I need a really slow computer

[jkrause16]

i want a computer for my son that wont even play roblox and h as no hope of playing hoi4.

 

 

i was going to replace his 14900k / 6800xt computer with these parts.....

 

memory -   https://www.newegg.com/corsair-32gb-ddr4-3200/p/N82E16820236541?Item=N82E16820236541&_gl=1*8uo8w8*_gcl_au*MjEzMjY0OTc2NC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga*MTA5NTUwODk5OC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga_TR46GG8HLR*MTc0NjQ3Mzg1Ni4xLjEuMTc0NjQ3NDQwNC4wLjAuMTkzMjUwMTIxMQ..

 

cpu -   https://www.newegg.com/intel-celeron-g3930/p/N82E16819117748?Item=9SIA4REA3T6571&_gl=1*1khvmrz*_gcl_au*MjEzMjY0OTc2NC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga*MTA5NTUwODk5OC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga_TR46GG8HLR*MTc0NjQ3Mzg1Ni4xLjEuMTc0NjQ3NDQxMC4wLjAuMTkzMjUwMTIxMQ..

 

hard drive -  https://www.newegg.com/kingspec-512gb/p/0D9-000D-00149?Item=9SIB1V8HP68399&_gl=1*1cybllp*_gcl_au*MjEzMjY0OTc2NC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga*MTA5NTUwODk5OC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga_TR46GG8HLR*MTc0NjQ3Mzg1Ni4xLjEuMTc0NjQ3NDQ3OC4wLjAuMTkzMjUwMTIxMQ..

 

board -  https://www.newegg.com/p/1JW-000C-00YX3?Item=9SIBWH3KC38629&_gl=1*1dbp10p*_gcl_au*MjEzMjY0OTc2NC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga*MTA5NTUwODk5OC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga_TR46GG8HLR*MTc0NjQ3Mzg1Ni4xLjEuMTc0NjQ3NDQ4MC4wLjAuMTkzMjUwMTIxMQ..

 

 

the computer needs to be able to surf the web and do microsoft office. I'll put windows 11 on it.

 

is this computer slow enough to not play any fun games but also good enough for basic productivity work?

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Are you still trying to solve this problem? 

Why not get a n100 miniPC then? There cheaper, much smaller, and about the same speed.

 

But I'd just limited what can be done with windows permissions, seems easier and cheaper.

[strange13930]

47 minutes ago, jkrause16 said:

i was going to replace his 14900k / 6800xt computer with these parts.....

 

just get a linux distro on it like xubunto or lubunto, and limit it.

[Ha-Satan]

You could always get a RISC-V based SBC and have him use online MS Office lmao. That would be almost completely un-gameable.

 

But for real, the correct solution here is to set up a user account with limited permissions, like others have noted.

[DoctorNick]

56 minutes ago, jkrause16 said:

i want a computer for my son that wont even play roblox and h as no hope of playing hoi4.

 

 

i was going to replace his 14900k / 6800xt computer with these parts.....

 

memory -   https://www.newegg.com/corsair-32gb-ddr4-3200/p/N82E16820236541?Item=N82E16820236541&_gl=1*8uo8w8*_gcl_au*MjEzMjY0OTc2NC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga*MTA5NTUwODk5OC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga_TR46GG8HLR*MTc0NjQ3Mzg1Ni4xLjEuMTc0NjQ3NDQwNC4wLjAuMTkzMjUwMTIxMQ..

 

cpu -   https://www.newegg.com/intel-celeron-g3930/p/N82E16819117748?Item=9SIA4REA3T6571&_gl=1*1khvmrz*_gcl_au*MjEzMjY0OTc2NC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga*MTA5NTUwODk5OC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga_TR46GG8HLR*MTc0NjQ3Mzg1Ni4xLjEuMTc0NjQ3NDQxMC4wLjAuMTkzMjUwMTIxMQ..

 

hard drive -  https://www.newegg.com/kingspec-512gb/p/0D9-000D-00149?Item=9SIB1V8HP68399&_gl=1*1cybllp*_gcl_au*MjEzMjY0OTc2NC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga*MTA5NTUwODk5OC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga_TR46GG8HLR*MTc0NjQ3Mzg1Ni4xLjEuMTc0NjQ3NDQ3OC4wLjAuMTkzMjUwMTIxMQ..

