After memory and SSD prices surged due to the AI boom, power supplies and CPU cooling solutions now appear to be next in line for price increases, per the latest news from China.
Please send me some ideas! Free titles are better since I don’t have a library of older games. I was able to get Minecraft to a playable state, but Hollow Knight couldn’t do more than 4fps. I though Neverwinter might work since it was pretty old, but I only managed what appeared to be 1/4 fps. I’m running tests on a core 2 machine with an ATI Radeon HD4250, Fedora on a SSD, 6 GB of DDR 2.
The purpose is to spread the information to people who might be struggling with win 10 or older computers that can’t upgrade. I’m offering the Linux upgrade for $10 plus the cost of a SSD. I’m only posting to my Facebook crowd because I can’t do much for people who aren’t close.
I will gladly post on Lemmy if I keep going. We have until the test computer is sold. Then I am moving on to the pile of Optiplex 9010 computers I bought for testing.
It’ll be cloud-based rental computing with compulsory AI spyware and tiered pricing that determines what they allow you to do. The base tier will have just a whopping 2GB of RAM and 30GB for all your file storage needs for just $25 per month. If, one month, you can’t afford it, no computing for you, and goodbye software and data. The small print will specify that anything you create on Microsoft 365 Cloud Copilot Windows Home Edition for Teams of Peasants and Serfs is Microsoft’s property for all eternity to use, share or sell as they see fit, and you waive any right to ever challenge them legally and will accept a $5 Copilot 365 for Teams gift card in compensation should Microsoft’s AI incorrectly recommend you for death by ICE. Private messaging will be impossible and Linux or (heaven forbid) non-vibe programming will be punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of millions of dollars.
Innovation is so exciting. It will have cute little animated AI chums tailored to our individual personalities and consumption profiles, reporting our every move to the authorities for our own safety and the safety of the children! I can’t wait!
Hell, I have a Sandy Bridge based machine I built in 2012. It’s getting there, 14 years old now, and with its 1080ti in there it can still play most games just fine. It’s not my primary rig anymore but it’s still trucking the same as it ever was.
Mainstream PC performance really hit its plateau by, when, like 2018? I imagine somebody with a machine that’s only 8 years old will probably do just fine unless some critical and irreplaceable component in it explodes.
Sandy bridge still has a little life in it. Most those systems top out at 8-16 GB memory, which is serviceable. You are probably missing out on NVME. The PCI version might also be a gotcha if you upgrade your video card, so double check the compatibility.
Finally, your previously-suggested video card may require new power connectors. While you might be able to find adapters, confirm that your are not approaching 80% of your PSU capability and upgrade if you are close. Power supplies degrade over time, so if you are at 65% it’s time to consider an upgrade on a 10yo PSU.
Fortunately (?) my PSU let the smoke out about three years after I bought the initial one for that build which had IIRC a pair of 7950GTs in it from my previous machine, in SLI. So I had the opportunity to throw a modern-ish Corsair 850w power supply in it which has all the modular plugs I need. That box has had a succession of random graphics cards in it ranging from that old pair of 7950GTs, then a GTX680, then finally my current GTX1080Ti. Honestly, the 1080 is still plenty enough for most games in 1080p (possibly serendipitously) as long as you don’t feel the pathological need for raytracing or frame generation.
You can sidestep the NVMe issue as long as you don’t care about 100% speed by slapping a PCIe to NVMe adapter board in one of your handy unused x16 slots now that you’re no longer using SLI (if that reminds you of anyone you know). I’m not certain booting off of that is viable and I haven’t bothered to try to figure it out, so the boot drive in that machine is a SATA SSD currently.
On the bright side, that board has ten SATA ports so turning into a drive farm is a trivial prospect if you’re into that kind of thing.
At this rate, my PC will be in service into the 2030’s. Crazy considering I built it like 8 years ago.
I think this is the main goal, otherwise you can’t fully enslave consumers/citizens.
i guess i will finally be forced to go through my steam backlog.
Who knows what technology will bring us in 5 years. With SSDs, 15 year old machines are still functional for about everything but gaming.
