specialized playback and web browsing older C2D PC.

Message

thinkpadcollection · #1 Post by **thinkpadcollection** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 7:23 pm

My friend occasionally dragged home from recycling bin some computers for me to play with but this is a possible good gem for friend's needs.

C2D 3.16GHz 6MB (E8500), optiplex 760. These machines also have eSATA which is big plus.

I was thinking of maxing out memory to 8GB (50 from ebay), low profile video card for HDMI connection (1920x1080p only to TV) for video playback and possible web/youtube. Finally also swap out HD for 500GB. Other option is swap out for 780 board (same rear panel connections layout) for better DDR3 to get 16GB running 1066 fsb instead of DDR2 800.

Earlier on before I left with this goodies I told him best option is get prebuilt or build a own generic but good parts PC locally for about 500 plus OEM windows 10 license which I think is best against future performance choking on that 760 machine. I know this using my optiplex 780 MT all maxed out except video card. Processor is power-bound when occasional bad ad made processor stutter on graphic scrolling (web browsing) and this is on a video card so onboard video issue is not considered.

options and thoughts are welcomed.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

Cigarguy · #2 Post by **Cigarguy** » Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:49 pm

An E8400 system is still very capable. It will run circles around some laptops that people are trying to pimp up and will still provide less performance. Obviously heavy gaming, intensive video editing, nuclear physics, etc are not its forte anymore but for normal everyday use it'll be more than acceptable. 8 GB of RAM would be plenty enough for me and I would not swap the MB. I would however put in a SSD.

kfzhu1229 · #3 Post by **kfzhu1229** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 1:49 am

It is not impossible to run stuff like GTA5.
This is a good upgrade
http://www.ebay.com/itm/151465613372?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

kfzhu1229 · #4 Post by **kfzhu1229** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 1:50 am

FYI for the Xeon pinmod thing, on Dell systems only the X3000 series Xeon work after a bios update while others result in no output

axur-delmeria · #5 Post by **axur-delmeria** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 10:06 am

I suggest SSD over HDD unless you plan to keep local copies of videos.
Check if the PCIe x16 has a power restriction: I've encountered a few Small Form Factor boards with "25w max" or similary silkscreened near the PCIe x16 slot.

kfzhu1229 · #6 Post by **kfzhu1229** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 11:04 am

HDD is fine in my opinion. Yes the power supply isn't strong enough to power something like GTX 1080

thinkpadcollection · #7 Post by **thinkpadcollection** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 12:12 pm

PS These small factor with 3 slot and 2 slot (SFF) cases can handle quad core processors (Q9650 and lower) means xeon mod is a bonus, less TDP.
And second, is there a playback program that can handle quad core for future proofing and browsers using more cores as well. Multi core with browsers is starting to work so wanted to know with certainty that get better with that feature.

But like I said, concerned about future is ever-changing especially windows 7 death in 2020 unless microsoft turn tail and keep going on both 7 and 10 windows support.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

kfzhu1229 · #8 Post by **kfzhu1229** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 1:03 pm

As I told You, only Xeon X3000 series work. These motherboards do NOT take 5000 series

thinkpadcollection · #9 Post by **thinkpadcollection** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 7:12 pm

This hack using x3363 and bios mod does not make sense if one can have a Q9650 at full speed 3.0GHz. Just under 100 CAD. Other option is
65W 2x 3MB Q9505S also priced around that as well but running at 2.83GHz, rather go for Q9650 or E8600. All no mods.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

kfzhu1229 · #10 Post by **kfzhu1229** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 11:45 pm

If you can find a Q9650 for under CAD $100 after shipping and tax I will seriously take it into consideration
Also this is twice cheaper:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/151465613372?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

Temetka · #11 Post by **Temetka** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 4:57 pm

kfzhu1229 wrote:HDD is fine in my opinion. Yes the power supply isn't strong enough to power something like GTX 1080

I have an OptiPlex 790 that I swapped the PSU on. It now has a 600W PSU and is running my old 550TI just fine. Mine is the mini-tower version.

