Homebrew PC features 2MHz hand-wrapped CPU
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted May 29th 2009 2:38PM
posted May 29th 2009 2:38PM
BMOW (Big Mess O' Wires) is a DIY PC, complete with a hand wrapped 8-bit CPU. Built by a game developer named Steve Chamberlain, this bad boy operates at 2MHz and sports 512KB memory, two-color video output, and a 512 x 480 display. According to Wired, the processor is closest in design to the MOS Technology 6502 (previously seen in such classic machines as the Apple II, Commodore 64, and some early Atari game consoles), and it took him about a year and a half from design to finish. Visitors to the Maker Faire in San Francisco can see the machine in person (and play chess on it, to boot) over the weekend. The rest of yinz can feel free to hit the read link for meticulous build details and lots of colorful pictures.
[Via Wired]
[Via Wired]
Looks like I'll be seeing that this weekend! :)
-Taylor
Ah, Taylor, we meet again...hold on, is that really you Taylor? It's...it's hard to tell from here, wait, could you repeat your name again for me? Please? I don't know if you are the real Taylor or an impostor!
Hey, what's your name again?
OMG, Taylor?!
I need a dark blue suit with a double breasted jacket by monday. Money's no object.
Who's Taylor?
Who is Taylor? An iPhone?
Wonder where that Taylor guy went, don't see him around these days.
omg I thought you were dead.
Hey Everyone, Taylor here:
Haha, I'm glad to know I'm missed.
To answer some questions - Yes, My name is Taylor, sorry if I was unclear.
And no, I haven't died yet, to the best of my knowledge.
Thanks,
-Taylor
"Taylor. Yes, Taylor. @ May 29th 2009 2:41PM
Looks like I'll be seeing that this weekend! :)
-Taylor"
Don't you think that's too many "Taylor"'s in one sentence?! You want your average Engadget reader to get confused?
BTW, a small hint, don't put your name at the end of your post, since we see it in your nickname.
Cheers,
-Patrik
@Patriks7
Hi, Taylor here, you must be new.
I am so used to signing my name on things online i just do it everywhere. Long ago It seems to have caught the attention of bored engadget readers all over the world, and it has been pointed out many, many times, resulting in some lovely comment threads about it. I've almost become a celebrity on here, except instead of attractive women throwing themselves at me, it's just techy guys complaining about my writing - so, not quite the same, sadly.
Still, some people seem to be unclear, as people always ask if my name really is Taylor (which it is), and I feel it is my duty to straighten things out and let everyone know that I am in fact the Taylor that my name makes me out to be.
In fact, my name used to just be "Taylor" on here, but that wasn't clear enough for people, so I changed it to let these confused souls know that I really am Taylor, because I *am* Taylor.
Thanks,
-Taylor
nice. :D
apparently he is a douche with a mohawk.
CaN It pLay CrYsIs?
No.
Kthbai.
-Taylor
Copy/Paste?
will it blend?
BUT will it cliche'..... oh wait, it already did.
Even though i low ranked you... i was entertained by your copy/pasta
Yes. Max settings only @ 512×480 with two colors.
128×240 with 256 colors only runs with lowered settings.
Playable, no doubt about that.
No, gO KiLl YourSeLf.
Youre a fucking moron who should die of herpes.
Holy Wow!
From the BMOW blog:
"Crazy day today! Maker Faire setup begins tomorrow, and BMOW is featured on wired.com"
No shit, that's like the ultimate pun!
Indeed. Now I want to see someone make their own internet using a series of tubes...
Can it play...pong?
I think the better question to answer is, will it blend manually?
"Thanks to the BlendTech(tm) range of pestle and mortars, just about ANYTHING can be hand-ground into a fine powder!"
Standing ovation is in order. Thanks to my ADD i can't stick to a project for more then a week.
I know what you mean. I can't even finish responding to a
Oh thank goodness Fry Guy, I almost thought you were captured by Candle Jack. At least we know now that it is all due to you have Attention Deficit Disord
Yes you can; it is a matter of willpower and choice.
