Scrap PC uses?

saihenjin · n00b Joined: 15 Apr 2009 Posts: 27

I recently got a scrap PC from a family member who upgraded to a newer system.

It's got an Intel P4 processor (I believe 1.8Ghz), 512Mb of RAM, Intel 3D Extreme onboard graphics, a DVD drive, and a CD burner.

I recieved no monitor with the PC.

I was going to (of course) install Gentoo on it, but I must ask myself... what would I do with it? My wife and I have PCs with much better components, so no need to take parts from it... so I'm left wondering just what to do with it... I was thinking of getting a TV card and making it into an emulator box and loading several old console emulators onto it and grabbing some USB joysticks for it, or possibly a fileserver...

any other suggestions?

Paapaa · l33t Joined: 14 Aug 2005 Posts: 955 Location: Finland

Or, sell it so someone who has real use for it. You get some extra money and he/she gets a cheap computer.
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i92guboj · Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 10:43 am Post subject:

If you use p2p you can use it for that. p2p is expensive in terms of memory usage so I never run p2p software in the same machine I work, plus I don't like having my main box ON all the time. On the contrary the server can be running 24/7 without much trouble until it burns in fire. You can setup cpufreq on this machine and even lower the frequency in your BIOS (a file/p2p server doesn't really need all the power that a p4 can give, and you will save a few buck on electricity and a lot of hear and noise in the way).

You can set up ssh to control it remotely, and if you install mldonkey on it you can as well manage the p2p through a simple web browser, via server:4080 (or via telnet on port 4000, or via GUI on 4001).

This box can be set to be your gateway as well, giving an extra security barrier against the external world.

Just run gkrellmd on it, and you can also monitor it on your desktop by launching gkrellm -s <server>

disi · Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 3:05 pm Post subject: Re: Scrap PC uses?

I have a Dell which comes with a P4, I gave it 2.5GB RAM.
It has the following stuff on it and runs 24/7

HN for openvz, running 2 vps Debian and RedHat (for testing)
lighttpd
vsftp
rtorrent
nagios
rsync mirror
uptime project

No monitor, rtorrent and nagios can be accessed via web interface or ssh.
The great thing about this processor, you can run it on 325MHz using cpufrequtils.

saihenjin · n00b Joined: 15 Apr 2009 Posts: 27

another suggestion I got is an educational box. My wife's good with computers but she's wary of tinkering, so it might be a good cause to get a monitor on the cheap and let her tinker with something that won't cost us $1000 to replace. :lol: