anode Posted June 28, 2020 Report Share Posted June 28, 2020 Album: https://imgur.com/a/ptzp4Vl Saw this pop up for sale locally and made the trip to pick it up. He said his father-in-law was an IT contractor, and apparently he originally got the case empty. I got back home and opened it up to find the original case hardware kit sealed in its cardboard box, taped inside the drive bay next to a power cable in a bag. A silica gel pack was taped to the floor of the case. The IO connectors were zip tied together, tucked away in a corner. I am extra certain this case was never used, because the metal plate covering the DVD drive bay was not punched out. My assumption is that Microsoft ordered cases from a supplier (says Yeou Chih on the inside) and hand-assembled all 50 units themselves in Redmond. I'm guessing that this case was one that either arrived damaged, or just never got used. If there were rumored to be 50 units, then I suppose this is unit 51. The date code on the back is 4-18-01. I'm not entirely sure what to do with it. The inside is perfect, but the outside is a bit rough from kicking around in a basement. Ideally, I'd like to purchase the parts to remake the Alpha tower like N64 Freak did, but considering how difficult it is to find the Intel motherboard at a reasonable price I'm not sure how likely that is to happen. Maybe another 820 chipset board would work instead? I'm seeing a few similar candidates that are half the price of the Intel board. Another option I'm considering is building a similarly-specced PC inside and installing Windows 2000 for some Halo action. All I've done so far is clean it up. Thoughts? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OGXbox Admin Posted June 29, 2020 Report Share Posted June 29, 2020 1 hour ago, anode said: Album: https://imgur.com/a/ptzp4Vl Saw this pop up for sale locally and made the trip to pick it up. He said his father-in-law was an IT contractor, and apparently he originally got the case empty. I got back home and opened it up to find the original case hardware kit sealed in its cardboard box, taped inside the drive bay next to a power cable in a bag. A silica gel pack was taped to the floor of the case. The IO connectors were zip tied together, tucked away in a corner. I am extra certain this case was never used, because the metal plate covering the DVD drive bay was not punched out. My assumption is that Microsoft ordered cases from a supplier (says Yeou Chih on the inside) and hand-assembled all 50 units themselves in Redmond. I'm guessing that this case was one that either arrived damaged, or just never got used. If there were rumored to be 50 units, then I suppose this is unit 51. The date code on the back is 4-18-01. I'm not entirely sure what to do with it. The inside is perfect, but the outside is a bit rough from kicking around in a basement. Ideally, I'd like to purchase the parts to remake the Alpha tower like N64 Freak did, but considering how difficult it is to find the Intel motherboard at a reasonable price I'm not sure how likely that is to happen. Maybe another 820 chipset board would work instead? I'm seeing a few similar candidates that are half the price of the Intel board. Another option I'm considering is building a similarly-specced PC inside and installing Windows 2000 for some Halo action. All I've done so far is clean it up. Thoughts? I don't have many suggestions, but I have been looking for one for my preservation. If you don't move forward with it, please consider letting me purchase it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syclopse Posted June 29, 2020 Report Share Posted June 29, 2020 Nice find, its also a standard ATX case so you could build a current PC. It's a shame it didn't stay in the box it shipped in as so many of these cases are beat up. This one is in good shape compared to others I've seen. The shipping label on my boxed unit has the date 4-19-2001 and the new case inside was dated the same as yours, 4-18-01. Which is a late date for an Alpha tower and probably why it wasn't assembled as the BETA 1C units were currently shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anode Posted June 29, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2020 5 hours ago, Syclopse said: Nice find, its also a standard ATX case so you could build a current PC. It's a shame it didn't stay in the box it shipped in as so many of these cases are beat up. This one is in good shape compared to others I've seen. The shipping label on my boxed unit has the date 4-19-2001 and the new case inside was dated the same as yours, 4-18-01. Which is a late date for an Alpha tower and probably why it wasn't assembled as the BETA 1C units were currently shipping. Oh wow that's amazing to see one new in box! I wonder how many more bare cases there are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syclopse Posted June 29, 2020 Report Share Posted June 29, 2020 The 50 number is incorrect like most numbers on the internet, in the press release by Microsoft they mentioned shipping a 1000 of these out to developers. The hard part was keeping them after being received as Microsoft wanted them shipped back before getting the actual development kits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoTeamScotch Posted September 18, 2020 Report Share Posted September 18, 2020 What a find. It would be difficult to find that on the internet, let alone locally and within driving distance... unless you're in the Redmond area. Lol. I've seen and heard of so many stories where people find rare Xbox stuff in the goodwills around Redmond or at garage sales in the area. Makes me miss living in western WA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh0rtlife Posted September 19, 2020 Report Share Posted September 19, 2020 imo do nothing with it but use it as a display..beeing so rare id want to keeep it in as pristine condition as possible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OGXbox Admin Posted September 20, 2020 Report Share Posted September 20, 2020 21 hours ago, sh0rtlife said: imo do nothing with it but use it as a display..beeing so rare id want to keeep it in as pristine condition as possible I bought it from him. I have acquired all of the original parts from one of these and built it back up into an alpha II tower. It is fully functional and will be preserved as such for as long as I live. