What Have You Done Today - (Computer Version)

[JohnBM01]

I been looking at options to go with a newer computer. As I've been hoping to try to save up at least $500 USD to get a more powerful PC (or maybe a laptop), I became intrigued to buy a refurbished PC (or "Amazon Renewed" to use Amazon speak). Some YouTube personalities are famous for trying to make small form factor (SFF) PCs into great all-around PCs and even as gaming PCs. Well, I have been drawn into that allure, but my main mindset kind of has to do with what GPU a system may offer. I can't use Blender 2.81 or after because the Intel HD GPU on my current PC won't work well using later builds of Blender. Some of the games in my Steam wishlist at present sort of dictates what I am looking for to meet the requirements of certain games. The minimal details I think my next PC should be is that it has about 8 GB of RAM and a processor speed of at least 2.8 GHz. Since I mentioned Blender, recommended requirements are 32 GB of RAM and some kind of 8-core 64-bit CPU. I don't think there is a laptop that may be more powerful and capable than my current PC so that I could use it to boost my productivity some.

I may get a refurbished PC with the intent of upgrading it with better hardware. So if I get a refurbished PC with a 256 GB SSD, I may look to expand to a 512 GB SSD or even a terabyte or two SSD. I could try to go for a 16 GB of RAM module set or even a 32 GB of RAM module set also if I get a refurbished PC that has about 8 GB of RAM. If it turns out whatever refurbished PC I get doesn't have a decent GPU for gaming or for 3D modeling, I may have to buy a GPU (which I've never done before) or stick to lower-spec material. I may stick to Blender 2.79b anyways since I am most comfortable with it.

I am no stranger to refurbished electronics. In fact, the Samsung Galaxy Player 3.6 and 4.2 I owned were both refurbished, and both have lasted fairly long with me. I don't use either anymore since they kind of did their job and not really be capable of much more. My only fear regards if a refurbished PC can last me anywhere between 5-10 years before considering getting a better one. But... I'll see how things go within the next three or so months...


[OMISSION] My plans to get a refurbished PC somewhat originated from when I saw the Dell Optiplex micro PC by BloodRaven earlier in this page. Some people with refurbished PCs have an office-type mini PC like that one that they upgraded.

 

[JohnBM01]

I don't have the finances at present, but I was looking at the possibilities of getting barebones PC. It seems like a money-saving practice on paper. However, a barebones PC usually means you have to provide your own RAM, storage, and an operating system. You're not cutting ANY costs if you're making a PC from start to finish. Previously, I have had experience upgrading RAM on my former HP computer in hopes of playing "RACE07" on it. Though that never happened when I had my HP computer, I at least could marvel in being able to upgrade RAM on a PC. I keep hearing of the advantages single-state drivers (SSDs) have over hard disk drives (HDDs). These days, you could pick up an SSD with a lot of space for not too much money (about $60 USD). At the same time, though, I still have my 1TB external USB drive that I hope to maybe buy a 2TB external USB drive that is supposed to be more compatible with Chromebooks. I don't have enough money to get a new PC. The ones I been looking at are some of those mini PCs after I saw a comparison video of multiple mini PCs. It was to be possibly taking my chances on getting a refurbished PC, but I am now looking at some of the mini PCs or small form factor PCs.

 

[Brett]

I do not want to get your hopes up by any means because this is completely off the cuff and at this moment, I am not sure it is even feasible.

I will be in Houston in the middle of November. I am not sure if we are driving or flying yet. However, if we drive and I need to run this by my partner first because while I do not think we have a use for my previous computer (decent specs, just several old), then I would be happy to give it to you. I have a keyboard and mouse that I would be happy to include also. I probably also have a monitor too.

 

[JohnBM01]

Appreciate the offer, but I decline, @Brett .

I forgot to mention yesterday that one of my PC mice finally died on me. I used a mouse for my Chromebook for better usage, but it finally gave out on me. I'll have to get a new one if I intend on using a mouse for my Chromebook again. I really need two new mice, because the other one I use for my main PC sometimes want to properly scroll.

 

[bluemoon_19]

well I have a terrible day in terms of my computer. I bought a new M.2 SSD, a 1TB one and i was looking forward to getting forza horizon 5 going on it. But my motherboard has the stand off but not the tiny screws to hold the thing down, I have ordered a kit of amazon that will hopefully fix this problem.

That on it's own isn't bad but the reason I got the drive was because a 2TB HDD I had was showing signs of dying. It's load cycle count was over 250K! must of been some power saving rubbish considering my older WD black drive has a mere 5K load cycles. It also had some uncorrectable and relocated sectors too. It died today while trying to play cookie clicker of all things, nothing really important on the drive just some games. Luckily I am getting 500Mb fibre internet installed soon so will be able to re download the lost games pretty quick.

