Wow, guys. This badge means a lot to me. I’m just an old guy who rescues PCs from dumpsters and makes them work properly again. I don’t hold a candle to the giants in this forum and I’m honoured to be a member. I’m a bit of an oddball too. Decided raising a family was so much fun I did it a second time round. No apologies for that either. Still, it feels good to be part of something in a community with shared interests. Thank you all for making that possible for me.
1 Like
Coppertop donated her 650 Watt power supply to the pink guest computer so I purchased her a 750 Watt Gold certified modular power supply to replace the one she contributed to the cause.
1 Like
For specs info on this PSU feel free to check this link >> https://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/asus-rog-strix-750w-gold-power-supply-review/all/1/
The CPU in this unit is a Haswell 4790K which o.c.'d to 4.4 GHz stable without effort. I didn’t push it past that although I have a sneaky suspicion that this particular CPU, given the right hardware and conditions, could easily do 5 GHz on a manual over clock. The CPU was purchased used. All cores are in very good condition. The Strix RX580 graphics card was also purchased used and everything runs smoothly. This PC (including the system board) is practically 75% used parts and it runs like a charm.
If you have used computers or computer parts that you no longer have a use for please don’t send them to recycling if they still work.
Sell them or donate them to a user.
The more e-waste we can avoid contributing to the better. 
I passed on the message to her and she says thank you. She had some friends over on the weekend to test drive it and they like it too. Personally, pink isn’t my colour but to each their own. Interestingly, she prefers her own PC to be black and blue like mine. Even the little red ROG light on her Strix graphics card annoys her. lol
1 Like
Yeah, I know he sounds paranoid but he’s right. (And I’ve seen some pretty funky stuff happen in my day.)
1 Like
This week: This Acer PC was rescued from the recycling station. It had a large dent in the top of the case which pushed the bezel out from the bottom. Some of the plastic tabs that held the bezel in place were broken so I had to hot glue that back. The original system board was shot but I had a replacement board. The PSU checked out fine. Not sure what happened to it.
The PC is ten years old and specs for it can be found here > Acer Desktop Computer Aspire TC ATC-220-EW61 A8-Series APU A8-7600 (3.10 GHz) 8 GB DDR3 1 TB HDD Windows 10 Home 64-Bit - Newegg.com. The processor can be overclocked, but not on an ACER system board. The APU can easily clock to 3.8 GHz and it’s an AMD quad core. I gave it replacement drives, one for backup and one for the original Windows that came with it. I also gave it some Patriot gaming RAM. It’s very clean inside and it runs very snappy. This one went to my daughter’s school mate after I received a written permission from his mom to give him a PC. He didn’t even have a lap top. Now he’s set to go for school projects, emails, and moderate online gaming.
2 Likes
So I put one of these in my PC and it has caused me nothing but grief ever since:
I have most of it worked out now but I’ll likely have to reinstall Linux and I’m in no rush for that as I anticipate another agonizing three hours of fighting from my UEFI, CSM and the whole bit just to keep my multi-boot going. Honestly, one would think after all these decades a better multi-boot platform would have been developed. I mean seriously, how hard can it be?
This is why I’ve used Kaspersky all these years among various other reasons: Although they may not be known for being the most user friendly software, Kaspersky is thorough. It’s scanning my T drive right now and it already knows it’s 75% done despite the fact that it’s nearly finished scanning drive T. For a little over 40 bucks Canadian I can use it on 10 devices and it comes with an unlimited VPN (should the need arise), a separate firewall for internet and intranet, backup software, encryption for online purchasing, and so much more. I’m not saying everyone should use it but I thought I’d list a few reasons why it is my choice.
The memories of Drive-in’s and Drugstore Soda Fountain’s. I can remember walking one mile from my apartment to the drugstore, every Saturday affternoon, as a kid,with my Dad to drink a coke from the drugstore’s soda fountain. Also the only way I saw movies was buy going to the Drive-in.
I recall, as a lad, snagging a gunny sack and walking the ditch along the highway to the store which was three miles down from my grand parents. By the time we youngsters got to the store our sacks were ripe with plunder - bottles that we could trade in for chocolate bars and sodas. Perhaps it was not the healthiest option but we certainly got our exercise and had fun doing it.
1 Like
We’ve been working on builds again. 
So we’ve been busy on the home front and I completely forgot about my BLOG. After an onslaught of domestic and social obligations, surgery, prepping my daughter for university, and still PC building I haven’t really had much time for ye olde Blog. My latest project involves swapping out my X99E WS system board to a once-upon-a-time greatly coveted Cooler Master case. Obtaining this case proved to be quite the fiasco and if it were not for the help of one individual (whom shall be henceforth described as Mr. X) who resides across the pond from me in the UK, I daresay this venture would not have been possible. Shipping on this vintage Cooler Master case cost more than Mr X paid for the case. The case was in pristine condition and I’m going to take my time with the installation as it is worthy of the utmost regard. They just don’t make 'em like they used to.
1 Like
This is not your average domestic end user PC case. To begin with it is huge. That said it was designed in a day when quality craftsmanship was of great importance and it was built sturdy. It’s all aluminum and it has some rather unique features.
One of those features happens to be the tray that the system board is installed on. This can be literally pulled out from the case as it functions much like a kitchen drawer. It slides in and out on runners. This makes it especially easy to set up for installation without having to build inside the box.
Check it out
2 Likes
This case costed 250 to 300 dollars when new, if I remember correctly.
Yes, it was around the price of my ThermalTake level 10 GT case if I recall correctly. In many ways it is built better than my TermalTake unit. I passed on it because i wanted a case with sleds and trays but this will do for what I have in mind. Originally, I was thinking about installing a SAGE WS X299 in the case but the board doesn’t have the headers for USB 2.0 so I’ll be popping the X99-E WS board into it instead. Alas, I’ve run into a bit of a glitch I have to deal with first.
So, I managed to isolate the defective RAM by putting in two dummy sticks of TeamGroup RAM and running the 20+ hour test again — after pulling the RAM that I suspected was bad. This was easy as it was the most recent set I purchased from Amazon and just to be on the safe side I marked the corners of each stick with a sharpie. Amazon will be getting their RAM back and I’ll be requesting a refund.
On with the blog. . .
I’m far from done but both Windows 7 and 11 do boot on the platform. I’ll attempt to install Linux later.
I finally removed the old copper block with the server fan and installed a real cooler.
The shroud on the graphics card had to be removed because it was hogging two free PCIe slots and I have use for those. Later, I decided to skip the riser cable and sacrifice the one slot but two slots is too much. Instead, I strapped on a fan I ordered from Amazon that was thin enough to stay out of the way and work with PWM.
I’ve flashed the BIOS since because I kept getting an error on the Q code. Occasionally it still comes up but it isn’t as much of a nuisance as it once was. This appears to be a memory issue with OPROM. At any rate I’m sure to get it sorted out at some point.
A GHOST IN THE MACHINE
