An old computer isn’t usually worth much on its own, but if it’s tied to a piece of tech company history, that means something different. According to foreign media Tom’s Hardware, an HVAC technician working in the basement of a customer’s house accidentally discovered a custom-made desktop computer suspected to be owned by former AMD CEO Rory Read, and the casing was signed by multiple AMD executives, including current AMD Chairman and CEO Dr. Lisa Su.
More importantly, this computer looks like more than just a signed souvenir. The hardware inside, the words on the case, and the state of the packaging all happen to be around 2014, when AMD was handing over the baton, and it seems that it has not been used in 12 years. If it is later officially certified, the collection value may be quite amazing.
Image source: Reddit
A commemorative PC signed by AMD’s former CEO was found in the basement! The outer shell is also signed by Su Zifeng, and it may not have been used in 12 years.
According to Tom’s Hardware, the person who discovered the computer was an HVAC technician who was working at a customer’s home. The customer seemed to have run a computer store in the past. There were a lot of unused computer equipment in the basement, and this suspected Rory Read PC was among them. He later shared the discovery to Reddit.
The most eye-catching thing is that the casing reads “To Rory – All the Best from Team AMD” and there are many signatures next to it. One of the signatures looks like Dr. Lisa Su. Foreign media also compared her past signature on the special edition Ryzen chip, and the similarity is quite high. Of course, unless AMD or the person involved comes forward to confirm this kind of thing, there is no way to prove that it is the person himself.
Image source: Reddit
In addition to Su Ma, the case also has the signatures of other AMD executives or important figures of the year, including Mark Papermaster, Rajan (Raj) Naik, Devinder Kumar, Colette LaForce, John Byrne, Darrell Ford and others. This signature lineup alone is obviously not a collectible that ordinary people can just spoof.
The casing is a Xigmatek XEN6329 Mini-ITX case, which Tom’s Hardware found is now selling for more than $1,000 on the used market. However, it should be noted here that the price is not equal to the transaction price. What really makes this PC topical is its connection with AMD during the handover period.
Later, he added the specifications, equipped with AMD A10-7800 processor (built-in Radeon R7 graphics chip), and the graphics card is Sapphire’s ITX version Radeon R9 285. Radeon R9 285 was a product launched around 2014, which happened to fall at the junction of Rory Read leaving AMD and Su Ma taking over as CEO. This is why foreign media speculate that this PC may be a resignation or handover gift from the AMD team to Rory Read. There is also 16GB DDR3 “Radeon Memory” memory and 500GB “Radeon R7” 2.5-inch SSD.
I think i have Rory Read's (former CEO of AMD) PC
byu/gazicoldfur inAmd
What’s even more special is that the HVAC technician also mentioned that the packaging materials in the box are still intact, the computer is almost free of dust, and there is even an unopened Windows 8.1 CD included. In other words, this PC may not have been really used since it was built, and it may have been left alone for more than ten years.
There is no clear answer as to why the PC ended up in the basement. Some people in the comment area speculated that it might have been taken to a computer store and resold, and then no one paid attention to it for many years; others speculated that it might have been used for repairs, installation settings, or organization, and then was forgotten for some reason.
Source: KOCPC Chinese