I plan on replacing the 660TI with a 1050TI when funding is available. Great machine I got for free. Specs:

i7 2700 Quad core, 8 threads
16GB DDR3
DVD-RW
500GB SATA HDD
Some low power DDR3 ATI Card I lived with for a bit until I swapped the PSU

I recently took the SSD out of my Precision M4400 and put it in. So much better.

As far as the PSU goes, it's an Antec 550W unit I had laying around from another system.

kfzhu1229 · #12 Post by **kfzhu1229** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 5:32 pm

I'm currently using a Dell OptiPlex GX520 with top model Pentium 4 HT 650 3.4ghz which I upgraded later with fresh AS5. I have NEVER encountered overheating despite it is a Prescott Pentium 4! It has a 7200rpm 200GB Seagate IDE HDD/DVDRW Burner constantly switching because for some reason that desktop DOES NOT accept both at the same time and 7200rpm 80gb WD SATA from OptiPlex 755. 3GB RAM is present. It has Radeon HD 3450 512mb PCI as there is no PCIe slot present.
Even with this spec, Windows 10 x86 runs just fine (x64 wont work because of some instruction sets missing but this P4 Prescott IS x64 capable) and YouTube 480p video plays flawlessly (even DRM stuff works too because YOU is taking the load). Smaller games like Candy Crush work flawlessly. Social apps like Facebook and its messenger work fine too but takes time to load. Netflix works with medium settings in both the browser and the app (I think it is 720p). Build price is around USD $75 and it is VERY impressive for that price to have this level of performance (works INFINITELY better than Raspberry Pi)
Yes I built T43 machines at that price but that GX520 is in MINT CONDITION!
With that out of the way any C2D should work fine today if you have sufficient amount of RAM and 7200rpm HDD

thinkpadcollection · #13 Post by **thinkpadcollection** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 6:30 pm

I have finally found a solution is 990FX + 950SB motherboard for FX-9590 or wait for Ryzen around spring-summer. I just picked up a HP ultra-slim 8200 and gathered all the parts for it including MXM video card. HD and RAM came from my notebooks cache for short term solution and still waiting for i3-2120 to come in then upgrade it to i7-2600S later. Everything came under 220, already have my OSes and choice of linux.

PS: HP 800 G1 and G2 series Mini computers uses socket 1150, 2 slot DDR3 1600 notebook memory and G2 uses Skylake processors and DDR4 again, notebook memory type. Mini uses 65W processors only. Both uses M.2 and 2.5" SATA, wired and wireless networking as well. Processor cooling is large, thick copper with wide spacing thick aluminum fins, blower fan type. G1 VGA, 2x displayport. G2 VGA, HDMI optional, Displayport x2 optional.
Case volume is 1L roughly size of a typical Zatoc case or Intel NUC.

I also have a old phenom II x2 550, Just ordered 95W Phenom II x4 955 (3.2GHz 4x 512K, 6MB with correct AMD heatsink).

Yes Q9650 CPU can be had for 100 cdn on ebay from many chinese/H.K. vendors but I've no plans to upgrade my Dell 780 whoever. PS: get P4 670 for yours, this is 3.8GHz, 115W 2MB cache, Preshott less than 20 dollars on ebay.

kfzhu1229 · #14 Post by **kfzhu1229** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 11:27 pm

thinkpadcollection wrote:Yes Q9650 CPU can be had for 100 cdn on ebay from many chinese/H.K. vendors but I've no plans to upgrade my Dell 780 whoever.

Don't get Q9650, get X3363 for USD $34 here:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/151465613372?_tr ... EBIDX%3AIT
or you can wait until mine arrives to see how it works with a OptiPlex 960...

thinkpadcollection wrote: PS: get P4 670 for yours, this is 3.8GHz, 115W 2MB cache, Preshott less than 20 dollars on ebay.

Unfortunately Dell OptiPlex GX520 does NOT support 115W CPUs so that's off the list. P4 650 is 84W.
FYI your 780 has Q45 chipset so the much cheaper E5450 is incompatible. However that X3363 should work fine and brings the performance of Q9550 but with a much lower TDP

thinkpadcollection · #15 Post by **thinkpadcollection** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 3:44 am

I'm aware of these xeon thing. In fact I bios-modded ASUS P5K motherboard to take xeon and already put a Xeon and working, being P35 chipset, it was PCI-E 1.0 means slower but this is for rainy day old computer for old stuff to play with.

