• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Best future-proof purchase you've made?

Joined
Jul 28, 2008
Messages
1,018 (0.18/day)
Location
New York
System Name Filtration tower
Processor i9 7900@4.4ghz
Motherboard ASRock X299 Taichi
Cooling Air
Memory 64g 3200 quad channel
Video Card(s) ASUS GTX 1080Ti
Storage 500gb Nvme, 200gb SSD, 1700gb HDD
Display(s) 34" Acer Predator 3440x1440
Case Thermaltake v71
Power Supply EVGA supernova 850 T2
creative sound blaster audigy platinum sound card. got it looooong time ago.. 2002 maybe.. just built another rig,, guess what, dont need to buy a sound card,, this one is still kicking.
 
Joined
Feb 24, 2009
Messages
309 (0.06/day)
Location
Orange County, CA
System Name CanOWorms
Processor Ryzen 5 1600
Motherboard ASRock AB350M
Memory 16GB @ 2933
Video Card(s) EVGA Geforce 1050 Ti
Storage 256GB MX100 & 1TB WD Blue
Display(s) Samsung 40" 4K TV
Case Cougar MX330
Power Supply Seasonic M12II Evo
Mouse Gamdias Demeter
Keyboard Logitech G710+
Software Win10
My case. It was made by Enlight around 10 years ago. It originally had a Celeron 366@550 in it and it is still with me through several AMD builds and now my current E7400 build. It's a plain vanilla case with no fancy features but it's still around and still works!
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2006
Messages
174 (0.03/day)
Location
Ensenada, Mexico
Processor Athlon X2 3800 @ 2.8 Ghz w/Zalman CNPS 9500 LED
Motherboard MSI K8N Neo4-F
Cooling Fans: 2 120mm, 1 80mm, HD cooler all w/Tt fan controller
Memory Mushkin blue series DDR400 @ DDR466
Video Card(s) Visiontek HD4850 512 Mb w/ Zalman VF-900
Storage WD SATA 320 Gb / Hitachi Deskstar 82 Gb
Display(s) KDS 19" Widescreen LCD
Case RAIDMAX SAGITTA Modded to Red lighting
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Zalman 600 Watts ZM600-HP
Software Win XP, Vista32, Ubuntu
Ati Radeon 7000 32 Mb PCI, still in use to troubleshoot other pc's, bought it in 2001 or 2002...

Played the original unreal really good :D
 
Joined
Apr 14, 2008
Messages
1,777 (0.30/day)
Location
South Australia
System Name QUACK
Processor Intel i7 2600K (3.4 GHz, 8 threads)
Motherboard Asus P67P8-V3
Cooling Xigmatek Balder 120mm (4x120,1x140mm case)
Memory Patriot 2 Viper Sector 5, 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 G1 4GB
Storage 1x Samsung EVO 850 (500GB) SSD, 1x Fujitsu 256GB SSD
Display(s) Dell Ultrasharp U2311h 23" (so sexy)
Case CoolerMaster Gladiator RC-600
Audio Device(s) Onboard 5.1
Power Supply Antec 850w with yellow racing stripes
Software Windows 7 HP 64 bit
For me, it would have to be my old Sony VAIO laptop. A 1GHz PIII with 256MB of RAM, bought 8 years ago(2001 sometime). It still works for basic tasks like microsoft office and internet browsing. I have a PIII based Celeron desktop from the same time still kicking around also with 512MB of RAM in it. I've been real tempted to hook it back up and install vista on it.

If you get a new battery for it and use a vLited Vista HP, then it runs quite well. You'll want to get at least a 20 GB HDD, because my 10 GB one was almost out of space (down to a few hundred megs) after installing Office 2007 and SP1.
That and a USB 2.0 PCMCIA card, and possibly a WiFi PCI card, make a laptop that can do pretty much anything that a netbook can, except with out the tiny size!

