Yeah.. It's probably not worth the hassle. I looked at the cost/benefit of a 3GHz chip and it wasn't worth it, and the LGA771 to 775 mod won't work on the S3210 chipset because it's basically a modified X38 chipset, albeit with PCI-e 1.x and server management features.

Still it does work reliably, and stably, and the passthrough of graphics cards to VMs is fine. Everything is pretty much at its limit though - as soon as I move one component around another it takes ages to get it back up and working because it must be done in a specific order.

I've been holding off on an upgrade, because everything on the market has some disadvantage at the moment, and an upgrade will be pricey. I've got a separate gaming PC (also Core2Quad, probably post pictures later) and an Ivy Bridge server I need to bring online. That'll handle software that needs EPT, which Core2 can't support.

My main system was more or less put together over 5 years ago yet is still running strong! It is a rock solid machine and still fast. I don't think I've had one crash/issue since I build it. The specs are as follows:

Gigabyte MA785G-UDH3 board
AMD Phenom II x4 975 3.6Ghz @3.8 Ghz (originally a 945 3ghz)
Zalman CNPS5X cooler
MSI R9270
8GB Corsair DDR2
Corsair 750w modular PSU
WD1TB black hard drive
Cooler Master Cavalier case
2x LG DVDRW
Windows 7 64bit

I use I a lot but I actually use my second system more often which is a nice FX60 build. I truly love both of these rigs. Rock stable,fast, and no issues.

One thing I love about older cases is the fact that almost every one was pretty unique, just like cellphones back then (6+ years ago).

Too lazy to take photos, but I did make a short youtube video when I got the thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN4GIx-INNs

Asus ROG G751JY currently it runs with: I7 4710QM / Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 1600 CL9 / Geforce 980M 4GB / 120GB Kingston + 256GB Liteon + 1TB Hitachi --> my daily driver. I've taken up the mobile format since it's convenient to be able to move my main rig around the house and take it with me when I go see my parents or on holidays. 90% of my retro PCs are desktops tough.

In the video I was testing the machines cooling system performance - a flawed design by ASUS. As it is, it does the job w/o overheating, but the fans just recirculate the same hot air over the heatsinks since they have no dedicated intake holes. Two holes on the bottom of the case would have improved cooling efficiency by up to 30%. Sloppy ASUS, sloppy.

*before you ask, the HDD is installed in place of the DVD-RW via a ODD drive caddy.

This thing used to be my main rig before I switched to mobile:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBCh9WXcJq8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxUQzHUwkxk

I7 3820K running at 4.2GHz / Thermaltake Water 3.0 / Gigabyte X58-UD5 / 4x2GB Corsair XMS3 1600MHz / 2xHD 280x 1xSapphire and 1xGigabyte / 256GB Liteon SSD / 1TB + 2TB WD Caviar Green / 750 OCZ F4tal1ty / Cooler Master HAF XB.

Still regret selling it but there was no other way to raise money for my current rig and I needed to switch to a mobile form factor.

kanecvr wrote:

...
I7 3820K running at 4.2GHz / Thermaltake Water 3.0 / Gigabyte X58-UD5 / 4x2GB Corsair XMS3 1600MHz / 2xHD 280x 1xSapphire and 1xGigabyte / 256GB Liteon SSD / 1TB + 2TB WD Caviar Green / 750 OCZ F4tal1ty / Cooler Master HAF XB.
...

How did you fit that CPU on an X58 motherboard? 😕 X79-UD5 perhaps? 😀

Mine is a prebuilt that I came across while helping a relative out with their "newer" system. They were going to donate it. It came with a Phenom II X4 840T (basically a 940), a dual slotted PCIe 2.0, and 6GB DDR3. It was everything I needed, as I was coming from DDR2 and a picky PCIe 1.0 single slot. He was donating it because the HD was dead and the DVD drive stopped working, so I took it instead. I threw in my HD, DVD burner, GPU, a stick of memory, and a PSU and now its:

AMD Phenom II X4 840T
8GB DDR3
1TB HD (soon SSD?)
GeForce GTX 960
EVGA 600W Bronze

Nice little platform to work from now. I like it. But I guess its no longer "prebuilt" 🤣

My awesome Dell Dimension E520 that I completely rebuilt is sitting in the living room now. I still love that thing. My grandmother was going to throw it away. Original specs:

Pentium 4 (socket 775)
512MB DDR-533
250GB HD
Integrated graphics
Random 300W PSU
Floppy drive
10/100 integrated ethernet
Windows XP

It still has the Pentium 4 and Windows XP stickers on it, but under the hood its now:

Core2Quad Q6600
8GB DDR2-800
1TB Western Digital Blue
Radeon HD 4830
XClio GoodPower 500W PSU
Card Reader w/ 4 front panel USB
Intel PRO/1000 GT Gigabit NIC
Windows 7

The only thing that is slightly annoying about these prebuilt machines is that they don't have many hard drive bays. I would love to put like 12 HD's in one but both of them can only comfortably support 2. I'm thinking either a 256GB SSD + 4 TB HD or perhaps rigging the SSD somewhere else and having 2 HD's in the traditional spots.

petro89 wrote:

and still fast.

