past: "The min/max
relates to 8 or 16 bit external data and address lines and for backward
compatibility with Intel's 8080/85 interface chips.the first IBM PC,
three years later used the min 8 bit mode.Its source as Intel's 1979 San
Jose, CA, Silicon Valley, R&D Systems Development Group and Chet
McIntyre".
Although C4004 is a CPU collection bellwether, the value of C8086 ES-2
is much higher than it, and they are all NOT FOR SALE. This is because
engineering samples are more rare. A few days ago, a collector wanted to
buy this collection with 10,000 US dollars, which shows the high value
of its collection.
4. Intel C80286 Sample
Existing quantity: about 50
Collection value: 7 stars
Entering the 286 era in 1982, the CPU's main frequency can reach 12Mhz,
and the pins have evolved from DIP to Socket. The number of pins has
changed from 16 pins of the earliest C4004 to 40 pins of C8086, and then
to 68 pins of 80286. Now the number of CPU pins has exceeded 1000.From
these we can see the power of science and technology.
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From the above CPU and related motherboard display, everyone has a
preliminary understanding of Computer hardware collection. Next, I will
share some information about computer hardware collections.
Computer collection, CPU collection and Computer board & card collection
have their own advantages:
In the 40 years since the birth of the PC in 1981, the number of
hardware available has exceeded 100 billion. Most of the hardware has
been quickly eliminated and destroyed due to technological advances. In
fact, there are not many antique hardware remaining in the world. A lot
of hardware disappeared, and no pictures remained. Even on online
shopping platforms such as eBay and Taobao, it is difficult to buy and
find favorite collections. Many precious collections have basically been
in the hands of discerning collectors.
Although some collectors of computer hardware collection display their
collections in a high-key manner and some are very low-key, the
direction of collecting collections is nothing more than the following
five:
I.Classic
hardware
More classic hardware, such as star products, flagship products,
representative works of each period, or representative works of a
certain company. Even a series or even a whole series of products of a
certain company. There are more people in this way of collecting.
II.Bellwether
hardware
The first generation or the first product of each series, and early
hardware. Due to the continuation of the product, the value-added is
fast.
III.Boxed hardware
The boxed hardware contains all the accessories of a retail hardware and
is a relatively complete collection. Due to the difficulty of collection
and the large storage space, there are not many people who collect it
like this, but most collectors have more or less boxed hardware.
IV.Engineering
sample
Engineering samples are informal products used for R&D and testing, and
the production volume is small. Most of the engineering samples are
destroyed after the official products are retailed, and the ones left
are rare, and many have become orphans. It is a high-end collection
method with the most difficult collection and rapid value-added. It must
have a wealth of hardware knowledge, superior identification skills,
luck and courage.
V.
Souvenirs and crafts
In order to promote and promote their products, hardware manufacturers
will give away and sell various souvenirs and crafts specially made with
computer hardware. Its collection value is high, see below.
5. Motorola Chip Crafts
Existing quantity: about 2
Collection value: 8 stars
The two pen sockets are chip crafts authorized by Motorola. The
plexiglass seals are silicon wafers from the 1960s and 1970s, countless
small cores, several unpackaged semi-finished and finished chips. To
show the nobility of technological products of that era, even gold can
only be used as decoration. Today, it has become an impossible task to
find the above-mentioned 2-inch wafers and unpackaged chips.
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6. 3Dfx Voodoo5 6000 Graphic card
Existing quantity: Within 100
Collection value: 10 stars
Voodoo5 6000 graphics card's 4 core cool design, unreleased products,
and 3Dfx's myth of creating a market share of 3D graphics cards that
year have gained extremely high popularity. Voodoo5 6000 graphics card
has become the Bellwether of graphics card collection and even board
collection with an Existing quantity of less than 100.
In October 2001, 3Dfx's Voodoo5 6000 graphics card was auctioned on eBay
for the first time, at a high price of US$2025, which announced the
birth of the graphics card collection. At the beginning of 2006, I
bought this Voodoo5 6000 graphics card for US$1,300, and the price is
now more than US$4,000.
7. 3Dfx Obsidian
Graphic card
Existing quantity: about 4
Collection value: 10 stars
The 3Dfx Obsidian graphics card in the picture above was purchased from
eachnet.com for RMB 100 in 2003. When domestic and foreign collectors
saw this scanned image, they all thought this graphics card was a fake.