Another purchase is my keyboard for my main rig: its a Dell QuietKey

Its like owning a typwriter for a keyboard! And since its PS/2, it has less delay than USB2. :cool:
 

Chomes

New Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2008
Messages
74 (0.01/day)
Location
Barcelona
System Name Rig1
Processor Intel 3930K
Motherboard ASUS P9X79 DELUXE
Cooling Corsair H100 2* Noctua NF-F12
Memory 4*4G.Skill F3-17000CL9-4GBZH
Video Card(s) Sapphire 6970
Storage OCZ VERTEX 3 MI 120Gb & VERTEX 2 100Gb & Western 1TB black
Display(s) Dell 2410U
Case Coolers Master ATCS 840
Audio Device(s) X-fi Forte
Power Supply Corsair HX-1000
Software Windows 7 Enterprise
My appreciated Sennheiser HD 560 Ovation II.

Purchased at 1991 they costed 23565 pesetas(Spain), now should be 141'60€.

Just changed the cable once. Great cans 10000Hz-35000Hz.
Using them nowadays.
Later at home I will post pics.
 

DarkMatter

New Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2007
Messages
1,714 (0.28/day)
Processor Intel C2Q Q6600 @ Stock (for now)
Motherboard Asus P5Q-E
Cooling Proc: Scythe Mine, Graphics: Zalman VF900 Cu
Memory 4 GB (2x2GB) DDR2 Corsair Dominator 1066Mhz 5-5-5-15
Video Card(s) GigaByte 8800GT Stock Clocks: 700Mhz Core, 1700 Shader, 1940 Memory
Storage 74 GB WD Raptor 10000rpm, 2x250 GB Seagate Raid 0
Display(s) HP p1130, 21" Trinitron
Case Antec p180
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi PLatinum
Power Supply 700W FSP Group 85% Efficiency
Software Windows XP
Oh. oh, yeah I forgot about, not precisely mine, but I still use them sometimes: a pair of Koss headphones that my father bought around the 70's. They are more aging than me, but they still sound great. Not as good as some new sennheisers, but around the same than my Icemat Siberia when playing music.
 

Wartz

New Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2008
Messages
168 (0.03/day)
System Name Triton-XXXV
Processor Phenom II x4 940 3.6ghz 1.42
Motherboard Biostar TFORCE TA790GX A2+
Cooling Sunbeam CR-CCTF
Memory 2 x 2048mb G.Skill PC-6400 @ 800mhz
Video Card(s) Crossfire Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 512mb
Storage 2x Seagate 500gb Sata 3.0gb/s + Seagate 750gb Sata 3.0gb/s
Display(s) Asus 24" 2ms + Viewsonic 19" 3ms
Case Thermaltake midtower
Audio Device(s) X-fi XtremeGamer - Razer Barracuda 5.1
Power Supply Seasonic 650w
Software Windows XP/7
Benchmark Scores Vantage: P13017 3DMarks (Crossfire) 3DMark06: 15349 3DMarks (single GPU)
My T21 laptop, the thing is built like a tank and still serves me well.
 

ChromeDome

New Member
Joined
May 31, 2008
Messages
670 (0.12/day)
System Name Super Budget Gamer Thing lol
Processor AMD 5600+ Windsor @3.0ghz
Motherboard ASUS M3N78-VM AM2/AM2+ Micro ATX
Cooling Thermaltake TR2-R1 Ultra Silence CPU heatsink+fan / 3 exhaust case fans
Memory 3 Gigs Kingston DDR2@800mhz
Video Card(s) PNY 8800GT 512mb OC'd 710/1740/950 - 178.24
Storage 2X 320 gig Seagate Barracuda's @7200rpm - SATA
Display(s) 22in Dell LCD 1680X1050 / 21.6in AOC LCD / Hauppauge TV Tuner
Case Antec Three Hundred
Audio Device(s) Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
Power Supply Antec Earthwatts EA500D 500w
Software Vista, bby <3
Benchmark Scores yay it works! =]
i guess its my AMD 5600+ Windsor. got it around a year and a half ago and see no reason to let it go. definitely will keep working with it through this year, which will mean two and half years of service out of it. i'll prolly keep it until i decide to go quad core. in which case it will be mobo time too, as i plan on going AM3. although AM2+ Phenom II's are also an option. in which case i'll most likely keep my mobo, as i don't really overclock much. we'll see

i''ll see what is out and about when the time comes. but until i go quad i'm pretty happy. all my programs and games still run great

 
Joined
Feb 5, 2009
Messages
888 (0.16/day)
System Name Serenity
Processor Intel i7-4770K
Motherboard Asus Maximus VI Hero
Cooling Xigmatek Dark Knight II SD1283
Memory 16GB Kingston DDR3
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 770 4GB
Storage 2x Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSDs, RAID0
Display(s) 2x 27" Samsung curved
Case Coolermaster HAF 932
Audio Device(s) HT Omega Striker 7.1
Power Supply Thermaltake 1200w
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
I would have to list my Bose Triport headphones. My wife got them for me for xmas in 2004. I love them for night time gaming.
 
