How much has your pc changed over time?

[Tomgang]

Yeah i know there are threads al ready about show your pc and such. But this thread i would like to see how your current pc has changes over the years (this thread is properly mostly for us that still rocks old systems, but new systems are welcome as well). So do you have pictures of your current pc before and after an update or maybe a mod or something similar and whan to share it with us, then go ahead put it in with pictures and also specifikations before and after would be nice.

As OP i start out my self off cause.

Spec on my pc as it started out back in may 2009:
CPU: I7 920 DO revison (ran stock the first 4 years, after that started out a oc of 3.6 GHz and ended up at 4.1 GHz for every day use while benchmark i took it up to 4.4 GHz)
CPU cooler: Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme with two Silverstone FM 121 120 MM fans mounted and Artic silver 5 paste between cooler and cpu heatsink
Motherboard: Asus Rampage 2 Extreme ROG
Memory: 3 x 2 GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600 MHz triple channel ram kit with cooler mounted = 6 GB in total
HDD: 2 x WD velociraptor 10000 RPM 150 GB in raid 0 and 2 x WD Caviar black 1 TB non raid. Later in 2010 i added a Crucial C300 64 GB SSD for OS alone.
GPU: 3 x Zotac GTX 285 1 GB vram reference desing in 3 way/triple sli.
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower 1500 watt
Case: Antec Twelve hundred the first version they released
OS: Windows 7 RC 64 bits (RC = release candidate). It where either that or windows vista until windows 7 released for sale and i hated vista.

Sorry pictures from back then sucks. Cheap Digital camera from around 2009 is not good for great quality, regret it today and yeah back in 2009 and the years to come I dit not care much about cable management. So it looks as it does

Here I replaced GTX 285 with two Gainward GTX 570 1.25 GB vram in sli. Yes cpu cooler is not optimal mounted here, but the store I buy it in had to replace motherboard and they mounted cpu cooler like this. As you an se here also, I later on got other memory as well. They also got RMA and those I still have today, so spec comes later down.

later one on i had the plans for replacing GTX 570´s to a single GTX 780 TI, but off cause one of the 570 broke and got a Zotac GTX 660 TI 2 GB vram as a replacement right before 700 series release, so i ended up selling the other 570 and got me one more 660 TI for sli.

I dit not take any pictures from my system with with two Zotac GTX 970 4 GB vram in sli in it. Cause i knew at the time it where soon getting a big make over. At this time i added two more 250 GB SSD to replace the two WD raptor hdd as they where begin show sings of failure. So this screenshot has to do it for GTX 970.

And so it got time for the make over. new used CPU, motherboard and so on. and later on also added a few ekstra Peaces as new case fans and CPU fans among other things.

So current system spec is
CPU: I7 980X OC to 4.42 GHz
CPU cooler: Noctua NH-D14 with 3 x noctua nf-f12 ippc-3000 pwm 120 MM fans and Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut paste.
Motherboard: Asus P6X58D Premium second gen X58 mobo means it has sata 3 and USB 3.0 with 3 fans mounted on chipsæt heatsink.
Memory: 6 x 2 GB (two kits) CORSAIR XMS3 DDR3 1600 MHz triple channel meory = 12 GB in total.
SSD/HDD: 2 x Samsung 950 PRO M.2 NVMe 256 GB SSD, Crucial MX300 2 TB sata SSD, WD red 4 TB + AV-GP 2 TB HDD
GPU: EVGA GTX 1080 TI 11 GB vram
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower 1500 watt
Case: Antec Twelve hundred with all stock fans replaced with Corsair ML 120/140 MM fans and added in 3 x NZXT Sentry 3 fan controllers with touch screen as well.
OS: Windows 10 PRO 64 bits version 1803.

To prevent this post to get to long, all pictures of my current system is in this link below.

https://imgur.com/a/UB0q5gt

and a firestrike run provided as well.

Alright if you have something you want to share, then please do it and you dont have to do so much about it as i have. I just feel as OP that i had to do a little ekstra about it.

 

[StrayKAT]

I bought a new PC last spring, but it seems I have practically nothing left from that time except a monitor. I slowly upgraded to an entirely different PC within a year, but I didn't plan it that way.

