So, KOP_AoEJedi was kind enough to send me his old motherboard (Asus A7N8X-Deluxe) with an AMD Athlon (Barton) 2500+ in it and some RAM. I have a Radeon 9700 Pro back home that I bought back in the day that I feel like never got used to its potential (and its money's worth), so I want to drop that in. I'm going to add a hard drive and cheap case to complete the computer for about ~80 or 40 if I can salvage a HDD from a friend.

The question is, what should I use it for? I wanted to make a file server for an organization I'm in but I can't really do that on my university's network and my desktop and tablet already cover most all other computer tasks...

So yeah any ideas? >_<
(Also thought of making an emulator box but my desktop can very well do that itself...)

You're pretty much restricted to some sort of server.

One really giant paperweight....

But seriously, a server of some sort really sounds like the best way to go since all your other needs are met by other systems. A meager HTPC is a possibility also.

Melt it down into its constituent atoms and make a new computer!

I think you've missed the point of emulation boxes =p

That's not an old computer.

It's at least twice as fast as the box I'm typing this on.

You could turn it in to a web server. That's what I did with an old machine that I have with similar stats. It's nice being able to transfer files over from another local machine & sharing them with friends without having to use 3rd-party services/utilities. It's extremely easy to get a Ubuntu server up & running for these purposes. You could even host a low traffic website from home if you were so inclined.

I've always wanted to find an old jukebox, gut it and toss in a computer with nothing but music on it.

That's not so bad, you could use it as a legacy box, hook it up to a tv for emulators, or use it as a light home server.

I contemplated making it a dedicated server for TF2 or something when I had it, but lacked the bandwidth to do so.

Why not? You can set up a VPN or SSH tunnel if you want to encrypt all traffic or something.

If the routers block local ports it would be more difficult.

The problem I am having with making it into a server is that my school's networking is really weird/complicated and sharing the computer from one building (say, a residence) will not make it available everywhere on campus (in fact it will only be available in a very limited area).

media/dosbox/emulation machine hooked up to tv

running linux for extra awesome points

if you want dos emulation, use dosbox, cause the effort in setting up stuff like virtual memory (damn you Bill "I think 6k memory is all anyone will ever need" Gates) and other things is not worth the effort.

This

I wonder when this misquote will ever end.

I dont care if he never said that, the fact that the limit exists prooves that someone at least THOUGHT that 6k memory would be all that people would need, otherwise it would not have had that limit, making late era DoS games far less annoying to install and play on a real dos system.

It's not really any good for a media player because it won't play 1080p video. A jukebox is a decent idea though.

i thought it was 64k?

It was 640k, and I don't get wtf Alpha1 is on about; it was a perfectly reasonable limit at the time - whoever "thought it would be all anyone will need" also obviously (and rightfully) thought that by the time larger amounts of memory were common, they'd have bigger and better operating systems.

It's like if 20 years from now you were trying to install windows XP on a computer and getting angry at Bill Gates because it doesn't support your 16 terabytes of memory and won't recognize your quantum co-processor.

Y2K.

Just imagine the cluster**** when Windows(Or computer hardware, whatever's first) goes all 64 bit.

I've been using nothing but 64-bit operating systems since last year and have not had a single problem with compatibility, other than a few games that didn't work under 32-bit Vista either. I really don't get what the fuss is about.

ya srsly

lol

But what about Margaret and her desktop clipboard program from 1997? Or Jims favorite interactive screen saver? Both of them will cry a river when they get the 16/64 bit error dialog.

It may be a very long time before we reach the 64bit addressing limit, though. Powers grow very quickly. To put it into perspective, 256bit addressing can represent more memory addresses than there are atoms in the known universe. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't need 128 bit addressing in our lifetimes.

That's what virtual machines are for. They even sync the clipboard. Guess that wouldn't work too well with a screensaver unless you remember to fullscreen the VM before you leave...

Johnny Castaway!

"So now I have to use windows XP while I use windows 7? Why not just use XP?"
Also people not knowing how VMs work and trying to install 64 bit programs on it.