Joined
Oct 7, 2008
Messages
1,888 (0.33/day)
System Name The Beast
Processor Intel Core i3-2100 @ 3.1GHz
Motherboard Asus P8P67 LE
Cooling Stock
Memory 4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 @ 1600MHz
Video Card(s) 1GB Sapphire Radeon HD4650 Ultimate Edition
Storage 60GB Corsair Force LE, 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F1, 500GB Seagate
Display(s) 22" Samsung T220HD & 19" Acer X193W
Case Corsair Obsidian 750D
Power Supply Corsair HX650W
Software Windows 7 Ultimate x64
The oldest piece of software I still use...that would be my 17" Dell monitor and my 160GB Western Digital hard-drive.

Oldest piece of hardware that works, but I don't use it, is my PS2. It's about 7 years old now lol.
 
Joined
Feb 5, 2009
Messages
888 (0.16/day)
System Name Serenity
Processor Intel i7-4770K
Motherboard Asus Maximus VI Hero
Cooling Xigmatek Dark Knight II SD1283
Memory 16GB Kingston DDR3
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 770 4GB
Storage 2x Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSDs, RAID0
Display(s) 2x 27" Samsung curved
Case Coolermaster HAF 932
Audio Device(s) HT Omega Striker 7.1
Power Supply Thermaltake 1200w
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Haha yeah, my PS2 as well. I modded it and went on a downloading frenzy a few years ago. Good times.
 
Joined
Apr 14, 2008
Messages
1,777 (0.30/day)
Location
South Australia
System Name QUACK
Processor Intel i7 2600K (3.4 GHz, 8 threads)
Motherboard Asus P67P8-V3
Cooling Xigmatek Balder 120mm (4x120,1x140mm case)
Memory Patriot 2 Viper Sector 5, 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 G1 4GB
Storage 1x Samsung EVO 850 (500GB) SSD, 1x Fujitsu 256GB SSD
Display(s) Dell Ultrasharp U2311h 23" (so sexy)
Case CoolerMaster Gladiator RC-600
Audio Device(s) Onboard 5.1
Power Supply Antec 850w with yellow racing stripes
Software Windows 7 HP 64 bit
The oldest piece of software I still use...that would be my 17" Dell monitor and my 160GB Western Digital hard-drive.
:wtf:
Computer parts aren't software, they're hardware as well. Software is programs and stuff like that. ;)

I still have floppy drives that work, but I don't use them...
Old power supplies are great as well, a perfect source of 80mm fans!
 
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Messages
643 (0.11/day)
System Name PIA
Processor Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard ASRock B550M Steel Legend
Cooling Corsair H50
Memory 2x8GB Gskill DDR4 3600
Video Card(s) MSI GTX 1660 Super
Storage Samsung EVO 970 1TB
Display(s) 2xAOC Curved 24" 144hz
Case Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L
Power Supply CORSAIR RMX (White) RM750x
Mouse Logitech G305
Keyboard Logitech G915 TKL
Software Windows 10 Pro
I've pretty much upgraded everything in my rig 3x at least since last year so I guess my best investment in hardware would be.....

My Xion 800Watt psu, I actually haven't upgraded that since I bought it in 2006 and I tested it and it's a great psu, I got lucky :)

I hope that my q6600 will eventually prove to be future proofed a tiny bit, I used "future proof" as a reason for buying it, but the real reason was mostly just to have a quad core for the first time ever :D
 

ShadowFold

New Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2007
Messages
16,918 (2.85/day)
Location
Omaha, NE
System Name The ShadowFold Draconis (Ordering soon)
Processor AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8ghz
Motherboard ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870
Cooling Stock
Memory Kingston ValueRAM 4GB DDR3-1333
Video Card(s) XFX ATi Radeon HD 5850 1gb
Storage Western Digital 640gb
Display(s) Acer 21.5" 5ms Full HD 1920x1080P
Case Antec Nine-Hundred
Audio Device(s) Onboard + Creative "Fatal1ty" Headset
Power Supply Antec Earthwatts 650w
Software Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Benchmark Scores -❶-❸-❸-❼-
Doesn't ABS OEM Xion PSU's? They are really good.
 
