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What to do with an old computer?

79wjd
By 79wjd
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I happen to have my old-old-old-old computer lying around....and I kinda want to do something with it, but I'm not really sure what... 

 

Specs: 

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (939 socket) -- 1.8ghz single core

A8N-SLI Deluxe 

4gb DDR Ram 

Super-powerful Radeon X1950 Pro 

Win-TV tv card lying around somewhere... 

 

Its currently running Windows XP Media Center, but I'm considering replacing it with linux in hopes of getting better performance in order to......be an HTPC? or other... 

 

What else could I do with it (other than HTPC)? 

What kind of performance difference would there be between Linux (ubuntu probably) and XP? 

Finally....Anyone have any experience overclocking with either the cpu or mobo, as a lot of what I've found points to the cpu being a bad over clocker, and the board making it a pain to do. 

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FreeNAS 9.3 - Stable || Xeon E3 1230v2 || Supermicro X9SCM-F || 32GB Crucial ECC DDR3 || 3x4TB WD Red (JBOD) || SYBA SI-PEX40064 sata controller || Corsair CX500m || NZXT Source 210.

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Save it! You never know when a backup rig may be of help! 

"Just another day at the office" Captain Price -Call of Duty

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i did my first case mod on my extra one (so that i didn't risk messing up my good case). Also i use my extra pc to take apart and put back together over and over again, for both fun and practice. 

I run my own indie game company called Color Dragon Studios where we are currently making a 2d platformer game called Small Earth.

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Save it! You never know when a backup rig may be of help! 

This is true but it could barely run some facebook games haha

PC: Corsair C70 Arctic, FX 9370, Corsair H80i, Gigabyte 990fxa-ud3, Corsair Vengence 16gb, Palit JetStream GTX 970, OCZ Vertex 4 128gb and Western Digital Blue 1Tb + 500gb, Antec Gamer 520w

Peripherals: Logitech G19 and SteelSeries Sensei RAW

Toshiba L50-A: i7 4700mq, 8gb, 1TB HDD, GT 740M 2gb

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Drop in extra sata cards and build a server, file, gaming, media or what ever. Case mod, experiment with water cooling, put so many fans in it that it takes off when you turn it on. Just have some fun with it. Play older games, the possibilities are endless.............

MOBO: ASUS X79 Pro CPU: i7 3820 Ram: Corsair Vengence 32Gb 2133mhz (8x4) GPU: 2 x Sapphire R9 290 in X-fire PSU: Seasonic G series 750w Drives: 1 x 750 gig WD black, 3x WD Black 1TB, 1 x Segate Barrcuda 1 TB, 1 x Toshiba 2TB, Intel 520 240gig SSD Case: Enthoo Primo w/ Green and Blue LED lighting.

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Steam Inhome streaming

FANBOY OF: PowerColor, be quiet!, Transcend, G.Skill, Phanteks

FORMERLY FANBOY OF: A-Data, Corsair, Nvidia

DEVELOPING FANBOY OF: AMD (GPUS), Intel (CPUs), ASRock

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Save it! You never know when a backup rig may be of help! 

I don't plan on getting rid of it, but I really can't see it being beneficial in any way as I do still have 3 other computers--my current mac, my old mac, and my custom build. 

i did my first case mod on my extra one (so that i didn't risk messing up my good case). Also i use my extra pc to take apart and put back together over and over again, for both fun and practice. 

Short of taking it apart and rebuilding it in order to wire it better, I don't really see myself rebuilding it just for fun/practice. 

PSU Tier List | CoC

Gaming Build | FreeNAS Server

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i5-4690k || Seidon 240m || GTX780 ACX || MSI Z97s SLI Plus || 8GB 2400mhz || 250GB 840 Evo || 1TB WD Blue || H440 (Black/Blue) || Windows 10 Pro || Dell P2414H & BenQ XL2411Z || Ducky Shine Mini || Logitech G502 Proteus Core

Spoiler

FreeNAS 9.3 - Stable || Xeon E3 1230v2 || Supermicro X9SCM-F || 32GB Crucial ECC DDR3 || 3x4TB WD Red (JBOD) || SYBA SI-PEX40064 sata controller || Corsair CX500m || NZXT Source 210.

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When you find out an answer to this, let me know.
My place looks like a pc shop but these old rigs (sig) are too good to throw/give away IMO.