It wasn't until a few detailed pictures were taken with a digital camera
that collectors realized that it was the earliest graphics card and
engineering sample of 3Dfx, and they searched wildly. Today, this green
3Dfx Obsidian graphics card is owned by only 4 people in the world, and
these 4 people are the top collectors of graphics cards. The green 3Dfx
Obsidian graphics card has become a sign, and several Voodoo5 6000
graphics cards may not be interchangeable.
8.
3Dfx Obsidian 100DB-4440
Graphic card
Existing quantity: 1 pair
Collection value: 10 stars
The 3Dfx Obsidian 100DB-4440 graphics card is composed of two Obsidian
Pro graphics cards SLI, the originator of SLI. Obsidian 100DB-4440
graphics cards are very rare, less than 10 pairs are known in the hands
of collectors. This 3Dfx Obsidian 100DB-4440 graphics card is a
Qualification Sample, and only one pair was found.
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9. Intel Actionmedia 750
Graphic card
Evaluation board
Existing quantity: about 1
Collection value: 10 stars
Actionmedia I is called Actionmedia 750, because it is a product
optimized and upgraded for its PRO 750 graphics card after Intel
acquired DVI, and uses Intel i750 chips. Actionmedia 750 is Intel's
first PC graphics card. The Actionmedia 750 graphics evaluation board
code-named DS1-AT in the picture was developed in 1989 to verify the
feasibility of the Actionmedia 750 graphics project.
10.Intel Actionmedia 750
Graphic card
test board
Existing quantity: about 2
Collection value: 9 stars
After the
Actionmedia 750 graphics card evaluation board was verified and
feasible, the Actionmedia 750 graphics card test board was designed.
After a series of repeated shaping, testing, and adjustments, the
official version of the Actionmedia 750 graphics card was directly
mass-produced.
11.Intel Actionmedia 750
Graphic card
Existing quantity: within 10 boxes
Collection value: 7 stars
The Actionmedia 750 graphics card in the full set of the official
version of the Actionmedia 750 graphics card can be connected to the
supporting secondary card through a cable. The retail price of
Actionmedia 750 graphics card that year was US$9,998, and its retail
volume is extremely small. Now it is not necessarily available for
US$9,998.
The above three graphics cards are a relatively complete demonstration
of all aspects of the Actionmedia 750 graphics card from product
development, product testing, and product retail. It is a perfect
collection example of a model of hardware.
12.Intel Actionmedia II
Graphic card
Evaluation board
Existing quantity: about 1
Collection value: 10 stars
The i750PA/DA chip of Actionmedia 750 was developed in 1986 and uses a
PGA pin structure. In the late 1980s, the advanced chip production
technology in board card manufacturing became mature, and the chip
manufacturing technology also made great progress. In 1990, Intel
upgraded the plug-in i750PA/DA chip to a compact PQFP-mounted i750PB/DB
chip. The chip package was changed from a gold package to a lower-cost
plastic package. In the picture, the Actionmedia II graphics chip
evaluation board is code-named DS2-AT, with a removable Chip socket that
is convenient for testing new chips. This kind of Chip socket card is a
particularly rare engineering sample, and each piece will be crazy.
13.Intel Actionmedia II
Graphic card
Evaluation board
Existing quantity: about 10
Collection value: 9 stars
With the advancement of integrated circuit production technology, the
secondary card of Actionmedia 750 has been miniaturized into a daughter
card in the Actionmedia II series, which is directly inserted into the
main Actionmedia II card through two rows of slots.
14. Intel Actionmedia III
Graphic card
Evaluation board
Existing quantity: about 1
Collection value:10 stars
Intel
has not released any information on the Actionmedia III graphics card,
but this project does exist, based on the graphics card code-named QUARK
from my collection. The Actionmedia III graphics card in 1992 was also
the main daughter card structure, and by 1993 it was highly integrated
as a single card. Due to the rapid development of graphics display
technology, the performance of the Actionmedia III graphics card was
outdated, and it was finally abandoned by Intel, becoming an extremely
rare unannounced, unsold productn.
The Actionmedia series of graphics cards listed above have fully
demonstrated the powerful role of technological advancement in the
upgrading of computer hardware in the past five years, and the charm of
computer hardware collection has thus been revealed. In order to collect
these Intel graphics cards, I used to stare at a seller on eBay for
nearly a year. The scraps of Intel’s
scraps that the seller recycled contained engineering samples of Intel’s
various hardware, and even engineering samples of other companies.
