In middle and high school, my default method of computing was to get as many computers I could get for as cheap as I could, and then select the best bits from them and go about re-combining them. Because most of what I could get my hands on were 68k Macs and 486/Pentium IBM compatibles, I had a fairly large pile of machines from which to select, but they were all slow (even when I maxed memory and CPUs,) so I kept a lot of them on hand. What I ended up doing when it was time to do some computing, which I only ever did at my desk at home, was to turn on two or three machines, go get something to drink, and then return in order to start working.
I had a somewhat startling realization a few weeks ago after inventorying the machines I have in my current living space. I'll just list a few machines:
- Superslab (ThinkPad T400, main computer)
- Vaxjo (ThinkPad T400, body double and test server)
- ThinkPad R61
- ThinkPad R61
- XPS M1530
- XPS M1730
- Toshiba A205
- ThinkPad T42p
- ThinkPad T42
- ThinkPad X31
Most of these machines aren't even close to my main computers, but I have definitely started a collection. Some of them, such as the XPS M1530, aren't functional but are hanging around so I can pull parts out of them.
For a brief moment, I had an alarming moment where I realized that I was pulling parts out of old machines in order to build a franken-computer that's slightly better than what I have. In particular, the XPS M1730 was a machine I expected to be pulling RAM and a CPU out of, but it boots and runs fairly well, so it's going to be receiving a disk, a CPU, and maybe some memory depending on what it already has.
Probably one of the biggest challenges has been coming up with the time, physical space, and tools necessary to do hardware scavenging of this style. I suspect that I'll get it done eventually, and even without doing any of the transplants, some of the systems (the XPS M1730 in particular) have been working well. If my calculations are correct, I will end up with a system that's slightly faster than what I'm already using at most things, and much better at graphics tasks.
One of the oddest things about all of this is it proves just either how little my own needs have changed in five or six years, or how much more efficient software is becoming. Some computers, such as Windows RT based computers with just two gigabytes of memory, are pretty obviously dissatisfactory for really heavy Internet use, but my ThinkPad T400 doesn't "feel" any slower or less sufficient for most tasks than it felt in 2009, even at tasks that have changed, such as batch processing RAW files from ever-better cameras. (Though that may be a difference in urgency more than anything else.)
The challenge I have been having is that even though these systems still "do what I need," there's no world in which I will say no to additional performance. Maybe the more important factor is that most of my oldest systems (such as superslab and vorlaeufer) are physically wearing out. Very Inexpensive Windows Computers are definitely an option at this performance level, but most of them look like they're not built to last very long, and few of them are very portable anyway.
I had originally thought about and framed the existence of these machines as an opportunity to build up some spares and create some testing servers, and what I hadn't thought about was the fact that in addition to creating more computing horsepower for myself, the act of fixing up these systems can be a hobby and fun activity in and of itself. There's something nice about putting away my main computer and spending an hour or so disassembling and re-assembling things.
Whether or not I'd specifically go hunting for old systems in order to do that, I don't know, but I don't seem to have a very hard time finding them when I'm not looking, as the vast majority of the systems in my current pile were free, or for which I just paid shipping.
The complication with having so many laptops is that I've always found it difficult to use a bunch of laptops at once, just from a logistical perspective. They often need to have cords hanging out of all sides, reaching over to use two or three laptops near one another is often uncomfortable, especially at a small desk or with a chair that doesn't move very easily, and nice though it would be, there isn't a really good way to switch between secondary or tertiary laptops. In addition, running laptops as servers, even test servers, is not really a good idea.
With all of that in mind: I've been talking about my desire for a desktop for a few years now. With the exception of a few specific, lightweight tasks, my personal computing life is centered around my desk at home at this point, and having a really powerful mobile computer isn't anywhere near as important as it was in 2009 when I got superslab.
In addition, despite "not needing" extra horsepower, I'm definitely entering a phase where in service of planning for a migration of the data and services on TECT, another computer with a whole lot of RAM could be a valuable asset. The unfortunate thing about 965 and 4-series based laptops is that none of them support more than 8 gigabytes of memory.
I've looked at refurbished or surplussed desktop systems, but most of those start to look uneconomical compared to new systems when you factor in replacing the video card and CPU, maxing out the memory, and installing new storage components, compared to buying those upgrades for a new system or building out a new system with those parts to begin with.
The other question is at what point I start shedding redundant laptops. I already have a few of these systems that I'm planning on bringing to recycling or passing along when I'm done, and when I buy or build out a new desktop, it'll be that most of these systems are simply redundant, as I end up shelving them and moving any tasks they were doing into virtual machines. It's not unheard of for me to recycle machines or send a bunch of them to somebody who can make better use of them, so that is their likely fate.
So far, I've put a faster CPU into the Dell XPS M1730, and it looks like the transplant was a success. This is likely the most complicated hardware operation I've ever done, as it required that I strip the laptop down to the bone and take out the motherboard. It was a good time to tighten up anything I could and clean out some dust, as well.
The new CPU has resulted in a few frames per second increase in Cinebench OpenGL performance, and I'll be testing the system (with games!) as well over the next few weeks, to ensure that it's still getting adequate cooling.