From January to April 2025, the restoration of my IBM PS/1 2168-594 took roughly four months. It was fun and I learned a lot in the process.
While checking that box was important, I found it even more heart-warming to interact with the Vogons community where members are eager to share their knowledge and help each others.
The resulting "Beautiful DOOM machine", especially with the DX4-100Mhz upgrade, leans more on the side of a "max-restore" than a restore. Perhaps a more approviate model number now would be 2168-FAB.
This puppy originally ran DOOM at 22 fps. Now it maxes it out at nearly 40 fps.
Here is a brief summary of everything accomplished.
| BEFORE | AFTER | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 486 DX2 66 Mhz | 486 DX4 100Mhz |
| RAM | 32 MiB | - |
| L2 Cache | 128 KiB | 256 KiB |
| VRAM | 1 MiB | - |
| Video | Cirrus Logic GD5428 | - |
| FDD | Broken | Flawless |
| BUS | VLB | - |
| HDD | WDC AC21600H 1.6 GiB | - |
| HDD | WDC AC31000H 1.0 GiB | - |
| Sound Card | Pro Audio Spectrum 16 | Sound blaster 16 ASP |
| CDROM Drive | NEC CDR-84JD-1 SCSI 2x | Panasonic 2x |
| MIDI | - | PCMIDI + SC55ST |
| OS | PC-DOS 5 | PC-DOS 7 |
More importantly...
| BEFORE | AFTER | |
|---|---|---|
| Rust | Lots | None! |
| Doom | 21 fps | 40 fps |
For the final touch, I ordered a custom mousepad "Eye"-"Bee"-"M" from VistaPrint since it was strangely not available anywhere.
Playing with this mouse wreaks my wrist. But you don't feel the pain while you slay imps.
Same with lid opened.
Before moving the machine from my workbench to a proper desk, I had to find a way to deal with the hundred of feet of cables powering the central unit, monitor, two speakers, and SC55.
I got a Memorex which helped a lot. It has a master switch to power on/off all elements of the PC with a single button.
I screwed VIVO "Cable Management Trays" under the desk to hide the cables.
Disclaimer: Cat not included with the Memorex.
Perhaps the only problem with this project is that it opened my appetite. I am quite eager to build a "Beautiful 1997 Quake Machine" now.