You can swap out GX520 for GX620 motherboards and put P4 670 in, number of improvements there. GX520 were sold with much lower price points due to cut down features.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

kfzhu1229 · #16 Post by **kfzhu1229** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 1:23 pm

thinkpadcollection wrote:You can swap out GX520 for GX620 motherboards and put P4 670 in, number of improvements there. GX520 were sold with much lower price points due to cut down features.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

Yes I noticed that as I bought my GX520 at Kijiji for CAD$30 (around USD$24) in MINT condition and I managed to spend even more to buy a PCI GPU on it. I am currently happy with the 650 as I have NO OVERHEATING ISSUE WHATSOEVER which is something that tends to occur for P4 machines.

Also I am planning to plant the X3363 into OptiPlex 960. Do you know by advance if I need additional BIOS modifications to get that to at least boot properly?

thinkpadcollection · #17 Post by **thinkpadcollection** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 2:15 pm

Modified Bios is needed. Have a look for one.

I was fortune to find a low watt P4 661 3.6GHz @ 65W (hoping chinese seller listened) on the way for my optiplex GX620. There also P-D 95W version but very hard to find. Even building older Phenom II x2 or x4 and used board is cheaper. HP sells AMD version of HP Compaq 6005 Pro based on AMD 785G chipset means x2 and x4, x6 Phenom II can be used up to 125W, I picked Phenom II x4 955 at 95W for amd computer I already have.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

calvinb · #18 Post by **calvinb** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 4:14 pm

>Low wattage

>Pentium 4

Stop, I can't hold back the laughs!

thinkpadcollection · #19 Post by **thinkpadcollection** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 4:38 pm

I can understand that about hot P4 but in final days of P4 before Intel introduced P-D processors, released P4 3.6GHz SL9KD stepping (D0) that is rated 65W.
Also there is P-D 3.6GHz 95W version too but not easy to find. Both are needed if for low profile P4/P-D computers with nonstandard 280W power supplies.

GX620/GX520 uses 945G which is hot 22W plus ICH7 3.3W, about 10W of fans (PSU, video card and cooler), 8.5W-10W HD average. Optical drive 5W or so.
Memory 4W each, 40W or so for video card. If Dell uses 86W or 65W processors is better but can swing for 95W using P-D, That leaves about 200W and assorted chips so leaves 80W headroom for other slots. Cedar Mill (65 nm) P4 processors are between 86-65W depending on S-spec and GX520 and GX620 can do this.

I really think you should get a GX620 motherboard for PCI-E slot for video card (performance wise) and 2 more slots to get 4GB total. I had tried PCI Video card before on newer boards and newer OSes and is poor experience.

PS: Both Pentium D 940 and P-D 960 are 130W but also there are both of them and all 900 series P-D processors are 95W.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

excal32 · #20 Post by **excal32** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 11:58 pm

thinkpadcollection wrote:My friend occasionally dragged home from recycling bin some computers for me to play with but this is a possible good gem for friend's needs.

C2D 3.16GHz 6MB (E8500), optiplex 760. These machines also have eSATA which is big plus.

I was thinking of maxing out memory to 8GB (50 from ebay), low profile video card for HDMI connection (1920x1080p only to TV) for video playback and possible web/youtube. Finally also swap out HD for 500GB. Other option is swap out for 780 board (same rear panel connections layout) for better DDR3 to get 16GB running 1066 fsb instead of DDR2 800.

Earlier on before I left with this goodies I told him best option is get prebuilt or build a own generic but good parts PC locally for about 500 plus OEM windows 10 license which I think is best against future performance choking on that 760 machine. I know this using my optiplex 780 MT all maxed out except video card. Processor is power-bound when occasional bad ad made processor stutter on graphic scrolling (web browsing) and this is on a video card so onboard video issue is not considered.

options and thoughts are welcomed.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

C2D is just fine, consider how much lower CPU power most modern things that perform better are!
their benefit, they have GPU equivalent to $75 and under GPU's. however, you can get a DirectX 10 or 11 card for someone who doesn't game, and it will implement the most important things still such as hardware H264/265 encoding, etc, things you run into even web browsing, youtube, etc
However, C2D is recent enough to have PCI Express 16.0x boards so my recommendation:
toss a cheap but modern, directx 12 compatible card in it, which can be had for under $50 even, and as long as it has 3gb ram you can do anything with it.

