Here's the PC's I've built that weren't deliberately designed to run outdated operating systems. Right now there's just the one, but that will hopefully change.
PC5014
My current primary computer is a custom built micro-ATX system I started building in the summer of 2013.
- Motherboard: ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX
- Socket AM3+ with 2 DDR3-1866 RAM slots
- 2xSATA-III, 4xSATA-II, 1xPATA
- Sound card: Asus XONAR DGX
- 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.
- Drives
- A: Initially wanted an internal floppy drive, but discovered that IDE-40 and IDC-34 are Different things.
- B: WD Black 1TB HDD-7200 (SATA-III)
- C: ADATA 128GB SSD (SATA-III)
- D: Samsung DVD-RW (SATA-II)
^ Later removed because I ran out of space on the 1TB after getting rid of the external USB HDDs I used with my laptop. - Case: Rosewill FBM-01
- ATX micro-tower with pre-installed 120mm and 80mm fans
- Components
- PSU: Cooler Master Elite (460w) (Reused in PC5004)
- CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 (4x3400MHz) (Reused in PC5008)
- RAM: Kingston HyperX Genesis (8GB DDR3-1600)
- GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 (1GB)
- Audio: Logitech Z506 (5.1 Surround speakers)
- Windows Experience Index 7.4 (CPU bottleneck)
- Drives
- A: Sony FDD (USB2)
- 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: Hotswap Bay (SATA-II)
- Case: Rosewill Blackhawk
- ATX mid-tower with 4 pre-installed 120mm fans
- Components
- PSU: Corsair CX600M (600w 80+Bronze) (Reused in PC5008)
- CPU: AMD FX-8320 (8x3500MHz)
- RAM: Kingston HyperX Fury (16GB DDR3-1866)
- GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 (3GB) (Died)
- Audio: Philips CSS2123B/F7 soundbar (2.1 virtual surround)
- Windows Experience Index 6.0 (GPU bottleneck)
- Drives
- A: Sony FDD (USB2)
- B: WD Black 4TB HDD-7200 (SATA-III) (Popped)
- C: ADATA 128GB SSD (SATA-III)
- D: WD Black 1TB HDD-7200 (SATA-II)
- E: Toshiba 1.5TB HDD (USB3)
- F: hp DVD-RW (USB3)
- G: Combo card reader/fan speed controller (USB2)
- Case: Rosewill Blackhawk
- ATX mid-tower with 7 Arctic F12 PWM-PST-CO fans
- Components
- PSU: EVGA Supernova P2 (650w 80+Platinum)
- CPU: AMD FX-8320 (8x3500MHz)
- RAM: Kingston HyperX Fury (16GB DDR3-1866)
- GPU: ASUS Radeon RX470 (4GB)
- Audio: TaoTronics 25" soundbar (2.0; got sick of cables everywhere)
- Windows Experience Index 7.6 (HDD bottleneck)
- Drives
- A: Imation SuperDisk LS-120 (PATA)
- B: WD Blue 4TB HDD-5400 (SATA-II)
- C: ADATA 128GB SSD (SATA-III)
- D: WD Black 1TB HDD-7200 (SATA-II)
- E: Toshiba 1.5TB HDD (USB3)
- F: hp DVD-RW (USB2)
* The only other USB3 port is now occupied by an ethernet adapter. - G: iOmega Zip-250 (USB2)
2014 Initial Build
2015-2017 Upgrades
2018-2020 Upgrades
After a whole lot of trial and error and 6 failed internet connection methods, I think this is about as powerful as I can get it.
PC5024 (Upcoming)
Me in 2015: "Upgrading a computer in a Micro ATX case is a pain in the ass! Never building something this small ever again."
Me in 2020: "IT'S PARTYTIME DUDES LET'S BUILD A FUCKING MINI ITX PC"
@dwb@x0r.be, 2019-12-31
While 5014 is a great system, its AM3+ hardware is starting to show its age. I would like to build a mini-ITX system for running what it's not able to handle (i.e. newer and VR games).
The current plan is listed below, but I want to wait for DDR5 RAM to become available in case it causes a CPU socket change (AM4+?).
- December 2019 Planned Spec
- Case: Fractal Design Node 202
- PSU: Corsair SF600 (600w 80+Platinum)
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
- 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)