 

[IceScreamer]

Changed the GPU because it died, and the CPU fan. Plan to change the HDD soon, the PC lasts for about 4.5 years.

 

[Komshija]

Laptop
Bought it brand new early in 2010. I replaced WD HDD with Team SSD and 4 GB DDR3-1066 RAM with 8 GB DDR3-1333 in Q2 2017. After that I replaced RAM again with 8 GB DDR3-1066 because I had some small issues with DDR3-1333 and finally the CPU, P8700 with T9900, in May/June 2018. I also replaced stock thermal pads with 1,5 mm thick Arctic Cooling 6 W/mk pads in June 2018.

This is my laptop a few weeks after I bought it.

This is how it looks now. It has small scratches all over, including on the screen. I will not upgrade it anymore, since it reached its maximum potential. It will be in use for the next two, three or maybe even more years. Current specs are in the signature.

PC
I built it from brand new components in mid July 2016. HDD was bought some three weeks later, as I recall. The picture below was taken just before the HDD arrived.

This is how it looks now, with new PSU and additional storage. It will highly likely remain so if something doesn't go kaputt for at least 3 more years, but likely 3,5-4 years when I will replace the whole system.

 

[peche]

i have just processor and ram left from the machine i started building in 2012...
Actual specs on profile,

 

[Durvelle27]

Hard to say because I normally changed the entire rig ever few months to a year

CPUs Upgrade Pentium III > Pentium 4 2.8 > Core 2 Duo E4500 > Athlon II X2 240 > Phenom II 955 > Phenom II 1035T > FX-4100 >A10-6800K > A10-7850K > FX-8150 > FX-8320 > FX-8350 > i7-4770 > FX-8350 > i7 920 > Xeon X5650 (My upgrade cycle has been very off the wall)

GPUs upgrade RagePro128 > HD 4870 1GB > HD 6870 > GTX 560 Ti > HD 6950 2GB > HD 7790 > HD 7870 > HD 7870 CFx > HD 7970 > R9 280X > R9 290 > R9 290X > GTX 780 > RX 480 (GPU upgrade has been pretty linear)

I’ll try to dig up some pictures

 

[hat]

Not very much. I switched from a GTX660 Ti to two GTX1070s around this time last year, and that was only because of mining... if that never happened I'd likely still have that same 660.

The best upgrade I can remember was when I had my Athlon 7750 back in the day... I got a 9600GSO for cheap. They were the best cards for F@H at the time, hands down. They were so cheap and ran well... but aside from that, games finally ran properly for me, without noticeable hitches. The 9800GT I got some time after that was even better... but it didn't live long. It was an unfortunate casualty of a foolish overclocking endeavor involving an OG Phenom x4 chip and a shitty budget motherboard.

 

[Nuckles56]

In the rig in my signature there's only been 2 changes, I changed the DVD drive to blu-ray drive and added some ghetto dust filters and that's it.

 

[cucker tarlson]

I took a very long break from gaming, I stopped playing somewhere in mid 2000s and then built a gaming rig in 2013.

early config->changes

*q6600 (kept it for very short since it turned out it was very inadequate for gaming in 2013) ->2500K->3570K->4790K->5775c

*R7 250 (piece of shit card, also sold it after three or four weeks)->7870 GHz (awesome card) ->R9 290 Trix (sold after some time, it had so much power but cpu overhead was so bad I couldn't utilize it fully on 2500K) -> 980 G1 -> 980Ti Gaming -> 1080 SJS

*BenQ 1080p 60Hz VA (not recommended for gaming, it was ridiculously slow)-> Asus 1440p 60Hz IPS (beautiful colors and pretty fast response,but IPS glow and backlight bleed were just too much to accept for me, I'll prolly never buy an IPS again)-> Dell 1440p 144Hz G-sync/ULMB TN (jan 2016) + Acer 1440 165Hz G-sync/ULMB TN (nov 2017) - they're the shit for gaming, the dell lacks in some areas (I wrote a few words on that) but gaming experience with acer xb241yu is impeccable.

 

[Vayra86]

-> My first console was a SNES... PC? Dafuq is that? My uncle had some weird machine that played Tetris in CGA. And some silly block pushing, find your exit game.

