Cyrix 486DRx² Tower PC – Dual Floppy, CD-ROM, Retro 1990s Insight Build

For those who played outside until dark, came home as latchkey kids, and then fired up a computer that felt like magic — this is the machine that defined that era. It recalls the sound of floppy drives spinning, the glow of a VGA monitor, and the excitement of seeing a loading screen that promised endless possibilities.

Powered by a Cyrix Cx486DRx²-33/66GP processor, this Insight-built desktop PC offered families and schools an affordable step into the digital frontier. Its Chinon 5.25-inch and 3.5-inch floppy drives, CD-ROM drive, and Maxtor hard drive (QC April 1994) gave access to the programs and games that shaped a generation. This is the system where you might have solved mysteries in Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, laid out your dream city in SimCity 2000, learned touch-typing with Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, or wasted countless afternoons blasting through Dangerous Dave before graduating to DOOM.

On the back are the familiar ports of the time: serial connectors for your ball mouse, a parallel port for the printer that churned out dot-matrix banners, VGA for your color monitor, and the all-important game/MIDI port for the joystick that carried you through X-Wing dogfights. Inside, an AMI BIOS motherboard with SIMM RAM and ISA slots embodies the hands-on expandability of the era.

This isn’t just a computer — it’s a cultural time capsule. A bridge between afternoons of bike rides and reckless stunts outside, and evenings spent conquering digital worlds inside. For collectors and retro gamers alike, this tower is a centerpiece of 1990s computing nostalgia.

Condition

In good vintage condition with light exterior wear and some interior dust, consistent with age. CPU, drives, and expansion cards are intact. The system has not been tested and is offered as-is for display, restoration, or collection.

Dimensions

Overall: 24.25"H x 17.5"W x 7.5"D