One positive is now my pc boots in under 10 seconds since that drive must have been slowing things down lol

 

[JohnBM01]

I bought a pair of inexpensive onn. mice. One mouse is for my main PC, and the other is for my Chromebook. I wanted to get a wired travel one for my Chromebook but went with two wired mice. Most of the other one were wireless mice. Wireless devices can be a hassle to me, so I went wired.

 

[TJ13]

Looking for a USB hub that has a USB C port and can be powered. Thinking of getting the pixel watch and with how short the charger is I don't have a USB C port on the computer and was hoping to get something of my wireless charger for the phone and then the watch at the same time.
Any suggestions?

 

[Daz555]

I finished off my refurb of a ZX Spectrum 128k +2A (1988). It was a loft find from a neighbour who donated it to me. Thankfully they learned of my hobby for retro collecting from my wife or it would have ended up being thrown out. New belts for the tape drive, reflowed the solder on the power connector and gave it a good clean. The cassette was in the drive when I got it - incredibly it still works after 34 years of neglect.

 

[JohnBM01]

After I found out my Firefox browser made an error, I uninstalled Firefox. I kept Firefox because of some things it could do that other browsers couldn't. It helped me do a few things others couldn't do- such as saving certain images I couldn't otherwise access. Now, it's run its course, and I ended up retiring it.

 

[JohnBM01]

I bought a new travel-style USB mouse for my Chromebook. It doesn't move as erratically when used. At least... I haven't suffered any such moments so far with this new mouse.

 

[Grayfox]

I finished off my refurb of a ZX Spectrum 128k +2A (1988). It was a loft find from a neighbour who donated it to me. Thankfully they learned of my hobby for retro collecting from my wife or it would have ended up being thrown out. New belts for the tape drive, reflowed the solder on the power connector and gave it a good clean. The cassette was in the drive when I got it - incredibly it still works after 34 years of neglect.

View attachment 1198236

Wonder if it will work on a modern PC.

 

[Sonygamer455]

So this past week, I have been on and off of my family's 12-year-old desktop PC collecting any data from my music library of sentimental value to me and later reclaiming a lot of old songs from my youth. All the music on that computer was horrifically unorganized, had countless duplicates of the same song, and not to mention, a lot I'd rather forget about. It was all taking up far too much space and I got tired of all the clutter, so once I got what I wanted, I finally obliterated it all and even went onto Groove Music, Windows Media Player, and iTunes and cleared out all references to it. I pretty much went full scorched Earth in making sure there was nothing left of my old library there anymore and it's pretty refreshing knowing all that crap on my desktop PC is finally gone now after intending to do something about it for a while now.

Today I got on it again and made sure I didn't miss anything and after discovering some videos of 18-year-old me presenting to a class that I didn't even know was on there, I decided to copy them to my flash drive. Just finished ripping all the music from Crash Bandicoot The N'Sane Trilogy and converting it to FLAC and I'm going to start tagging them tomorrow since it's late right now. I really need to spend less time on my computer, but it seems I only end up doing the exact opposite as of late.

 

[Daz555]

Wonder if it will work on a modern PC.

Not sure what you mean by that. It's a standalone computer.

 

[Grayfox]

Not sure what you mean by that. It's a standalone computer.

Thought it was a stand alone keyboard you attach to one of those old computers

 

[Terronium-12]

I did a thing. Two, in fact!

New case and video card. I had to ditch the light strip for now as the standoffs for the P500A are a bit too wide and the ones I used in the HAF have a smaller thread size. So, you know, I had to flip a table. The shroud light strip kind of makes up for it. Kind of.

I'm going to obsess over this for the next couple of weeks. It's still a mess and needs to be neater.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Started digitizing some of my mom's records and the few I have last week and MANY hours of recording and 102 songs later, I finally finished today. Now I have started scanning them as pictures so I can later edit them and use them as album art for these songs. Though something I later realized is I actually forgot about 6 songs so I am going to go back and deal with those later since it's late right now. I must say, it's been a rather fulfilling experience doing this and eventually, I may do more than just the country records just out of sheer curiosity.

 

[bluemoon_19]

For now I have finally finished upgrading everything I wanted to and can stop throwing money into this money pit. With the Amazon black Friday sale I got a really good price on a Samsung 970 evo plus 2TB M.2 drive (~£150), it will go nicely with my Kioxia EXCERIA 1TB M.2 drive I got last month.

I am a little disappointed and feel I have been slightly mislead by the information in my motherboard manual though. In the manual it says slot 1 is only PCIe and doesn't support sata, port 2 supports sata and PCIe but will disable certain ports depending on which you use. The thing the manual only mentions in the specs is that slot 2 only runs at PCIe 2.0 X4! So the drive tops out at 1600MB/s, far short of it's advertised maximum. It doesn't mentioned anything about that on the SSD installation page so was a nasty little surprise. I will have to move the drives if I want the best from it but for now I will leave it since it's a bit fiddly for me

 

[Sonygamer455]

Now I have started scanning them as pictures so I can later edit them and use them as album art for these songs.