 

board -  https://www.newegg.com/p/1JW-000C-00YX3?Item=9SIBWH3KC38629&_gl=1*1dbp10p*_gcl_au*MjEzMjY0OTc2NC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga*MTA5NTUwODk5OC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga_TR46GG8HLR*MTc0NjQ3Mzg1Ni4xLjEuMTc0NjQ3NDQ4MC4wLjAuMTkzMjUwMTIxMQ..

 

 

the computer needs to be able to surf the web and do microsoft office. I'll put windows 11 on it.

 

is this computer slow enough to not play any fun games but also good enough for basic productivity work?

 

This won't solve bad parenting. I suggest talking to him rather than sabotaging his PC

[NumLock21]

Can't game on PC, but can still game on phone. I don't see the point of even bothering spending more money just to build a no games/research only PC. Setup a limited User account like others have said. The other option is to just remove his GPU from his current system and run the onboard graphics that's built into his CPU. Onboard graphic aren't that great to play games anyway. Want to go to the extreme, then swap out the SSD with a SATA HDD, and limited the number of usable cores from his CPU in the bios.

[OhYou_]

just go into the bios and set cpu power limits to 2 watts

[jaslion]

2 hours ago, jkrause16 said:

i want a computer for my son that wont even play roblox and h as no hope of playing hoi4.

 

 

i was going to replace his 14900k / 6800xt computer with these parts.....

 

memory -   https://www.newegg.com/corsair-32gb-ddr4-3200/p/N82E16820236541?Item=N82E16820236541&_gl=1*8uo8w8*_gcl_au*MjEzMjY0OTc2NC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga*MTA5NTUwODk5OC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga_TR46GG8HLR*MTc0NjQ3Mzg1Ni4xLjEuMTc0NjQ3NDQwNC4wLjAuMTkzMjUwMTIxMQ..

 

cpu -   https://www.newegg.com/intel-celeron-g3930/p/N82E16819117748?Item=9SIA4REA3T6571&_gl=1*1khvmrz*_gcl_au*MjEzMjY0OTc2NC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga*MTA5NTUwODk5OC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga_TR46GG8HLR*MTc0NjQ3Mzg1Ni4xLjEuMTc0NjQ3NDQxMC4wLjAuMTkzMjUwMTIxMQ..

 

hard drive -  https://www.newegg.com/kingspec-512gb/p/0D9-000D-00149?Item=9SIB1V8HP68399&_gl=1*1cybllp*_gcl_au*MjEzMjY0OTc2NC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga*MTA5NTUwODk5OC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga_TR46GG8HLR*MTc0NjQ3Mzg1Ni4xLjEuMTc0NjQ3NDQ3OC4wLjAuMTkzMjUwMTIxMQ..

 

board -  https://www.newegg.com/p/1JW-000C-00YX3?Item=9SIBWH3KC38629&_gl=1*1dbp10p*_gcl_au*MjEzMjY0OTc2NC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga*MTA5NTUwODk5OC4xNzQ2NDczODU2*_ga_TR46GG8HLR*MTc0NjQ3Mzg1Ni4xLjEuMTc0NjQ3NDQ4MC4wLjAuMTkzMjUwMTIxMQ..

 

 

the computer needs to be able to surf the web and do microsoft office. I'll put windows 11 on it.

 

is this computer slow enough to not play any fun games but also good enough for basic productivity work?

 

Just get him like a used 8th gen laptop? Like a hp probook with an i5 in it?

 

Then you can have your son be in a PUBLIC space using the computer ONLY there and nowhere else.

 

You can still play hoi4 and roblox on that celeron. To not be able to play roblox you need to go back SO far that it cant run 11 or even browse the web anymore.

 

 

Again just take his pc, make a new account where NOTHING can be installed on and lock the admin account behind a password you only know. Easy peasy solves the issue. No games on the pc available. Also put it in the livingroom or some place you can easily monitor it.

