Ideas for Single Core Server

[Ph0enix_216]

Hey guys,

 

My sister recently gifted me with an old laptop that she no longer uses. It's an old Compaq notebook with a single core, single thread AMD CPU and 2GB of RAM. I was originally planning on installing Ubuntu Server on it, as the battery is shot and I can leave it plugged into the wall and my Ethernet switch, but beyond that, what can I actually use it for with only one core? Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[corrado33]

Honestly. Nothing really. I had a similar computer except it was better than yours (dual core 2gb) and it was still... awful. Even with a lightweight linux distro on it (in which ubuntu is not) it still just wasn't really usable. I had it set up for folding at one point, but my newer PCs produced the same amount of work in like 10 minutes as that thing did all day. 

 

In the end, I recycled it. 

[FloRolf]

Retro gaming machine?

[corrado33]

Just now, FloRolf said:

Retro gaming machine?

But why? The modern computer will do it just fine (even better).  

[KarathKasun]

4 minutes ago, corrado33 said:

Honestly. Nothing really. I had a similar computer except it was better than yours (dual core 2gb) and it was still... awful. Even with a lightweight linux distro on it (in which ubuntu is not) it still just wasn't really usable. I had it set up for folding at one point, but my newer PCs produced the same amount of work in like 10 minutes as that thing did all day. 

 

In the end, I recycled it. 

I have an old PowerBook G4 with a 1ghz PowerPC single core CPU.  It plays youtube videos pretty well, but you have to view them in an external program like quicktime.

 

It can also play many old school PPC only games from the late 90's and early 00's.  Emulators up to SNES also work relatively well.

[corrado33]

1 minute ago, KarathKasun said:

I have an old PowerBook with a 1ghz PowerPC single core CPU.  It plays youtube videos pretty well, but you have to view them in an external program like quicktime.

 

It can also play many old school PPC only games from the late 90's and early 00's.

Yeah but the old macs were build really well and there aren't many (any?) programs that let you play old PPC games/programs. On windows, that's not true. DOSbox exists, compatibility mode exists, etc. 

[KarathKasun]

Just now, corrado33 said:

Yeah but the old macs were build really well and there aren't many (any?) programs that let you play old PPC games/programs. On windows, that's not true. DOSbox exists, compatibility mode exists, etc. 

I can run DosBox even on that old PPC Mac. XD

[Electronics Wizardy]

I have a thecus n5200 pro that I put debian testing on and use it has a backup nas. It has 5x 2tb hdds for storage and am using it as a borg backup repository for all my other systems. It has a pentium III mobile at around 1.2 ghz and 512mb of ram and works just fine. You can use it as a Nas if you want.

[Enderman]

Maybe throw it in electronics recycling.

[FloRolf]

7 minutes ago, corrado33 said:

But why? The modern computer will do it just fine (even better).  

You can rebuild it inside of an old af TV and make it a retro AIO gaming machine. 

[corrado33]

Just now, FloRolf said:

You can rebuild it inside of an old af TV and make it a retro AIO gaming machine. 

It'd be easier (and more stable) to just buy a $50 dell on craigslist and do it with that. Those at least come core 2 duos usually and you can cool it a hell of a lot better than a laptop. 

[FloRolf]

2 minutes ago, corrado33 said:

It'd be easier (and more stable) to just buy a $50 dell on craigslist and do it with that. Those at least come core 2 duos usually and you can cool it a hell of a lot better than a laptop. 

What do you want from me man, you were the one asking, lol 

 

 

 

Edit, no you weren't, lol. 

[KarathKasun]

2 minutes ago, corrado33 said:

It'd be easier (and more stable) to just buy a $50 dell on craigslist and do it with that. Those at least come core 2 duos usually and you can cool it a hell of a lot better than a laptop. 

Raspberry Pi 3 does this for ~$35 while being tiny.

[Ph0enix_216]

1 minute ago, KarathKasun said:

Raspberry Pi 3 does this for ~$35 while being tiny.

I've actually got one of those, too.

[Salv8 (sam)]

maybe a small web server or file server that won't require much processing power? thats all i can think. a single core for anything other than running windows 98 or a application that only works on one core correctly (happens sometimes in business environments that have been using a piece of software for a long time!) or MS-DOS...