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Computers

A 486 PC in a horizontal AT-style desktop PC case. It has an AT-style keyboard, Microsoft mouse, speakers, a Dell CRT monitor, and a Gravis PC GamePad.

I love my computers. I have a small collection that I’m proud of.

Eventually this page will be expanded to include photos, thoughts/commentary, history, a wishlist, etc. For now it’s just a quick rundown of my computers (and not even all of them; just the noteworthy ones/the ones I’ve actually set up and spent time with).

Stevonnie

Dell Inspiron 3847 desktop PC (circa 2015)

Daily driver

My primary PC. Used for most of my projects—game development, open source development, writing, etc. Acronia and this website were developed on Stevonnie, along with Memphis 98 and most of my other side projects.

All of my retro gaming is done on Stevonnie, as she’s still plenty powerful enough for emulators and all but the most extreme and demanding GZDoom mods.

As I said, Stevonnie is still plenty capable for what I use her for, and probably will be for years to come. That said, if I ever have the extra dough lying around, I’d like to give her some well-deserved upgrades, including giving her the highest-end CPU her motherboard will take (i7-4790K), and swapping out the GPU for a GTX 1080 Ti.

Gator

Ryzen 7 PC

Daily driver

This is my work-from-home PC. I also have a separate personal profile set up on it for Windows-exclusive gaming, and for Photoshop projects that I can’t do in Linux/aren’t feasible to do in a Windows VM.

Unnamed as yet

IBM PC 300GL

This PC was rescued from the basement at work in 2017. Other than being dirty, it was in perfect working condition, and only needed to have Windows 98 installed on it, since the previous owner’s installation of Windows NT was password-protected.

Since I haven’t yet spent a great deal of time with this computer, it doesn’t have a name yet.

Phoenix One

Gateway 2000 386 PC turned custom-built 486

Phoenix One (pictured at the top of this page) is my pride and joy. Rescued from the basement the same day I acquired the IBM, it was originally a 386SX-16 by Gateway 2000, born in December 1990 (according to a date stamped on the chassis). The hard drive was on its last legs, but after installing it in a different computer, I was able to figure out that the computer had been used to control industrial powder coating equipment.

The computer’s battery had been left in and it corroded, irrecoverably destroying traces on the motherboard and ruining the power supply. The computer sat on the floor in my office for about a year and a half before I finally began a restoration effort, upgrading it with a new motherboard and a 486DX2-50 CPU (eventually upgraded once more to a DX2-66).

My first impressions upon finally exploring the rescued, rusted-out hulk can be read here. I never did a proper write-up of my restoration, but I live-tweeted most of the process. Some day I’ll dig through my Twitter archive and put together that story. It was a fun process, including a Christmas in which nearly every single gift I asked for was some part or other for this machine.

I currently don’t have access to Phoenix One; as with all my retro computers, it’s in storage since I don’t have room for it in my tiny apartment. That makes me sad.

History

Copyright © 2022 by Clarissa Toney. This is my personal website. I don't speak for my employer or anyone else.