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Idea what to do with old & functional PC

Dirt Chip

Dirt Chip

Joined
Jul 15, 2020
Messages
1,063 (0.60/day)
System Specs
System Name Dirt Sheep | Silent Sheep
Processor i5-2400 | 13900K (-0.02mV offset)
Motherboard Asus P8H67-M LE | Gigabyte AERO Z690-G, bios F29 Intel baseline
Cooling Scythe Katana Type 1 | Noctua NH-U12A chromax.black
Memory G-skill 2*8GB DDR3 | Corsair Vengeance 4*32GB DDR5 5200Mhz C40 @4000MHz
Video Card(s) iGPU | NV 1080TI FE (cap at 50%, 800mV)
Storage Micron 256GB SSD | 2*SN850 1TB, 230S 4TB, 840EVO 128GB, IronWolf 6TB, 2*HC550 18TB in RAID1
Display(s) LG 21` FHD W2261VP | Lenovo 27` 4K Qreator 27
Case Thermaltake V3 Black|Define 7 Solid, stock 3*14 fans+ 2*12 front&buttom+ out 1*8 (on expansion slot)
Audio Device(s) Beyerdynamic DT 990 (or the screen speakers when I'm too lazy)
Power Supply Enermax Pro82+ 525W | Corsair RM650x (2021)
Mouse Logitech Master 3
Keyboard Roccat Isku FX
VR HMD Nop.
Software WIN 10 | WIN 11
Benchmark Scores CB23 SC: i5-2400=641 | i9-13900k=2325-2281 MC: i5-2400=i9 13900k SC | i9-13900k=37240-35500
Don't sure if it's the right category but anyway:

The components are describe at the system spec. It is i5-2400, 16GB DDR3 based with 256 ssd.

It is unused now, I wonder what to do with it except throw away for recycling.
Creative ideas are welcome :)
 
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Use it? Donate it? It's plenty powerful for everyday use.
 
NAS, Firewall, Router or just learn a thing or two about Linux on it.

Have fun!
 
Install Win7 or older for retrocomputing. Add a cheap video card and enjoy classic games maxed out.

I use a similarly specced machine on an everyday basis. It's perfectly capable of handling typical home/office tasks.
 
I dislike trying to figure out usage cases for unused computer hardware or gadgets (even kitchen tools).

These old systems generally draw too much power for what they can offer (poor performance-per-watt metric) so using one as a file server or router makes less and less sense these days when you look at electricity consumption. Even duty as a home theater PC is not so great since these old systems don't handle modern video codecs gracefully. I think my Intel N95 draws 1.5-2W when it plays back HEVC and AV1 files.

My inclination would be to recycle or freecycle or donate. It's harder to donate these sort of things to schools these days (compared to 20 years ago) since district IT staffers prefer standardized systems. However there might be a church who would be interested, the best thing to do would be to contact the church's administration office and ask to speak to the IT person directly.

Otherwise you might try listing it locally (e.g. Craigslist) for a modest price ($10-20 OBO) saying that it would be a good project or learning system for hobbyists.
 
Dirt Chip said:
Don't sure if it's the right category but anyway:

The components are describe at the system spec. It is i5-2400, 16GB DDR3 based with 256 ssd.

It is unused now, I wonder what to do with it except throw away for recycling.
Creative ideas are welcome :)
Click to expand...



This is a bit like a child asking the parents what he can do because he is bored. We don't have to think of that, do we? You can also just give it away or throw it away
 
Its so old that id see if i could max out it out on whatever platform its on for cheap. Maybe slip a 4770 or Xeon equivalent if supported. 16-32GB ram. More hard drives and have it set up as a NAS/Back up PC.
 
If you don't mind the electrical bill, start crunching with team TPU for the good cause (research on horrible deseases, climate change research and so on)

Even if it is an old pc and computes less than modern ones, the results are welcome. Like they say: a little bit goes a long way ;) .
 
QuietBob said:
Install Win7 or older for retrocomputing. Add a cheap video card and enjoy classic games maxed out.

I use a similarly specced machine on an everyday basis. It's perfectly capable of handling typical home/office tasks.
Click to expand...
I enjoy max out classic games on my current build :)
taka said:
NAS, Firewall, Router or just learn a thing or two about Linux on it.

Have fun!
Click to expand...
NAS actually might be it. I have and allways get more 4K+ video files of aerial drone fotage.

What hardware (if any) do I need more, except the HDD`s?
What operating system is recommended as NAS server?
 
I use an old pc for online. all other 3 strong pc are offline and for work/gaming. online you dont need much

you should run linux in a virtual machine. then move online pc to linux. minimal tracking.
 
Dirt Chip said:
I enjoy max out classic games on my current build :)

NAS actually might be it. I have and allways get more 4K+ video files of aerial drone fotage.

What hardware (if any) do I need more, except the HDD`s?
What operating system is recommended as NAS server?
Click to expand...
If you are into learning then TrueNAS/FreeNAS should be a great place to start.
Here some alternatives: https://alternativeto.net/software/freenas/?p=2

Also Windows 7,8 and 10 can be used and since NTFS is used you can recover data faster than from any ZFS or LVM.

Up to you and your skills.

I'm using an old Dell SFF with a Core i3 4130 with windows 10 as a NAS (it came with an Win7 license and i need Chrome Remote on it since no OOB or any peripherals are used).

It draws 10-20W from the wall with 8GB ram and 4TB HDD drive.
 
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FreedomEclipse said:
Its so old that id see if i could max out it out on whatever platform its on for cheap. Maybe slip a 4770 or Xeon equivalent if supported. 16-32GB ram. More hard drives and have it set up as a NAS/Back up PC.
Click to expand...
Best they can do is a 3770k. Bit old but still capable.
 
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