What does a $300 ( 165 terrabyte ) computer look like ?
Guys, I put together this Rock Solid Reliable base configuration computer under $300

Fully Supported in Win-10, Win-11, and Linux ( Plug-n-Play Hardware )

Triple Boot Win-10, Win-11, and Linux by installing OS on Seperate SSD’s.

This computer Checks all the Boxes even has a PCI slot for old Sound cards.

( HP Workstation Quality, Microsoft Windows Easy, Intel Xeon Performance, ECC Memory Reliability, LSI Controllers, Lots of Expandability ).

( 8 Sata hard drives ( 8 x 20tb ), Nvme PCIe Boot drives, Sata SSD boot drives )

Don’t throw away those old Sata Hard drives, Just add them to this Rock Solid Reliable computer.

Components:
HP z440 computer ( $90-to-$150 )
CPU - Xeon 1660v4 , turbo boost speed 3.8ghz.( 8-cores, 16-threads ) ( $30 )
CPU - Xeon 2697a-v4 ( 16-cores, 32-threads ) $40
Memory - 64gb , ECC , DDR4-2133p ( $50 )
Hard drive controller - LSI HBA 9300-8i SAS controller with Sata cables ( $50 )
Fans - USB Dual 120mm ( $19 )
https://www.ebay.com/itm/394929420111
Video card - Nvidia GTX 1050 or RX580 ( $ 50 )
Video card cables ( $11 )
https://www.ebay.com/itm/373554461365?_trkpar … %3Avlp_homepage
SSD Sata - Crucial MX Sata 2.5 ( 500gb )
Sata PCIe 6 port expansion card ( $34 )
https://www.ebay.com/itm/314466282945?hash=it … %3ABFBMhJzz8alj
Boot Drive PCIe Nvme SSD with PCIe adapter card ( 500gb )
Network Card PCIe 2.5gb. ( $20 )
WIFI / Bluetooth - USB dongles ( $25 )
USB-C PCIe adapter ( $32 )
https://www.ebay.com/itm/276048235127?epid=15 … %3ABFBM5sCb76lj
Hard drives at Extra cost
Hard drive Cage link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/374822067807?hash=it … ABk9SR87_qfSUYw

Amazingly this computer with all the fans runs pretty quiet too. Idles at 1%-to-3% CPU utilization.

Newegg Canada has 4TB Samsung QVO sata ssd drives for $199.99 right now so I got one and now my tv pc has 6x4TB drives and 2x2TB SSD drives.

Got some weird shit, was bundled up in plastic at local thrift, but selling for peanuts, so I took a risk, thought they were gonna be leonardo board clones or black pills or something, but when I got them out at home... mystified.

They have the pic32 mz1024efg144 on them, and 4 pieces 2 each side of a 32MB SRAM, nothing else looks very "major" in the way of identifying them. Google is giving me garbage for searching any text, the Cirexx text only points to the board house. Black connector on back might be the whole MCU bus, looks a bit like it wants to hook to an LCD... the only thought for possible purpose is maybe they are for a resin printer, and that's the LCD connector... IDK. That is assuming they come within any edge of consumer electronics. Dunno also if they might be some car related thing.

Board art is a three eyed turkey, been looking for "mutant turkey board" or anything like that and that's not getting anything sensible either. Text near that is "We spent a little too much time at the superfund site." heh.

So might be considering these as part donors, might think of something to do with the SRAMs. They could be leftovers from a student project, maybe not even the working version, though 4.3 sounds kinda advanced.

Anyone have a clue?

Been thinking about what that chip do, one of it's talents is multiple 18Msps ADCs, so if firmware not locked, could be basis of an upscaler project for ancient RGB, will only manage 640x480 60hz, just, for digitising, so Amiga or early/basic VGA I guess.... or maybe my N64... might be a bit of a huge project though...

Guys, These Creative DAC’s take your Speakers and Headphones to another Level.
Crystal clear audio with Good Treble and Base.

Great for Movies, Games, Music, etc……

Works with PC / Mac

I use this to connect my PC to my Home theater AVR with Toslink connection.

One 1tb USB 3.2 harddrive to use with Xbox One X. Signing up for GamePass Console tomorrow.

Downgraded from a Radeon 9700 to a Radeon 7900...

Well, really going from a Vega 56 to this, quite an upgrade and it's working better than the Vega ever did. Much quieter too with 3x fans instead of 1x blower - the case it's in though could actually go in the retro hardware thread, my Silverstone SG08-lite case only just fits this card. Any of the non-reference cards would be too wide or too tall.

