Retro Hardware in 2023: What's the Oldest Component in Your PC?

Retro hardware is very popular with many ComputerBase regular readers. But how many community members actually collect old PC components and are they still used? Regardless, when did you build your first computer and which component of your current primary PC has been around the longest?

Table of Contents

1. Retro content has a regular place on ComputerBase
2. Do you understand the fascination with retro hardware?
   1. Are you retro enthusiasts?
   2. What is the oldest component in your PC?
3. Participation is expressly encouraged
   1. The last ten Overview of Sunday questions
   2. Motivation and data usage

Retro Content has a regular place on ComputerBase

During the week, the editorial team reports on the latest developments in the world of technology, tests PC hardware that has just been released – or not yet – and looks at future components and games. At the weekend, however, stories from times long past traditionally make it onto the home page: Every Saturday, you look back at test reports that were published on ComputerBase 15 years ago. And the C:B_retro series also deserves a mention, which in a total of 100 issues deals with interesting technical products, developments and curiosities of the last four decades in detail and with the participation of the community.

Speaking of community: Within the ComputerBase forum there is a lot of activity in the retro corner, even during the week; the same applies to the retro channel on the ComputerBase discord server. And if you scroll through the posts, you will quickly find out: Even in 2023, many readers will be extremely impressed by old hardware; Quite a few still have a few technology dinosaurs lying around at home or are even actively collecting retro hardware.

But how old is this technology actually? When did you build your first PC? And what antique hardware treasures do you still use today? Today's Sunday question is dedicated to readers' retro hardware.

Do you understand the fascination of retro hardware?

First of all, however, there is the question: What hardware age are we actually talking about? Assuming you build your PC yourself, when did you first do it? The first home computers appeared in the 1970s; however, the era of self-made PCs only began later.

But are there perhaps readers who already more than 40 years ago tinkered on your own computer? At least some PCs from the 1980s made it into the Community's First PCs article a few years ago.

What year did you build or modify your first computer?

• Between 1970 and 1979
• Between 1980 and 1989
• Between 1990 and 1999
• Between 2000 and 2009
• Between 2010 and 2019
• In 2020 or later
• I've never built or tinkered with a PC myself
• Abstain (show result)

Please log in to vote!

By the way, the editors have compiled an interesting insight into the PC gaming scene around the turn of the millennium in a separate article. The question: What did the perfect gaming PC look like in the year 2000 and which games were played with it?

Are you retro enthusiasts?

As part of this Sunday question, the next question is again: Do you collect old hardware once you have replaced it with newer components? And if so – do you keep them in working order or even in dedicated retro systems? Or does outdated technology leave you completely cold?

Do you keep old hardware?

• Yes, I am a passionate collector of old PC components and, in addition to my current PC, I also own one or more functioning retro systems.
• Yes, I keep some of my old PC components for sentimental and nostalgic reasons: I'm attached to my old hardware. However, the components are usually not in use.
• Yes, I keep some old PC components after retirement, but only for functional reasons – so I have spares in case something breaks. However, I am not emotional about this topic.
• No – I sell, give away or dispose of old hardware fairly quickly after replacing it with newer components.
• Abstain (Show result)

Please log in to vote!

The editors are happy to receive reports and pictures of your oldest or favorite hardware treasures in the comments. The article on the first graphics cards from the ComputerBase community should also be mentioned at this point.

What is the oldest component in your PC?

Finally, there are two questions related to your current primary PC. First of all: Which built-in component is the oldest? Are there any case fans that you've been carrying around for years? Or is it the optical drive? In the large community survey at the turn of the year, a third of the participants still stated that they had installed a CD, DVD or Blu-ray drive in their desktop PC. In 2017, on the other hand, it was almost two-thirds.

What is the oldest component in your primary PC?

• CPU
• Mainboard
• RAM
• graphics card
• sound card
• power supply
• CPU cooler
• Fan
• Fan Control
• SSD
• Hard Drive
• Optical drive
• Floppy disk drive
• Miscellaneous (controllers, hubs, speakers etc. )
• RGB lighting
• Abstain (show result)

And the last question, which is still open in this case:

What specific product is your oldest component? on the primary machine?

And how come this piece of hardware has survived for so long? Corresponding reports are welcome in the comments – because a survey with predefined answer options does not make sense at this point.

Participation is expressly desired

As always, the editors are happy to receive well-founded and detailed reasons for your decisions in the comments on the current Sunday question. If you have completely different views that are not covered by the polls in the article, please post them in the comments. Ideas and suggestions for additions to the content of the current or future surveys are also welcome.

Readers who have not yet participated in the past Sunday questions are welcome to do so – the Surveys always run for a period of 30 days and the only requirement for participation is a free ComputerBase account. In particular, there are still exciting discussions going on in the ComputerBase forum about the last Sunday questions.

Overview of the last ten Sunday questions

• 3D V-Cache against 6 GHz: 7950X3D or i9-13900K(S), who is your favourite?
• GeForce, Radeon & Arc: How much memory does your graphics card have and is that enough for you?
• Desk equipment: Is your PC on the table? And what else does it say?
• Light or dark: do you use dark modes? And if so, where and when?
• Game Modding: Do you modify your games? And if so, which ones and how?
• Rebranding and new editions: old technology with a new name – (when) is that legitimate?
• TV and video streaming: which streaming services do you use it and how much does it cost?
• The perfect PC screen: what does your display setup look like on the PC (in a dream)?
• The CES 2023 in retrospect: what are yours High and low lights from Las Vegas?
• Luxury gaming PC: Is a high-end computer still acceptable in 2023?

Motivation and data usage

The data collected as part of the Sunday questions are used solely to determine the mood within the community and the hardware and To make readers' software preferences and their development more visible. There is no financial or advertising background and there is no evaluation for market research purposes or the data is not transmitted to third parties.