Falcon: Corsair 750D 8320at4.6ghz 1.3v | 4GB MSI Gaming R9-290 @1000/1250 | 2x8GB 2400mhz Kingston HyperX Beast | Asus ROG Crosshair V Formula | Antec H620 | Corsair RM750w | Crucial M500 240GB, Toshiba 2TB, DarkThemeMasterRace, my G3258 has an upgrade path, my fx8320 doesn't need one...total cost £840=cpu£105, board£65, ram£105, Cooler £20, GPU£200, PSU£88, SSD£75, HDD£57, case£125.

 CASE:-NZXT S340 Black, CPU:-FX8120 @4.2Ghz, COOLER:-CM Hyper 212 EVO, BOARD:-MSI 970 Gaming, RAM:-2x4gb 2400mhz Corsair Vengeance Pro, GPU: SLI EVGA GTX480's @700/1000, PSU:-Corsair CX600m, HDD:-WD green 160GB+2TB toshiba
CASE:-(probably) Cooltek U1, CPU:-G3258 @4.5ghx, COOLER:-stock(soon "MSI Dragon" AiO likely), BOARD:-MSI z87i ITX Gaming, RAM:-1x4gb 1333mhz Patriot, GPU: Asus DCU2 r9-270 OC@1000/1500mem, PSU:-Sweex 350w.., HDD:-WD Caviar Blue 640GB
CASE:-TBD, CPU:-Core2Quad QX9650 @4Ghz, COOLER:-OCZ 92mm tower thing, BOARD:-MSI p43-c51, RAM:-4x1GB 800mhz Corsair XMS2, GPU: Zotac GTX460se @800/1000, PSU:-OCZ600sxs, HDD:-WD green 160GBBlueJean-A
 CASE:-Black/Blue Sharkoon T9, CPU:-Phenom2 x4 B55 @3.6Ghz/1.4v, COOLER:-FX8320 Stock HSF, BOARD:-M5A78L-M/USB3, RAM:-4GB 1333mhz Kingston low profile at 1600mhz, GPU:-EVGA GTX285, PSU:-Antec TP550w modu, STORAGE:-240gb  M500+2TB Toshiba
CASE:-icute zl02-3g-bb, CPU:-Phenom2 X6 1055t @3.5Ghz, COOLER:-Stock, BOARD:-Asrock m3a UCC, RAM:2x2GB 1333mhz Zeppelin (thats yellow!), GPU: XFX 1GB HD6870xxx, PSU:-some 450 POS, HDD:-WD Scorpio blue 120GB
CASE:-Packard Bell iMedia X2424, Custom black/red Aerocool Xpredator fulltower, CPU's:-E5200, C2D [email protected]<script cf-hash='f9e31' type="text/javascript"> /* */</script>(so e8500), COOLER:-Scythe Big shuriken2 Rev B, BFG gtx260 sp216 OC, RAM:-tons..
Gigabyte GTX460, Gigabyte gt430,
GPU's:-GT210 1GB,  asus hd6670 1GB gddr5, XFX XXX 9600gt 512mb Alpha dog edition, few q6600's
PICTURES CASE:-CIT mars black+red, CPU:-Athlon K6 650mhz slot A, COOLER:-Stock, BOARD:-QDI Kinetiz 7a, RAM:-256+256+256MB 133mhz SDram, GPU:-inno3d geforce4 mx440 64mb, PSU:-E-Zcool 450w, STORAGE:-2x WD 40gb "black" drives,
CASE:-silver/red raidmax cobra, CPU:-Athlon64 4000+, COOLER:-BIG stock one, BOARD:-MSI something*, RAM:-(matched pair)2x1GB 400mhz ECC transcend, GPU:-ati 9800se@375core/325mem, PSU:-pfft, HDD:-2x maxtor 80gb,
PICTURES CASE:-silver/red raidmax cobra (another), CPU:-Pentium4 2.8ghz prescott, COOLER:-Artic Coolering Freezer4, BOARD:-DFI lanparty infinity 865 R2, RAM:-(matched pair)2x1GB 400mhz kingston, GPU:-ati 9550@375core/325mem, PSU:-pfft, HDD:-another 2x WD 80gb,
CASE:-ML110 G4, CPU:-xeon 4030, COOLER:-stock leaf blower, BOARD:-stock raid 771 board, RAM:-2x2GB 666mhz kingston ECC ddr2, GPU:-9400GT 1GB, PSU:-stock delta, RAID:-JMicron JMB363 card+onboard raid controller, HDD:-320gb hitachi OS, 2xMaxtor 160gb raid1, 500gb samsungSP, 160gb WD, LAPTOP:-Dell n5030, CPU:-replaced s*** cel900 with awesome C2D E8100, RAM:-2x2GB 1333mhz ddr3, HDD:-320gb, PHONE's:-LG optimus 3D (p920) on 2.3.5@300-600mhz de-clock (batteryFTW)
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Or you can send it to me

