I’ve got a problem. I’m a technology hoarder. I still have the first PC I bought myself some 15 years ago cause “I might use it for something!”
My desktop after that one is an unRAID box. The one after that is my “lab” PC (3d printing, embedded projects etc) and then finally, my current generation main PC.
I want to upgrade my main PC soon (can’t run new games, CPU and GPU limited), which means potentially kicking everything else “down the chain” to a new purpose as it gets a slightly better version of itself. I find the thought of this exhausting though. So much configuration/setup to give upgrades to things whose existence is only because I didn’t want to part with functioning hardware.
My current thought is to “break the cycle” by condensing all non-primary functions to my current PC, as an unRAID box hosting everything other than main gaming PC. From there, the rule needs to be tech goes into one of those two boxes, or it gets sold/donated.
What do you all think. Is that reasonable? How do you manage your spare equipment post upgrade?
I like to tell myself “I’ll keep one generation back, in case something breaks I’ll have a backup” My reality is I keep a computer past several generations of upgrades. I went from a Pentium 4 to an AMD FX-3850. I’ve run that as my main machine for 8 years. SO my Pent4, my PATA hard drives, my AGP video card, even the power supply is obsolete. I did manage to reuse the case for my daughter’s AM4 build. Once I upgrade to AM5, my memory, processor, cooler, and my old HD6970 will be obsolete.