-> Started PC gaming and tinkering with this

-> Then upgraded to a Pentium 3 1 Ghz desktop. Which had some notorious problems, BSOD heaven. Looking back I think the HDD or the RAM was DOA and sat in there for years.

-> Disgruntled from BSOD I moved (back) to consoles N64, PS2, followed by PS3, PC was completely out of the picture.

-> Back to PC gaming with World of Warcraft and my own rig. Believe it was a Core 2 Duo E4500 + 8800GT.

-> Moved back to a laptop again... Toshiba something. Can't find it back but it was another great experience with another indestructible laptop.
-> Upgraded to Asus i7 Sandy Bridge. Throttling like nobody's business. Horrible machine.

-> Back to serious desktop gaming. i5 3570k + GTX 660.
-> GTX 660 SLI shortly after
-> SLI was shit, sold them, got a GTX 770 instead
-> Moved up to 780ti

-> Moved to current rig: 8700k + 780ti
-> 780ti > 1080
Present. Not going anywhere anymore

 

[Bill_Bright]

For 1, there are 6 systems here so no point in being specific. I always build my own (except for the notebook) with the idea the computer will "evolve" over time to stay current and more importantly, to keep up with my own evolving needs.

That said, I have learned over the years to always buy a quality case that will support my changing needs. A quality case will support many years of upgrades and totally new builds. I always buy a quality PSU with enough extra headroom to support a more hungry graphics solution, or hungrier CPU or additional drives. Or even to carry over into a new build. And I always try to buy all the RAM I will need with the initial build because the availability of RAM 2 or 3 years from now that absolutely will be compatible with the currently installed RAM is NOT a given.

And I tend to try to predict my needs 2 or 3 years down the road and buy for that.

So my point is, years ago (like back in the early 90s and 00s), I was constantly upgrading my systems. Today, my systems typically carry me through 4 - 5 years of service and by that time, it is typical for advances in technologies, and new technologies that have come along, that upgrading is not really an option. So I go for a new build (though often with an existing case and PSU).

 

[Tomgang]

I bought a new PC last spring, but it seems I have practically nothing left from that time except a monitor. I slowly upgraded to an entirely different PC within a year, but I didn't plan it that way.

That is fast you more or less replaced that pc with in a year. But i can relay to that about not planed it that way part. I have been there more than one time, just take where i planed a GTX 780 TI and ended up with GTX 660 TI sli. I dit not see that comming.

Changed the GPU because it died, and the CPU fan. Plan to change the HDD soon, the PC lasts for about 4.5 years.

I think we are doing something similar about upgrade, accept I keep my pc´s for way longer than 4,5 year. But we upgrade/replace as part fails or gets to outdated.

Laptop
Bought it brand new early in 2010. I replaced WD HDD with Team SSD and 4 GB DDR3-1066 RAM with 8 GB DDR3-1333 in Q2 2017. After that I replaced RAM again with 8 GB DDR3-1066 because I had some small issues with DDR3-1333 and finally the CPU, P8700 with T9900, in May/June 2018. I also replaced stock thermal pads with 1,5 mm thick Arctic Cooling 6 W/mk pads in June 2018.

This is my laptop a few weeks after I bought it.
View attachment 104511

This is how it looks now. It has small scratches all over, including on the screen. I will not upgrade it anymore, since it reached its maximum potential. It will be in use for the next two, three or maybe even more years. Current specs are in the signature.
View attachment 104516


PC
I built it from brand new components in mid July 2016. HDD was bought some three weeks later, as I recall. The picture below was taken just before the HDD arrived.
View attachment 104517

This is how it looks now, with new PSU and additional storage. It will highly likely remain so if something doesn't go kaputt for at least 3 more years, but likely 3,5-4 years when I will replace the whole system.
View attachment 104519

Time can be a bitch to things we care about. And i am thinking bruses, scratche, dust and such things. Just take a look at my case, it has also gotten a worn here and there. But i do like the way you have build your desktop up. Case is a bit to cramp for my taste, but cables are clean as possible and there are nothing unwanted either.

i have just processor and ram left from the machine i started building in 2012...
Actual specs on profile,
View attachment 104515

Its the same for me. Only PSU and case is the only things left from the original build from back in 2009. Every things else has been replaced, even CPU/motherboard al throw i stayed on X58 cause i just have to much love for this platform and i am planning on keeping it when i sometime in the future buy a new pc.