I love it when people say this. It's such a rediculous concept that a PC wouldn't be as fast now as it was when you first built it. Sure you will get a slight decrease as variables wear, but even now with solid capacitors it's even more of a odd thing to say. Computers don't age, not like people, they don't become decrepid. They just get old and new technology comes along where the standard of expectations (for programmes/games/internet web pages etc) is increased over the years. 😵 😎

A 30 year old PC could still load up a BBS just as quick as it could back then, if they were still around. Of course, it would take forever to load what we'd now consider standard connectivity to 'the world'. 😊

A 64mb loaded P200 would be just fine for Win95 and Internet with just text. But to load up facebook? pah, even my AMD 4200 struggles with the infinate scroll and videos that bloody load and buffer automatically. 😠 😠

I decided to re-case my new-ish (I built it at Christmas) into my Lian-Li PC-777 (which has been otherwise gathering dust, as you can see in a picture or two - I did a better job cleaning it AFTER flash photography showed me the spots I missed 🤣 ), and it qualifies as a "current" machine certainly:

I had originally intended to use this case with an Athlon64 build with GeForce 7950GX2s, but one of those cards died, and that whole build was put on hold (I actually ended up switching to an AGP-equipped board so I can use my 6800 Ultra).

Specs:

- AsRock (ASRock? Asrock?) Z97x motherboard
- 12GB DDR3 (2x4GB (the blue ones that stand out - they were on sale), plus 2x2GB from my previous machine) running at DDR3-1600
- Core i5 4690S (65W variant of 4690)
- XFX Radeon R9 290X "Black Edition"
- Sound Blaster ZxR
- 2x500GB VelociRaptor in RAID0
- 1TB WD Green (it was in an external that was not being used for much of anything)
- PC Power & Cooling TurboCool 860W (from my previous machine; still works, all caps look fine, and rails are still dead-on stable)
- Plextor DVD/RW drive

I was thinking about re-casing the machine into something more modern, but it's grown on me, and I'm thinking about keeping this configuration for the time being. 😊

The case itself is probably the only part that doesn't qualify as "current" - this specific example was purchased in 2005, but the PC-777 may be older than that, as it's supposed to commemorate Lian-Li's twentieth anniversary, and according to Wikipedia that would've been 2003. IMHO it has aged quite well, and the only real reminder that this is an older case is the older "swooshy" Lian-Li logo (and this is really exaggerated when sitting next to my XP box, which is in a brand-new PC-7 (pics are in the "post your retro rig" thread) with the "block letters" logo 🤣 ).

You may also notice I don't have any of the Lian-Li drive covers - the case came with a 5.25" to 3.25" adapter that was explicitly designed for a diskette drive, and never worked very well with diskette drives as a result ( 🤣 ), so that was removed. I also have never had very good luck with the little "door flap" covers that Lian-Li cases can use, so I didn't even bother with them for this build (so I can't comment on whether or not this Plextor drive is compatible or not).

Something else neat about this case: it can be entirely disassembled (which is great for cleaning). Everything screws or bolts together. I've done that once, and it was not the most fun thing to put back together. It uses lots of chicago screws, and the angled pieces actually slide into a "frame" (you can see this in the middle picture, those blocky black pieces at the front and back that look like cast iron (for all I know they are - they make up the majority of the weight)), and getting all of that lined up perfectly takes some finesse. 😵

My PC went through an "upgrade" again:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3
Intel Pentium Dual Core E2160 1.8GHz
2GB RAM
Geforce 210
450W Delux PSU
2x ODD - CD-RW\DVD-ROM and DVD-RW
TV Tuner
1TB HDD
Enlight Card Reader
Delux MG760 case
Windows 7 Ultimate x64.

