Razor Blade

Hate to say it, but you're currently making a great argument for using Windows (or a Mac, for that matter).
 
It's disingenuous to make a blanket statement that there's a Linux alternative for every Windows program.  You know full well that there are business apps that have no Linux equivalent; you know there are major games that aren't and will never be available on Linux.  And I'm sorry, but a gamer who wants the latest hardware just can't get a Linux machine, since they'll either have to wait for drivers or forego certain components entirely.
 
To quote a certain web comic: shh... let people enjoy things.  Windows certainly has its problems (I'm a Mac user for a reason), but it's not the devil incarnate.  More importantly, it's not healthy to be so thoroughly wound up in ideology -- any ideology -- that you feel you must attack anyone who doesn't adhere to it.  It's okay to say why you prefer Linux, why it might be better for some people, but to insist that anyone who doesn't use it is ignorant and lazy?  Breathe.  Relax.

No it doesn't, if that's truly how you think, then you have a messed up view of the world
 
Yeah, I'm going to throw away hundreds of dollars worth of software I've purchased and move to Linux because "Microsoft bad"
If Linux can do everything I need it to, then I will accept it as a viable option for ME, but as it stands, right now, it doesn't,
Why would I move on the pretense than maybe someday it might work for me? you have this notion that the only reason that people use windows is because they are too lazy to move to Linux because of your own massive bias against it, you have such a blind hatred for so many things as evidenced by your posts on this forum, that it makes me question whether or not you actually believe what you say.
 
It's people like you who create the air of elitism that surrounds the Linux community and makes people despise it.
 

Windows Users: "Linux, well if you want to."
Linux Users: "Windows is garage and anyone that uses it are fanboys".
 
Linux Users: "This moral ground is so high up I'm struggling to breath"
Windows Users: "I think you'll find that high ground is below the water line and you're actually breathing in water."
 
Actual Windows Users: "The hell are they arguing about about? Better be something important to get that worked up."
Sane Linux Users: "I know right, so stupid."
 
I use Linux and Windows every day but I would not switch my personal gaming system over to Linux regardless of the fact I'd have no issues in usability or familiarity of Linux. Dual booting isn't worth it either, if one of the OS's you're booting in to can do everything you need more quickly and reliably why boot in to the other one, which means why have it at all.

Id stay away from a r910, you want something more like a r720 or r710 here. Also the r910's suck a lot of power, your power bill will go way up running those full time.
 
Id aim more for something like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-PowerEdge-R720-SFF-Server-2x-2-00GHz-12-Cores-16GB-RAM-H310-SPS-DVD-No-HDD/173821799495?hash=item2878962c47:g:3BIAAOSwTGZcfWtH&frcectupt=true
 
Add sore more ram, and what ever drives you want.
 
Id run a hypervisor on it, and run each server in a vms, makes it easier to manage.
 
 

why do you want the same capacity? You probably want more space on the server so you can have incremental backups.

My advice is...don't. For NAS use in a home, more capacity with fewer drives is better in almost every way. The only disadvantage being if you ever replace a drive, the rebuild will take much longer. But advantages like lower power consumption, cost per TB, and simplicity far outweighs the potential failure inconvenience.

Can you game on an 8-year-old i7?

Many of us associate the name Core i7 with high-end gaming rigs capable of pushing high framerates on very intensive graphics settings. We often forget that the Core i7 name is 8 years old and has been through 6 generations since its inception in 2008. Is it still true that any desktop with an i7 and a decent graphics card is able to output 60fps? To find out I have benchmarked one of the early 8-year-old i7, a Bloomfield i7 920, together with a modern high-end graphics card.
 
Do you like epic b-roll of classic i7 and powerful graphics cards? Watch the video I made for this post here:
 
The 8-year-old i7

 
The i7 920 is a quad-core beast that features hyper threading, triple channel DDR3, 8BM of L3 cache and a 2,66GHz base clock that can boost up to 2,93GHz. Not bad for a 2008 CPU that can be bought used for the same price as a new Celeron. The i7 920 is based on the 45nm Nehalem architecture, which was groundbreaking at its time (learn more here). I have benchmarked the CPU with my Gigabyte NVidia GeForce GTX 980Ti G1 Gaming. I have run tests with the CPU at stock clock speeds and overclocked.
 