Hard to say because I normally changed the entire rig ever few months to a year

CPUs Upgrade Pentium III > Pentium 4 2.8 > Core 2 Duo E4500 > Athlon II X2 240 > Phenom II 955 > Phenom II 1035T > FX-4100 >A10-6800K > A10-7850K > FX-8150 > FX-8320 > FX-8350 > i7-4770 > FX-8350 > i7 920 > Xeon X5650 (My upgrade cycle has been very off the wall)

GPUs upgrade RagePro128 > HD 4870 1GB > HD 6870 > GTX 560 Ti > HD 6950 2GB > HD 7790 > HD 7870 > HD 7870 CFx > HD 7970 > R9 280X > R9 290 > R9 290X > GTX 780 > RX 480 (GPU upgrade has been pretty linear)

I’ll try to dig up some pictures

Dam you have been there, done that and trying that. That for sure.

-> My first console was a SNES... PC? Dafuq is that? My uncle had some weird machine that played Tetris in CGA. And some silly block pushing, find your exit game.

-> Started PC gaming and tinkering with this

-> Then upgraded to a Pentium 3 1 Ghz desktop. Which had some notorious problems, BSOD heaven. Looking back I think the HDD or the RAM was DOA and sat in there for years.

-> Disgruntled from BSOD I moved (back) to consoles N64, PS2, followed by PS3, PC was completely out of the picture.

-> Back to PC gaming with World of Warcraft and my own rig. Believe it was a Core 2 Duo E4500 + 8800GT.

-> Moved back to a laptop again... Toshiba something. Can't find it back but it was another great experience with another indestructible laptop.
-> Upgraded to Asus i7 Sandy Bridge. Throttling like nobody's business. Horrible machine.

-> Back to serious desktop gaming. i5 3570k + GTX 660.
-> GTX 660 SLI shortly after
-> SLI was shit, sold them, got a GTX 770 instead
-> Moved up to 780ti

-> Moved to current rig: 8700k + 780ti
-> 780ti > 1080
Present. Not going anywhere anymore

That´s and old lump of an laptop you got there. Else it has been back and forth between laptop. I can say one thing for sure, I will never be comfortable to play on laptops and consoles for me is a thing of the past. My old PS3 still laying around collecting dust, I only use it today as a Blu-ray playe.

For 1, there are 6 systems here so no point in being specific. I always build my own (except for the notebook) with the idea the computer will "evolve" over time to stay current and more importantly, to keep up with my own evolving needs.

That said, I have learned over the years to always buy a quality case that will support my changing needs. A quality case will support many years of upgrades and totally new builds. I always buy a quality PSU with enough extra headroom to support a more hungry graphics solution, or hungrier CPU or additional drives. Or even to carry over into a new build. And I always try to buy all the RAM I will need with the initial build because the availability of RAM 2 or 3 years from now that absolutely will be compatible with the currently installed RAM is NOT a given.

And I tend to try to predict my needs 2 or 3 years down the road and buy for that.

So my point is, years ago (like back in the early 90s and 00s), I was constantly upgrading my systems. Today, my systems typically carry me through 4 - 5 years of service and by that time, it is typical for advances in technologies, and new technologies that have come along, that upgrading is not really an option. So I go for a new build (though often with an existing case and PSU).

yeah i remember back then you cut bay a new pc like every 2-3 year to keep up with games, its not like that today. I had no idea back in 2009 i would still be on X58 in 2018. Today with all these multicore cpu´s available today while game developers dont do much to keep up, it has been for a long time that having a quad-core CPU would keep you going for years in the future.

 

[Devon68]

The only thing that changed was the PSU since I thought it died, but it turns out it still works. It only has a bad sata connection on one of it's leads so the Pc would not recognize the HDD. Oh and recently I changed the case form a thermaltake chaser A31 to the MS Cyclops IV.

 

[newtekie1]

I didn't take pictures of most of my computers over the years, but I'll just say this: The first PC I built entirely myself, including picking out every single part, had an entirely clear acrylic case(I don't have a picture of that one), my current PC doesn't even have a windows side panel...