FANBOY OF: PowerColor, be quiet!, Transcend, G.Skill, Phanteks

FORMERLY FANBOY OF: A-Data, Corsair, Nvidia

DEVELOPING FANBOY OF: AMD (GPUS), Intel (CPUs), ASRock

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You haven't seen old old old old until you see my rig I have 1/32 of the ram that has

 

As for your answer keep it and try different Linux distributions

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This is true but it could barely run some facebook games haha

hahaha... look at my rig...hahaha...wait that's my main rig....

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Turn it into a home NAS or Media Centre. Add a few HDD's and start Torrenting Away!

Already have my old mac which I certainly don't torrent on and I totally don't have a 4tb storage drive to go along with that mac....because who torrents...

 

/I also have a 1tb My book live I got as a gift which I don't really use anyway.

When you find out an answer to this, let me know.

My place looks like a pc shop but these old rigs (sig) are too good to throw/give away IMO.

Feel free to send a couple rigs/parts my way.... 

Steam Inhome streaming

I already have a nice 24" monitor and I prefer using a keyboard/mouse to a controller...so I don't really see that as being an option. 

hahaha... look at my rig...hahaha...wait that's my main rig....

I think its time for an update. 

 

As for your answer keep it and try different Linux distributions

Any recommendations as to what linuxes (linii--its right, shh) I should try? 

PSU Tier List | CoC

Gaming Build | FreeNAS Server

Spoiler

i5-4690k || Seidon 240m || GTX780 ACX || MSI Z97s SLI Plus || 8GB 2400mhz || 250GB 840 Evo || 1TB WD Blue || H440 (Black/Blue) || Windows 10 Pro || Dell P2414H & BenQ XL2411Z || Ducky Shine Mini || Logitech G502 Proteus Core

Spoiler

FreeNAS 9.3 - Stable || Xeon E3 1230v2 || Supermicro X9SCM-F || 32GB Crucial ECC DDR3 || 3x4TB WD Red (JBOD) || SYBA SI-PEX40064 sata controller || Corsair CX500m || NZXT Source 210.

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HTPC if you have a use for it or put a higher capacity hard-drive in it and put Ubuntu Server Edition on it and use it as a NAS or for backing up your Main PC (That's what I do)

My Current Build: 

Intel i5 3570K @ 4.4GHz 1.11V, Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, Asrock Z77 Extreme4, Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600MHz, Samsung 840 EVO 250GB, Asus GTX 760 DCII Overclocked, Corsair CX600M

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HTPC if you have a use for it or put a higher capacity hard-drive in it and put Ubuntu Server Edition on it and use it as a NAS or for backing up your Main PC (That's what I do)

My current pc is just gaming, so everything is stored on steam (excluding game saves)...So, no real reason for a backup, and I don't really see any benefit of a NAS--considering I still have a 1tb my book live just lying idle. 

PSU Tier List | CoC

Gaming Build | FreeNAS Server

Spoiler

i5-4690k || Seidon 240m || GTX780 ACX || MSI Z97s SLI Plus || 8GB 2400mhz || 250GB 840 Evo || 1TB WD Blue || H440 (Black/Blue) || Windows 10 Pro || Dell P2414H & BenQ XL2411Z || Ducky Shine Mini || Logitech G502 Proteus Core

Spoiler

FreeNAS 9.3 - Stable || Xeon E3 1230v2 || Supermicro X9SCM-F || 32GB Crucial ECC DDR3 || 3x4TB WD Red (JBOD) || SYBA SI-PEX40064 sata controller || Corsair CX500m || NZXT Source 210.

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My current pc is just gaming, so everything is stored on steam (excluding game saves)...So, no real reason for a backup, and I don't really see any benefit of a NAS--considering I still have a 1tb my book live just lying idle. 

I use my main for gaming and have everything important on Google Drive but trust me. When you do f*ck up (And it will happen :P) and you need to re-install your OS you will be happy your have backups. For example last week I recently deleted my entire Windows partition (Long story, don't ask) but I re-installed Windows and re-downloaded my backup software and restored a recent backup and I was back up and running within an hour. It's worth it trust me.

