Once-Modern Builds

brook > pcs > modern

Here's the PC's I've built that weren't deliberately designed to run outdated operating systems. (They just slowly became obsolete on their own.) Right now there's just a few, but perhaps that will eventually change.

12008 'Overkill' Planned Spec (Click/tap to expand)

After four years of use, my Dell Dimension 8400 had started feeling very sluggish. I planned to create this custom build until my dad got me a similarly-specced laptop instead.

Case: $120: XCLIO Windtunnel (Full Tower)
Motherboard: $180: ABIT Intel P35 (LGA775, ATX)
CPU: $190: Intel Core 2 Duo (3GHz)
RAM: $104: OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 4GB Kit (2x2GB DDR2-800)
GPU: $175: nVidia GeForce 8800 GT (512MB)
APU: $91: Creative SoundBlaster XtremeGamer
Drives: $70: Western Digital 400GB HDD; $28: Samsung 22x DVD-R Drive; $31: Rosewill Card Reader/1.44MB Combo Drive
Peripherals: $64: Microsoft Sidewinder Mouse; $80: Saitek Cyborg Keyboard
Approximate Total Cost: $1133

PC5014

My former primary computer was a custom micro-ATX system I started building in summer 12013.

Motherboard: ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX: Socket AM3+ with 2 DDR3-1866 RAM slots; 2xSATA-III, 4xSATA-II, 1xPATA; 2xPS/2, 4xUSB2, 2xUSB3.0, 1Gbps
OS: Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit Home Premium): Kept it installed out of spite through/because of "fuck the Windows 8 UI", "Microsoft fired the entire QA team", "Windows 10 users keep getting they shit broken", and "B-B-BUT MUH SECURITY UPDATES" phases.

Era 1 (12013-12014 Initial Build) (Click/tap to expand)

12013-06-27 to 12014-11, started at approximately $935.

Case: Rosewill FBM-01: ATX micro-tower with pre-installed 120mm and 80mm fans
Components: PSU: Cooler Master Elite (460w) (Given to PC5004); CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 (4x3400MHz) with stock cooler (Given to PC5004C); RAM: Kingston HyperX Genesis (8GB DDR3-1600) (Given to Office-A); GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 (1GB); NIC: Edimax EW-7128Gn (802.11n@150mbps); APU: ASUS XONAR DGX; Audio: Logitech Z506 (5.1 Surround speakers) (Given to dad)
Operating System: Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit Home Premium): I attempted to dual-boot Debian 7 alongside it, but couldn't figure out how to get graphics drivers working from the command line.; Windows Experience Index 7.4 (CPU bottleneck)
Drives: A: Sony FDD (USB2)
^ Initially wanted an internal floppy drive, but discovered that IDE-40 and IDC-34 are Different things. (Also pretty sure that 34p-USB adapters are a recent invention, would've gone for one if I knew about it.); ~~B: Samsung DVD-RW (SATA-II)~~ (Given to Office-A)
^ Removed because I ran out of space on the 1TB after phasing out the USB HDDs used when my primary system was PC5011.; B: Toshiba 3TB HDD-7200 (SATA-III) (Failed); C: ADATA 128GB SSD (SATA-III); D: WD Black 1TB HDD-7200 (SATA-II); E: Toshiba 1.5TB HDD (USB3); F: Slimline DVD-RW (USB2); G: Front bay hotswap Dock (SATA-II)

Era 2 (12014-12016 Upgrades) (Click/tap to expand)

Upgrades added from 12014-12 to 12016-11.

Case: Rosewill Blackhawk: ATX mid-tower with 4 pre-installed 120mm fans
Components: PSU: Corsair CX600M (600w 80+Bronze) (Given to PC5004C); CPU: AMD FX-8320 (8x3500MHz) with CM GeminII M4 cooler; RAM: Kingston HyperX Fury (16GB DDR3-1866); GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 (3GB) (Died); GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 (1GB) (Given to Office-B); GPU: ASUS Radeon RX470 (4GB); NIC: Edimax EW-7128Gn (802.11n@150mbps) (PCI slot failed); NIC: TP-Link TL-WN822N (USB2) (802.11n@300mbps) (Died); NIC: Panda Wireless (USB2) (802.11n@300mbps) (Unreliable); NIC: NET-DYN WiFi Adapter (USB2) (802.11n@300mbps) (Unreliable); APU: ASUS XONAR DGX; Audio: Philips CSS2123B/F7 soundbar (2.1 virtual surround) (Given to dad); Windows Experience Index 6.0 (GPU bottleneck)
Drives: A: Sony FDD (USB2); B: WD Black 4TB HDD-7200 (Popped); C: ADATA 128GB SSD; D: WD Black 1TB HDD-7200; E: Toshiba 1.5TB HDD (USB3); F: BOSLISA DVD-RW (USB3); G: Combo card reader/fan speed controller (USB2); H: Case SATA hotswap bay

Era 3 (12017-12022 Upgrades) (Click/tap to expand)

Upgrades added from 12017-11 to 12022-09. This configuration consisted of components costing $1300.