Alex, perhaps you do not understand the nature of Attention Deficit Disorder.
You have a deficit of attention. Its a disorder.
Everyone has an excuse.
I'm not a douchebag, I just have douchebaggen syndrome. It's genetic.
cut the red wire
No! NEVER the red wire!
:D
+1 for "yinz."
"yinz" is some one from Western PA?
overclock it and get 3Mhz :D
But that would require liquid nitrogen and is totally impractical.
Respect.
lol this makes all regular computer mods look like they're from n00bs...
This is seriously cool..
Wow. I think after about 12 months I'd have pulled every wire out, pulled my hair out, and shot the thing until it exploded.
Talk about patience.
I think he is running his web server on it.
Kids in my day used to do this kind of stuff all the time. And they walked to school every day too, uphill, through the snow both ways!
Don't forget the shoe shortage and broken glass, not to mention the 8-lane highway they had to cross.
For the school journey was uphill both ways.
Respect fo sho!
just think, if he would've something like this in the early 70's he'd be a millionaire. of course, it'd be as fast as the fastest oscillator he can get at that time, but still.
just a matter of time before someone overclocks this thing to 5mhz.
12 megahurtz with liquid electrons!
Would be cool for an audio device. Could get some sick circuit bends out of that.
SkyNET, is that you?
Awesome.
The complexity of even fairly old processor designs such as this frightens me. It works fine as it is, but it only takes a tiny, virtually undetectable imperfection or flaw in order to bring the whole thing crashing down.
Can I Hackintosh this? It should run System 6 without multifinder.....
Triple Boot?
Can he make a few more of this so I can use it in a cluster?
Just asking......
what're we waiting for? Let's get some liquid nitrogen and overlock this badboy.
what're we waiting for? Let's get some liquid nitrogen and overclock this badboy.
Bender also sports a 6502 processor
Hey at least now AMD has someone they have a chance at competing succesfully with...
Wow, a hand-built CPU? I take my hat off...this, people, is true nerdcore.
So I'm guessing Vista has no problems running on this?
wow, i can't imagine the patience somebody needs to make something like this :D
Wow! I bow before this monument to nerdiness.
excellent geekwork!
Did anyone read his project goals?
My original goals were:
- Keep the hardware complexity to a minimum. I’m not an electrical engineer.
I am not an electrical engineer either and there is no way I could accomplish this.
I think somebody made a circuit board in Littlebigplanet, not this complex though.
Damn tweekers.
so this is the nerd version of knitting.
This guy should be working for IBM, Intel, or AMD with at least a six-figure salary. He built by hand what took a small army of engineers to design and robots to build in the 80s.
Agreed. I'm in awe and can only offer my full respect.
Waiting for the 45nm version...
Since when is engadget from pittsburgh?
I think I just jizzz by looking at this o.O
TMI, man. TMI.
Mad Skillz!
I heard Intel is already bribing computer manufacturers to NOT put this CPU in their machines.
can it play crysis
Crysis - 64bit
This - 8bit
This comment 1.5 years ago - original
This comment after it has already been done - annoying
Please put your face in a pile of maggots and take a deep breath. Kthx.
imagine a beowulf cluster of these!
YES YINZ! Nice to see a "burgher" up in the Engadget domain. A little shout out to the Pittsburgh Penguins shooting for the cup this weekend.
You have to play chess to boot it?
nice
Yinz? from the Burg n at?
Im sure there were times where he was calling it BWOT "Big Waste O' Time"
This guy should join a bombsquad.
"Don't cut the red wire, or was it the blue one?"
I want to take that guy back in time with me to Ancient Rome
Psst! Now listen here, ya jagoff! Yinz don't use yinz ahtside da 'Burgh! Yinz got that? People will get all nebby n'at. Keep it on the dahnlow.
The 6502 was not just in Atari game consoles. In fact, Atari computers, upon which the 5200 was based, featured the processor. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_5200
Ahh, programming BBS auto login subroutines in assembler on the 6502...those were the days
I can't think of a more apt publication to publish this...