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Systemax Pentium II Windows 98 system

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iCollectMacintoshes

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My dad gave me a computer he found at his work. it says "Systemax" on the front. I have no idea about this brand. The company exists, obviously, but I cant identify this particular computer. I looked for a model number but I cant identify the right one. I believe it was made in 1999 or 2000 just by the looks. Can you help me identify this pc?
 
iCollectMacintoshes said:
My dad gave me a computer he found at his work. it says "Systemax" on the front. I have no idea about this brand. The company exists, obviously, but I cant identify this particular computer. I looked for a model number but I cant identify the right one. I believe it was made in 1999 or 2000 just by the looks. Can you help me identify this pc?
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Systemax is the label given to the clones sold by Tiger Direct and related companies using the facilities of what used to be "Midwest Micro". The most information would be from model number of motherboard (and its actual manufacturer) plus version and maker of BIOS because the models tended to be short-lived and dropped into non-descript cases. They seem to have removed their old manufacturing support webpage.
 
AKA: It's a clone system with an otherwise insignificant brand and generic specs that make it impossible to differentiate from any other OEM clone.
 
So Systemax is a clone company? Now that I think about it the name sounds "cloney" if you know what I mean. I wonder if it is rare or has any value? I kind of doubt it though.
 
I can agree, they go to waste too fast(I like them, do you or was that a hate comment lol?). My dad had told me a while he saw them load 2 big pallets of old computers (they were mixed brands, but I'm sure a few of what I have were in there, too.) being sent to be recycled. He told me He'd found mine in the back room with a Magnavox monitor, a Logitech PS/2 mouse and a Microsoft serial mouse. These older computers are good for the elderly, since (most) elderly don't need the fastest gaming pc and usually only use google and email.
 
You would have to look at the innards of the system. Unlikely to be anything rare but there might have been a short run with one of the more exotic motherboards of the period. Midwest Micro was a nice cloner before getting bought by Systemax and being used as the house label. Don't forget that your father's company might have added expansion cards or other hardware which could improve value.

If it is anything like the other Systemax computers I have seen, it would make for a nice tweener. Not the best hardware at the time manufactured but reliable and retaining legacy features so older hardware could be installed. So it could fetch a few dollars (plus shipping) but won't provide for a car or house like some of the true exotics have.
 
iCollectMacintoshes said:
I can agree, they go to waste too fast(I like them, do you or was that a hate comment lol?). My dad had told me a while he saw them load 2 big pallets of old computers (they were mixed brands, but I'm sure a few of what I have were in there, too.) being sent to be recycled. He told me He'd found mine in the back room with a Magnavox monitor, a Logitech PS/2 mouse and a Microsoft serial mouse. These older computers are good for the elderly, since (most) elderly don't need the fastest gaming pc and usually only use google and email.
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No, no hate there--I've got a pile of PII boards as well. It really depends on what the chipset is. With a P3-era chipset, you can actually get some decent memory and pretty high performing CPU on one. 440BX chipsets were often bundled with Slot 1 P2 systems and can be upgraded to use P3s and get some pretty decent performance. And probably some of the least-twitchy fast ISA-supporting systems as well.

Certainly capable of WinXP hostling. But golly, Socket 478 P4 systems are also landfill and their performance is quite a bit better.
 
To be perfectly honest, I'd use a PII over a P4 any day of the week. Every Netburst-based system I've used has been a total dog no matter what the benchmarks say; on the other hand, load up a high-end PII with suitably lightweight software (Win2K) and it can be quite pleasant for text-editing and light, NoScript-ified web browsing/email.

And yeah, Systemax was nothing special, but not bad.
 
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