OK, here goes....
My first computer (which I still have) was an Amiga A500 made in 1986, though I bought it second-hand. It uses a 7MHz CPU and came with 512K RAM built-in on the motherboard (which i upgraded to 4MB). I used a TV as the monitor.
My second computer (which I also still have) is an Amiga A1200 made in 1992. It uses a 14MHz CPU with 2MB RAM built-in, upgraded with another 8MB and a 40MHz CPU.
My first PC, which I kept for sentimental reasons long after I bought an Athlon XP, was assembled from parts I collected from people whose computers I upgraded. It was a Classic (non-MMX) Pentium 166 with 8MB EDO RAM. IT NEVER HAD A CABINET !!! I used it with the motherboard propped up against a wall, the PSU (repaired dead unit) lying on my table, the CD-ROM drive sitting on top of the PSU. The CD drive was one that I put together with parts from 3 defective ones, and when reading a CD it sounded like a plane taking off. At first I placed the HDD directly on top of the CD-ROM drive, but the vibration from the CD-ROM drive sometimes caused errors, so I placed a piece of plastic foam between them. The 4.3GB HDD was built from 2 dead ones. The 14-inch monitor was also a dead piece that I repaired. Total sytem cost = 0.
My brother living next door still has a Pentium 100 with 1GB HDD that I assembled for him in 1995 for DTP work. He has newer ones now but his staff still use that first one.