Overclocking
The i7 920 is great for overclocking. I easily overclocked my i7 to 4,2GHz (that’s a 57,5% overclock!). Unlike modern unlocked k-series chips, the Nehalem i7 overclocks using the base clock. This means that your overclock not only depends on your CPU, but also your motherboard. I ended up with a 200MHz base clock on my ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 and an x21 multiplier to get my 4,2GHz overclock. One thing to keep in mind when overclocking these old chips is that they can get very hot. My i7 quickly reaches 80 to 90c when under full load, even with the massive Cooler Master V8 heasink I have for cooling.
@LinusTech has a pixelated guide for Nehalem overclocking on the NCIX Tech Tips channel here.
 
Testbench Specs

 
 
 
 - Intel Core i7 920
 - ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 (X58)
 - 16GB (4x4Gb) DDR3 1600MHz CL9
 - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980Ti G1 Gaming (1455MHz max boost)
 - Kingston UV400 240GB (OS)
 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 750GB (Games)
 - Cooler Master B600 (600W)
 
Benchmarks:
 
As you can see in the benchmarks, the 8-year-old i7 delivers respectable performance at stock speeds, but the 980Ti really gets to shine when the CPU is overclocked. This clearly demonstrates the potential of these cheap CPUs, especially when overclocked.
 
Should you get one of these old i7 for a budget gaming rig?
These old Nehalem i7s deliver great price to performance, but only if you can get a good deal on a decent X58 motherboard. Old X58 boards are hard to find for a good price, but if you can get a good deal on a motherboard, classic i7s and Xeons like the i7 920 are defiantly worth considering.
 
 

Hot black coffee is my favorite drink.... Without it, I would probably just become an alcoholic...

Nothing beats a solid lager in a frosted glass when the sun is out an scorching

I drink so much pop that, during summertimes, all the mosquitoes biting me develop instant diabetes.

Who wants to live forever, I've lived on Korean spicy ramen for a year once. 

Likely manufacturer code and manufacturing date.
 
Here is info on a recall by Belkin where they explain one of the "dials" indicate year of manufacture
https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2009/belkin-international-inc-recalls-surgemaster-surge-protectors-due-to-shock-hazard

Porch pirates don't scare me as much as possible crack heads looking for quick and easy scores following a robot delivering goods inside a house or garage...I'd rather lose my case of toothbrushes than my tools, electronics, or other valuables.

I'd assume they can track unique activations or licence counts in some way. Doesn't have to be a unique hardware device, or a hardware device at all if people want to run it in VMs.

Porch pirates don't scare me as much as possible crack heads looking for quick and easy scores following a robot delivering goods inside a house or garage...I'd rather lose my case of toothbrushes than my tools, electronics, or other valuables.

Porch pirates don't scare me as much as possible crack heads looking for quick and easy scores following a robot delivering goods inside a house or garage...I'd rather lose my case of toothbrushes than my tools, electronics, or other valuables.

Yes!
 
It would be hilarious to see an army of delivery robots following something like this! ?

Use ubuntu server 16.04 if your good with linux.

This is true and it kills me...
 
I wonder if I can train the robot to shovel my driveway. ?

Porch pirates don't scare me as much as possible crack heads looking for quick and easy scores following a robot delivering goods inside a house or garage...I'd rather lose my case of toothbrushes than my tools, electronics, or other valuables.

I remember the OG Sony VAIO desktop that was like this.  Everything in that class of machine was garbage.  They wanted to price the systems like specialty Hi-Fi gear.

I mean backups? You really don't want to rely on a av for this, make sure you have good backups as well. Defender should be fine here.

PS3 is the best media machine i have, literally.
But nothing beats a PC for browsing web and straight up quality of PC ports (when they are not broken)
 
I am 29 this year.

Consoles were always just smaller, less powerful computers more dedicated to games than general tasks the PC does. Same is true today. Even though consoles have way way more functions than they did in the past, they're truly a viable replacement for media PCs that were marketed so heavily before the Xbox/PS3 days.
 
until gaming with the cloud becomes a thing.

Only applies to some countries, not every country.