[PDifolco]

Preventing kids from playing  Roblox is ok, but forbidding HoI is a crime !! ^^

I've learned as much history by playing EU and TW series than in school !

[Agall]

4 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

I've learned as much history by playing EU and TW series than in school !

I credit playing high end top 1% WoW arenas without addons to my ability to do crazy multitasking on a computer, which is a job requirement for my new position.

[Dedayog]

1 hour ago, Agall said:

I credit playing high end top 1% WoW arenas without addons to my ability to do crazy multitasking on a computer, which is a job requirement for my new position.

Are you good like Musk is good?

 

 

[DreamCat04]

10 hours ago, OhYou_ said:

just go into the bios and set cpu power limits to 2 watts

Nah, that won't work. A 14900K will take a few minutes to boot and probably another few minutes to log in on that kind of power limit and even regular apps will open and work painfully slowly. Hell, even typing will suck as all the background processes now massively affect overall system responsiveness

[DreamCat04]

10 hours ago, Ha-Satan said:

You could always get a RISC-V based SBC and have him use online MS Office lmao. That would be almost completely un-gameable.

 

But for real, the correct solution here is to set up a user account with limited permissions, like others have noted.

An idea I just had would be to ask him for permission to change his current password to a temporary one only OP knows that as soon as the paper is finished, OP will tell his son and OPs son can change it back. Then he can only use his temporary, limited account. No need to spend extra money for a one-time use PC

[Agall]

13 hours ago, Dedayog said:

Are you good like Musk is good?

 

 

Is that a reference to him buying accounts or something?

[Mark Kaine]

As for people suggesting a limited account... How long do you think it takes him to put in a USB stick and install Windows?? 

[ewitte]

Interestingly I see some games actually work "ok" on a N150.  Its getting difficult to get a machine these days that does nothing lol.

[nitrosheep]

Not sure what the situation is, did he build the PC himself? maybe you could get a crappy laptop for >150 and put parental controls, and try to stop him from using the PC until he's allowed to? Is this supposed to permanently bar him from gaming, or stop him until he's done with work for the day. You could also employ my parents' strategies of either separating the gaming PC from school by getting a cheap laptop for school only, or moving the PC into an easy to see place. If he built the PC with his own money, I think the best option would be to either buy him a really bad PC with parental controls and hide the PC until he's done his work, or if he's really messed up, throw the PC in a pool or tub of water to teach him a lesson. Or remove the cpu/gpu until he's done with work, and just leave it like that. Maybe hide them, and when he asks, tell him to look in a place, where he'll just find a note telling him to get what he needs to do done. I would need to know more info tho to really recommend something that'll work. could also just sell it and buy him something he'll benefit more from.

[starsmine]

A computer that is to slow to run roblox is a computer that is to slow for basic web surfing or productivity. 

Find a software solution to this problem, not a hardware one. Stuff like what IT use to prevent users at a company installing anything that isn't preapproved. 

 

There is almost no such thing as a computer that is to slow to play fun games on. you can play doom on anything. But you cant even do thin client based computing on poorly performing hardware due to how much data is being communicated over the web. 
 

  

3 hours ago, nitrosheep said:

Not sure what the situation is, did he build the PC himself? maybe you could get a crappy laptop for >150 and put parental controls, and try to stop him from using the PC until he's allowed to? Is this supposed to permanently bar him from gaming, or stop him until he's done with work for the day. You could also employ my parents' strategies of either separating the gaming PC with school, or moving the PC into an easy to see place. If he built the PC with his own money, I think the best option would be to either buy him a really bad PC with parental controls and hide the PC until he's done his work, or if he's really messed up, throw the PC in a pool or tub of water to teach him a lesson. Or remove the cpu/gpu until he's done with work, and just leave it like that. Maybe hide them, and when he asks, tell him to look in a place, where he'll just find a note telling him to get what he needs to do done. I would need to know more info tho to really recommend something that'll work. could also just sell it and buy him something he'll benefit more from.

Destroying your kids property will teach them a lesson alright. 
That you are not an adult worth trusting. 
Which I would hope isnt the lesson you are trying to teach them. 

