best cheap/free scores 1.1

[Curious.George]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

^
My wife's system is a Dell 3010 USFF, tiny little thing, sits quietly behind the dell u3011 it displays on.

Here, she uses a 7010. I can't recall the last time SHE had to put a CD/DVD in the tray so all she needs access to is the power button. And, that's easy to find without having it "in your face".

Nowadays, I think most folks can live with the "standard" peripherals. When was the last time you had someone ask for a parallel port? serial? floppy? -- and each of those WERE "standard peripherals" at one point!

And, even a 250G drive is adequate for many users.

OTOH, I want to talk to my SCSI peripherals, SAS arrays, RS485 devices, etc. And, each of those need HBAs.

And I can barely fit my executables on a *500G* drive -- let alone the ancillary files that they each need.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

^
That is the same size as her 3010. I was at my doc's office and saw they had an even smaller dell usff on their receptionist desk. The model number was obscured by someone's paperwork, I didn't really think it would be polite to move someone's papers to jot down a PC model number....but it was TINY! No optical at all. Had a total footprint of maybe a CD case.

I put Mint on one of these M6400's, it runs very nice. It's a Q9100 CPU, 8gb RAM, a quadro 2700 512mb GPU, and a 120gb SSD. I've been putting Mint on more and more systems lately, I just can't seem to warm up to 10 for some reason.

[BigTroll]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

since were talking about wives/girlfriends rigs my significant other has a custom job I did for her, its a deepcool tesseract in red with a biostar tz77a and i5 3570 with a dell 760ti OEM card, 8gb 1600 ram, 100gb ocz vertex ii (not sure how that hasn't failed) and a 640gb WD spinner running Windows 8.1 because she didn't want 10, she also prefers desktops to laptops but seems to live on her phone the other 23 hours of the day.

edit:Forgot to mention the rig also has a OCZ SXS600 FSP EPSILON style power supply and its also somehow still going lol.

[Curious.George]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

^
That is the same size as her 3010. I was at my doc's office and saw they had an even smaller dell usff on their receptionist desk. The model number was obscured by someone's paperwork, I didn't really think it would be polite to move someone's papers to jot down a PC model number....but it was TINY! No optical at all. Had a total footprint of maybe a CD case.

I rescued a couple of these:
https://support.hp.com/us-en/product...ini-pc/8741496
but they weren't useful for the sorts of tasks I have, so I scrapped them. They're about 6x6x1". Power adapter is almost bigger than the "PC"!

Saw another similar box that had a sleeve into which the "PC" could be slid and a second pocket for a thin optical drive to sit on top -- connected by a very short, "custom" USB cable. Cute but, again, not a good fit for my needs.

I put Mint on one of these M6400's, it runs very nice. It's a Q9100 CPU, 8gb RAM, a quadro 2700 512mb GPU, and a 120gb SSD. I've been putting Mint on more and more systems lately, I just can't seem to warm up to 10 for some reason.

I've stopped at W7. I won't be updating any of my Windows apps anymore (they damn near do everything that I need done, so why bother with the update hassle?) I use NetBSD and Solaris for most of my development work -- of those, only NetBSD gets updated (and only rarely).

How often do you replace your hammers?? <frown>

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I've stopped at W7.

How often do you replace your hammers?? <frown>

lol....but true. I'll run 7 into the ground like I did XP. When there's no more browser support for 7, that's when IMO it's obsolete. They try scaring everyone with mass security breeches....but if you know what you're doing and don't do stupid things online, its pretty moot.

[BigTroll]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I rescued a couple of these:
https://support.hp.com/us-en/product...ini-pc/8741496
but they weren't useful for the sorts of tasks I have, so I scrapped them. They're about 6x6x1". Power adapter is almost bigger than the "PC"!

Saw another similar box that had a sleeve into which the "PC" could be slid and a second pocket for a thin optical drive to sit on top -- connected by a very short, "custom" USB cable. Cute but, again, not a good fit for my needs.



