Tony PC

This section documents the list of desktop computers I have built and used.
My usage is basically the equivalent of the PC of Theseus, where parts have been swapped in and out.

• Built: March 2014
• CPU: Intel Core i3 4130
• M/B: Asus Z87-Plus
• RAM: 2×4 GB Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 1600MT/s
• HDD: 500GB WD Caviar Blue 7200RPM HDD
• ODD: TSST DVD Writer
• PSU: Corsair CX430 430W 80+ Bronze
  • Non-modular
• CASE: Corsair Carbide 200R

• Designed to at least have some upgrade room (see Intel 5th gen )
• Alternative was Bulldozer.
• No GPU. No SSD.
• Yes, Z87 board for a non-unlocked i3 (only Z boards allowed overclocking, and the original plan was for a 4770k).

• Added a used Gigabyte GTX 660 (2 GB) bought from Kijiji
  • Uses 1x 6pin
• At the time, the Nvidia 900 series and AMD 290x was just coming out, so these were dropping in price.

• Added a 500 GB Samsung 860 Evo SATA SSD (new)
• Cost over $100 at the time. (laughs in $80 2TB SSD now)

• Upgraded 2018, Cost ~$100
• Added 2×8 GB Kingston Fury (new)
  • 1866 MT/s, running 1600 to match.
  • 4/4 DIMM used.

• Upgraded 2018. Cost over $200 iirc.
• Replaced the Core i3 4130 with a Core i7 4770k (used)
• Bought Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
  • Walked 5 km with it in my hand from Canada Computers on the side of the road on the way back from work.

• Upgraded 2020. Cost: $200 (used from Kijiji)
• Replaced the Gigabyte GTX 660 for an MSI Armor RX 480.
  • Uses 1×8 pin (max of CX 430)
  • Also bought on the way back from work at a Tim Hortons.
• Seriously concerned me about overloading PSU with i7 and GPU, 12v rail ran at 11.9V

• Final resting spot of PC 1.x
• Case: Cooler Master N400
• GPU: Downgraded to GTX 660
• HDD: Downgraded to WD Blue 500GB 7200RPM
• HDD2: WD Blue 5400RPM
  • Shucked from old Mybook
  • Rebadged WD green (but CMR)
• 4770k/Z87/24GB RAM as core platform
• Remaining parts moved to TonyPC 2.0

• Built: Fall 2020
• CPU: 2x Intel Xeon E5 2650 v2
  • 8 cores at 2.6 GHz
• MB: Supermicro X9DRI-iF
  • Lots of PCIe and PCI
  • 4 DIMM per CPU
  • 8 SATA ports
• RAM: 4x8GB Samsung DDR3 1600MT/s ECC
• SSD: Samsung 860 Evo 500GB SATA (carried over from PC 1.5)
• HDD: Seagate Barracuda Pro 10TB
  • Shucked
  • Helium filled 7200RPM
• PSU: Antec Earthwatt Gold 750W
  • 80+ Gold
  • Semi modular
  • Chosen for being on sale and ok.
  • 2x 8Pin CPU.
• Case: Corsair Carbide 200R (from PC 1.x)
  • Why not the N400? The EATX motherboard did not fit.
  • Had to rip out half the standoffs to get the server board in there
• Coolers: 2x Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
  • Board came with passive coolers.
  • Might have been fine, but I went overkill.
  • Turns out Xeons are efficient. Max temp < 60C
• PCI slot: Creative Soundblaster Live
  • From eBay ~$20
  • Needed audio since server board has none
  • Wanted something PCI to use up that unused PCI slot
• PCIe slot: Inateck USB 3.0
  • From Amazon, ~$30
  • Chosen for Linux support and not having reviews of cooking peripherals
  • USB 3.0 does not work, has run in 2.0 only on Linux for years.
  • Purchased after I cooked 2 of the 4 USB ports on the motherboard due to overcurrent
  • Also needed for front panel USB
• PCIe slot: Fenwi AX200
  • Has linux drivers. needed wifi.

• HDD1: 10TB Barracuda Pro (shucked)
• HDD2: 14TB WD Red (from WD)
  • Was DOA.
  • Had to get WD to replace it.
• HDD3: 8TB Toshiba X300
• SSD1: Samsung 870 Evo SATA
  • The 860 Evo died.
  • Retailer said ask Samsung
  • Samsung said ask retailer.
  • Retailer sent it in. Could not repair. Gave 870 evo instead.

• GPU: AMD RX 6700XT
  • Indirectly sponsored by Felipe
• SSD1: Samsung 250GB OEM NVMe
  • Motherboard can not boot from PCIe.
  • Supermicro has some X9 boards with update that do. not this.
  • Move GRUB onto a thumb drive, stick into internal USB port.
  • PC boots to USB with GRUB, which starts Linux, which mounts rootfs on the NVMe, since Linux has NVMe drivers.
• Swapped HDD with NAS
  • WD Red 14TB moved to NAS (as WD Red is meant for)
  • Seagate Barracuda Pro 10 TB (a second one - also shucked) moved from NAS to PC