Help Me Spend Money !!!

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operadude
Posts: 1078
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2019 12:08 am

Help Me Spend Money !!!

#1 Post by operadude »

Help me buy new toys with my year-end bonus :exclamation: :p

Keeping my MOBO, but upgrading my CPU, GPU, & NVME.

CURRENT SPECS:
  • MOBO:
    • Gigabyte H270-HD3-CF
    • UEFI, AMI "BIOS", F5, 04/24/2017
    • PCIe 3.0, 1 x16 slot, 2 x4 slots, 2 x1 slots, 1 PCI slot
    • 32GB DDR4 RAM (Max=64GB)
  • CPU:
    • Intel Core i3-7100
  • GPU:
    • AMD Oland PRO [Radeon R7 240]
    • PCIe 3.0
    • 2GB RAM
    • Mfg=Micro-Star MSI, Radeon Drivers
  • BOOT DRIVE:
    • Samsung 970 EVO 250GB (NVME)
  • PSU:
    • Zalman ZM700-LEII (700W)
  • INTERNAL HDDs/SSDs:
    • 4TB HDD
    • 3TB HDD
    • 500GB HDD
    • 120GB SSD
    • 120GB SSD
  • EXTERNAL HDDs:
    • 2TB HDD
    • 750GB HDD
    • 320GB HDD
    • 320GB HDD
    • Up to 6 -8GB- SD cards
  • OFFLINE BACKUP DRIVES:
    • 5TB Seagate "Portable" USB Drive
    • 4TB Western Digital "Easystore" USB Drive
    • 2TB Toshiba USB Drive

RATIONALE:
  • VirtualBox for a number of OSs in VMs
  • AI Tools:
    • Transformers (Hugging Face)
    • TensorFlow
    • PyTorch
    • SciKit-Learn
  • Local AI Installations:
    • Ollama
    • Claude
    • ...

ASSUMPTIONS:
  • i7 CPU for better VM performance
  • Large Boot Drive (NVME) for hosting multiple VMs & Distros
  • Better GPU for AI tools

WISH-LIST:
CPU:
  • Intel Boxed Core I7-6700
  • NOT going with I7-7700, since many reports of over-heating
  • Already Have: Noctua NH-D9L Tower Cooler (Heat Sink)
  • Already Have: Noctua NF-P12 PWM 120mm Premium Fans
GPU:
  • Radeon RX 590 GME 8GB GDDR5 256bit 1340MHz PCIe 3.0
NVME:
  • 2TB Samsung 990 PRO SSD NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen4, M.2 2280
  • Amazon's "Rufus" says this is backwards compatible with PCIe 3.0
  • PCIe 3.0 models are more expensive than the new PCIe 4.0 versions

I welcome your feedback :exclamation:

:crossfingers:
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mxer
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2018 9:09 am

Re: Help Me Spend Money !!!

#2 Post by mxer »

Buy a kickbike/scooter & get out & about.... :p

I can't imagine an i3 with all that on it, but if your MB can take an i7, that would be the way that I might go.....
(FOSS, Linux, & BSD since 1999)
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operadude
Posts: 1078
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2019 12:08 am

Re: Help Me Spend Money !!!

#3 Post by operadude »

mxer wrote: Mon Sep 08, 2025 6:06 am Buy a kickbike/scooter & get out & about.... :p

I can't imagine an i3 with all that on it, but if your MB can take an i7, that would be the way that I might go.....
It's been good for the last 8 years :exclamation:

And, the proof of the pudding is in the eating:

Code: Select all

Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 31.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: radeon temp: 39.0 C
Although...my external drives are off at the moment...

Oh, I didn't mention, but LOTS of fans, all over, for intake and exhaust...Ya' know, for maximum airflow (not liquid cooled-- YET :p )

:cool:
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j2mcgreg
Global Moderator
Posts: 7259
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2007 12:04 pm

Re: Help Me Spend Money !!!

#4 Post by j2mcgreg »

Where are you going to get a new ten year old i7 that you can trust?
HP 15; ryzen 3 5300U APU; 500 Gb SSD; 8GB ram
HP 17; ryzen 3 3200; 500 GB SSD; 12 GB ram
Idea Center 3; 12 gen i5; 256 GB ssd;

In Linux, newer isn't always better. The best solution is the one that works.
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Eadwine Rose
Administrator
Posts: 15320
Joined: Wed Jul 12, 2006 2:10 am

Re: Help Me Spend Money !!!