I've stopped at W7. I won't be updating any of my Windows apps anymore (they damn near do everything that I need done, so why bother with the update hassle?) I use NetBSD and Solaris for most of my development work -- of those, only NetBSD gets updated (and only rarely).

How often do you replace your hammers?? <frown>

I did a similar thing last week got a ThinkCentre M72e Tiny off ebay for $19 bin free shipping. it of course didn't have cpu, ram, hard drive. but it did have caddy! so I put in 4gb, and i3 2100T, 320gb 7mm hitachi and upgraded the wifi card from a intel wireless 1000 to a wireless n 2230. I put mint 19.3 XFCE and she runs great.

[Curious.George]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

lol....but true. I'll run 7 into the ground like I did XP. When there's no more browser support for 7, that's when IMO it's obsolete. They try scaring everyone with mass security breeches....but if you know what you're doing and don't do stupid things online, its pretty moot.

My machines -- except this one -- don't talk to the Internet. So, I don't care how many new and exciting exploits have been uncovered in the OS. And, their browsers don't care about the latest and greatest versions of HTML999, exciting new graphic formats, etc.

As long as they can process the pages that I display locally (or, that my appliances display), then they are more than adequate, for me!

And, if I don't upgrade any of THOSE things, then there's never any pressure on the browser!

[My hammers still work with the nails that I was hammering 10 years ago...]

I'm using a 2015 version of frame to prepare some documents. Do I care that it isn't "current"? Does the *document* care?? Once the ink is on the page, the reader has no idea of how it got there!

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

^
I guess it depends on the site and your web browsing needs... If I browse sites I own, I can view them from NT4 & Firefox 2....but I tend to waste a lot of time on ebay hunting for strange old tech things, and ebay tends to be a little more browser-fickle.... I don't do much online banking besides paypal, which is also a little browser-fickle. My wife does all the health care things online, which makes me nervous....so I try keeping her browser pretty current....

[Curious.George]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

^
I guess it depends on the site and your web browsing needs... If I browse sites I own, I can view them from NT4 & Firefox 2....but I tend to waste a lot of time on ebay hunting for strange old tech things, and ebay tends to be a little more browser-fickle.... I don't do much online banking besides paypal, which is also a little browser-fickle. My wife does all the health care things online, which makes me nervous....so I try keeping her browser pretty current....

My "online" browsing is pretty limited. I move most data (e.g., ISOs) via FTP so can easily live without a browser (as long as I know the location of the server I'm targeting)

The number of times I've gone to eBay probably number less than 4 or 5 per year. I spend a bit of time at Digikey but could just as easily hassle their telephone support people.

My other half, OTOH, visits a fair number of sites and would grumble if that was any more difficult than I've made it, presently (e.g., disabling scripts). And, her banking and investment tracking would be less convenient (forced to be done via phone).

I keep a donated laptop that has W10 tucked in a corner in my closet for the day when it's "necessary". But, it will likely ONLY be used for browsing -- leaving all other online work to W7 or NetBSD/Solaris hosts (where I don't have to worry about "eavesdropping" by the OS)

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Scored these freebies.

-Segotep SG-D600SCR 600W PSU - cheap as heck, digging the orange/black case combo

-ASRock FM2A68M-HD+ w/ Athlon X4 840 Quad-Core CPU

-8GB Corsair ValueRAM DDR3-1600

-Samsung SH-224DB SATA DVDRW

-Western Digital WD5000AAKX SATA3 - 2012 datecode

- Packard Bell Easynote MB65 Black - upgraded the T5250 it had to a P8700 (runs at 1.9GHz due to FSB limitation at the price of being much cooler than a Merom based C2D), 2GB upped to 4GB, and added a 250GB HDD. GPU idles at 63*C constantly (67*C when playing YT videos) , CPU idles around 40-50*C, much cooler than the T5800 I had in mind originally.