(HWinfo summary)

Case: Rosewill Blackhawk: ATX mid-tower with Arctic F12 PWM-PST-CO fans
Components: PSU: EVGA Supernova P2 (650w 80+Platinum); CPU: AMD FX-8320 (8x3500MHz) with CM GeminII M4 cooler; RAM: Kingston HyperX Fury (16GB DDR3-1866); GPU: ASUS Radeon RX470 (4GB); NIC: ~~TP-Link Archer T2UH (USB2)~~ (Unreliable)
PC5011 (MAC bridge) via ~~onboard LAN~~ (failed) AmazonBasics 1Gbps adapter (USB3); APU: ASUS XONAR DGX; Audio: TaoTronics 25" soundbar (2.0; got sick of cables everywhere); Windows Experience Index 7.6 (HDD bottleneck)
Drives: A: ~~12005 Sony FDD (USB2)~~ 11999 Imation LS-120 SuperDisk (ATAPI); B: 12019 4TB WD Blue; C: 12013 128GB ADATA SX900; D: ~~12013 1TB WD Black~~ 12021 4TB WD Blue; E: ~~12012 1.5TB Toshiba Canvio (USB3)~~ 12022 2TB WD Elements SSD (USB3); F: ~~12018 BOSLISA DVD-RW (USB3)~~ 12005 Memorex DVD-ROM/CD-RW (ATAPI); G: 12020 4TB WD Blue (USB3-SATA); H: 12021 4TB WD Blue (USB3-SATA)

After a whole lot of trial and error and failed internet connection methods, I think this is about as powerful as I can get it.

Era 4 (12023 Retirement) (Click/tap to expand)

Case: Rosewill Blackhawk (ATX mid-tower): USB: 4x2.0, 2x3.0 (disconnected; no motherboard header); Fans: 6x120mm Arctic F12 PWM-PST-CO; Bays: 4x5¼ external, 3x3½ internal
Components: PSU: XFX Pro 550w (80+Bronze)
(Fun fact: I actually originally bought this for this PC back in 12013, but it didn't fit in the cramped-ass FBM-01 case with all them cables going everywhere.); CPU: AMD FX-8320 (8x3500MHz) with CM GeminII M4 cooler; RAM: Kingston HyperX Fury (16GB DDR3-1866); GPU: ASUS Radeon RX470 (4GB); NIC: AmazonBasics 1Gbps adapter (USB3); APU: ASUS XONAR DGX
Drives: A: 11999 Imation LS-120 SuperDisk (ATAPI); B: 12019 4TB WD Blue; C: 12013 128GB ADATA SX900; D: 12013 1TB WD Blue (from Office-A) in case hotswap bay; F: 12005 Memorex DVD-ROM/CD-RW (ATAPI)
Peripherals (USB2 via Dell U2412M and Monoprice KVM): E: 12010 1TB WD Elements (USB2); Lexar USB3 card reader (SD/µSD/MSP/M2/CF/XD); Contour ShuttleXpress (12013); CyberPower 1000VA UPS (12018); Unicomp Model M (EnduraPro 104 Beige) (12014); Kensington Orbit Trackball (12019)

After serving me well for 10 years, this aging warship has been moved to the home office, where it now serves as a dedicated video editing station. (And no longer heats up my room an extra 6° simply by being powered on.)

Total cost: $4775 spent over 123 months
Components: $1291 internal, $553 peripherals
Reused: $1570 in parts distributed to 8 other systems
Unused: $596 of USB-Wifi adapters sitting around /hj
Failed: $765 of dead headsets, GPUs, and hard drives

Office Commissions

A pair of systems I threw together for getting some work done on. Both remained in use at our office building until it was sold, after which B continued to be used as a work computer. Got a good 9 years out of 'em, then a bunch of websites mysteriously stopped working, so I switched them out for a pair of upgraded laptops running Linux Mint.