Idk, even browsing the web nowadays takes a shitton of processing power
‘New AAA gaming’ you mean.
We have millions of good gameplay hours in old titles.
Unevolve, unadapt!
Oh, devolve is a word, but I have only heard it used on procedural dramas to describe serial killers who stop following their patterns.
Please send me some ideas! Free titles are better since I don’t have a library of older games. I was able to get Minecraft to a playable state, but Hollow Knight couldn’t do more than 4fps. I though Neverwinter might work since it was pretty old, but I only managed what appeared to be 1/4 fps. I’m running tests on a core 2 machine with an ATI Radeon HD4250, Fedora on a SSD, 6 GB of DDR 2.
The purpose is to spread the information to people who might be struggling with win 10 or older computers that can’t upgrade. I’m offering the Linux upgrade for $10 plus the cost of a SSD. I’m only posting to my Facebook crowd because I can’t do much for people who aren’t close.
I will gladly post on Lemmy if I keep going. We have until the test computer is sold. Then I am moving on to the pile of Optiplex 9010 computers I bought for testing.
Lots to try here
https://www.reddit.com/r/lowendgaming/comments/1p431ec/winners_of_the_best_freeware_and_retail_fall_2025/
And indie titles not using Unreal.
It’ll be cloud-based rental computing with compulsory AI spyware and tiered pricing that determines what they allow you to do. The base tier will have just a whopping 2GB of RAM and 30GB for all your file storage needs for just $25 per month. If, one month, you can’t afford it, no computing for you, and goodbye software and data. The small print will specify that anything you create on Microsoft 365 Cloud Copilot Windows Home Edition for Teams of Peasants and Serfs is Microsoft’s property for all eternity to use, share or sell as they see fit, and you waive any right to ever challenge them legally and will accept a $5 Copilot 365 for Teams gift card in compensation should Microsoft’s AI incorrectly recommend you for death by ICE. Private messaging will be impossible and Linux or (heaven forbid) non-vibe programming will be punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of millions of dollars.
Innovation is so exciting. It will have cute little animated AI chums tailored to our individual personalities and consumption profiles, reporting our every move to the authorities for our own safety and the safety of the children! I can’t wait!
I put this on my calendar for next week, I appreciate it
Hell, I have a Sandy Bridge based machine I built in 2012. It’s getting there, 14 years old now, and with its 1080ti in there it can still play most games just fine. It’s not my primary rig anymore but it’s still trucking the same as it ever was.
Mainstream PC performance really hit its plateau by, when, like 2018? I imagine somebody with a machine that’s only 8 years old will probably do just fine unless some critical and irreplaceable component in it explodes.
Sandy bridge still has a little life in it. Most those systems top out at 8-16 GB memory, which is serviceable. You are probably missing out on NVME. The PCI version might also be a gotcha if you upgrade your video card, so double check the compatibility.
Finally, your previously-suggested video card may require new power connectors. While you might be able to find adapters, confirm that your are not approaching 80% of your PSU capability and upgrade if you are close. Power supplies degrade over time, so if you are at 65% it’s time to consider an upgrade on a 10yo PSU.
Fortunately (?) my PSU let the smoke out about three years after I bought the initial one for that build which had IIRC a pair of 7950GTs in it from my previous machine, in SLI. So I had the opportunity to throw a modern-ish Corsair 850w power supply in it which has all the modular plugs I need. That box has had a succession of random graphics cards in it ranging from that old pair of 7950GTs, then a GTX680, then finally my current GTX1080Ti. Honestly, the 1080 is still plenty enough for most games in 1080p (possibly serendipitously) as long as you don’t feel the pathological need for raytracing or frame generation.
You can sidestep the NVMe issue as long as you don’t care about 100% speed by slapping a PCIe to NVMe adapter board in one of your handy unused x16 slots now that you’re no longer using SLI (if that reminds you of anyone you know). I’m not certain booting off of that is viable and I haven’t bothered to try to figure it out, so the boot drive in that machine is a SATA SSD currently.
On the bright side, that board has ten SATA ports so turning into a drive farm is a trivial prospect if you’re into that kind of thing.