I've gotten old, I don't care about tacky flashy looks, I like stylish performance instead.

 

[phill]

I'm purely a hardware ***** so I can say safely up till about 2.5 years ago, that I've always had one mental PC, just it's not really kept up so much now but before I'd make sure it was the best I could get really.. 920 D0 @ 4.6Ghz and 3 GTX 580's was were it began when I moved into my own home some 8 years ago now

I've had that many pieces of hardware, some of which I've not sold and I've just added too the collection..

I've no regrets.. Aside from not buying 4 GTX 580's but I'm going to see if I can find another.. Has to be slightly awkward though, as I've got the 3Gb versions, so I'm going to need another one of those lol

I've hundreds of pictures on the home server, I can always post up a few pics if people is interested Until the current build (my X99 5960X) and whatever loopy build specs I can come up with to finish it off is done, I'll be holding on to it.. That said, I have a feeling the next few builds will be AMD's Ryzen and Threadripper 2.. If your going to do a job, you have to do it properly

 

[Static~Charge]

How far back are we going? My first machine was a pimped-out PC Designs computer in 1986:

• 8088-2 processor, running at a blazing 7.16 MHz
• 8087-2 math coprocessor
• 1MB of RAM (640KB on board + 384KB on an EMM card, swapped 4KB pages in/out the upper memory range)
• Parallel port, serial port, clock chip
• 30MB hard drive
• Hercules-compatible monochrome graphics card
• Amber monochrome monitor
• CGA graphics card
• Princeton Graphics color monitor
• Classic beige IBM-style desktop chassis with two 5.25" full-height drive bays
• 2,400 bps modem

It was a semi-kit machine. The motherboard was already mounted in the chassis; I had to install everything else.

My current rig has virtually no resemblance to it.

 

[Toothless]

It's prettier while teasing me to abuse my wallet. That's about it.

 

[Tomgang]

How far back are we going? My first machine was a pimped-out PC Designs computer in 1986:

• 8088-2 processor, running at a blazing 7.16 MHz
• 8087-2 math coprocessor
• 1MB of RAM (640KB on board + 384KB on an EMM card, swapped 4KB pages in/out the upper memory range)
• Parallel port, serial port, clock chip
• 30MB hard drive
• Hercules-compatible monochrome graphics card
• Amber monochrome monitor
• CGA graphics card
• Princeton Graphics color monitor
• Classic beige IBM desktop chassis with two 5.25" full-height drives
• 2,400 bps modem

It was a semi-kit machine. The motherboard was already mounted in the chassis; I had to install everything else.

Hornestly it where the current pc or pc's you have now. Just seems some take a step furher back and that's alright to.

 

[phill]

How far back are we going? My first machine was a pimped-out PC Designs computer in 1986:

• 8088-2 processor, running at a blazing 7.16 MHz
• 8087-2 math coprocessor
• 1MB of RAM (640KB on board + 384KB on an EMM card, swapped 4KB pages in/out the upper memory range)
• Parallel port, serial port, clock chip
• 30MB hard drive
• Hercules-compatible monochrome graphics card
• Amber monochrome monitor
• CGA graphics card
• Princeton Graphics color monitor
• Classic beige IBM-style desktop chassis with two 5.25" full-height drive bays
• 2,400 bps modem

It was a semi-kit machine. The motherboard was already mounted in the chassis; I had to install everything else.

My current rig has virtually no resemblance to it.

Sounds like something the Amiga 500 or Amiga 600 would be up against

 

[Static~Charge]

Hornestly it where the current pc or pc's you have now. Just seems some take a step furher back and that's alright to.

Well, the OP did say "see how your current pc has changes over the years"; he just didn't say how many years. In modern times, I kept my Fractal Define Design R4 case and made the following upgrades:

Removed
Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H motherboard
Intel Core i3-4370 CPU
Zalman CNP9500 AT CPU cooler
Four 4GB Crucial Ballistix Sport DIMMs
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti WindForce video card

Installed
ASRock H370 Pro4 motherboard
Intel Core i3-8100 CPU
Cryorig M9i CPU cooler
Two 8GB G.Skill Aegis DIMMs
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 WindForce OC 3G video card

Not exactly high-end parts, but at least they're reasonably current.