I have four laptops:

Dell Precision M4600:

Core i7 2860QM
8 GB
2 GB NVidia Quadro 2000M
1 TB HDD
15.6" 1920x1080 matte TN screen
DVD-RW
Windows 10 Pro

Acer V5-573G

Core i7 4510U
8 GB
2 GB NVidia Geforce 850M
1 TB SSHD
15.6" 1920x1080 matte IPS screen
No optical drive
Windows 7 Pro

Samsung 900X3C

Core i5 3317U
4 GB
Intel HD4000
128 Gb SSD
13.3" 1600x900 matte PLS screen
No optical drive
Windows 7 Pro

HP Pavilion DV6-6077ER

Core i7-2630QM
6 GB
Radeon 6770M
750 GB HDD
DVD-RW
15.6" 1366x768 glossy TN screen
Windows 7 Home Premium

This is my wife's laptop:

Sony Vaio VGN-NS11ZR/S

Core 2 Duo T5800
4 GB
Mobility Radeon HD 3430
250 GB HDD
Bluray+DVD-RW
15.4 1280x800 glossy TN screen
Windows Vista Home Premium

bristlehog wrote:

I have four laptops: […]
Show full quote

I have four laptops:

Dell Precision M4600:

Core i7 2860QM
8 GB
2 GB NVidia Quadro 2000M
1 TB HDD
15.6" 1920x1080 matte TN screen
DVD-RW
Windows 10 Pro

Acer V5-573G

Core i7 4510U
8 GB
2 GB NVidia Geforce 850M
1 TB SSHD
15.6" 1920x1080 matte IPS screen
No optical drive
Windows 7 Pro

Samsung 900X3C

Core i5 3317U
4 GB
Intel HD4000
128 Gb SSD
13.3" 1600x900 matte PLS screen
No optical drive
Windows 7 Pro

HP Pavilion DV6-6077ER

Core i7-2630QM
6 GB
Radeon 6770M
750 GB HDD
DVD-RW
15.6" 1366x768 glossy TN screen
Windows 7 Home Premium

This is my wife's laptop:

Sony Vaio VGN-NS11ZR/S

Core 2 Duo T5800
4 GB
Mobility Radeon HD 3430
250 GB HDD
Bluray+DVD-RW
15.4 1280x800 glossy TN screen
Windows Vista Home Premium

1. 2. 3. 3,5 and 4? 😀

Skyscraper wrote:

1. 2. 3. 3,5 and 4? 😀

1, 2, 3, 4 and my wife's one.

blank001 wrote:

This isn't really my current PC because I use other computers much more frequently. But it's certainly my fastest PC and when it […]
Show full quote

This isn't really my current PC because I use other computers much more frequently. But it's certainly my fastest PC and when it comes to getting work done (long coding session), I don't hesitate to sit down at it.

2600k@4.5Ghz
32GB DDR3
Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H
Corsair H90 with Noctua PWM fan
Sapphire Radeon 7970 Ghz Edition (photo is old with GTX 660)
a few SSDs
a seagate 2tb hdd
Asus DRW-24B1ST
NZXT case in white
Seasonic X650 gold
Asus PA246q 24"
Corsair MX-Cherry Brown keyboard
Logitech G5 mouse

I did a GPU update for modern games, mostly Witcher 3, GTA V, some Crysis 3.

Added a reference radeon 290 Hawaii, clocked at 1180/1450 core/mem on HG10/H75 cooling. Stock speed is 947/1250 for reference.
Added an Audigy 2 for Windows XP SP3

This computer is almost retro at this point. 2021 it'll be full retro.

blank001 wrote:

2600k@4.5Ghz
32GB DDR3

This computer is almost retro at this point. 2021 it'll be full retro.

Umm, how is this almost retro?

Considering that newer platforms aren't noticeable faster than a 2600K at stock speed, and you have a gigantic amount of RAM in there... no, that's not retro at all, even in a few years 😀

oerk wrote:

blank001 wrote:

2600k@4.5Ghz
32GB DDR3

This computer is almost retro at this point. 2021 it'll be full retro.

Umm, how is this almost retro?

Considering that newer platforms aren't noticeable faster than a 2600K at stock speed, and you have a gigantic amount of RAM in there... no, that's not retro at all, even in a few years 😀

Well I measure retro in time not performance. If my tualatin performed almost like skylake, I would still consider it retro. Sandy bridge is from 2011, so definitely aging.

My main desktop's a terribly odd mashup of old and new since I wanna replace it soon and am using some of the parts for my next desktop in it.
*Windows 10 x64
*Core 2 Quad Q6600
*750gb SATA drive
*8GB of DDR3
*nVidia GTX 970
*Three monitors: a primary 1920x1080 and secondary/tertiary 1280x1024s

obobskivich wrote:

I decided to re-case my new-ish (I built it at Christmas) into my Lian-Li PC-777 (which has been otherwise gathering dust, as yo […]
Show full quote

I decided to re-case my new-ish (I built it at Christmas) into my Lian-Li PC-777 (which has been otherwise gathering dust, as you can see in a picture or two - I did a better job cleaning it AFTER flash photography showed me the spots I missed 🤣 ), and it qualifies as a "current" machine certainly:

pc-777 modern rig - Copy.jpg

pc-777 modern rig 2 - Copy.jpg

pc-777 modern rig 3 - Copy.jpg

I had originally intended to use this case with an Athlon64 build with GeForce 7950GX2s, but one of those cards died, and that whole build was put on hold (I actually ended up switching to an AGP-equipped board so I can use my 6800 Ultra).