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Messages
643 (0.11/day)
System Name PIA
Processor Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard ASRock B550M Steel Legend
Cooling Corsair H50
Memory 2x8GB Gskill DDR4 3600
Video Card(s) MSI GTX 1660 Super
Storage Samsung EVO 970 1TB
Display(s) 2xAOC Curved 24" 144hz
Case Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L
Power Supply CORSAIR RMX (White) RM750x
Mouse Logitech G305
Keyboard Logitech G915 TKL
Software Windows 10 Pro
Doesn't ABS OEM Xion PSU's? They are really good.

On an old forums (that banned me) they used to say Xion psu's were made by a company with a bad reputation and they were a "non- trusted" PSU. But I tested mine with my DMM and it's good, so maybe they were wrong :/.

IDC, as long as it gives me my powah and doesn't fry any parts it's good for me :D




I would like to say that anyone who bought an 8800GTX when it first came out made a very good purchase. Think of how close to the top the 8800gtx still is and how old of a card it is compared to other cards and how fast the market moves.

So *claps* for you 8800gtx owners.
 
Joined
Jun 17, 2008
Messages
108 (0.02/day)
Location
South texas
System Name I7 build
Processor I7 930
Motherboard EVGA x58 SLI LE
Cooling STOCK
Memory 3X2gb g-skill
Video Card(s) xfx 6950u
Storage W750b raid 0
Display(s) Vizeo 26" LED LCD
Case Rocketfish
Power Supply tx850
My q6600 i have had it since 07 and gone through different psu's,vid cards,mobo, and everything else but my q6600 is still running at a strong 3.6GHz
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
3,159 (0.56/day)
System Name White Theme
Processor Intel 12700K CPU
Motherboard ASUS STRIX Z690-A D4
Cooling Lian Li Galahad Uni w/ AL120 Fans
Memory 32GB DDR4-3200 Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Aero 4080 Super 16GB
Storage 2TB Samsung 980 Pro PCIE 4.0
Display(s) Alienware 38" 3840x1600 (165Hz)
Case Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO White
Audio Device(s) 2i2 Scarlett Solo + Schiit Magni 3 AMP
Power Supply Corsair HX 1000 Platinum
My q6600 i have had it since 07 and gone through different psu's,vid cards,mobo, and everything else but my q6600 is still running at a strong 3.6GHz

Hmmm wow thats pretty damn good and here I was thinking 3.6ghz is going to last me only a year... how much vcore do you need for 3.6ghz? Because i have a 1.3250 vid and need 1.5vcore for 3.6, so I don't have a clue how long it would last.
 
Joined
Jun 17, 2008
Messages
108 (0.02/day)
Location
South texas
System Name I7 build
Processor I7 930
Motherboard EVGA x58 SLI LE
Cooling STOCK
Memory 3X2gb g-skill
Video Card(s) xfx 6950u
Storage W750b raid 0
Display(s) Vizeo 26" LED LCD
Case Rocketfish
Power Supply tx850
Cpu's are built to last for a long time even overclocked i have some old 370 celeron still running overclocked since the day they were built like 8 years ago or something like that don't remember
 

DrPepper

The Doctor is in the house
Joined
Jan 16, 2008
Messages
7,482 (1.26/day)
Location
Scotland (It rains alot)
System Name Rusky
Processor Intel Core i7 D0 3.8Ghz
Motherboard Asus P6T
Cooling Thermaltake Dark Knight
Memory 12GB Patriot Viper's 1866mhz 9-9-9-24
Video Card(s) GTX470 1280MB
Storage OCZ Summit 60GB + Samsung 1TB + Samsung 2TB
Display(s) Sharp Aquos L32X20E 1920 x 1080
Case Silverstone Raven RV01
Power Supply Corsair 650 Watt
Software Windows 7 x64
Benchmark Scores 3DMark06 - 18064 http://img.techpowerup.org/090720/Capture002.jpg
Hmmm wow thats pretty damn good and here I was thinking 3.6ghz is going to last me only a year... how much vcore do you need for 3.6ghz? Because i have a 1.3250 vid and need 1.5vcore for 3.6, so I don't have a clue how long it would last.