Unit A

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A55M-HD2: Micro-ATX Socket FM2 with 2 DDR3-1800 RAM slots; 4xSATA-II, 4xUSB2, 1xPS/2, 1Gbps
Components: PSU: Cooler Master "Elite 460w" RS-460-PSAR-I3; APU: AMD A4-4000 (3.0GHz dual-core); NIC: TP-Link TL-WN751D (802.11n @ 150Mbps)

FrontDesk (12014-01) (Click/tap to expand)

Case: Rosewill FBM-01: ATX micro-tower with included 120mm and 80mm fans; 2xUSB2, external 2x5¼ and 1x3½ bays, 2x3½ bays internal
Components: GPU: Integrated Radeon HD 7480D; RAM: [12014-12017] 1x4GB Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3-1600
[12017-12023] 2x4GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1600; OS: Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit Home Premium)
Drives: C: WD Blue 1TB HDD-7200; D: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24x DVD-RW

History

Built 12014-01 for $390
Retired 12016-??
Reinstated 12020-08 as HTPC
Attempted to update but failed because this jank-ass loser forgot its entire Windows Update history 12023-02
Replaced 12023-03-21 by IcedCream; RAM reused in PC5023, HDD reused in PC5014

Candiedcane (12023-07) (Click/tap to expand)

(Neofetch)

After getting interested in Stable Diffusion, I decided to throw some upgrades at this system and see what could be made with it:

RAM: ~~2x8GB Leven DDR3-1333~~One stick failed Memtest86+ 2x8GB Timetec DDR3-1600	GPU: ~~SURALLOW RX580 2048SP 8GB~~STUPID FUCKING AMD ROCM DROPPED SUPPORT PNY XLR8 GeForce GTX 1070 8GB
OS: Linux Mint 21.2 Xfce	/dev/sda: 256GB Bto S400 SSD (Taken from PC5023)

History

Repurposed 12023-07-29 for image generation (+$110 for new RAM and GPU)
Reupgraded 12023-08-03 (+137 for new RAM and GPU) because Radeon is unsupported and one stick was defective
Decommissioned 12023-08-22; parts reused in PC5024

XPness (12023-09) (Click/tap to expand)

The system's core was then replaced with an AM4 motherboard (details in the next section), so I just started slapping some spare hardware together. Could make a nice late-2000s gaming rig?

Case: Sentey CS1-1410 Plus Classic: ATX mid-tower with 3 external 5¼ bays; USB: 1x2.0, 1x3.0; Fan: 80mm Rosewill (Taken from FBM-01)
Components: GPU: Radeon HD 7770 1GB; RAM: 1x4GB Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3-1600; USB: NZXT IU01 Internal USB Expansion
Drives: A: Sony MPF920 (34P-USB); B: ATAPI ZIP-100 drive (IDE-USB); C: 32GB CF card in SATA adapter; D: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE; Rear 2-port eSATA bracket

Unit B

(HWiNFO summary)

Case: CM HAF 912 ATX mid-tower 2xUSB2, 2x120mm fans Bays: 4x5¼ ext; 2x3½, 2x2½ int	Motherboard: Asus A55BM-E Micro-ATX FM2+, 2xDDR3 6xSATA-II, 4xUSB2, 2xPS/2, 1Gbps
PSU: ~~XFX Pro 550w~~(80+ Bronze) 2014-2023 (Given to PC5014), Elite 460wCooler Master RS-460-PSAR-I3 GPU: Integrated2014-2017 (Radeon HD 7540D), ~~Radeon HD 7770 1GB~~2017-2023 (Added for triple-monitor support) (Given to XPness)	APU: AMD A6-5400K (2x3.6GHz) RAM: ~~2x4GB DDR3-1333~~Kingston HyperX Blu; 2014-2023 (Given to PC5023) 2x2GB DDR3-1600Micron (Taken from PC5023) NIC: TP-Link TL-WN751D(802.11n @ 150Mbps)
OS: Windows 7 SP1 (Home Premium x64)	C: 120GB SSDCrucial M500 D: ~~24x DVD-RW~~Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE (Given to XPness) E: 500GB 5400RPM HDDSeagate Momentus 5400.6 (Taken from N5050)

History

Built 12014-03 for $440
Fully updated 12023-02 for no fuckin reason
Replaced 12023-03-25 by Toothypaste; RAM, GPU, and PSU reused for PC5023
Given spare RAM, PSU, and HDD, but remains purposeless

PC5024!

12019-12023 'PC5024' Planned Specs (Click/tap to expand)

Me in 12015: "Upgrading a computer in a Micro ATX case is a pain in the ass! Never building something this small ever again."

Me in 12020: "IT'S PARTYTIME DUDES LET'S BUILD A FUCKING MINI ITX PC"
@dwb@x0r.be, 12019-12-31

While 5014 is a great system, its AM3+ hardware is starting to show its age. I wanted to build a mini-ITX system for running what it's not able to handle (i.e. newer and VR games).