Being able to play games with raytracing is a real bonus 😀

After working with my Ultimate II catridge and recently a second Ultimate II + L cartridge I couldn't help myself to get one of these, the Ultimate 64 Elite.
Should've done that a lot sooner!

I upgraded the storage in my recording studio PC, and got a couple new display cables for it!

Turns out the USB-C PSU I had at home was on closer inspection: a 15W one, not a 25W one. So I'll be limited to 3A until I can get back to the store. Blast. I have a sneaking suspicion this thing is not going to be happy driving the NVMe SSD, much less the SSD and the USB MIDI devices without their own power.

Proper USB power adapters (and cables) are on a short list of things i will NOT cheap out on.

The number of "super dodgy" electrocution house burners there are out there would scare you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Auu-i43qzOc

I'm not saying to go out and buy the most expensive units. But i'm happy with all the Anker stuff i've gotten.

Why they don't have proper USB C PD on the pi5 is beyond me, as 5v @ 5a is an asinine requirement.

It's tradition now, Pi 1 and 2, almost worked on a cheapie "2A" charger, Pi 3 and 4 almost worked on a cheapie "3A" charger, and if you complained, it's cos of the USB stuff you plugged in, not their fault.

luckybob wrote on 2024-03-10, 23:42:

Proper USB power adapters (and cables) are on a short list of things i will NOT cheap out on.

Snap! This is an official Raspberry Pi one, just a generation older than I thought it was. I'm hoping I can get away with it for now even with the SSD - as I'll probably end up putting a PoE hat on this as soon as those are available *anyway*; which makes buying the official PSU a little pointless. But if not, I'll swing buy the shop on my lunchbreak after vacation.

Other than the official Pi one, I have an official Vocera one for my Combadge; and everything else is on KOPPLA. No dodgy USB PSU's here. And be proud of me, I just spent £30 on an official Roland PSU for my £30 Roland sound card.

luckybob wrote on 2024-03-10, 23:42:

Why they don't have proper USB C PD on the pi5 is beyond me, as 5v @ 5a is an asinine requirement.

It's obviously money - but yes, it's annoying. I'm a huge fan of the Dell PECOS chargers, and if the Pi had handled any of 9V, 15V or 20V that would have been perfectly compatible. Never mind.

I'm now a fully grown proper MAN, not just some self-proclaimed tinkerer kid!
I got myself my very first oscilloscope.

Should be plenty enough for a first oscilloscope and retro machines.

Open box, but new. ~150€ from a local auction.
4Ch, 110MHz, 1GSa/s

Every self respecting man has an electronics laboratory of their own and own an oscilloscope, right? 😉

GigAHerZ wrote on 2024-03-14, 18:47:

Should be plenty enough for a first oscilloscope and retro machines.

Open box, but new. ~150€ from a local auction.
4Ch, 110MHz, 1GSa/s

Definitely sufficient for most stuff, especially retro vise 😀

GigAHerZ wrote on 2024-03-14, 18:47:

I'm now a fully grown proper MAN, not just some self-proclaimed tinkerer kid! I got myself my very first oscilloscope. […]
Show full quote

I'm now a fully grown proper MAN, not just some self-proclaimed tinkerer kid!
I got myself my very first oscilloscope.

Should be plenty enough for a first oscilloscope and retro machines.

Open box, but new. ~150€ from a local auction.
4Ch, 110MHz, 1GSa/s

Every self respecting man has an electronics laboratory of their own and own an oscilloscope, right? 😉

And to top it off, it's even a DOS model number 😀

InTheStudy wrote on 2024-03-10, 23:29:

I upgraded the storage in my recording studio PC, and got a couple new display cables for it!

Update: This joke has backfired HORRIBLY.

Lets have another update on the World's Worst Recording Studio.

As mentioned in the Retro Acquisitions thread, I picked up an XG Sound Module, the MU-50! It was listed untested, and for once they meant it - it's in perfect working order. Here it is with my 1995 MIDI controller, my 1999 sound card, my 2006 sound card that never worked before on any system but is now magically working perfectly as part of the World's Worst Recording Studio which is continuing to drive me NUTS, and the big hole which will hold an SC-D70 Sound Canvas, hopefully tomorrow.

Next up after the SC-D70 and our first actual modern hardware is the parts for my MT-D47. I picked up a new Pi 02 over last weekend and managed to even solder headers to it yesterday; and I found my old sound card for it - a DAC without a DAC, or DDC you might say. I'm literally following the SC-D70 concept with my "MT-32". A perfectly normal module, but with USB MIDI and optical out instead of DIN and analogue.