Long enough so that by the time it dies you would have replaced it because it would be inefficient.
 
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Messages
643 (0.11/day)
System Name PIA
Processor Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard ASRock B550M Steel Legend
Cooling Corsair H50
Memory 2x8GB Gskill DDR4 3600
Video Card(s) MSI GTX 1660 Super
Storage Samsung EVO 970 1TB
Display(s) 2xAOC Curved 24" 144hz
Case Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L
Power Supply CORSAIR RMX (White) RM750x
Mouse Logitech G305
Keyboard Logitech G915 TKL
Software Windows 10 Pro
Hmmm wow thats pretty damn good and here I was thinking 3.6ghz is going to last me only a year... how much vcore do you need for 3.6ghz? Because i have a 1.3250 vid and need 1.5vcore for 3.6, so I don't have a clue how long it would last.

1.5v for 3.6ghz?
:/ is it a b3?
 
Joined
Feb 24, 2009
Messages
2,886 (0.52/day)
Location
Riverside, California
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard AsRock X670E Phantom Gaming Lightning
Cooling Be Quiet! Dark Rock 4
Memory G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo DDR5-6000 32GB (2 x 16GB)
Video Card(s) Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Storage Samsung 980 PRO Series 1TB, Samsung 980 PRO Series 1TB, Crucial P3 NVMe M.2 2TB
Display(s) LG OLED55G2PUA
Case Lian Li O11 Dynamic XL ROG Certified
Audio Device(s) Digital out to high end dac and amps.
Power Supply EVGA GQ 1000W
Mouse Logitech G600
Keyboard Logitech G413 Carbon
VR HMD Oculus Rift CV1, Oculus Rift S, Quest 2, Quest 3
Software Windows 10 Pro
I still have a Sapphire Radeon 9800Pro 128mb card being used with an A64 4000+ Sandy.

I think thats the oldest piece of hardware I'm currently using. I bought the 9800Pro the day it released.
 
Joined
Oct 7, 2008
Messages
1,888 (0.33/day)
System Name The Beast
Processor Intel Core i3-2100 @ 3.1GHz
Motherboard Asus P8P67 LE
Cooling Stock
Memory 4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 @ 1600MHz
Video Card(s) 1GB Sapphire Radeon HD4650 Ultimate Edition
Storage 60GB Corsair Force LE, 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F1, 500GB Seagate
Display(s) 22" Samsung T220HD & 19" Acer X193W
Case Corsair Obsidian 750D
Power Supply Corsair HX650W
Software Windows 7 Ultimate x64
:wtf:
Computer parts aren't software, they're hardware as well. Software is programs and stuff like that.

:laugh: Oops, I meant hardware lol. Dunno what I was thinking when I wrote that.
 
Joined
Dec 24, 2008
Messages
2,062 (0.37/day)
Location
Volos, Greece
System Name ATLAS
Processor Intel Core i7-4770 (4C/8T) Haswell
Motherboard GA-Z87X-UD5H , Dual Intel LAN, 10x SATA, 16x Power phace.
Cooling ProlimaTech Armageddon - Dual GELID 140 Silent PWM
Memory Mushkin Blackline DDR3 2400 997123F 16GB
Video Card(s) MSI GTX1060 OC 6GB (single fan) Micron
Storage WD Raptors 73Gb - Raid1 10.000rpm
Display(s) DELL U2311H
Case HEC Compucase CI-6919 Full tower (2003) moded .. hec-group.com.tw
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Music + mods, Audigy front Panel - YAMAHA quad speakers with Sub.
Power Supply HPU-4M780-PE refurbished 23-3-2022
Mouse MS Pro IntelliMouse 16.000 Dpi Pixart Paw 3389
Keyboard Microsoft Wired 600
Software Win 7 Pro x64 ( Retail Box ) for EU
I was thinking that my Aureal MX300 sound card will live for ever , but the caps on it ,
had other opinion than my . :laugh:

Any way it keep me ten years away from the Creative sound cards, thats the good part.

Creative needed 10 years to bring the X-Fi , that is a true keeper as sound card.

So i got double benefit in the end.
 
Top