Linux Upcycling
I have come to accept that my classic Mac Pro cannot last forever. Though capable of doing everything I want, it is fifteen years old now and in computing terms that's starting to creak a bit. So where to go? I'm not keen on the direction Apple have gone since the magnificence of the cMP, though the M4 Mini is the first machine they've (likely unwittingly) made that you can actually swap out the internal SSD without bricking it in an age. It's also massively more powerful. So much so that it makes the cMP look like a Speak'n'Spell. It's even sensibly priced, well apart from Apple's comically overpriced storage options. But China has an answer for that, which is what makes this machine appealing, as I'd not be reliant on Apple if the internal SSD dies. However that would be easy, and a bit uninteresting.
The other option is Windows 11, which is a bloated mess of spyware. True I run Windows 10 on my gaming PC, but that is an ameliorated version that has all the bloat and nonsense stripped out of it. That machine is also fairly static in terms of it doesn't get updates because it doesn't need to. It has nigh on 300 games installed on there that all run just fine. More than I could ever play in what's left of my lifetime. Given Win10 is now out of support, and I don't want to upgrade it to Win11, using that machine is off the table.
As an experiment I built a Linux machine using the Mint distribution a while back using old parts. I think I spent 50 quid on it all up to get it to where it was in all it's beige glory, and I kinda liked it, until it overheated. That old case had a cool retro vibe, but internally things were getting toasty. I could just rehouse it, but I got to thinking. My PC was built to be quite upgradable, should parts drop in price for them to be at my level* Why not rebuild the Linux box with that same ethos (indeed it could get hand-me-downs from the gaming PC) and commit to using it as my main 'working' computer?
*Since I retired (I should probably accept that now, it has been quite a while), I no longer have the disposable money to spooge on stuff I'd like because I could. Now to a degree I could justify spending a little more here and there, but I feel it's become something of a philosophy. It usually starts with me fancying something, then asking myself do I *need* said thing? Ultimately the answer is usually no. Not to say that the thing wouldn't be nice, but when I had lots of disposable income, being able to just buy the thing I wanted didn't necessarily make me happy anyhow. However I have found that I weirdly enjoy making things out of old stuff. The more I see people getting rid of old stuff the more I think, hang on, that's cool, why would you throw it away just to add to the mountains of landfill? I didn't even notice it happening. But I now realise, I'm a little bit obsessed with upcyling (as the kids call it these days), and I find making something useful out of someone else's old shite is oddly satisfying.
So back to the old machine. The intent was good but the execution left something to be desired. Attempt two would need to address the problems, the main one being getting some cooling to the new computer. First thing I snagged (see my PC downscaling blog for my eBaying strategy that relies on almost silly amounts of patience and restraint) a near mint, boxed Fractal Focus G Mini. A Micro-ATX (my now favourite form factor) case with ample ventilation and two 5.25" bays. I'd prefer it had a perforated side rather than the window, but then it's a much bigger case than my PC so it should be ok with enough fans.
The fans would be a problem of course. I dislike noise and use BeQuiet or Noctua fans wherever possible. Neither are cheap but I managed to snag a set of 3 Noctua Redux 120mm fans. It smarts because it's tarty and technically money I didn't need to spend. However I get REALLY irritated by the noise of cheap fans, which justifies it for me.
There are parts that will be tide-me-over parts until I'm able to upgrade them cheaply. The Corsair 450W PSU is one. It's more than enough power for the machine as it is now, but could limit future potential. I'll just keep an eye out for cheap 650+ PSUs and if one comes along, swap that in. Likewise I'll be carrying over the Radeon GPU from the old system. It'll work fine for now, but it's by far the weakest part of the system and I'm already on the hunt for a replacement. The CPU was one of Rod's old ones, a Ryzen 1700. Being an 8 core CPU that'll be fine for Linux right now. The DVD drive again, is an old one from a machine I stripped for parts. The MX500 I salvaged from my Xbox after doing some shuffling with other spare drives to free it up will be fine for now (indeed that whole process is paying for this). Finally I managed to snag a NVME drive with only 14 hours on it for sensible money.