It does not matter how bad the kid messed up, that solution will fuck them up and lead to them disowning you as a parent as soon as they can. 
Like your solutions are not even funny, they are concerning. 

[StDragon]

Using the Microsoft Family Safety app, you can set device web/app access limits for a childs account. You can create a free Outlook.com account for a child, and have that account be within your Family group. When that child logs into a Windows PC with the outlook.com account, you'll be able to manage Screen Time.

You can set time limts or outright block certain apps and websites.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/family-safety?ocid=family_signin
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/set-app-and-game-limits-a45e2d2d-4b55-a320-c8e5-daf610447a05

 

[TR0LLER]

LOL Good luck with that... Back in the day my dad tried to lock down my windows XP desktop... (or was it win 2k, I can't remember) Took about a week for me to get sick of being locked out of stupid stuff like basic power settings and stuff by 'net nanny'. I burnt a copy of windows and reinstalled. Then when he discovered this and had no idea how I had removed the software he took the vga cable. I raided the box of random power supplies and I  think a couple of phone cords and got enough lengths of wire to poke them in each hole on the vga connector between the pc and monitor. It had a greenish hue, but still allowed me to use it!

Eventually after several iterations of this he gave up. I think that happened when I ran power and phone lines to hide the DSL modem inside an air duct after he took it with him everywhere he went for a week... I wasn't even looking up anything nasty, ~13yo me just wanted to collect designs for potato cannons and ultralight helicopter plans iirc! LMAO
Good times...

[nitrosheep]

13 hours ago, starsmine said:

Destroying your kids property will teach them a lesson alright. 
That you are not an adult worth trusting. 
Which I would hope isnt the lesson you are trying to teach them. 

It does not matter how bad the kid messed up, that solution will fuck them up and lead to them disowning you as a parent as soon as they can. 
Like your solutions are not even funny, they are concerning. 

I meant it as like a last resort, if it's starting to basically take over their lives and destroying them. Even then, there's other solutions. I'm also using an example I've witnessed. One of my dad's friends is a doctor, and one time his son was really struggling with school, so the doctor gave his son a deadline to get his grades up. He couldn't get his grades up, and his xbox was gone. BUT, since this is like a 1500+ PC build, that's probably not a good idea. So, op should prob just take the CPU & GPU and hide them until their son is ready and mature to come back to his PC without his addiction taking over. My parents have never broken any of my technology, and just took it away when my addiction was taking over. My addiction went from being horrifying to non existent thanks to my parents taking away my tech.

[Dedayog]

25 minutes ago, nitrosheep said:

I meant it as like a last resort, if it's starting to basically take over their lives and destroying them. Even then, there's other solutions. I'm also using an example I've witnessed. One of my dad's friends is a doctor, and one time his son was really struggling with school, so the doctor gave his son a deadline to get his grades up. He couldn't get his grades up, and his xbox was gone. BUT, since this is like a 1500+ PC build, that's probably not a good idea. So, op should prob just take the CPU & GPU and hide them until their son is ready and mature to come back to his PC without his addiction taking over. My parents have never broken any of my technology, and just took it away when my addiction was taking over. My addiction went from being horrifying to non existent thanks to my parents taking away my tech.

As a parent, if you're scared to take a $1500 PC away, have fun when you have to take the car

 

Be a parent.  Full stop.

 

Not kinda or a half friend half parent.

 

It's your responsibility to get them ready for real life.  You created them, you owe them.

[Caroline]

You first world new parents don't know the power of the Chancla.

[TR0LLER]

1 hour ago, Caroline said:

You first world new parents don't know the power of the Chancla.

Mine sure did... didn't work!

They'd hand me a kitchen knife and tell me to "go out and cut a switch". For some it'll just make em more determined to do what they want no matter how expertly you wield the slipper (or switch).

[Dedayog]

41 minutes ago, TR0LLER said:

Mine sure did... didn't work!

They'd hand me a kitchen knife and tell me to "go out and cut a switch". For some it'll just make em more determined to do what they want no matter how expertly you wield the slipper (or switch).

You and every one of us, nothing special.  We all think we got away with murder and our parents couldn't control us.

 

The key is to guide and support, not control and demand.