However, it should be noted that you could also spend $65 on a ARM64 powered android box, flash it with a prebuilt ARMbian/Ubuntu ARM image, and most popular packages will be built for ARM/ARM64 as well as i386/amd64, which i can tell you from experience since switching to one of these budget boxes after realizing the cost of one of them + a big microSD for storage gives me at least as good performance as a salvage C2D with a SSD and graphics card. So, I have been running this setup with a 27" hdmi compatible display and a powered USB hub. Best part - you can power the android box off the USB rear port if you have a 2A USB port around. So, one port on my 7 port usb hub also powers the machine itself

Compared to the power draw of the C2D, it will save the user big time on their power bill if the full machine can be powered from the hub or monitor's built in usb itself!

kfzhu1229 · #21 Post by **kfzhu1229** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 9:58 am

Personally I hate the ARM boxes. I mean why do I need it while I can just attach a keyboard or mouse to my octa-core Galaxy S5 and use it as ARM computer?? Also if you use OptiPlex or ThinkPad (no matter how old it is of course), you can feel the every bit of quality they have put inside. Even as of now, I have almost no complaints with my T43p I have just upgraded & frankenpaded and I have a newly upgraded i7-3720qm T530 lying around doing nothing!

excal32 · #22 Post by **excal32** » Tue Jan 17, 2017 3:21 am

kfzhu1229 wrote:Personally I hate the ARM boxes. I mean why do I need it while I can just attach a keyboard or mouse to my octa-core Galaxy S5 and use it as ARM computer?? Also if you use OptiPlex or ThinkPad (no matter how old it is of course), you can feel the every bit of quality they have put inside. Even as of now, I have almost no complaints with my T43p I have just upgraded & frankenpaded and I have a newly upgraded i7-3720qm T530 lying around doing nothing!

If your galaxy s5 can do ethernet, hdmi and linux then by all means that is a cool method with a nice built in battery backup.

axur-delmeria · #23 Post by **axur-delmeria** » Tue Jan 17, 2017 4:04 am

There's a still-in-development firmware for the Nexus 5 that also runs Debian when it's plugged to a monitor. http://maruos.com#/

A Bluetooth keyboard + mouse combo is required, as the Nexus 5 doesn't have a dedicated HDMI output, and uses the sole USB port for a Slimport to HDMI dongle.

kfzhu1229 · #24 Post by **kfzhu1229** » Tue Jan 17, 2017 9:26 am

excal32 wrote:If your galaxy s5 can do ethernet, hdmi and linux then by all means that is a cool method with a nice built in battery backup.

Ethernet, I don't need it as it supports AC
HDMI, it has screen mirroring
Linux: I prefer S7 port Touchwiz (Of course android marshmallow) on my Galaxy S5
Touchscreen + USB keyboard it is great actually
That is if I really need portability though because I don't mind bringing my T43p all the time in my bag

Whitieiii · #25 Post by **Whitieiii** » Sat Jan 28, 2017 8:49 pm

If it's the full tower dell you could maybe get away with a 1050ti video card if you need more power in video department.... upgrade the cpu to a higher end one if possible.... also I don't know of any business or school that uses windows 8 or 10 so I think they must keep windows 7 updated

kfzhu1229 · #26 Post by **kfzhu1229** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 3:10 pm

Well what I did to an OptiPlex 960 in my school are:
1. Upgrade from 4gb to 8gb RAM (max)
2. 2 hard drives because its optical drive is broken
3. Windows 10 x64 copy
4. Found a VERY old Nvidia GPU and stick it in
5. (I did this just today) CPU upgrade from C2D E8400 to Xeon X3363 with BIOS mod and socket mod (used a razor to cut off the 2 pieces of plastic and the converter is included and preattached).
If I upgrade the GPU further I am able to play some pretty decent games on it but this is not my own computer

Also I think I will also use PCIe4x on the motherboard to attach a WLAN card from a dead crap laptop