What would you do with this old PC if you had €0 to invest in it?

I have an older desktop sitting around with:

  • AMD FX-6100, 6 cores at 3.3 GHz
  • NVIDIA GeForce GT 730
  • 24 GB RAM
  • ASRock 970 Extreme R2.0 motherboard
  • One SSD and one HDD

It still works, but I currently have no money to upgrade it or turn it into an ambitious homelab project.

I am trying to decide what would be the most useful and least wasteful thing to do with it.

A few possibilities I have considered:

  • Install a lightweight Linux distribution and use it for experiments
  • Turn it into a local server, NAS, self-hosting box, or automation playground
  • Use it to learn more about local AI, although I assume the GT 730 is far too limited for most modern models
  • Keep it until I have money for a few upgrades
  • Sell it cheaply and put the money towards a newer, more energy-efficient machine

My main concern with using it as a server is electricity consumption. Keeping an older FX-based desktop running all day might cost more, both financially and environmentally, than the practical value it provides.

What would you do in my situation?

Are there any genuinely useful €0 experiments this hardware is still suitable for? Is it worth keeping, or would selling it or reusing the parts elsewhere be the more sensible choice?

  • mindbleach@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    6·
    7 days ago

    24 GB RAM is plenty for local AI models, if you don’t mind waiting. The 12-year-old graphics card wasn’t fancy even when it was new.

    The question is - what’s your daily driver? I have a Ryzen that’s a decade newer, six cores clocked about the same, and I presume it does ten times more work per watt. (PassMark says five times faster for two-thirds the power draw. Close enough.) If you have a beefier machine then you might as well do stuff on that machine - unless you’re already pushing it near its limits.