Specs:

- AsRock (ASRock? Asrock?) Z97x motherboard
- 12GB DDR3 (2x4GB (the blue ones that stand out - they were on sale), plus 2x2GB from my previous machine) running at DDR3-1600
- Core i5 4690S (65W variant of 4690)
- XFX Radeon R9 290X "Black Edition"
- Sound Blaster ZxR
- 2x500GB VelociRaptor in RAID0
- 1TB WD Green (it was in an external that was not being used for much of anything)
- PC Power & Cooling TurboCool 860W (from my previous machine; still works, all caps look fine, and rails are still dead-on stable)
- Plextor DVD/RW drive

I was thinking about re-casing the machine into something more modern, but it's grown on me, and I'm thinking about keeping this configuration for the time being. 😊

The case itself is probably the only part that doesn't qualify as "current" - this specific example was purchased in 2005, but the PC-777 may be older than that, as it's supposed to commemorate Lian-Li's twentieth anniversary, and according to Wikipedia that would've been 2003. IMHO it has aged quite well, and the only real reminder that this is an older case is the older "swooshy" Lian-Li logo (and this is really exaggerated when sitting next to my XP box, which is in a brand-new PC-7 (pics are in the "post your retro rig" thread) with the "block letters" logo 🤣 ).

You may also notice I don't have any of the Lian-Li drive covers - the case came with a 5.25" to 3.25" adapter that was explicitly designed for a diskette drive, and never worked very well with diskette drives as a result ( 🤣 ), so that was removed. I also have never had very good luck with the little "door flap" covers that Lian-Li cases can use, so I didn't even bother with them for this build (so I can't comment on whether or not this Plextor drive is compatible or not).

Something else neat about this case: it can be entirely disassembled (which is great for cleaning). Everything screws or bolts together. I've done that once, and it was not the most fun thing to put back together. It uses lots of chicago screws, and the angled pieces actually slide into a "frame" (you can see this in the middle picture, those blocky black pieces at the front and back that look like cast iron (for all I know they are - they make up the majority of the weight)), and getting all of that lined up perfectly takes some finesse. 😵

do they still sell that case?

My main computer - IBM ThinkPad R60, upgraded to Core2Duo T7200 and 3 GB of RAM, running Debian GNU/Linux 8.2

cdoublejj wrote:

do they still sell that case?

I believe not. I seem to remember that case being out around my junior year of highschool.. so 07/08?

After few years of using Core i5 @ socket 1155 it is time to upgrade. Haswell or Skylake i7 is too expensive for my taste and i5 is not worth the upgrade...
So I decided to go for used socket 2011 board and Sandy Bridge-E. Kinda old stuff, but six SB cores + HT still shows its muscles. 😀

HW and SW list:

Xeon E5-1650 @ 4.3 GHz
MSI X79MA-GD45
4x4 GB DDR3 1333 CL9-9-9-24 CR1
Radeon R9 290 / GeForce GTX 760... switching them when the disappointment of currently active VGA reaches too high level. 🤣
Kingston V+200 60GB
WD Blue, 640GB
Seasonic OEM 500W
Corsair Carbide 300R
Windows 10 x64

Xeon E5-1650 - equivalent of desktop i7 3930K. No problem to overclock up to 4.5GHz ... maybe even more. Well - at this clock the CPU itself consumes about 200W, which is bit too much for me. Eventually I went for 4.3 GHz @ 1.27V - good performance/power compromise.

MSI X79MA-GD45 is lowend for s2011... still it does support everything I need, BIOS and OC options are good, so no problem. The only con is mATX format - the whole thing is little crowded. 8 DDR3 slots would be better, but for now I thing I can live with 4x4 GB. Also 4 pci-e slots (two x16, two x1) is not exactly a lot... When I put HDMI capture card in, all pci-e slots will be full. This isn't really an issue as I don't plan adding more cards, but it is always good to have more slots available.

SB-E requires some decent cooling. Ninja 4 does the job just fine. Full load noise is minimal and temperatures good as well (up to 70°C). Not bad for one of the most power hungry CPUs.

Quad channel RAM - even at 1333 MHz bandwith is massive. 😀