One hardware fan has assembled an extensive collection of CPUs and his display of them looks like an art installation.
Many of us will admit to having the occasional old bit of tech gathering dust in a drawer or cupboard somewhere. One Reddit user has gone straight off the charts with their tech-hoarding habit, as shown by a recent post that shows off over 200 old processors.
From old game consoles to vintage PCs and monitors, there is a dedicated fanbase that likes to collect, refurbish, and tinker with retro tech. Reddit user Upops, however, has taken this idea considerably further with his very specific collection.
A photo posted to the r/PCMasterRace subreddit showed over 200 CPUs of various kinds. The carefully arranged rows of chips, gleaming in silver and gold had the feel of a curated art exhibit. The sort of thing you might find in the Guggenheim, perhaps.
Some Ryzen processors nestle discretely amongst its Intel fellows, and on the other side of the table, Pentium Pros shine golden. Most of those on display were laptop processors, and the majority appeared to be Intel CPUs.
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There were some surprises, as the name ‘Cyrix’ was spotted amidst the collection. Cyrix was once a well-known name in desktop processors, but the company became defunct in 1997, making a Cyrix processor an extremely elusive find in 2024.
The impressive collection was primarily the result of donations. Upops had contacted various places such as local government organizations, Schools, and IT companies. These organizations and firms allow him to keep the processors in return for dismantling PCs and laptops and safely disposing of hard drives.
The collection depicted in the photo, however impressive it may be, is apparently just the tip of the iceberg. “Each CPU tray in the picture is on top of a stack or 3 or 4 more trays,” Upops explained.
The thought of the actual size of his complete collection is somewhat mind-boggling. Is it too many CPUs? Probably, but there’s also merit to the idea of preserving old tech, instead of just throwing it away.