Said this earlier, well I got it all taken care of yesterday, and today tagged every single one of the songs I recorded including adding the images I scanned, and then converted them all to M4A so I can listen on my iPod. And after nearly 2 weeks and countless hours, I am finally done overhauling my recorded vinyl library!

More done here than I can show in the frame! It's nice knowing these came straight from the source and I can take pride in knowing I did it myself. It sure did take a long time, but it was worth it and it was a pretty fulfilling experience too! Only 3 I was unable to get a decent recording of them, which is a bummer, but eventually, I am going to get replacements for them later. On the bright side, I got a few new ones I didn't have previously and now my country music library is sitting at 3504 songs! (and it's only going to get bigger tomorrow )

 

[Casey]

Got the 5600x and Samsung 980 1TB installed and did a clean install of Windows 11.

 

[Tornado]

Started actually playing Cyberpunk that I bought soon after launch and then never played. Got it set up that it's running playable but not entirely happy with performance, so did some prepwork:

Out with the 970 Pro and SF600. In with a shiny new PCI-E 4 drive to actually take advantage of an X570 board and an SF750. Stuff I bought on Monday that were the same price as the amazing "Black Friday special" Amazon deals.

I guess it's a slight improvement.

 

[Daz555]

After waiting for 2 years for prices to come down to @ or below MSRP, I finally bought an RTX 3080. The "placeholder" 1050 Ti I expected to use for about a month can finally retire in peace....

 

[ZGBox]

Nothing much, really
I've upgraded from an OCZ Agility 3 240GB SSD (with 19k hours of usage) to a 1TB Crucial MX500
There's actually an improvement, performance-wise but the Crucial SSD is in average 100MB/s faster than the OCZ one, and I'm negotiating with SATA 3 speeds so it's not the fastest out there, but it's plenty enough for me

Spoiler: Performance comparisons

I forgot to take a screenshot of the result of the old one, but this is pretty much spot-on regarding the speeds that the Agility 3 has in my laptop.

...and this is the Crucial SSD's result.
Needless to say, it's MUCH quicker in just about everything.

 

[Korza]

I'm shocked that there are still OCZ SSDs in the wild that still work.

 

[ZGBox]

I'm shocked that there are still OCZ SSDs in the wild that still work.

Wow, they're THAT unreliable? I have never had any major problems with it, only things that pushed me to upgrade were the r/w speeds and the fact that was VERY, very used and I was trusting it less and less until now.

 

[Terronium-12]

Wow, they're THAT unreliable? I have never had any major problems with it, only things that pushed me to upgrade were the r/w speeds and the fact that was VERY, very used and I was trusting it less and less until now.

My old, old, ooolllldddd 90 gig died a horrible death. That was my first SSD too, and it cost a whopping $99 back in 2012.

 

[ZGBox]

My old, old, ooolllldddd 90 gig died a horrible death. That was my first SSD too, and it cost a whopping $99 back in 2012.

...man.
I feel like I dodged a bullet, here
Yesterday I did some google-fu and WELL
The majority of opinions at the time regarding all other OCZ SSDs were overwhelmingly negative and I'm here like: "how the heck did mine survive for this long?"

On the bright side, I'm now the proud owner of one of the few working exanples of an Agility 3 SSD, it seems

 

[Terronium-12]

...man.
I feel like I dodged a bullet, here
Yesterday I did some google-fu and WELL
The majority of opinions at the time regarding all other OCZ SSDs were overwhelmingly negative and I'm here like: "how the heck did mine survive for this long?"

On the bright side, I'm now the proud owner of one of the few working exanples of an Agility 3 SSD, it seems

Unbelievably lucky.

 

[Darla Starch]

...man.
I feel like I dodged a bullet, here
Yesterday I did some google-fu and WELL
The majority of opinions at the time regarding all other OCZ SSDs were overwhelmingly negative and I'm here like: "how the heck did mine survive for this long?"

On the bright side, I'm now the proud owner of one of the few working exanples of an Agility 3 SSD, it seems

Picture w/can of beans pls

 

[ZGBox]

Picture w/can of beans pls

...Well ok then.

And here's the SSD itself while I'm at it.

Also a screenshot of the CrystalDiskInfo page.

Sadly I only have canned tomatoes because of course I have them, I mean, I hail from the land of Pasta
Also I had to use them by proping up the SSD.
(Also I apologize for the mess of cables but I changed the desk with another one and I can't be bothered to do some proper cable management)

 

[Darla Starch]

I logged into Photobucket for the first time in a decade, now working out just what the hell me of the past uploaded/saved.