Sellers will sell items from time to time during my sleep time (jet lag)
in the middle of the night. Although the harvest was huge, it also added
a lot of white hair and wrinkles. The hardship of collecting is hard to
say!
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15. IBM XGA
Graphic card
Existing quantity: about 1
Collection value:9 stars
As the initiator of the PC, IBM has produced a large variety of
sophisticated computer hardware, which is the key goal of hardware
collection, but its engineering sample control is very strict and rarely
flows out. Each engineering sample is a very rare collection. This IBM
XGA graphics card is an evaluation board. There is a large test grid on
the left to facilitate the addition of additional components and
circuits. This is the usual practice for engineering samples in earlier
times.
16. Intel PCI
interface card
Existing quantity: about 1
Collection value:10 stars
The above hole board is the first PCI interface in history, very
primitive, and still in the initial signal configuration stage. The PCI
interface production date is late February 1990, which strongly proves
that the development of the PCI standard began before 1990.
17.ATi Graphics Ultra Pro Graphic
card
Existing quantity: about 1
Collection value:10 stars
This ATI Graphics Ultra Pro graphics card is the first PCI interface
graphics card in history, and the earliest known ATI engineering sample
graphics card in the hands of collectors, from a former ATI engineer.
The graphics card production date was early August 1993, only three
months after the PCI-SIG published the PCI standard on April 30, 1993.
18.Trident 3DImage975 Graphic
card
Existing quantity: about 1
Collection value:9 stars
Intel formulated the first dedicated graphics card interface standard-AGP
on July 31, 1996, and it was not widely accepted until 1997. Trident
first launched the first AGP interface graphics card in history:
3DImage975 graphics card, which was successfully developed in February
1997. Later, the official product was called 3DImage9750 graphics card,
with an extra 0, but its collection value was quite different.
19. ATi Radeon PCIe
Graphic card
Existing quantity: about 10
Collection value: 7 stars
This is the first PCIe interface graphics card in history developed by
ATI in October 2003. In the past two decades, the PCIe interface has
remained vigorous and is the longest-lived universal interface.
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20. Diamond EDGE 3D 2120XL
Graphic card
Existing quantity: about 1
Collection value: 9 stars
In May 1995, nVIDIA released the first-generation display chips NV1 and
STG2000. DIAMOND is the first customer to use the nVIDIA chip. This EDGE
3D 2120XL graphics card using the STG2000 chip was produced in August
1995. It is an engineering sample and the earliest known nVIDIA chip
graphics card collected by hardware collectors.
21. nVIDIA Geforce
256
Graphic card
Existing quantity: about 5
Collection value: 9 stars
The Geforce 256 chip announced by nVIDIA on August 31, 1999 is called
"the world's first GPU". In response to the Geforce 256 graphics card,
the Voodoo5 6000 graphics card, which created 4 graphics chips by 3Dfx,
was still outdated and was acquired by nVIDIA at the end of 2000.
Geforce 256 is too powerful, and many display chip manufacturers have
failed. ATi's Radeon 256 can compete with it only half a year later.
This nVIDIA Geforce 256 graphics card was manufactured in mid-August. It
is the rare first GPU graphics card engineering sample. It is an
epoch-making product with extraordinary significance.
22.XGI Volari
Duo V8 Ultra
Graphic card
Existing quantity: about 4
Collection value: 9 stars
In the era when nVIDIA and ATi joined forces to dominate, XGI, which was
born out of SiS and acquired Trident, tried to occupy a place in the
graphics card field. In September 2003, XGI released the dual-core
graphics card Volari Duo V8 Ultra. Its exaggerated design caused a
sensation, but its performance was unsatisfactory, and it withdrew from
the market for a short period of time. Maybe it's because the sales
volume is small, the collection demand is hot, the whole box has broken
$1,500.
The picture is an engineering sample of XGI Volari Duo V8 Ultra graphics
card. There are four of them temporarily, all of which are my
collection. I bought one on Taobao.com in August 2007. After I received
it, I felt that the card was worth collecting, so I asked the seller
about the situation. It turned out that this card was dismantled from
foreign garbage computers. There are still 7 in this batch, all of which
work unstable, so I bought them together. After dismantling the heat
sink more than a year later, it was discovered that these 8 graphics
cards had three models, all of which were engineering samples, which
should come from laboratory computers processed after XGI was acquired
by ATI in 2006.
