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Linux Newbie - since 1996

LINUX IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES – you never know what you’re gonna get!

Buy Low or BYOC – ‘Build Your Own Computer’

Foundation post for this page is: BYOC – ‘Build Your Own Computer’. Have built 3 4 5 computers and steadily upgraded them ‘n 2 others since starting this blog, and came up with the ‘Page’ idea when working on upgrading Antec Sr. and rebuilding the Antec Jr. case.

I mention my computers a lot in most of my posts, so this page will also help by identifying what that ‘mentioned’ computer is about, e.g. build or buy, components, usage, etc. My computers seem to end up being named after the Case maker (Acer laptop is the exception). I have been rebuilding, upgrading and/or building computers for a long time.

2/06/2021 update: Building *or* Upgrading a Computer starts with a great Case – ‘BUYOC’

 

1) (NOTE: new components ordered) Apevia:  Old info – see Windows 11 Computer Upgrades & Clean Installs – Part 6 post. It is my main working computer running Win11 Pro. Components are: 1) Apevia X-Qpack3-NW-BK case,  5) 32GB of PNY DDR4 2400MHz memory, 10) Win11 Pro is on a new SAMSUNG 970 EVO Plus SSD 500GB – M.2 NVMe Interface SSD (MZ-V7S500B/AM), 11) Adata XPG SX6000 Pro M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD is being used for main DATA items.

2) Rose: 6/2/23 – Main Linux Test machine. See the Builds & Upgrades — Part 2 (‘Rose’ has Plastic Surgery) post: new Upgrade — Intel® i9-10900K CPU, ASUS Prime Z490M-PLUS MoBo, MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER™ VENTUS XS OC GPU, Kingwin Hot Swap Mobile Rack w/USB 3.0 Hub, Kingwin KF-251-BK Dual-Bay, Noctua’s NH-U9S which does an excellent job of cooling the CPU, Corsair 650W Power Supply (Simi-modular), CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 2400 (2×8), and all in an old oldie $20 ROSEWILL Micro ATX Mini Tower model FBM-01 case.

3) Frankenstein (AKA – ‘Frank‘): 8/31/2022 – see The Frankenstein computer post for more info. New computer made from older ones. Cooler Master Elite 130. ASUS PRIME H310I-PLUS mini-ITX MoBo. Intel® Core™ i9-9900 Processor. Cooler Master MasterLiquid Lite 120 AIO CPU Liquid Cooler. 16GBs (8×2) memory kit. 500W ATX PSU. ICY DOCK ExpressCage MB732SPO-B. GeForce GTX 1050 Ti OC 4GB GDDR5 (GV-N105TOC-4GD) GPU.

4) 5/14/2022 – introducing ‘Sam‘ the Porteus ‘Lappy‘: Converted $314.57 Chromebook *UPDATE* – ‘YUMI UEFI & Porteus Linux & Modules‘ – will give it a try as a ‘Working‘ Linux laptop that helps during Linux tests.

5) XPS13 – a Dell XPS 13 9310 lappy.

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Section for ‘Retired‘ and/or gutted for parts and/or damaged computers:

DIYPC: 9/1/2022 UPDATE – this computer is not in use…sorta on semi-retired ‘Standby‘ list, and has now been moved out into a storage shed. Old info: after the recent Windows 11 PC  post have decided to just add a new case wid the build … OK, new case ‘n new name – ‘DIYPC‘.  😉 Ryzen™ 5 3400G APU & old ASUS Prime A320M-K MoBo from a 2019 build. G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 2400 (PC4 19200). Only new part has been the DIYPC MA01-R case. Will use old spare power supply from 2006 Antec case, and add old spare HDD/SSD Hot Swap Sata Bay. The DIYPC MA01-R case is the worst case I’ve seen since 2006, and it will be the last computer I use out of the 6 desktops.

8/30/2022 UPDATE: InWin was gutted for MoBo. Old info – Intel i3-8100 .. small Form Factor with an InWin Mini-ITX case .. 8 GB’s G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series .. ASUS PRIME H310I-PLUS mini-ITX MoBo. Final cost for original build was – $402.84. Is now the TV computer.

8/28/2022 UPDATE: Antec Jr. – was struck by lightning or the surge from it, on 8/28/2022, and have gutted it for parts. See the Computers & Lightning post for more info. NOTE old info – Upgraded from a 2016 build using the same Antec Sonata Proto case…I consider it a new 2019 build using an old 2016 case and a CORSAIR CX-M Series CX650M 650W 80 PLUS BRONZE semi-modular power supply. New Gigabyte Z390 UD MoBo was added, VENGEANCE® LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) kit, Intel® Core™ i9-9900 Processor, 3 different kinds of SATA Hot Swap Bays (*NO* internal drive/s on a Linux test machine), a DVD-rom, and a EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 XC GPU.

8/28/2022 UPDATE: CM130 – was also struck by lightning on 8/28/2022, and will eventually be gutted for parts. See the Computers & Lightning post for more info. NOTE old info: Small Form Factor build .. Cooler Master Elite 130 ‘n Ryzen™ 9 3900X w/ the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Lite 120 AIO CPU Liquid Cooler, 16GBs memory, GeForce GTX 1050 Ti OC 4GB GDDR5 (GV-N105TOC-4GD) GPU, Asus PRIME A320I-K mini-ITX board, 500W ATX PSU, ICY DOCK ExpressCage MB732SPO-B.

*RETIRED* 02/09/ 2021 – Antec Sr.: Old info starts here: Case is from a 2006 build – an Antec NSK6000 that I have recently added a power supply from a 2016 build…from that same 2016 build I also moved the Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor plus a Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3P Motherboard, plus 32GB’s memory, CPU cooler – *ALL* intact and into the old Antec case, and in an open exterior 5.25” bay a USB 3.0 Front Panel 2 Port was added (now two 2.0 and two 3.0 USB ports on front). It also has two Hot Swap bays and a DVD-Rom. It is now my main Linux test machine. Original cost of that i5-6600K with Z170 MoBo was $267…just the CPU is now listed at $222 on Amazon, so that value remains steady even after 3 years. The 32 GBs of G.SKILL Ripjaws memory was $145 back then, and is a lot more now on Amazon. Basically, moving that entire CPU/MoBo/memory/CPU cooler/power supply into Antec Sr. was an upgrade value of at least $400-450 (one of the reason I have spent heavily on the Antec Jr. build).