What to do with old PC?

[Atty]

Need ideas for what to do with my old PC.

Specs are as follow:
Core 2 Duo E6600, 8800GTS 640MB graphics card, 2GB of ram, and enough hard drive space to play with. Needs a fresh Windows 7 install though.

I'm thinking I might use it as a HTPC but I'm not sure yet. There has to be other good uses for what was once a very powerful and capable gaming machine.

What does ATOT think? Might add poll when good suggestions come in, since it hasn't been touched in almost a year (and scarcely used in the last 4 I've had my Macbook Pro) I'm wondering if I should just scrap it. Hmm.....

 

[BoomerD]

Send it to me...my grandkids would have fun with it...:biggrin:

(they currently use my wife's ancient Dell P4 rig)

 

[effowe]

HTPC for sure, you can grab a cheap blu-ray drive for it if you don't have a player as well.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Could make a nice server to mess around with stuff, or even run a few basic functions like web/file. If that system has PCI-e you could put in a raid card. Will do fine as an HTPC as well. I'm using a core2duo HP machine myself for my HTPC. Runs 1080p great. The files are actually stored on my server in the basement, and I just have a mountpoint on that machine to access via smb.

 

[rudeguy]

use it to hack the Pentago

 

[RavenSEAL]

Nuke it from orbit

 

[mmntech]

It's still a very capable machine. I'd bump the ram up to 4gb though.

 

[FoBoT]

sell it for many $

 

[Lean L]

my vote goes for server. Buy some business class internet and then have some fun with hosting everything yourself. You can also run many instances of sources servers on that.

Or... send it to me and I'll do it.

 

[lxskllr]

That has similar specs to my good machine :^D

htpc seems reasonable, or a closet file server.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I think that's faster than my current computer, which I use to play new games with.

 

[BladeVenom]

It's still a very capable machine. I'd bump the ram up to 4gb though.

Exactly. Turn down some of the settings, and it will still play all the new games.

 

[SandEagle]

donate to goodwill

 

[cronos]

I'm still sporting E4400 and 8800 GS for my main desktop at home (games/others), although I do have a 4 GB RAM installed.

 

[GoStumpy]

Do what I did, build it up just enough to be a second gaming computer for the wife, and when friends come over we can game it up!

 

[Kaido]

PFsense, FreeNAS, or ESXi. Get nerdy with it! :awe:

 

[destrekor]

I've got a very similar "old-build" just sitting there collecting dust at the moment. I'm thinking HTPC for it as well, or a server - but I have very little reasons to justify such things at the moment, and wouldn't have much practical use other than it being there to use to might as well. And because of that, I wouldn't want to leave it on using all that juice for little/no reason (not the payer of bills, not until I get my own place).

If I go the HTPC route, I would seriously have trouble justifying things - since I also have a Moxi sitting there doing nothing (again, not the one running the show - when I had my own cable Moxi plus CableCARD/TA worked wonders). Then again, it sounds like guide service may only last another two years or so...
might have to look into CableCARD PCI cards and a new case for my old build, and maybe sell the moxi. Might have to wait and see if there is any kind of community support for that dvr to see what I really need to do with it.

 

[shortylickens]

Thats a nice system. Would be a fine HTPC or a better than average kids system.

 

[janas19]

Nuke it from orbit

:thumbup:

 

[Jeff7]

Post it on Craigslist for 10% less than you paid for it. :awe:

 

[destrekor]

Post it on Craigslist for 10% less than you paid for it. :awe:

Serious question: can an old spec PC like that actually command a decent paying price on the local market (read: duping the lesser informed).

I'm not one to go out of my way to dupe people, but if I could get more than a hundred or two for my old build (similar specs to the OP), I might also just do that.

 

[Atty]

No kids, so no use. Most of my friends play Xbox with me. Girlfriend has a new Macbook Pro, wouldn't care for it, nor has the desire. The HTPC idea still stands, cheap blu ray player was a top notch suggestion!

The bad thing is that I'm just a college student so its just taking up space so selling is a good idea. $$$$. Especially since in the next few months I'll be buying a 27'' iMac to...have as an expensive paper weight on my desk.

Ah well. Off to scope out blu ray players...




...and look into nuking from orbit.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Turn it into a Hackintosh?
That's what my old E5200 @ 4GHz and 9800GT are doing

 

[Lean L]

Lol leave it to a tech site to call these computers old. I have an a64 3000+ set up as a server and I feel it's adequate for most server functions. Just can't run a bf3 server. (they're locked down anyhow)

 

[chubbyfatazn]

Sell it to me... no joke. You got a good price, I got a good home for it.