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23. Creative
AWE64 Gold
sound card
Existing quantity: about 1
Collection value: 8 stars
The
Creative
AWE64 Gold sound card
has two models: CT4390 and CT4540. This CT4390 sound card is equipped
with the main chip of the CT4540 sound card. This CT4390 is a special
engineering sample sound card.
The total amount of sound cards is much smaller than that of the
graphics card, making the total amount of engineering sample sound cards
only about one percent of the engineering sample graphics card. The
engineering sample sound cards with ISA interface are much less than
those with PCI interface, and I have seen only a dozen.
24. Creative
Sound Blaster Live!
sound card
Existing quantity: about 3
Collection value:9 stars
Creative Sound Blaster Live! sound card performance is very powerful and
advanced, through it, innovation killed all opponents in 1998, dominate
the sound card market. This model CT4620 sound card is the earliest
Sound Blaster Live! sound card engineering sample.
25. OAK OAK200
audio
and modem
combo card
Existing quantity: about 1
Collection value:8 stars
The OAK OAK200
was released by OAK in 1997. At that time, it was the first combo card
that supported both AC’97
audio and 56K bps modem. It was only provided as a reference board for
manufacturers and not retail. It seems that no company adopts this kind
of ridiculous reference design, but it is quite suitable for collection
and appreciation.
26.Crystal Clear wavetable
daughter card
Existing quantity: about 1
Collection value:9 stars
This Clear wavetable daughter card is a reference board for engineering
samples, and the reference design has been adopted by some
manufacturers. Sound cards plus Wavetable daughter cards to play MIDI
music have only been popular for 5 years, so the number of Wavetable
daughter cards is not much, and there are fewer engineering samples of
Wavetable daughter cards. The total amount is close to one percent of
the engineering sample sound cards. I have only seen three of them over
the years.
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27.DEC RF30
hard drive
Existing quantity: about 4
Collection value:8 stars
The DEC RF30 hard drive is a bit big, 5.25 inches, but the capacity is
only 143MB. These four hard drives are engineering samples in the late
1980s. An engineer from DEC participated in the research of this hard
drive and kept four souvenirs privately. Today, I have never seen the
second engineering sample of an antique hard drive.
Finally, let's look at the thunderous APPLE hardware products.
Any senior computer hardware collector will have a few pieces of APPLE
hardware, after all, APPLE's influence is pervasive. The first
generation of Apple computers, Apple-1, came out in 1976, five years
before IBM's PCs. Apple-1 computers sold less than 200 units at a price
of US$666.66 that year. Very early and very rare, Apple-1 became the
bellwether in the collection of complete computers. Most of the less
than 70 Apple-1 computers still in existence are collected. The highest
auction price of the Apple-1 computer was US$815,000 in 2016, and a high
price of US$375,000 was also sold in 2018.
28. Apple IIe
Existing quantity: about 10
Collection value:10 stars
In the year when the IBM PC was born, the APPLE IIe computer motherboard
codenamed SUPER II engineering samples were also born early. The Super
II motherboard PCB date is 8103 weeks, that is, January 1981. Two R&D
personnel names are printed on the motherboard: Walt Broedner and JOHN
MACPHEE, demonstrating that Apple respects technology and talents. Less
than 100 Super II motherboards are produced. This serial number No. 4,
used to be a sample of Apple's retained, also passed a complete test on
September 29, 1989. I won the bid in 2019 for $2025.
The picture below is the motherboard in the APPLE IIe computer, which is
not much different from Super II.
29. Apple Lisa 1 memory board
Existing quantity: about 5
Collection value:9 stars
The memory board of this Apple Lisa 1 computer is an engineering sample
in 1981. There are 72 Hitachi 8KB memory chips on a PCB board larger
than A4 paper, with a capacity of 512KB+64KB. The two-finger-wide memory
modules currently in use have a capacity of up to 512GB, a difference of
1024×1024=1,048,576
times. In 40 years, the speed of technological development is
terrifying.
30.Apple
Ringer network card souvenir
Existing quantity: about 1
Collection value:8 stars
This is a souvenir for Apple to celebrate the successful development of
the RINGER network card. The production date of the Ringer network card
engineering sample is 1991 weeks. It is easy to calculate that the
RINGER network card was successfully developed in May 1991. Apple
occasionally releases a certain number of engineering samples to promote
the brand and products and indirectly promote the development of
computer hardware collections. What about this article?
Thirty rare computer hardware collections tell the development history
of modern technology, and also declare the powerful vitality of computer
hardware collections. I hope that every splendor of modern technology
can stay with us and break away from the fate of disappearing. |
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