megatron-uk wrote on 2024-03-11, 17:58:
I regularly use a pimped out T440p (fastest 4th gen i7 I could fit, maxed out ram, several SSDs) when I need to do onsite work.
I was recently asked to recycle a 2011 MacBook Pro. Lovely 15" display, great condition. So, I pulled the HDD out, doubled the RAM (didn't have spare sticks for 16GB), put Mint on the fresh (ok you got me, I found it in a junk pile in the office. I think it's from about 2015? Not sure) SSD; I would have gone RHEL, but they deliberately break older Macs. It's now a - well, maybe not lightning fast; but at least wildfire. Tornado? Some other fast natural disaster anyway.
Any machine with at least 4 threads (2c4t is fine, for example - but any CPU with 2c2t is either so old or so cheap it's not worth bothering with as a current-day machine. I'm obviously not criticising retro builds here), AVX1, 8GB PC3 and an SSD is a viable daily driver. High def video (VLC), web browsing (though you'll be happier with ublock Origin, performance wise), light gaming: Undertale, Rimworld, BG1-ID2, Stardew, Katawa Shoujo - there's plenty of interactive entertainment that'll work fine, that's just a handful of what's on my Toughbook.
Now if you don't mind, I have a 1080p h265 10bit ac3 video to finish watching on my ridiculous fanless dinosaur.