Big job for this week is to unplug the World's Worst Recording Studio and reconnect my "gaming PC" so I can do some Blender work. I need a case for both the WWRS itself, and for the MT-D47. The aim is to fit the screen and all ten buttons + encoder on it, but make it as a half-rack unit that will fit the rest of my fleet. Same for the WWRS case - a half rack module. After all, in addition to the shelves already in play here, I have two others sitting idle. Sadly, only one shelf is a RAD-50, the rest are generic - so the GI-10 and the SC-D70 will be properly mounted, but the MT-D47 and UA-100 won't be. Unless someone lists another RAD-50 for £10 on eBay I guess. I'll print the appropriate mounting points on the MT-D47 case, just in case. (sic).

And as for the real "modern hardware purchase" of today, and the reason I started with the MIDI mountain - the Keystation Mini 32 was NOT cutting it as a controller. So, in a slight accident I bought two semi-recent controller keyboards, an Arturia from 2012 that goes REALLY well with the WWRS's keyboard and mouse:

And a VMK 161 Plus from 2007 that is a lot more basic in terms of added features, but very significantly has weighted hammer-action keys - something I've literally never had access to on any keyboard I've ever played.

To be honest, having both is excessive - but they were stupid cheap (local collection only) and never having had a "piano" I really wanted to try out the VMK. So far, for weight reasons I've only tried the Laboratory on the WWRS, I don't want to prop the VMK on top of the rack. Hooking it through the MU-50 (via Ardour) was a lot of fun and at the risk of showing pride, I was surprised at how much I was able to do with it out of the box - I never took piano lessons, and only really played before during school music class; which were an unstructured, ineffective hot mess with basement quality keyboards, each shared with two other disinterested classmates and which were usually broken. I certainly have only got the beginnings down but being able to pick out a handful of tunes and some basic chords was more than I was expecting of myself.

Guys, These are the best value balanced headphones with good battery life.
They have an App for connectivity and EQ. Crystal clear Voice and Treble. Base is Good too. NOT to Heavy in the base but a more balanced sound. But they do have a base boost setting in EQ app.
Extremely comfortable to wear.
Good build quality. And these last a long time. The ear cups don’t deteriorate and fall apart.
You can tell these are quality headphones when you pick them up.
The ear cups mold to your head like suction cups. My ears fit inside the ear cups they are that BIG.
Closed back so they are quiet and won’t disturb other peoples. Have good noise cancelation too.
You can use in bluetooth or 3mm wired configuration.
These headphones pickup every detail in the audio recording.
Built-in Microphone picks up every sound in the room.
USB-C quick charging

Works with PC / Mac / Phones / Tablets / AppleTV / AVR’s / most bluetooth devices.

You can buy on Anker eBay store for best price.

On Sale Online at Costco Next Anker Affiliate Store for $70
Normally $99

Nah, I'll stick with my 1970s Sears headphone/ear-defender/melee-weapon combo.

I should probably get new headphones, but I'm apparently strangely sensitive to certain flaws. Unfortunately, caring about sound quality in any way puts you into audiophile snob "it can't be good because it didn't cost enough" territory (where "budget" headphones are $500), so I still have no idea what I would actually like. I don't get enough quiet time to listen to music anyway (or even have any hobbies at all - I have to sneak stuff in a few minutes at a time, which makes it impossible to truly relax and enjoy anything), and I would like to use headphones less often (it's just a lack of space for speakers, but I would like to try speaker building again with something small that will slide under my monitors).

I did finally buy something. I was already buying stuff online yesterday, so I decided to upgrade the hard drive in my main computer. I got an 8TB Western Digital Blue to replace the 4TB Seagate that I filled (I have data spilling over to my SSD, which now has inadequate free space if you go by the book). I've never had problems with Seagate drives (I know a lot of people refuse to use them after the 3TB failures - they won't even use Seagate drives from the '90s in their retro computers because of that much newer model), but it seems like they're being promoted now. All of that "top rated" and "best seller" stuff causes me nothing but problems, so I hope switching to the traditionally accepted "best" brand isn't a mistake.

I also bought an enclosure for the old Seagate drive to use it for backups, so people can still complain about my choice of hardware. Hard drive enclosures always feel cheap and shitty to me, so I picked the first one I saw with USB C (Vantec NST-371C31-BK). It would be nice if it's one of the few that can pass SMART data, but I doubt it.