The desktop I'm using is a gaming rig I built in 2011, i7 2700K.
Getting quite glitchy.
Getting quite glitchy.
How many people are using really old PCs on a daily?
- Thread starter bowlofturtle
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I got assigned a machine with a 2700k at work back around then. It was a rocket ship compared to what it replaced. The fastest thing on four cores at the time.
Have you cleaned and re-applied thermal compound on the processor?
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- Feb 20, 2022
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Wow, I'm nowhere near the oldest computer on here. Currently using a new Asus but my old laptop is going on 10 years old. Slow to boot up but otherwise fully functional.
Moving forward, all my PCs will have SSDs, so this should help to futureproof them. Seems like disk use is 100% for the first 10-15 minutes of use on older spinny disk machines. Updates or something is eating disk use and the 5-10 MBPS of transfer speed doesn't cut it.
Moving forward, all my PCs will have SSDs, so this should help to futureproof them. Seems like disk use is 100% for the first 10-15 minutes of use on older spinny disk machines. Updates or something is eating disk use and the 5-10 MBPS of transfer speed doesn't cut it.
Since I don't let my workstations come even close to an internet connection, I have a - maybe 15-20 year old PC (AMD -stripped down WIN 10) just for internet stuff - still works fine.
I'm typing now on a 2006 Macbook, the first Apple model that used an Intel processor. 1.83 GHz CPU, 32-bit, with a whopping 2 GB RAM (the maximum the board can take). Maximum Mac OSX it takes was version 10.6 (Snow Leopard). Couldn't do web browsing much, as the browsers in it Safari, Chrome, and Firefox were rejected by many internet sites, too old and no longer updateable. The Firefox itself was version 45!
So yesterday I upgraded the hard disk to a 256 GB Samsung Evo 370 ssd, and installed Linux Mint 19.3 (the last 32-bit version available) in it. There was one hiccup though. No correct driver for the Model BCM94321 wifi card, even after an update all drivers command from the OS. The solution was to change the wifi card to a Model AR5BXB6, which was taken from a similar but dead Macbook.
Everything is golden now. It's so gratifying to be able to rehabilitate an aging machine, and now put it to good use. The only limitation is I can't use Zoom for meetings, as the official zoom website offers only the 64-bit version. Even if I can find an older 32-bit version, it won't work since Zoom will insist I upgrade to the latest version first. (I found that out as I had a 32-bit version in an older first gen iPad mini but now can't use it to capacity, as Zoom wants me to upgrade to the latest version first, which is 64-bit).
So yesterday I upgraded the hard disk to a 256 GB Samsung Evo 370 ssd, and installed Linux Mint 19.3 (the last 32-bit version available) in it. There was one hiccup though. No correct driver for the Model BCM94321 wifi card, even after an update all drivers command from the OS. The solution was to change the wifi card to a Model AR5BXB6, which was taken from a similar but dead Macbook.
Everything is golden now. It's so gratifying to be able to rehabilitate an aging machine, and now put it to good use. The only limitation is I can't use Zoom for meetings, as the official zoom website offers only the 64-bit version. Even if I can find an older 32-bit version, it won't work since Zoom will insist I upgrade to the latest version first. (I found that out as I had a 32-bit version in an older first gen iPad mini but now can't use it to capacity, as Zoom wants me to upgrade to the latest version first, which is 64-bit).
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Dell Studio XPS 1640 built in 2009.
I bought it used in 2011. Previous owner maxed it out when ordering it back then, so has some future-proofing. It has an SSD from 2009 that is, I think, old enough to NOT be able to TRIM manually.
I used it as a gamer for 10 years.
Now it is a Linux hobby and media machine (openSUSE tumbleweed). I use it daily as a media player and a network file storage machine. This has more disc read and write activity than any other computer, even my work computer. No disc issues.
I bought it used in 2011. Previous owner maxed it out when ordering it back then, so has some future-proofing. It has an SSD from 2009 that is, I think, old enough to NOT be able to TRIM manually.
I used it as a gamer for 10 years.
Now it is a Linux hobby and media machine (openSUSE tumbleweed). I use it daily as a media player and a network file storage machine. This has more disc read and write activity than any other computer, even my work computer. No disc issues.
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And then the computer runs dismally slow, constant pop-ups, and is barely usable.
This is not exactly regular, but a few days ago I pulled out my 1ghz Titanium PowerBook G4. I used specifically to be productive, as I have software on it that I use for work occasionally and that they won't buy me a version of that will run on a modern computer.
I do play some old fun games on it too, though.
I actually run it in OS 9 most of the time, where IMO it's really at home. It has OS X 10.5.8 installed but the computer is so much faster and zippier on OS 9. That's especially true since a lot of my programs are OS 9 native and consequently won't work in 10.5.8, and I still much prefer natively running OS 9 to using Classic. Some of what I run are "Carbon" programs, which will run in OS X and OS 9 both(actually Carbon apps can be made to run on most 2011 era Macs in 10.6.8 and I've done that for some) but on CPU G4 with 1gb RAM(the limit for the titanium powerbooks and a lot of the towers), the lower overhead of OS 9 helps things run a lot faster.
I do actually venture out onto the internet some, mostly based on security through obscurity, although it's only slightly functional. The only sort of up to date OS 9 browser is called Classilla. It's a Mozilla fork maintained by the same guy who did TenFourFox, although it's grasping at the straws to render much anymore outside really old websites or modern ones built with it in mind(like Macintosh Garden). The built in WiFi card quit working on my home router years ago, as the 802.11B Airport cards don't support more modern WiFi encryption whether used in OS 9 or OS X. I have a Cardbus 802.11G card that will connect to most modern networks and is natively recognized in OS X as an Airport Extreme card(uses the same chipset as Apple used in the Airport Extreme cards) but is not seen at all in OS 9.
