“In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas / corpora.”
“It is my design to speak of forms changed into new bodies.”
–Ovid, Metamorphoses: Translated into English Prose, Published by G. And W.B. Whittaker, London, 1822, p. 1.
As much as I wish that I had a hoard of computers in a basement or attic, I don’t. It’s not for a lack of want to keep my old computers. It’s always been a financial consideration–sell the old to help finance the new (or used = new to me). While an errant tree limb destroyed my first practical computer–an Amiga 2000HD, I’ve been selling my old computers to help pay for newer ones and upgrades since I was in high school when I sold my 486 DX2/66MHz system before going off to Georgia Tech in 1995.
For someone who values and enjoys working on vintage computer systems, it’s a bitter pill to swallow that I have to do this. However, it also means that my computers often take on a Frankenstein monster-like existence of becoming–morphing from one system into another via upgrades and reconfigurations.
I wanted to share some background on my most recent desktop computers from the past 10 years or so as a way to reflect on this practice of tinkering and changing that produces more capable and powerful computer over time. Sometimes, a shift in architecture or new work requirements calls for a change. Sometimes, it’s wanting to try something new.
2012: Intel i7-2700K in Corsair Case
I wrote about turning this computer, which I had originally intended to use with Windows 7, into a “Customac” or “Hackintosh,” meaning a PC that ran MacOS X, here and here. I built the computer using on sale gear from the Microcenter in Duluth, GA. The 50 cal. ammo box case by Corsair and green cold cathode light tubes were its two extravagances.
2014: i7-2700K in Retro Sleeper Case
Before moving to Brooklyn to start my job at City Tech, I asked my friend Mark with help finding a beige ATX case that I could transplant my i7-2700K system into. What the kids call a “sleeper case,” or a retro-styled case but sporting contemporary computing kit. By this point, I had jettisoned the video card and relied on the CPU’s built-in graphics as this simplified using it as a Hackintosh.
After moving to Brooklyn, I switched from MacOS X, which was becoming more troublesome with Apple ID-connected software with Hacintoshes, to Linux Mint.
I had a Sapphire video card of some sort, but I can’t recall what it was now.
2016: Intel NUC 6I5SYH with i5-6260U CPU
I carried the i7-2700K sleeper system to City Tech to use in my office space. This left me with only a MacBook to use at home. When I saw the Brooklyn Microcenter offer an i5-based NUC for sale, I thought that would fulfill my computing needs at home and be a new kind of miniature computing experience for me. I wrote about my initial setup of it here. I was surprised by its capabilities, but new computing needs led me to build a new computer.
2017: Homebuilt Computer with i7-7700 CPU
I wrote about building, pricing, and benchmarking the first iteration of this i7-7700 based computer here. There were several needs that prompted me to build this machine: I run my own self-hosted instance of World of Warcraft Vanilla and experience some fan-built 3D experiences based in the Star Wars and Star Trek universes. The i5 NUC didn’t have the horsepower for this, so I sold it and built this new computer.
Later, I wanted to try out virtual reality, so when Best Buy had a sale on the Oculus Rift, I purchased a beefier NVIDIA GTX 1060 video card and VR headset (I’ll write about this more soon).
I wasn’t happy with the Oculus Rift in my small apartment space, so I sold it and the MSI Geforce GTX 1060 video card. Then, when Microcenter ran an insane deal on HP’s Mixed Reality headset, I picked it up and an EVGA Geforce GTX 1060 to try VR again (more on this soon).
Long story short: I struck out with VR again, so I sold the 1060 video card and HP mixed reality headset and settled on the built-in video graphics, which is fine for most things on a day-to-day basis.
2020: Pandemic and Upgrades
Then, the pandemic hit in 2020 and I was doing everything with my computer–lecturing, video editing, running online symposia, etc. So, I used my first pandemic Economic Impact Payment to purchase a Powercolor Red Devil AMD RX5700XT video card and an MSI 32″ curved LCD monitor to support my online, video-focused existence at that time.
My small micro ATX case wasn’t an ideal solution for the thermal needs of the RX5700XT video card, so I transplanted the computer into a more spacious Corsair Carbide Series 100R case.
And, I added a cool 5.25″ drawer insert to keep my flash drives and other on-hand media.
Before selling it, I had swapped out the RX5700XT video card for an MSI AMD RX550 and sold the RX5700XT for a profit due to the beginnings of the video card shortage during the cryptomining boom during the pandemic.