 

[GoldenX]

Same case for the last 14 years, generic black one with two USB1.1 ports on the side, no headphones jack, but hey, it can use 1x120mm + 1x92mm + 2x80mm fans. I will change it when the paint falls off.
CPU/RAM/MoBo/VGA list as of now:

• Pentium D 805 2,66GHz - 1GB DDR 400MHz - ASRock 775i65g - EVGA 6200 256MB (AGP)
• Pentium Dual Core E2140 1,6GHz - 2GB DDR2 667MHz - Asus P5CG-MX/1333 - Powercolor HD3450 512MB
• Phenom II X2 BE 550 3,1GHz - 4GB DDR3 1333MHz - MSI 770-C45 - PNY 7600GT 256MB
• Phenom II X4 980BE 3,7GHz - 8GB DDR3 1333MHz - Asus M4A785TD-V EVO - XFX HD7750 1GB
• (NEVER downgrade like this) A4-4000 3GHz - 8GB DDR3 1600MHz - MSI A68HM-E33 - XFX HD7750 1GB
• Ryzen R3 1200 3,1GHz - 8GB DDR4 2400MHz - MSI B350M PRO-VDH - Sapphire R9 270X Toxic 2GB

And so many HDDs I lost count, first one was 80GB.

 

[neatfeatguy]

I've had two towers in the past 8 years.

I had been running SLI builds since I got into actual PC gaming, starting with 7600 GT. I was blown away by how well they ran Oblivion - cranked up those settings and I was off! Too bad I found the game itself to be bland and horribly boring. Anyway.....

I purchased a new tower to use - Cooler Master Cosmos 1000!

Spoiler

I finally decided to pull the trigger when I found a heck of a deal on 2 brand new GTX 280s - they were at EOL, replaced by the GTX 275 and surpassed by the GTX 285 - in March of 2010 to go with the new tower I had purchased. I think I spent around $200 on each card, brand new in box from Tigerdirect.

I then procured a CPU (Phenom II x4 940) and MB (ASRock K10N780SLIX3-Wifi) and eventually a new PSU (CoolerMaster SilentPro 1000W) and RAM (Corsair XSM2 2x2GB DDR2 800). By the first week of April 2010 I had everything I needed for my new build (step up from the Athlon X2 64 5200+, 4GB DDR, 2 7600 GT in SLI). I get everything installed and work in installing Vista (I know, 7 was out, but I already had Vista OEM from a computer class I was taking). Everytime I installed a GPU driver, the system would lock up or BSOD. I installed XP - same thing. I installed one of my 7600GT cards in Vista and XP as well, same thing. 8 different OS installs over the course of 2 nights......I worked with ASRock customer service via emails and did a few things that I had not thought of, but still the same issue. ASRock said to RMA the board. RMA with newegg and about 10 days later a new MB arrived. Install everything and no issues!

Fast forward about 3 months later and end of July I had sent in one of my GTX 280s to BFG due to faulty fan. They sent back a GTX 285. When I received the GTX 285 BFG announced they're closing doors and no longer taking anymore RMAs. That's cool. I got my replacement card, though I'm a bit said it's a GTX 285 - can't run SLI. Oh well. GTX 285 is faster than a single 280, so I'll make due. Or so I thought.....

GTX 285 gets constant driver crashes. Increasing voltage and dropping clocks didn't fix it. So now I have a faulty 285 that I can't return due to the manufacturer having closed....I spent a good 4 hours searching online if anyone had flashed a 280 BIOS to a 285, but I came across nothing useful. Every post I came across basically said it wouldn't work due to the difference between the cards. I had nothing to lose, so I tried it anyway. Success! It worked. I ran the 280 and flashed 285 in SLI for a couple of years. I actually found a pic of the build:

I last tested the CPU/MB/RAM and GPUs about 20 months ago and they all worked. I have since donated them to the Memorial to Kreij old school build - which will eventually happen, I think.

I eventually moved from the GTX 280s to 2 GTX 570s in mid 2012. Everything else stayed the same. I kept that setup until January of 2014. I moved to my current i5-4670k. Once I moved up from my OC'ed PII x4 940 (ran her at 3.6) to the i5, it was like a whole new system. Frame rates nearly doubled with my 570s in SLI. I ran those cards until July 2015 when I picked up a GTX 980Ti AMP! Omega.