The processor decided the motherboard. It had to be AM4, it had to support the 1700, but for me it also had to support up to a 5900X. Who knows what might be available cheaply in a few years, so I wanted the broadest set of options and that really fell to a B450 motherboard. Sure it's PCIe 3.0, which limits me to DDR4, and lower speed NVME drives. But the faster stuff all costs more as does the motherboard. As it was I snagged a Asrock B450-HDV r4.0. The memory, some more Fury Beast (I can't help myself) 16GB of DDR4. The cooler a NOS BeQuiet, complete overkill for the 1700 and just about any other processor I'm likely to get my hands on.
Mk2 cost breakdown:
So a little over 200 UKP to get Linux box mk2 up and running again. It should be a little faster than it was (a lot more from the CPU side), but more importantly it should be more stable and it has a load of scope for growth when it comes to the framework it's built on. Watch this space for further upgrades.
In testing I was running the OCCT benchmark that kicks the crap out of both CPU and Memory and it crashed. An issue I actually expected as I'm fairly sure 3600MT DDR4 didn't exist when they Ryzen 1700 was around so the memory controller likely can't handle it. I know the motherboard is OK and it works with a 3600 because that's what Cleggy has in his machine and they were thoroughly tested on there so it's good when I upgrade the CPU. But for now I've just backed off the memory to 3000MTs and it appears to be stable at that. Again, all built for future expansion, so this was not unsurprising.
A few moments later...
I bagged a 3800X for 70UKP. Dropped it in and now the RAM works at full speed just fine. Not to mention a massive jump in performance.
It didn't last, and this was to blame. I really liked the wee-wood PC, but that wasn't the case I originally had in mind for it, this was, and it's even smaller. Unavailable for some time, eventually the same place I got the last wee case from got them back in stock. This is a JonsPlus Z20. A 20ltr case that still takes all stock (so cheap) parts. I bought it, it wasn't cheap at 88.70 UKP, but I was weak.
Now I could have just transferred the internals over to the new box, and indeed at first this is what happened. But this machine was now becoming slightly posh. Also in the meantime I'd swapped out the 1080Ti from the wee-wood PC to a 3080, and the 1080Ti was sat in a cupboard, which was a terrible fate for such a legendary GPU. But the PSU wasn't up to it.
I actually tried to buy two BeQuiet PSUs to replace the old Corsair 450W, but the first the seller decided not to send to me. After that got refunded I was becoming frustrated so bought one new, which arrived faulty so got returned for refund. Even more frustrated I pulled a CoolerMaster 700W supply from the stash that we assumed was faulty. Turns out it wasn't it just had a noisy fan. That was easy to sort, I'd dropped in an old BeQuiet Pure Wings from the stash. So all up I ended up wasting loads of time, but spending nowt, so still winning I suppose.
More importantly that meant I could pull out the old R9 and swap in the 1080Ti, so another free upgrade. Though the final count for the Linux box is now fractionally over 350UKP. A little more than I'd planned to spend, but actually one hell of a capable machine now in a really swish case that fits perfectly beside my PS5 plugged into my ancient Panasonic plasma TV.
Cleggy ended up with the old case and he ended up giving me back my old NZXT 'Cthuhlu' case. Which got me thinking that I still had the motherboard, processor and memory that was originally in that (2600K, 16GB, stock intel cooler). The R9 was now free (which I made quieter as the bearing were failing on that with a pair of Arctic P12 fans). I had some old Noctua Redux and BeQuiet fans in my stash that were faster ones than I'd normally use, so didn't really have a use for. The 450W Corsair also sat in a drawer. It dawned on me I had enough parts to make a nice period (about 15 years out of date) machine that would easily run linux. All I really needed to add was some storage, and that came in the form of a NOS Integral SSD for 30UKP.
I didn't really have use for it, so I ended up giving it to my brother to play with Linux Mint on. Which is the whole point of all this. You can make something quite cool and usable for bugger all if you put your mind to it. I often think the world would be a better place if more people embraced this way of thinking.
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