VOGONS


First post, by dr_st

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Between 2010 and 2018 I have not bought / assembled a single desktop PC. Since then I built three. All of them using black mid-tower cases. Together with the one I had built in 2008 this makes four black chassis PCs. However, only the 2008 can be legitimately considered 'retro'. Since we don't have 'modern rig photo thread', here they are.

The Retro PC
Gigabyte EP45-DS4, Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650, 8GB OCZ Reaper DDR2 1066MHz, Zotac GTX 660 2GB
Gigabyte Aurora 570S, Enermax Modu82+ 625W, Scythe Mine Rev. B, Seagate 1TB+2TB SATA, 2xLG BD-RE
DELL UP3017, Das Keyboard 4 Professional, Logitech G MX518
Windows 7 Ultimate x64

This had been my main PC for the longest time, and ran Vista throughout most of the period. I wrote about some of it here. The location makes the case window phase the wrong side, but there simply isn't any better place for it at the moment.
supernova.jpg?w=612

The Family PC
Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Gaming K3, Intel Core i7-8700K, 32GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000MHz
Palit GeForce GTX 1070 Ti Jetstream 8GB, Ippon Beast Gaming Chassis + 550W PSU, Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2
Corsair Force MP510 960GB M.2, Seagate ST4000DM004, LG BD-RE WH14NS40
BenQ PD3200U, Lenovo Legion K500, Logitech MX518
Windows 10 Pro x64

This is the PC that replaced the previous on as the main desktop. It's in the living room, used for everything between gaming, work, kids' school and entertainment. The 32" 4K LCD is a joy, I've gotten used to working with two 1920x2160 windows side-by-side, and sometimes even with four 1920x1080.
eternity.jpg?w=612

The Parents' PC
Gigabyte B660M Gaming DDR4, Intel Core i7-12700, 32GB Apacer DDR4 3200MHz, Gigabyte GeForce GT 1030 2GB DDR5
Antec GX202, CoolerMaster Elite 600W, Antec A30, Gigabyte M30 M.2 1TB, Seagate SATA 2TB, LG DVD-RAM GH20NS10
ASUS ProArt PA278QV, Generic Multimedia Keyboard, Logitech MX310, Logitech S120 speakers
Windows 11 Pro x64

Built it for my parents to replace their ancient desktop from 2010. The 27" QHD LCD is what I had on my desk before the UP3017. Pictured here next to the matching HP Officejet 6930 and a "blast from the past" Sony CD/cassette boombox.
omnitron.jpg?w=612

The Gaming PC
Gigabyte Z790 AORUS Elite X, Intel Core i9-13900K, 32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5, Gigabyte AORUS Waterforce II 360mm
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 Super Gaming OC 12GB, Corsair Elite MP600 2TB NVMe SSD
CoolerMaster MasterBox MB511 + 850W 80+ PSU, Lenovo Legion Y27qf-30 27″, Lenovo Legion K500, Logitech G502 Hero
Windows 11 Pro x64

First PC I ever built with a RGB theme (case, water cooling, RAM, keyboard and mouse). Also, gave me an opportunity to peek into the world of water cooling too, which I had been avoiding.
corsair.jpg?w=612

Additional reading (optional):
My Retro-to-Modern Black Desktop PCs

https://cloakedthargoid.wordpress.com/ - Random content on hardware, software, games and toys

Reply 1 of 2, by Joseph_Joestar

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dr_st wrote on 2025-03-21, 16:16:
The Retro PC Gigabyte EP45-DS4, Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650, 8GB OCZ Reaper DDR2 1066MHz, Zotac GTX 660 2GB Gigabyte Aurora 570S […]
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The Retro PC
Gigabyte EP45-DS4, Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650, 8GB OCZ Reaper DDR2 1066MHz, Zotac GTX 660 2GB
Gigabyte Aurora 570S, Enermax Modu82+ 625W, Scythe Mine Rev. B, Seagate 1TB+2TB SATA, 2xLG BD-RE
DELL UP3017, Das Keyboard 4 Professional, Logitech G MX518
Windows 7 Ultimate x64

This would also make for a pretty powerful WinXP gaming rig.

I like using a dedicated drive for each OS in such cases, and then selecting which one I want to run from the boot menu. Fewer problems that way.

PC#1: Pentium MMX 166 / Soyo SY-5BT / S3 Trio64V+ / Voodoo1 / YMF719 / AWE64 Gold / SC-155
PC#2: AthlonXP 2100+ / ECS K7VTA3 / Voodoo3 / Audigy2 / Vortex2
PC#3: Core 2 Duo E8600 / Foxconn P35AX-S / X800 / Audigy2 ZS
PC#4: i5-3570K / MSI Z77A-G43 / GTX 970 / X-Fi

Reply 2 of 2, by dr_st

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Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2025-03-22, 12:52:

This would also make for a pretty powerful WinXP gaming rig.

I like using a dedicated drive for each OS in such cases, and then selecting which one I want to run from the boot menu. Fewer problems that way.

Yes, I keep telling myself that maybe there is a dual-boot in the future of this machine. Using a second drive (actually a third in this case) would make everything so easy indeed. However, I have to first stabilize it. It's been giving me a lot of problems lately, and I fear that both the motherboard and the GPU are faulty. Not to the extent where it fails to work at all, but it does crash way more frequently than it used to.

For the moment, I rarely need XP to actually play games - mostly it's just for testing, so my Thinkpad T60 laptop is good enough for it.

https://cloakedthargoid.wordpress.com/ - Random content on hardware, software, games and toys