It took me a while to find a 1ghz TiBook this nice. I've had a couple but this is the only 1ghz one I've kept. Seeing Ebay prices sometimes tempts me to sell it, as they've become quite collectible, but I'm also rather fond of it.
I do play some old fun games on it too, though.
I actually run it in OS 9 most of the time, where IMO it's really at home. It has OS X 10.5.8 installed but the computer is so much faster and zippier on OS 9. That's especially true since a lot of my programs are OS 9 native and consequently won't work in 10.5.8, and I still much prefer natively running OS 9 to using Classic. Some of what I run are "Carbon" programs, which will run in OS X and OS 9 both(actually Carbon apps can be made to run on most 2011 era Macs in 10.6.8 and I've done that for some) but on CPU G4 with 1gb RAM(the limit for the titanium powerbooks and a lot of the towers), the lower overhead of OS 9 helps things run a lot faster.
I do actually venture out onto the internet some, mostly based on security through obscurity, although it's only slightly functional. The only sort of up to date OS 9 browser is called Classilla. It's a Mozilla fork maintained by the same guy who did TenFourFox, although it's grasping at the straws to render much anymore outside really old websites or modern ones built with it in mind(like Macintosh Garden). The built in WiFi card quit working on my home router years ago, as the 802.11B Airport cards don't support more modern WiFi encryption whether used in OS 9 or OS X. I have a Cardbus 802.11G card that will connect to most modern networks and is natively recognized in OS X as an Airport Extreme card(uses the same chipset as Apple used in the Airport Extreme cards) but is not seen at all in OS 9.
It took me a while to find a 1ghz TiBook this nice. I've had a couple but this is the only 1ghz one I've kept. Seeing Ebay prices sometimes tempts me to sell it, as they've become quite collectible, but I'm also rather fond of it.
The laptop I am on now has a i3-5020U Dual core, upgraded to 8 gigs of shared RAM and a 128gb SSD.
I believe I got it as a black friday deal in 2015.
Does most everything I need it to.
I do have a desktop I built a few years ago (AMD Ryzen 2600x, 32 gigs of RAM, GTX 1060) that I use if I am doing anything that really requires speed/power (I upload videos to youtube and edit them a little, and the laptop just can't do it).
I believe I got it as a black friday deal in 2015.
Does most everything I need it to.
I do have a desktop I built a few years ago (AMD Ryzen 2600x, 32 gigs of RAM, GTX 1060) that I use if I am doing anything that really requires speed/power (I upload videos to youtube and edit them a little, and the laptop just can't do it).
2012 Macbook Pro (middle of the road model at the time I think). Works ok still.... running out of HD space bad though... **** OS alone takes ~100GB. Gonna try and ride it out a little longer before upgrading to a new MacBook Air. They are $$$$; but have lasted 2-3 times longer than other middle of the road or even nicer laptops
No way.... I have a brand new mac mini M2 running Ventura and macOS uses 13gb. My previous laptop had a 128gb SSD and I never came close to filling it, including running Boot Camp which means it had a full Windows 10 partition on that same drive.
well... doing some internet resarch, it looks like my motherboard is from 2014...likely when this machine was first built.
This Motherboard, still on amazon for $198..
AMD FX 8120 ("8 core" but only 4 physical cores)
Radeon HD7400
8gb ram
Win 10 home
250gb WD Blue SSD(boot volume)
positively ancient (2011-12?) 3TB WD Green dirve
1ish yr old 6tb WD Purple. (replaced 2 3tb greens. the newer of which was failing)
This Motherboard, still on amazon for $198..
AMD FX 8120 ("8 core" but only 4 physical cores)
Radeon HD7400
8gb ram
Win 10 home
250gb WD Blue SSD(boot volume)
positively ancient (2011-12?) 3TB WD Green dirve
1ish yr old 6tb WD Purple. (replaced 2 3tb greens. the newer of which was failing)
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It shouldn’t take that much. I’ve got a mid-2012 model and Catalina is only taking about 12 GB. Before my kid borked it, a 2019 128 GB MacBook Air had adequate capacity unless one wanted to store lots of data. Had to be judicious about adding anything, but MacOS never took up too much storage space.
I don’t particularly like the “Apple tax” when it comes to built in storage, but at least mine was the last where one could add a drive or RAM. It was still costly when I first had it, but SSD prices went down. My first attempt was 512 GB, which was good since the performance just took off with an SSD. But a year later I was running low (lots of iOS backups and photo backups) and 1 TB was maybe $120 back in 2019. The 512 GB SSD then went into a 2007 MacBook Pro as a strange little exercise.
Should be able to update that 2012 Pro with 16GB of RAM and a nice 500GB SSD fairly cheap. I did that for my dad's older Macbook and it made a world of difference.
And OCLP it and get Ventura running on it
I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but showing ~95G for iOS files; I assume that includes Office suite, Chrome etc. **** Documents: I try to upload the big ones to Dropbox, but still take up space...
Running Catalina 10.15 but cannot upgrade to latest version. I guess processor is too old.
I believe this is one of the first models that HD and memory cannot be upgraded....
I'm going to just roll with it and hope it holds out at least another 6 months, when I can afford an upgrade. (Yes Apple tax is high, but when I think about the good 11 yrs+ it has served me and how rugged it has been, can't complain
Would like to have a simple laptop for a K-TUNER and that's about it.