[BigTroll]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

OMG i finally scored a Voodoo 3 AGP off ebay, a nice seller from Washington accepted my offer, now I don't have to blow topcat or beg any other members on the site for one, its a real dream come true.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

...now I don't have to blow topcat...

I'd have said no thanks anyway.

[BigTroll]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Lol meant it figuratively, don't take that one seriously! On a side note its a Voodoo 3 3000 with TV not the nice 3500 one you have but should be more than enough for a PII 400

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

My workmate is offering a Intel i5-6600k with mobo and 16 GB RAM for around $150-ish. What's your take on this? Should I go for it, or is that too much? I know that for a little bit more (OK, a little more than a little - $100), I can get a Ryzen 7 with a mobo and 16 GB of RAM, all new hardware. I'm not in a hurry to buy anything, but curious if I am "missing out" on a good deal or not. Seems that last few generation of Intel CPUs are still holding their value quite a bit.

-Segotep SG-D600SCR 600W PSU - cheap as heck, digging the orange/black case combo

Nice case indeed on that PSU.
But man, 600W?! A bit overrated IMO. Try 300W, 350W peak seems more reasonable. Maybe 400W with a real hard push, but I doubt it with the size of those output caps.
FYI, I'm using the pictures provided here as a reference to the build quality:
https://www.mygarage.ro/pc-mechanics...g-d600scr.html

-ASRock FM2A68M-HD+ w/ Athlon X4 840 Quad-Core CPU

-8GB Corsair ValueRAM DDR3-1600

That will make a neat little system there! About as good as your i3-3220 in some benchmarks, and better in others.

Nice scores there, really.

I'd have said no thanks anyway.

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Nice case indeed on that PSU.
But man, 600W?! A bit overrated IMO. Try 300W, 350W peak seems more reasonable. Maybe 400W with a real hard push, but I doubt it with the size of those output caps.
FYI, I'm using the pictures provided here as a reference to the build quality:
https://www.mygarage.ro/pc-mechanics...g-d600scr.html

Not even close. Anything beyond 200W would be already dangerous. EI-28 transformer.

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Not even close. Anything beyond 200W would be already dangerous. EI-28 transformer.

Probably right on that. I didn't really enlarge the pictures or pay much attention to them. I based my guesstimate on the heatsink sizes and output caps.
What a shame about the big nice case and all those output wires. The PSU probably won't be able to handle more than a mid-range CPU (90W TDP tops maybe) and onboard IGP or low-end GPU under 30W TDP.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Was given a goodie box this morning, I'm told it was surplus from the university.....mostly smaller DDR3 DIMM's, a couple I5 CPU's....but there was a jewel in the box, a Quadro M6000 24gb GPU.

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Probably right on that. I didn't really enlarge the pictures or pay much attention to them. I based my guesstimate on the heatsink sizes and output caps.
What a shame about the big nice case and all those output wires. The PSU probably won't be able to handle more than a mid-range CPU (90W TDP tops maybe) and onboard IGP or low-end GPU under 30W TDP.

It ran a GTX 1050 Ti on that Athlon X4 840+8GB RAM combo, but that was long before I got the PC. (and I got it without the GPU)

btw, the main filtering cap is kinda gutless too. 180uF for an APFC unit? Come on, my 500W FSP Bluestorm II has a bigger cap.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

It ran a GTX 1050 Ti on that Athlon X4 840+8GB RAM combo

Heck, that should run PC MCC Halo Reach! But with the architecture of the Athlon X4 8xx, probably "Kaveri" like my Athlon X4 860 K, the CPU usage will be high! It will sadly feel more like a dual core!

The Ryzen 3 3200G, which has the same number of cores as the Athlon X4 8xx, makes my Athlon X4 860K seem like only a dual-core!

GTA V should be playable, albeit you will see it struggle.

An Athlon X4 860K at 4 Ghz will get skunked by a Ryzen 3 3200G!

[Per Hansson]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

...but there was a jewel in the box, a Quadro M6000 24gb GPU.

...And it works?
If so I think we can close this thread now because you win!