#5 Post by Eadwine Rose »

Well... if you wanna spend your money, you can always donate some so I can get a new one, too ;) :laugh:
MX-23.6_x64 July 31 2023 * 6.1.0-40amd64 ext4 Xfce 4.20.0 * 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 2700
Asus TUF B450-Plus Gaming UEFI * Asus GTX 1050 Ti Nvidia 535.247.01 * 2x16Gb DDR4 2666 Kingston HyperX Predator
Samsung 870EVO * Samsung S24D330 & P2250 * HP Envy 5030
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operadude
Posts: 1078
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2019 12:08 am

Re: Help Me Spend Money !!!

#6 Post by operadude »

j2mcgreg wrote: Mon Sep 08, 2025 7:09 am Where are you going to get a new ten year old i7 that you can trust?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0136 ... A14K8HRDRH

NEW (Unused, NOT "renewed")
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operadude
Posts: 1078
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2019 12:08 am

Re: Help Me Spend Money !!!

#7 Post by operadude »

Eadwine Rose wrote: Mon Sep 08, 2025 7:10 am Well... if you wanna spend your money, you can always donate some so I can get a new one, too ;) :laugh:
I have been considering INCREASING my current monthly donation to MX-LINUX.

Fine-by-me if it goes straight to you :exclamation:

Or, maybe there's some secret MX-Committee for deciding that sort of thing :p

:cool:
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j2mcgreg
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Re: Help Me Spend Money !!!

#8 Post by j2mcgreg »

operadude wrote: Mon Sep 08, 2025 7:16 am
j2mcgreg wrote: Mon Sep 08, 2025 7:09 am Where are you going to get a new ten year old i7 that you can trust?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0136 ... A14K8HRDRH

NEW (Unused, NOT "renewed")
I would want to know where they sourced it before I bought it sight unseen.
HP 15; ryzen 3 5300U APU; 500 Gb SSD; 8GB ram
HP 17; ryzen 3 3200; 500 GB SSD; 12 GB ram
Idea Center 3; 12 gen i5; 256 GB ssd;

In Linux, newer isn't always better. The best solution is the one that works.
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operadude
Posts: 1078
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2019 12:08 am

Re: Help Me Spend Money !!!

#9 Post by operadude »

j2mcgreg wrote: Mon Sep 08, 2025 7:24 am
operadude wrote: Mon Sep 08, 2025 7:16 am
j2mcgreg wrote: Mon Sep 08, 2025 7:09 am Where are you going to get a new ten year old i7 that you can trust?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0136 ... A14K8HRDRH

NEW (Unused, NOT "renewed")
I would want to know where they sourced it before I bought it sight unseen.
OK...but not sure what you mean...like:

Where is it shipped from (e.g. 3rd party)
From where they bought it
Anything else to ask?

Amazon will tell you if it ships from a 3rd party, or from "Amazon", whatever that means!

I don't know how I would find-out from where they acquired it.

Also, all the other items I am looking at are new items from Amazon, in-stock, and delivered next day with Amazon Prime. I don't think any of the items come from re-sellers.

If you have any pointers/guidance, please let me know :exclamation:
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operadude
Posts: 1078
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2019 12:08 am

Re: Help Me Spend Money !!!

#10 Post by operadude »

I am most interested in what folks think about my:

ASSUMPTIONS:
  • i7 CPU for better VM performance
  • Large Boot Drive (NVME) for hosting multiple VMs & Distros
  • Better GPU for AI tools
(MY) AXIOM(S) OF CHOICE(S):
  • After playing with VMs in VirtualBox, I see that it's best to have at least 20GB reserved for "the machine". Thus, I concluded that I should have a pretty hefty NVME.
  • I'm assuming that an 8GB GPU (versus current 2GB) will boost AI modelling
  • I'm also assuming that for running AI models, I don't "have" to have Nvidia drivers

Awaiting Your Analysis :crossfingers:
Last edited by operadude on Mon Sep 08, 2025 8:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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