Before the move to the 980Ti I got a new case, Fractal Design Arc XL.

Spoiler

I wasn't content with the basic black/white look of it. I wanted something that had more pop to the color. I spent a good bit of time sanding, priming and painting for this end result:

I had the i5 and GTX 570s in that case for a few months (though I haven't been able to track down a pic of it). I got the 980Ti and soon after a new 850W Seasonic 80 Gold PSU.

Here's the i5-4670K, 8GB DDR3 ADATA RAM (8GB more was added a short while later. Also, they're gold! One of the reasons I picked the yellow color for the case), the 980Ti - but before the new PSU:

That's what I've been using since July 2015. I did pick up a second 980Ti AMP! Omega that I ran in SLI for about 6 months, but I ended up moving it to the HTPC to be a second gaming computer, along with a Plex server. Kids can play games on that one and stay the hell off my computer.

I did have to get a new MB since the ASRock one (see in pic above) died on me. Eventually ended up with an ASUS Z97-AR.

 

[Jetster]

I wouldnt even know where to start. This case I have now has had at least 3 mother boards in 4 years. I buy a new GPU about every 3 years. I've been doing this sense 1995. And I have like 4 systems running

 

[Athlonite]

Well that was a surprise after writing it all down just how much stuff I've been through over the years
MOBO's : some piece of Compaq crap > SOYO Intel 440BX > Gigabyte VIA KT133 > Asrock VIA KT266A > Abit nForce 2 - 400 Ultra > Albertron skt 754 > Asus A8R32MVP-Deluxe > Asus Chrosshair IV > Asus Chrosshair V Formula
CPU's: Intel 286 > 286+287 > Intel 486DX2-100 > AMD K6-2 450 > Duron 900 > Athlon 2800+ > Athlon64 4800+ > Phenom x2 7750 > Phenom II x4 940 > Phenom II x4 965 > FX8320
RAM: 1MB 30 pin sip > 2MB 30 pin simm > 4x 1MB 30 pin simms > 2x 4MB 72 pin EDO Simms > 2x 256MB DDR133 > 2x 512MB DDR400 > 4x 1GB DDR2-1066 > 2x 4GB DDR3-2400
GPU's: Trident 256KB VGA 16bit ISA > S3 Virge 2MB + 2MB 32bit PCI > S3Virge 4MB 64 bit VLBus > nVidia TNT 2 16MB > nVidia GF400mx 64MB AGP> nVidia 5200 256MB AGP > Radeon 9600XT 256MB AGP > Radeon X850XT 512MB PCIe > Sapphire Radeon HD2600XT 1 GB PCIe > 2x Sapphire/Asus Radeon HD2600XT 1GB PCIe > HIS Radeon HD5770 1GB PCIe > 2x HIS Radeon HD5770 1GB PCIe > Sapphire Radeon HD7850 2GB > 2x Sapphire Radeon HD7850 2GB PCIe > Asus Radeon R9 285 STRIX 2GB PCIe > Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX480 8GB OC PCIe > BIOS Modded Sapphire Nitro+ RX480 to RX580 8GB OC (1411Core/2000Mem)
HDD's Boot: Seagate 545MB IDE > Quantum Fireball 2.5GB > Seagate Barracuda 20GB > 2x WD 40GB RAID0 > 2x WD 256GB RAID0 > 2x Samsung 512GB RAID0 > 2x WD 1TB Blacks RAID0 > 2x Kingston V300 120GB SSD RAID0
HDD's storeage: WD 40GB > WD 256GB > Samsung 512GB > WD 1TB + Samsung 1TB + WD RED 2TB + Seagate 2TB + WD Elements 2TB USB2.0 + WD Elements 512GB USB3.0 + WD Passport 4TB USB3.0 > Apple SSD 128GB M2 SATA via PCIe adapter card (this is where my Pagefile resides )
Case's: Various shitters until I got an Silverstone RV02 V1.0 and then added the USB3.0 upgrade to it and an 2x 5.25" bay to 3x 3.5" hdd caddy

 

[StrayKAT]

I've had two towers in the past 8 years.