December 12019 Planned Spec: Case: Fractal Design Node 202; PSU: Corsair SF600 (600w 80+Platinum); CPU: AMD Ryzen 3600 (update: lmao, dodged *that* bullet); RAM: G.Skill Trident (32GB DDR4-3600); GPU: nVidia RTX 2060 Super (8GB); SSD: Samsung 970 EVO 1TB (M.2); OS: Manjaro or OpenBSD dual-booted with Windows 10 Pro; Estimated cost to build: ~$1,550 (but I hopefully wouldn't have to upgrade anything for, like, at least three years)
Early 12023 Planned Spec: Unit: Beelink GTR7 Pro; (Ryzen 7940HS, 32GB LPDDR5-5600, Radeon 780M, 1TB NVMe); Estimated cost: $870
Summer 12023 Planned Spec: Case: Reused from CandiedCane (Rosewill FBM-01 with fan upgrades); Motherboard: Asrock B650M-HDV/M.2; PSU: Reused from PC5014 (EVGA Supernova P2 (650w 80+ Platinum)); CPU: AMD Ryzen 7600X; RAM: 32GB DDR5-6000; GPU: Reused from CandiedCane (PNY XLR8 GTX 1070 8GB); SSD: WD Black 1TB SN770 (M.2); Estimated cost to build: ~$530 sans reused parts

But I don't feel like paying that much, so I'll go for previous-gen parts until AM5 and PCIe5 stuff becomes worthless. That way the entire system costs what I otherwise would've paid for the CPU alone. #TrashIsTreasure

The original plan was to grab a Ryzen 9 mini-PC, then upgrade it with an external USB4 GPU when the 780M stopped cutting mustard. But, after running the numbers, it looks like building a microtower will cost less upfront if I gut Candiedcane and reuse its parts. Let's see what happens.

12023-08 Build

Case: Rosewill FBM-01 (ATX micro-tower): USB: 2x2.0; Fans: 120mm (Arctic F12 PWM-PST-CO), 92mm (BeQuiet! BL038); Bays: 2x5¼, 3½ external; 2x3½ internal
Motherboard: ASRock B450M/ac R2.0: Micro-ATX Socket AM4 with 4 DDR4-3200 RAM slots.; 1xGen3x4 M.2, 4xSATA-III, 2xUSB2, 4xUSB3.1, 1Gbps; Included Intel 3168NGW (802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.2) M.2-E module
Components: PSU: EVGA Supernova 650 P2 (80+ Platinum) (Reused from PC5014); CPU: AMD Ryzen 5600 (3.4GHz 6-core) with TT Contac 9 SE cooler; RAM: Teamgroup T-Create Expert (16+16GB DDR4-3200 CL16); GPU: PNY XLR8 GeForce GTX 1070 8GB
Which AFAICT is roughly on par with RDNA3 iGPUs at high TDP. So, in a way it's what I was hoping for, just uses more power.
Drives: /dev/sda: 256GB Bto S400 SSD; /dev/sd[bcde]: 3½" front-panel multi-card reader (USB2); /dev/sdf: 11199 Imation LS-120 SuperDisk (USB via KVM); /dev/sr0: 12013 Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE 24x DVD-RW
OS: Linux Mint 21.2 (Xfce): Windows? More like, uh.. dumbass. #gottem

12023-09 Upgrades

Components: RAM: Teamgroup T-Create Expert (4x16GB DDR4-3200 CL16); 5.25: Syba dual drive dock with 2xUSB3.0 ports; PCIe: Inateck USB3.2x2 Type-C
Drives: /dev/nvme0n1: ADATA/XPG SX8200 Pro 2TB (Gen3x4 M.2 2280); /dev/sdg: Front bay 2½" dock:
12014 Toshiba 750GB 4200RPM 2½" HDD (Taken from HP Pavilion); /dev/sdh: Front bay 3½" dock
OS: Nobara Linux 38 (Plasma): (Gaming-optimized Fedora-based distro by the dev of ProtonGE)
Cost: $285.96 core, $192.31 upgrades, $406.94 reused

(Neofetch)

And, bam! Instant max-spec build for under 520 new.. Well, I suppose I could upgrade the CPU to a 5800X3D. But at the point when this thing is noticeably outdated I'll probably just fully replace it.

As for future upgrades, I might consider going for an RTX card when I can find one for around $100 used? But there's not much point aiming for higher performance since this motherboard only supports PCIe3.

I was initially worried about reusing this cramped case that by all appearances should have no dang airflow, but so far the system idles at ~13°C above ambient, so it seems she can breathe.

Speaking of performance, how's the Ryzen compared to 5014's FX?

Fayst. Despite using a third the wattage at idle.

Useful Links Best Thermal Paste Effectiveness: TG Kryonaut, Balance: Noctua NT-H2, Value: Arctic MX-4 Logical Increments Suggested custom builds for every budget from $300 to $3000. PSU Tier List Crowdsourced guide to reliability of ATX power supplies. Unicomp Model M Keyboards The best $150 you'll ever spend on an input device.

In too deep? Perhaps you could use a Roadmap.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

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Originally appeared on Bytemoth's Brook / CC BY-SA

Please enjoy responsibly.

Once-Modern Builds (12023-09-14)

PC5014

Office Commissions

Unit A

Unit B

History

PC5024!

12023-08 Build

12023-09 Upgrades