My Current Build: 

Intel i5 3570K @ 4.4GHz 1.11V, Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, Asrock Z77 Extreme4, Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600MHz, Samsung 840 EVO 250GB, Asus GTX 760 DCII Overclocked, Corsair CX600M

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Learn from it. Take it completely apart, clean it, and put it back together. Practice your cable management. Make it look awesome. Do a clean install with linux and use it for playing music, or doing stuff you might not want to do on your PC (such as making sure a crack is actually not a virus) Case mods and part mods are also a great way to practice without wrecking a $200 case :)

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

Spoiler

Ryzen 3950X | AMD Vega Frontier Edition | ASUS X570 Pro WS | Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB | NZXT H500 | Seasonic Prime Fanless TX-700 | Custom loop | Coolermaster SK630 White | Logitech MX Master 2S | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Pro 512GB | Samsung 58" 4k TV | Scarlett 2i4 | 2x AT2020

 

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Learn from it. Take it completely apart, clean it, and put it back together. Practice your cable management. Make it look awesome. Do a clean install with linux and use it for playing music, or doing stuff you might not want to do on your PC (such as making sure a crack is actually not a virus) Case mods and part mods are also a great way to practice without wrecking a $200 case :)

cable management....lol 

 

Yeah, thats literally impossible in the case as there is no room behind the mobo tray, and there are also no holes in the tray (although the latter is an easy fix). Also I'm pretty good at cable management...although, in my current build (N200) cable management is quite challenging as there is very little space behind the tray. 

 

Linux is definitely something I'm considering--not sure which version or what kind of performance increase I'll get. As for music/other stuff... I have a new rMBP, which I use for pretty much everything except gaming to supplement my build.

PSU Tier List | CoC

Gaming Build | FreeNAS Server

Spoiler

i5-4690k || Seidon 240m || GTX780 ACX || MSI Z97s SLI Plus || 8GB 2400mhz || 250GB 840 Evo || 1TB WD Blue || H440 (Black/Blue) || Windows 10 Pro || Dell P2414H & BenQ XL2411Z || Ducky Shine Mini || Logitech G502 Proteus Core

Spoiler

FreeNAS 9.3 - Stable || Xeon E3 1230v2 || Supermicro X9SCM-F || 32GB Crucial ECC DDR3 || 3x4TB WD Red (JBOD) || SYBA SI-PEX40064 sata controller || Corsair CX500m || NZXT Source 210.

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Keep it as a trophy of sorts and you'll be able to say this in 5 or so years: "Yeah, bitch, that's mine."

Main rig on profile

VAULT - File Server

Spoiler

Intel Core i5 11400 w/ Shadow Rock LP, 2x16GB SP GAMING 3200MHz CL16, ASUS PRIME Z590-A, 2x LSI 9211-8i, Fractal Define 7, 256GB Team MP33, 3x 6TB WD Red Pro (general storage), 3x 1TB Seagate Barracuda (dumping ground), 3x 8TB WD White-Label (Plex) (all 3 arrays in their respective Windows Parity storage spaces), Corsair RM750x, Windows 11 Education

Sleeper HP Pavilion A6137C

Spoiler

Intel Core i7 6700K @ 4.4GHz, 4x8GB G.SKILL Ares 1800MHz CL10, ASUS Z170M-E D3, 128GB Team MP33, 1TB Seagate Barracuda, 320GB Samsung Spinpoint (for video capture), MSI GTX 970 100ME, EVGA 650G1, Windows 10 Pro

Mac Mini (Late 2020)

Spoiler

Apple M1, 8GB RAM, 256GB, macOS Sonoma

Consoles: Softmodded 1.4 Xbox w/ 500GB HDD, Xbox 360 Elite 120GB Falcon, XB1X w/2TB MX500, Xbox Series X, PS1 1001, PS2 Slim 70000 w/ FreeMcBoot, PS4 Pro 7015B 1TB (retired), PS5 Digital, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo Wii RVL-001 (black)

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cable management....lol 

 

Yeah, thats literally impossible in the case as there is no room behind the mobo tray, and there are also no holes in the tray (although the latter is an easy fix). Also I'm pretty good at cable management...although, in my current build (N200) cable management is quite challenging as there is very little space behind the tray. 