2021, early: Lenovo IdeaCentre 5 with Ryzen 4700G
Even though the RX5700XT video card was great, I ran into some cases where video card processing workflows produced workflows that I wasn’t happy with. I didn’t want to change software, so I figured the easier solution was to shift to tried-and-true CPU-focused workflows on a processor with more horsepower than the i7-7700. I opted for the least expensive Ryzen 7 system that I could find–a Lenovo IdeaCentre 5 with Ryzen 4700G. It was easy to modify and make strategic upgrades to for my needs. I wrote about purchasing this system on sale and upgrading its CPU cooler here and then improving its CPU cooling a few months later here.
2021, late: Asus ROG G15DK with Ryzen 7 5800X
While I enjoyed the Lenovo IdeaCentre 5, I began seeing new 3D demos and games released that I was interested in checking out. Lenovo’s big shortcoming was its proprietary power supply. If I had been able to swap it for a more powerful one, I could have got a video card and made the upgrade. Unfortunately, there are tales across the Internet of a mismatched PSU or adapter killing someone’s Lenovo desktop. Therefore, I began looking for a good deal on a complete system with a similar 8 core/16 thread system with a beefy video card. Granted, this was at the height of the video card shortage, so I remained patient and studied the market while waiting to pounce on this deal when I saw it.
The Asus ROG G15DK came with a motherboard similarly speced to an Asus PRIME B550M-K with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-Core/16-Thread CPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe boot drive, WiFi (occupying second NVMe slot), and NVIDIA RTX 3070 8GB video card. I swapped the 32GB of RAM from the Lenovo with the 16GB of RAM in the Asus, pulled out the WiFi card to free up the second NVMe slot, and ripped out the disco lighting that was pre-installed in the case.
Then, the next big upgrade that I made was to change out the inadequate 3-heatpipe cooling tower supplied by Asus for a 5-heatpipe Noctua NH-U9S, which I added an additional fan to for a push-pull configuration.
Later, I transplanted the computer into a less flashy case without a glass side panel–the Thermaltake Versa H17.
As DDR4 RAM prices improved, I upgraded from 32GB to 64GB to 128GB. And, as SSD prices plummeted, I upgraded the system drive from a 512GB nvme drive to a 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus drive as I had described earlier here.
2023: Current Form with NVIDIA RTX A6000
As I wrote here, the most significant upgrade to my computer–or any computer that I have ever owned for that matter–has been the NVIDIA RTX A6000 video card for AI and machine learning work that I am doing now.
2023: Free i7-6700K Bonus System
In early 2023, someone in my apartment building left this computer in the lobby with a post-it note that said, “Works! No HD.” I didn’t look the gift horse in the mouth! I carried it up the 4 flights of stairs and got to work cleaning it up and checking it out. It had an i7-6700K CPU, 16GB of DDR4-3000 XMP RAM, and EVGA Geforce RTX 2070 8GB video card on a Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 5 motherboard. I installed a spare SSD and HDD in it, ran memtest86+, and stress tested the still impressive EVGA Geforce RTX 2070 8GB video card. Everything checked out! I sold the RTX 2070 on eBay to help pay for the A6000 video card in my primary system. And, I kept this computer to serve as a media center PC (the built-in graphics work great after making the fix for screen tearing found here). Thank you to whoever gave away such a wonderful machine!
Reflections
As Ovid shows us, things change form and function and purpose. This is very true in my experience of computers. I would have liked to have held on to my computers longer–changing them further through upgrades and reconfigurations. However, I always thought at the time that I had a good reason to do the things that I did–sell one computer to help pay for a new one, or switch from a larger computer to a smaller one (or vice versa). Nevertheless, I can see that sometimes my reasons might have been motivated more by a desire for change, that perhaps using or learning a new computer might move me forward in my work or curiosity or explorations. I don’t think that’s always been the end result, but it might have played a part in the musical chairs of my computing life.
Another thing that I’ve noticed looking at these photos is how sloppy I have been with cable management. Perhaps this is a manifestation of other aspects of my life. A hurry to use rather than perfect the tools of my work, and a worry that too much tweaking when something is operational bodes well for future stability. I admit that I am nervous when working on computers because of problems with some of my earliest computers–some problems brought on by me and other problems instigated by others. The money that I put into my computers is a lot for my meager salary in an extremely high cost of living environment. Every metamorphosing change that I’ve documented in this post cost me in dollars and time and energy–the latter two involving studying, considering, weighing options, etc. You can ask Y, I don’t rush into things that I buy for myself. I have to know that I’m making the best possible decision at that moment after crushing days and weeks of self-doubt and second guessing.
But, as you can see, I’ve had some adventures building, tinkering, and upgrading computers with this post showing the most recent 10 years or so. I’ll work on another post showing some of my earlier computers, but unfortunately, the record is not nearly as complete due to my not taking as many photos back then as I try to do now. When I do, I’ll write about my Amiga 2000HD, 486DX2/66, Powerbook 145B, PowerMacintosh 8500, Blue and White G3, Dual G4, and more. Stay tuned!