I had been running SLI builds since I got into actual PC gaming, starting with 7600 GT. I was blown away by how well they ran Oblivion - cranked up those settings and I was off! Too bad I found the game itself to be bland and horribly boring. Anyway.....

I purchased a new tower to use - Cooler Master Cosmos 1000!

Spoiler

I finally decided to pull the trigger when I found a heck of a deal on 2 brand new GTX 280s - they were at EOL, replaced by the GTX 275 and surpassed by the GTX 285 - in March of 2010 to go with the new tower I had purchased. I think I spent around $200 on each card, brand new in box from Tigerdirect.

I then procured a CPU (Phenom II x4 940) and MB (ASRock K10N780SLIX3-Wifi) and eventually a new PSU (CoolerMaster SilentPro 1000W) and RAM (Corsair XSM2 2x2GB DDR2 800). By the first week of April 2010 I had everything I needed for my new build (step up from the Athlon X2 64 5200+, 4GB DDR, 2 7600 GT in SLI). I get everything installed and work in installing Vista (I know, 7 was out, but I already had Vista OEM from a computer class I was taking). Everytime I installed a GPU driver, the system would lock up or BSOD. I installed XP - same thing. I installed one of my 7600GT cards in Vista and XP as well, same thing. 8 different OS installs over the course of 2 nights......I worked with ASRock customer service via emails and did a few things that I had not thought of, but still the same issue. ASRock said to RMA the board. RMA with newegg and about 10 days later a new MB arrived. Install everything and no issues!

Fast forward about 3 months later and end of July I had sent in one of my GTX 280s to BFG due to faulty fan. They sent back a GTX 285. When I received the GTX 285 BFG announced they're closing doors and no longer taking anymore RMAs. That's cool. I got my replacement card, though I'm a bit said it's a GTX 285 - can't run SLI. Oh well. GTX 285 is faster than a single 280, so I'll make due. Or so I thought.....

GTX 285 gets constant driver crashes. Increasing voltage and dropping clocks didn't fix it. So now I have a faulty 285 that I can't return due to the manufacturer having closed....I spent a good 4 hours searching online if anyone had flashed a 280 BIOS to a 285, but I came across nothing useful. Every post I came across basically said it wouldn't work due to the difference between the cards. I had nothing to lose, so I tried it anyway. Success! It worked. I ran the 280 and flashed 285 in SLI for a couple of years. I actually found a pic of the build:
View attachment 104569

I last tested the CPU/MB/RAM and GPUs about 20 months ago and they all worked. I have since donated them to the Memorial to Kreij old school build - which will eventually happen, I think.

I eventually moved from the GTX 280s to 2 GTX 570s in mid 2012. Everything else stayed the same. I kept that setup until January of 2014. I moved to my current i5-4670k. Once I moved up from my OC'ed PII x4 940 (ran her at 3.6) to the i5, it was like a whole new system. Frame rates nearly doubled with my 570s in SLI. I ran those cards until July 2015 when I picked up a GTX 980Ti AMP! Omega.

Before the move to the 980Ti I got a new case, Fractal Design Arc XL.

Spoiler

I wasn't content with the basic black/white look of it. I wanted something that had more pop to the color. I spent a good bit of time sanding, priming and painting for this end result:
View attachment 104571

I had the i5 and GTX 570s in that case for a few months (though I haven't been able to track down a pic of it). I got the 980Ti and soon after a new 850W Seasonic 80 Gold PSU.

Here's the i5-4670K, 8GB DDR3 ADATA RAM (8GB more was added a short while later. Also, they're gold! One of the reasons I picked the yellow color for the case), the 980Ti - but before the new PSU:

That's what I've been using since July 2015. I did pick up a second 980Ti AMP! Omega that I ran in SLI for about 6 months, but I ended up moving it to the HTPC to be a second gaming computer, along with a Plex server. Kids can play games on that one and stay the hell off my computer.

I did have to get a new MB since the ASRock one (see in pic above) died on me. Eventually ended up with an ASUS Z97-AR.

Unrelated, but what case is that? Cool color. Reminds me of "Lake Placid Blue" from old cars.. and Fender guitars. edit: Nvm.. I see, Fractal Design.