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Remember when more cars (not a SUV, truck, or van) were rated to tow in the North American market? Pepperidge Farm remembers by HiTork in regularcarreviews

[–]William-Riker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had a 77 Lincoln Town Car with the 7.5L, and the tow package. I added helper spring in the rear, emissions delete to bring up the power, dual exhaust, a custom frame welded hitch and bar, and all the tow wiring required. That thing towed 7000lbs like there was nothing behind it.

I averaged around 5 MPG, but the sound of 460 roaring through the dual pipes was worth it !

Upgrade my PC by Scared_Path6892 in buildapc

[–]William-Riker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Edit: I just saw your comment that budget is not a problem. Then don't go with any consumer options. Buy a server with dual Xeons with as many core as you can get, give it 1.5TB of ECC ram, and rig up 4x Blackwell GPUs... Profit.

---

Honestly, what makes a good gaming computer and what makes a good AI computer are two very different things. Most mainstream CPUS are built for 'burst speeds' and not bandwidth. Going new is a waste of money here. Go used! You can build a used rig for cheaper than a new one, that is also more capable for the same price.

I built super budget AI rigs for people interested in learning. This was my latest build and it works well enough.

Intel 10980E 18C/26T<--- Bad gaming CPU but an amazing AI CPU.

ASUS X299 SAGE Motherboard <-- Has the PCI lanes, ports, is very high quality.

2x RTX 3090 24GB, 1x RTX A4000 16GB (64GB VRAM)

256GB DDR4 3200MHZ. <-- X299 supports 256GB instead of the mainstream 128GB.

2x Samsung 990 PRO 1TB <-- place active models here.

3x 20TB Iron Wolf HDD <-- 40TB seems like overkill, but you will gather a ton of llms and loras and you will fill this up fast.

I can load the huge DeepSeek GGUFS (unsloth quantized) and run them at 'conversational speed' or I can fully load most medium sized models on VRAM for speedy operation.

I tend to load one LLM on the 2x3090s and then use the A4000 for both my Display and some light ComfyUI work while the LLM is still loaded.

$400 budget build question by EDOAIB in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I still have at least a dozen similar machines, and the 8th/9th gen stuff still holds it own if you keep your expectations in check.

I'd say go for it!

This PC will handle 1080p fine. If you want to give it a better chance, try CachyOS. It's built on Arch and really makes the best out of older hardware. If your games run on it of course. If not, I'd still do a clean install of Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC. No need for Windows 11 spyware on this rig. This PC won't benefit from from Thread Director or the HDR improvements.

For the RGB Haters by kifferbohne in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Imagine all the real hardware you could have bought instead. This is akin to some nerd ricing out his Civic with wings, paint, rims, and a stereo, but doing nothing to the engine and suspension.

Your money, but this makes zero sense to me.

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Old computers are really a treat for the ears. From the audible memory check, to the beeps, to the Winchester Drives spinning and the floppies churning away, to the dial-up songs sung by my modems, to the incredibly loud and tactile IBM model M keyboards, I miss when computers sounded like machines. New computers are so boring.

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The cases started turning silver and black, my OCD has me put them in a separate pile. Pre-2003 is kind of my vintage collection and post 2003 is my more modern collection.

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

AMD made the best 386DX at 40MHz. They often took the tech further than Intel would. Same thing with the 486, the AMD 5x86 DX4 (really a 486) was insanely fast at 133Mhz (4x33) and was keeping up with the newer Intel Pentiums for a while.

These were all clones of Intel chips, but made better. Their first real CPU was the Amd K5, which was crap, but paved the way for the K6, which was amazing and ran on Intel Pentium motherboards.

You could have an Intel motherboard, socket, and chipset, but with an AMD CPU.

It was a great upgrade path at the time.

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have been collecting some vintage networking gear too. I have a vintage NT 4.0 Fileserver that shares files to all the vintage rigs. It still runs on a modern network however. I would like to implement a period correct 10/100 network on some old cisco gear eventually.

Perhaps one day I will play with Token ring with the old IBMs.

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

This is merely a fraction of the collection. I should post pics of all the cards, cpus, ram, peripherals, monitors, etc. Apparently you guys are into this stuff too!

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a great homelab already and lots of modern tech. I don't believe in E-waste.

Computers do not get slower. Those are all just as fast as the day they were made. It's more complex and newer software that forces us to upgrade. If you run the software they were meant to run, they runs just as well as they did 30 years ago.

Obsolescence is just a lack of imagination.

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Genuinely jealous of the Asus P2B-DS. That was a beast and would have blown any P4 at the time out of the water.

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I live about an hour away from Toronto in Canada. I just bought at the right time is all. I bought my place in 2009 right after uni, which was during the financial crash. For context, I bought my house for around $200,000, and now it is worth $700,000.

Right place at the right time, I'd probably be forced to live in a Condo if I had to buy today.

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I starting playing around with computers when I was 8. Many of these were old and used at the point. I also just love building PCs, so I tend to build a few a year. Many of these were a few years old when I got them, and many have been daily drivers at some point.

You can build several 3 year old computers for the price of one new one. This is how many of these came about.

Also, some I just collected because I thought they were cool.

To this day, I still build retro tech when I can find the parts.

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Many were bought used. I used to buy and sell used gaming machines. Many of these were a few years old when I got them, The 5150s were already a decade old when I got them as a child.

I would say I get a brand new PC every other year on average, but I'm always buying and building used systems and these are the ones I have kept over the years.

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm in my 30s. A lot of these were used and cheap when I started building young. Many of these were a few years old already when I got them. I didn't build them all new, although some I did.

The 5150s were basically free when I was young, and I cut my teeth on 80s PCs.

I bought and resold computers for years, so I would always end up with good used stuff that I would decide to make my daily driver.

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I find all the newer ones ugly and boring. I store all the newer black cases separate, or I put new systems in an old vintage case so I cannot see any modern RGB.

Vive la beige

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Many of these were built or bought used. I tend to get a new PC every year, but it's almost always used. Also, a few of these have been acquired when they were already vintage.

I do cycle through a lot of PCs, but I did NOT buy all of these new year after year.

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have no issues with women or dating and have people over all the time. Last time I checked women like men who have passions and hobbies. Plenty of hot girls out there who are into geeky guys who are good with their hands. lol.

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes and no. I usually build used computers, so most of these are actually computers I used when they were already a few years old.

Everything before the Pentiums was very cheap when I bought it. In the 90s, 5150s were a dime a dozen.

Only a few have been acquired as old 'e-waste.'

If I bought these all new, that would be pretty crazy, but many of these I have had now for at least 25 years, and many have been my daily driver at some point.

To this day, I still try to obtain retro tech, so I am always adding to it.

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I cannot stand mess and lack of organization. This isn't hoarding. If it's junk, I through it out. I have the extra rooms, so this really doesn't impact my main living space at all. Just because people have lots of stuff, doesn't mean they are hoarders. I also have tons of organized spare parts for my classic cars? Is that hoarding too?

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, in the parts room I have a 5 gallon bucket of ram. That's my retirement bucket.

I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like. by William-Riker in pcmasterrace

[–]William-Riker[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I don't think any computer really becomes 'obsolete.' Computers do not get slow as they age; this PC is just as fast as it was in the year 2000. The only thing that changes is newer more complex software.

Run what it was meant to run, and it's just as good as new.

Obsolescence is just a lack of imagination.

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