So, there’s a PC going spare around my family now and I don’t want to see it go to waste as it’s “brother” was my first proper PC. Sentimental value and all that jazz.
Spec -
Mobo: abit KN-9 Ultra (AM2 socket) (yes, oh yes it’s practically ancient now, IDE support!) - 1x PCI-Ex16, 2x PCI-Ex4, 2 PCI. sATA(3)x5. Up to 8GB RAM (4x2GiB) on standard flash. OC support with extra power.
Processor: AMD ATHLON 1 - Dual Core 2200 64-Bit Compatible
GPU: Crappy Sapphire ATI X1650 PRO. Will be changed ASAP if i get my hands on it.
RAM: Currently 4 but pirate win 32 only notices 3.5
PSU: 550W
Optics are IDE, will be sATstituted, HDD is a testing rig of 40 GB to make sure all functions work.
I am naturally going for upgraded cooling etc but i want to know what i can turn this fairly old machine into. It would be a shame to let it rot in an attic. The 2.2 Athlon still packs some punch and the MoBo is utterly solid. It’s in a pretty awful case but i can always make room for more ventilation (mainly 80mil fan slots but there is a 120 mil near the fans (noctua time!)).
CPU slot is PWM, 3 other fan slots and all are sensored but not PWM. RPM variation is done through BIOS voltage twiddling and watching the RPM sensor I presume.
What can I make of this? I was thinking of making it into a quiet uploading PC which can also be used for light games or easy tasks like converting file types (run it on one CPU, have the other running the uploading browser). Or perhaps using a video & audio splitter and using it for a media PC to watch HD films etc on and leave my current monstrosity for gaming and tough graphical work.
Ideas, I need them, before it gets consigned to the loft to rot forever.
about ram… you can make it notice/use full 4gb if you poke around bios a bit
Find a copy of Windows XP, install DosBox, and turn that sucker into a retro gaming platform.
winxp support is gone
What do you mean? The computer is too advanced to run XP, you can’t find any copies of XP, or you can’t find a authentication code for XP?
Because I still have my old authentication code for XP on the back of my PC case…
Figured i’ll clean mine
wouldn’t hurt it. take the bios battery out and leave it for 2 weeks to dry out in a hot dry environment afterwards
What do you mean? The computer is too advanced to run XP, you can’t find any copies of XP, or you can’t find a authentication code for XP?
Because I still have my old authentication code for XP on the back of my PC case…
there is no more update support for windows XP, no service packs, no updates, nothing. it’d have to be win 7
wouldn’t hurt it. take the bios battery out and leave it for 2 weeks to dry out in a hot dry environment afterwards
If electronics are not forcefully dried out in short period of time, prolonged exposure to moist may start micro corroding process on components/traces that eventualy may or may not lead to micro cracks that makes your PC behaves in some xxxx ways without clear indication that something particular is at fault.
If electronics are not forcefully dried out in short period of time, prolonged exposure to moist may start micro corroding process on components/traces that eventualy may or may not lead to micro cracks that makes your PC behaves in some xxxx ways without clear indication that something particular is at fault.
hot dry environment = max ambient drying, shove a big airflow fan on it in a dehumidified and heated room for best results. 2 weeks is what i’ve read as recommended for ensuring that all the moisture is gone
hot dry environment = max ambient drying, shove a big airflow fan on it in a dehumidified and heated room for best results. 2 weeks is what i’ve read as recommended for ensuring that all the moisture is gone
we bake that stuff in the oven for 24 hours 
we bake that stuff in the oven for 24 hours
oven?!?! dude that will surely kill it unless you’re talking low low low heat like 80C??
oven?!?! dude that will surely kill it unless you’re talking low low low heat like 80C??
Dont worry That is a special owen at work
Dont worry That is a special owen at work
i was gonna say
how do you like your pcb? rare, medium or utterly fried?
So, there’s a PC going spare around my family now and I don’t want to see it go to waste as it’s “brother” was my first proper PC. Sentimental value and all that jazz.
Spec -
Mobo: abit KN-9 Ultra (AM2 socket) (yes, oh yes it’s practically ancient now, IDE support!) - 1x PCI-Ex16, 2x PCI-Ex4, 2 PCI. sATA(3)x5. Up to 8GB RAM (4x2GiB) on standard flash. OC support with extra power.
Processor: AMD ATHLON 1 - Dual Core 2200 64-Bit Compatible
GPU: Crappy Sapphire ATI X1650 PRO. Will be changed ASAP if i get my hands on it.
RAM: Currently 4 but pirate win 32 only notices 3.5
PSU: 550W
Optics are IDE, will be sATstituted, HDD is a testing rig of 40 GB to make sure all functions work.
I am naturally going for upgraded cooling etc but i want to know what i can turn this fairly old machine into. It would be a shame to let it rot in an attic. The 2.2 Athlon still packs some punch and the MoBo is utterly solid. It’s in a pretty awful case but i can always make room for more ventilation (mainly 80mil fan slots but there is a 120 mil near the fans (noctua time!)).
CPU slot is PWM, 3 other fan slots and all are sensored but not PWM. RPM variation is done through BIOS voltage twiddling and watching the RPM sensor I presume.
What can I make of this? I was thinking of making it into a quiet uploading PC which can also be used for light games or easy tasks like converting file types (run it on one CPU, have the other running the uploading browser). Or perhaps using a video & audio splitter and using it for a media PC to watch HD films etc on and leave my current monstrosity for gaming and tough graphical work.
Ideas, I need them, before it gets consigned to the loft to rot forever.
This is seriously outdated hardware… You can mount it to play some very light game on Steam and make a Steam box out of it. You could also use it as a device to playback some video on your network. The problem with your ram is probably because your on a 32 bit operating system, even on Win7 32 bits, your system will only be able to manage 3.5 GB of ram.
Dont listen to anyone telling you to install WinXP ! Its not supported anymore since April last year…
You could always turn it into a Ubuntu box. Test out all kinds of random open-source freeware, journal your findings on a tech blog, and if you ever get a malicious program, simply wipe and start again.
This is seriously outdated hardware… You can mount it to play some very light game on Steam and make a Steam box out of it. You could also use it as a device to playback some video on your network. The problem with your ram is probably because your on a 32 bit operating system, even on Win7 32 bits, your system will only be able to manage 3.5 GB of ram.
Dont listen to anyone telling you to install WinXP ! Its not supported anymore since April last year…
i’m well aware it’s outdated, it’s at least over 10 years old, i’m just trying to find ways of using it because i like it
i know winXP is dead now
i might go win7 64-bit and give it 8gb of ram, maybe throw an SSD at it and a 2TB hard drive, perhaps get 2 hard drives and raid them so i don’t loose data if things go pear shaped. I’ve found the drivers for the board online and they work with win7, not to mention that i still have the driver disk.
it’s more of a fun thing, see how “current” i can make 10+ year old hardware perform. Little overclock, aftermarket cooler, reasonable GPU, should be able to play low demand games smoothly (if i get anywhere less than 30FPS out of it on FNAF i will probably give up, it’s point and click). It’ll also be of use when uploading stuff to my channel, USB-bridge my PC’s together, grab the file, tell it to upload and go do something else on the other PC in the meantime.