 

Linux is definitely something I'm considering--not sure which version or what kind of performance increase I'll get. As for music/other stuff... I have a new rMBP, which I use for pretty much everything except gaming to supplement my build.

Cable management in a case with no cable management is difficult, but possible. It is a great learning experience that you can use to make future builds looks awesome. All it takes is some zip ties, some tape, and maybe a drill if you want to do a little modding. Something that also looks crazy is if you put the wires inside PVC tubes, and make it looks all industrial :) Making the cables look good in plan sight is difficult, but very impressive. I will try to find some pics :D

 

Linus Mint is the best :) It will perform WAY better than windows too since that PC is so old.

 

EDIT-something like this except with some hard PVC pipe:

post-4438-0-84170100-1402452846_thumb.jp

post-4438-0-84170100-1402452846_thumb.jp

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

Spoiler

Ryzen 3950X | AMD Vega Frontier Edition | ASUS X570 Pro WS | Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB | NZXT H500 | Seasonic Prime Fanless TX-700 | Custom loop | Coolermaster SK630 White | Logitech MX Master 2S | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Pro 512GB | Samsung 58" 4k TV | Scarlett 2i4 | 2x AT2020

 

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Maybe use it like a raspberry pie. To learn to code. Since you won't really need horsepower. Or make it like a backup server that you can access from the internet

AMD FX 8350 | 2X XFX RADEON HD7850 | ASUS SABERTOOTH R2.0 | NZXT GUARDIAN 921RB | KINGSTON HYPER-X 2X8GB 

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Install Linux Mint and use it as a back-up / basic use / browsing machine.

My Systems:

Main - Work + Gaming:

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Woodland Raven: Ryzen 2700X // AMD Wraith RGB // Asus Prime X570-P // G.Skill 2x 8GB 3600MHz DDR4 // Radeon RX Vega 56 // Crucial P1 NVMe 1TB M.2 SSD // Deepcool DQ650-M // chassis build in progress // Windows 10 // Thrustmaster TMX + G27 pedals & shifter

F@H Rig:

Spoiler

FX-8350 // Deepcool Neptwin // MSI 970 Gaming // AData 2x 4GB 1600 DDR3 // 2x Gigabyte RX-570 4G's // Samsung 840 120GB SSD // Cooler Master V650 // Windows 10

 

HTPC:

Spoiler

SNES PC (HTPC): i3-4150 @3.5 // Gigabyte GA-H87N-Wifi // G.Skill 2x 4GB DDR3 1600 // Asus Dual GTX 1050Ti 4GB OC // AData SP600 128GB SSD // Pico 160XT PSU // Custom SNES Enclosure // 55" LG LED 1080p TV  // Logitech wireless touchpad-keyboard // Windows 10 // Build Log

Laptops:

Spoiler

MY DAILY: Lenovo ThinkPad T410 // 14" 1440x900 // i5-540M 2.5GHz Dual-Core HT // Intel HD iGPU + Quadro NVS 3100M 512MB dGPU // 2x4GB DDR3L 1066 // Mushkin Triactor 480GB SSD // Windows 10

 

WIFE'S: Dell Latitude E5450 // 14" 1366x768 // i5-5300U 2.3GHz Dual-Core HT // Intel HD5500 // 2x4GB RAM DDR3L 1600 // 500GB 7200 HDD // Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon

 

EXPERIMENTAL: Pinebook // 11.6" 1080p // Manjaro KDE (ARM)

NAS:

Spoiler

Home NAS: Pentium G4400 @3.3 // Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 // 2x 4GB DDR4 2400 // Intel HD Graphics // Kingston A400 120GB SSD // 3x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200 HDDs in RAID-Z // Cooler Master Silent Pro M 1000w PSU // Antec Performance Plus 1080AMG // FreeNAS OS

 

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hahaha... look at my rig...hahaha...wait that's my main rig....

Oh true haha, 

PC: Corsair C70 Arctic, FX 9370, Corsair H80i, Gigabyte 990fxa-ud3, Corsair Vengence 16gb, Palit JetStream GTX 970, OCZ Vertex 4 128gb and Western Digital Blue 1Tb + 500gb, Antec Gamer 520w

Peripherals: Logitech G19 and SteelSeries Sensei RAW

Toshiba L50-A: i7 4700mq, 8gb, 1TB HDD, GT 740M 2gb

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I would personally pull it apart, and keep some parts, like the CPU, video card, etc as kind of trophies, or decorative pieces around the house/room.

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