Where to buy older model PCs (that are brand new)?

Carrot007

Ibrahim5 said:

The last time cases were changed was the introduction of the ATX case in 1995. I bought mine in 1996. So my main PC is built in a 25 year old case. It must have had a few motherboards. Some people seem to understand that it doesn't matter. Some people don't get it. They seem to think that it would somehow behave like an old PC.

Or later on when they moved the PSU to the bottom (which was BTX then retrofitted to ATX (so we still unfortunatly have the cards upside down becuase bad air flow!), and again when they decided to lift the bottom of the case and have fan to the bottom (optionally and preferably), or added front usb ports (3/c etc). Or course there are other options. And windowed cases were epensive back then and I like to see if something has fallen out.

Of course modern cases often look like 80s hifi systems. ICK. But with added RGB. ICK. but there are a lot of modern QOL updates.

Ibrahim5

baza52 said:

Ibrahim5 said:

The last time cases were changed was the introduction of the ATX case in 1995. I bought mine in 1996. So my main PC is built in a 25 year old case. It must have had a few motherboards. Some people seem to understand that it doesn't matter. Some people don't get it. They seem to think that it would somehow behave like an old PC.

why would anyone think it would behave like an old PC? I'm surprised you haven't upgraded the case in all that time but i guess this is a moneysaving site

Some people can't see that the case is just a box. They can't understand that when you change the inside that it is a new computer. They just see the box and say "that's not new. That's the old PC". I used to build PCs for my parents friends and they weren't very computer literate. Their kids would say you need a new PC every 5 years or something like that. You would do an upgrade but they weren't happy because it was the same case.

[Deleted User]

Ibrahim5 said:

baza52 said:

Ibrahim5 said:

The last time cases were changed was the introduction of the ATX case in 1995. I bought mine in 1996. So my main PC is built in a 25 year old case. It must have had a few motherboards. Some people seem to understand that it doesn't matter. Some people don't get it. They seem to think that it would somehow behave like an old PC.

why would anyone think it would behave like an old PC? I'm surprised you haven't upgraded the case in all that time but i guess this is a moneysaving site

Some people can't see that the case is just a box. They can't understand that when you change the inside that it is a new computer. They just see the box and say "that's not new. That's the old PC". I used to build PCs for my parents friends and they weren't very computer literate. Their kids would say you need a new PC every 5 years or something like that. You would do an upgrade but they weren't happy because it was the same case.

It is a lot more than a box, you can't really run a modern PC in your 1996 box without a lot of compromises including:

• Cooling - modern cases have space for fixing up to half a dozen fans including the top panel or a couple of radiators for water cooling - essential to prolong the life of the components.
• Air filtration is available on a lot of cases and is essential to prevent dust ingress.
• USB ports up front, you won't get a USB 3 or C port on the front panel of your USB 1.0 era box
• Cable management has changed dramatically, again to help airflow, most can be neatly positioned behind the motherboard nowadays.
• Orientation and position of drive bays changed to make them much easier to access and inclusion of 2.5" bays

And not expensive either, you can pick up a base model Corsair case for £40 that includes all of the above. Why would you risk overheating your new processor / GPU for the sake of making a point about a 1996 box?

Ibrahim5

It's not a games machine.

baza52

Ibrahim5 said:

It's not a games machine.

pound to a penny you still have a floppy drive installed in the case

Ibrahim5

baza52 said:

Ibrahim5 said:

It's not a games machine.

pound to a penny you still have a floppy drive installed in the case

Actually no.

[Deleted User]

Ibrahim5 said:

It's not a games machine.

You made a broad statement saying:

Ibrahim5 said:

Some people can't see that the case is just a box. 

Which I debated because I'd say that isn't true.

Even a non-gaming machine isn't suitable in a 1996 box - back then CPU's were about 10 watts, nowadays even a low end i3 can bang out 90 watts of heat on full load - and low end processor is more likely to be running at high utilisation compared to a high end one doing the same task.

Even low end CPU's only take a second to reach 90-100C under full load without adequate cooling.

It's up to you what you do with your machine but I wouldn't go so broad brush as to recommend "the case is just a box" for everyone like you have done. If you have spent hundreds on components you want to get the longest life possible out of them and keeping the temperatures down is a well known factor in the lifespan of computer components - and that is proper money saving advice - not penny pinching.

Ibrahim5

Oh dear the temperature is normally 30°c. It went to 32°c in the summer heatwave. Is that too much?

debitcardmayhem

[Deleted User] said:

Even a non-gaming machine isn't suitable in a 1996 box - back then CPU's were about 10 watts, nowadays even a low end i3 can bang out 90 watts of heat on full load - and low end processor is more likely to be running at high utilisation compared to a high end one doing the same task.

Even low end CPU's only take a second to reach 90-100C under full load without adequate cooling.

It's up to you what you do with your machine but I wouldn't go so broad brush as to recommend "the case is just a box" for everyone like you have done. If you have spent hundreds on components you want to get the longest life possible out of them and keeping the temperatures down is a well known factor in the lifespan of computer components - and that is proper money saving advice - not penny pinching.

Who has put the broad brush on things now? He may have water cooled or even drilled holes in to the case and mod it for a new fan or and external PSU , but I digress and the OP probably doesn't care that much, he/she wants an "old generation new PC" sadly their old one doesn't have access to Google

baza52

Ibrahim5 said:

Oh dear the temperature is normally 30°c. It went to 32°c in the summer heatwave. Is that too much?

please tell us the spec of your current machine and what cooling system you have