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenhunter85 Posted September 30, 2020 Report Share Posted September 30, 2020 these are super cool. personally id just keep it and display it with my collection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slycooper124 Posted January 12, 2021 Report Share Posted January 12, 2021 hello, I built an frankenalpha recently and I was wondering if you would be interested in selling your case. this would really complete the look of my working dev kit. please let me know if your interested. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OGXbox Admin Posted January 12, 2021 Report Share Posted January 12, 2021 12 hours ago, slycooper124 said: hello, I built an frankenalpha recently and I was wondering if you would be interested in selling your case. this would really complete the look of my working dev kit. please let me know if your interested. thanks He already sold it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slycooper124 Posted January 12, 2021 Report Share Posted January 12, 2021 Damn ok thanks for the responce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theebeardedbard Posted February 5, 2022 Report Share Posted February 5, 2022 I recently got one of these complete from a Microsoft employee who over seen decommissioning. He said most of his colleagues just popped the jewels out but he took a whole unit home. Still boots up and everything. Hard to find much info on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slycooper124 Posted February 5, 2022 Report Share Posted February 5, 2022 Oh wow, is it just the case or the complete unit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowlsnapper Posted February 5, 2022 Report Share Posted February 5, 2022 1 hour ago, theebeardedbard said: I recently got one of these complete from a Microsoft employee who over seen decommissioning. He said most of his colleagues just popped the jewels out but he took a whole unit home. Still boots up and everything. Hard to find much info on them. God damn. I need to get some well-connected friends... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slycooper124 Posted February 5, 2022 Report Share Posted February 5, 2022 same but im just nobody. I built mine, but im just looking for the case Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theebeardedbard Posted February 10, 2022 Report Share Posted February 10, 2022 On 2/5/2022 at 2:10 PM, slycooper124 said: Oh wow, is it just the case or the complete unit? Complete unit. Original with the sound card which guess was hard to find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slycooper124 Posted February 10, 2022 Report Share Posted February 10, 2022 Nice. Im hunting for the tower, I got a recreation sound card and I had to create and print a bracket. Was there any builds on the hdd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowlsnapper Posted February 10, 2022 Report Share Posted February 10, 2022 35 minutes ago, theebeardedbard said: Complete unit. Original with the sound card which guess was hard to find. what do these things go for, usually? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slycooper124 Posted February 10, 2022 Report Share Posted February 10, 2022 Good luck finding one. The alpha 2 case is just not find able and the retail comparison is just not around anymore. It's a global win case. If you want the full name and model, let me know and I'll hunt that info down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowlsnapper Posted February 10, 2022 Report Share Posted February 10, 2022 (edited) 37 minutes ago, slycooper124 said: Good luck finding one. The alpha 2 case is just not find able and the retail comparison is just not around anymore. It's a global win case. If you want the full name and model, let me know and I'll hunt that info down. Sure! That'd be cool. How hard is it to find the internals? Edited February 10, 2022 by Bowlsnapper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slycooper124 Posted February 10, 2022 Report Share Posted February 10, 2022 To build the whole pc its not hard. The sound card is crucial to get one of the 2 public beta builds to work. But I may have something for that. There is a shopping list for the alpha I can send you the link if you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowlsnapper Posted February 10, 2022 Report Share Posted February 10, 2022 2 minutes ago, slycooper124 said: To build the whole pc its not hard. The sound card is crucial to get one of the 2 public beta builds to work. But I may have something for that. There is a shopping list for the alpha I can send you the link if you want. Dude, definitely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slycooper124 Posted February 10, 2022 Report Share Posted February 10, 2022 Here is the grocery list to build the kit. now n64 freak is out of the screen but before he left he sent me a link to where I can get more sound cards printed. Now I havent done it yet since I dont have the skills to do it but im more then happy to help in any which way I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowlsnapper Posted February 10, 2022 Report Share Posted February 10, 2022 9 minutes ago, slycooper124 said: Here is the grocery list to build the kit. now n64 freak is out of the screen but before he left he sent me a link to where I can get more sound cards printed. Now I havent done it yet since I dont have the skills to do it but im more then happy to help in any which way I can. Sick! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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