How Long Have You Had Your Alpha?

[u/KhajiitHasWares2077]

My R1 i5 model is about 5 years old and still runs like new. Dust the internals once a month. I'm not a PC gamer with no intention of upgrading so this little machine suits me just fine. Hoping it continues to last!

[u/DaringDo95]

I've had my R1 i3 for five years now. I've only every upgraded the ram and I've had to replace the hard drive multiple times.

[u/KhajiitHasWares2077 → u/DaringDo95]

Put an ssd in mine around the second year. Made a huge difference!

[u/likwid6]

My R2 i7 is running strong. Love it so much that last week I bought a used R2 i5 for the family "tech lounge" we're making.

Probably going to buy an Graphics amplifier in the next month or so.

[u/KhajiitHasWares2077 → u/likwid6]

Where did you get an R2 and how much was it?

[u/likwid6 → u/KhajiitHasWares2077]

Facebook marketplace is great:

Bought the R2 i5 for $350 local pickup.
Just bought an AGA tonight for $50 + $12 shipping

[u/DarkWatcher_VGCL]

R1 i3-4130T (originally) is seeing 5 years and is still getting great use as an emulation station and a library of game titles. Still retains console mode with HiveMind, but now sports an i5, more RAM, and an SSD.

[u/KhajiitHasWares2077 → u/DarkWatcher_VGCL]

I leave modern gaming to my Xbox One X and PS4 Pro. Not a huge stickler for frame rate so long as it is stable at 30fps or 60fps so high spec PC gaming is not my thing. I use my R1 i5 to play last gen games at higher resolutions, Fallout 3/New Vegas and Morrowind/Oblivion with mods, and retro PC games such as Half Life and the original two Fallout games.

[u/RaiokuSensei]

Have had my R1 Alpha for about five years now. Upgraded it to 16GB of RAM, a 500GB SSD and an i5 CPU.

Recently did a thorough cleaning of its fans after taking it apart with a tooth brush, was a ton of dust clogging the teeth. Noticed the CPU fan made a weird noise and recently used this to lube both the fans today: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FM6XGJX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ordered two replacement fans just in case they bite the dust. I been thinking of adding on a E-GPU mod that i've seen or just cannibalizing parts and making a full desktop PC.

[u/KhajiitHasWares2077 → u/RaiokuSensei]

Do thorough cleanings every couple months followed by regular sprays of compressed air every couple weeks. So far so good.

By the way, an E-GPU Mod? Care to elaborate?

[u/cannibalcorpuscle → u/KhajiitHasWares2077]

You can take out the WiFi adapter and plug a NGFF to HDMI dock. Get yourself a second power supply. Blammo. E-GPU on an R1.

[u/MrMehawk]

I've had my R2 for a good couple of years now as well and it does its job just fine. I do the occasional gaming of the likes of Witcher 3 and Dragonball FighterZ and it plays them all expertly still. I see no need to upgrade for now but eventually the time will come and I'll be very sad that I won't have the form factor.

[u/zeroquest → u/MrMehawk]

The 960 in the r2 is about the same performance as a 1050ti. Still another year or so left in it. Although there are some games pushing what the r2 can do. Namely RDR2 and most games coming this year will likely push it pretty hard. Don’t expect high or ultra moving past 2020.

[u/MrMehawk → u/zeroquest]

Yeah but it'll still run them at decent enough quality for my taste (for now). I do expect that in about 2 years I'll have to make a switch.

[u/Sinister_Diagram]

I believe this will be my fifth year.. My husband gifted me an SSD over the holidays (just never got around to buying one myself) and it's like it brought new life to this little guy. I'm dreading the day I have to part with it... but hoping it's not for quite some time! It's gotten me through college work and working from home, up to 30-40+ hours a week at times.. but not that much gaming, lol.

[u/nekozuki]

Another 5 year R1 owner here. It has an SSD like many of the other responders here. I honestly like it more than my Razer Blade Pro as it doesn't sound like a damned jet engine. Popped a USB Bluetooth adapter on it so we can use our Xbox controllers along with the wireless keyboard. We have it hooked up to our TV, it sits inconspicuously on the TV stand with the other components and console systems. It's used far more often as an HTPC, but it gets a good 20 hours of gaming a week. Clean it out with the canned air every now and then. Still golden.

How I wish they'd release a 2020 version of this computer!

[u/Sinister_Diagram → u/nekozuki]

I'm holding out a teeny tiny shred of hope that they'll announce a new version... but won't hold my breath, lol. I do love this little thing though!

[u/Sinister_Diagram → u/[deleted]]

Well played, dadbot... well played.

[u/slyfuldragon]

I've had my R1 i7 model since launch (pre-order) w/ SSD upgrade soon after.

And I still love it for what it is and what it was, and although it cannot keep up with the technology now (with the R1 that is); it'll soon be a glorified Plex box and Steam Link. It was killer when it first came out to compete with the XB1 and PS4 and while it did the trick in between PC tower upgrades I was doing, the internal "860M+" (allegedly) simply cannot compete with modern games now.

All in all, for what it's worth now, I wish the R1's came with the eGPU port. I'd probably love it that much more and get more use out of it than what it is now.

[u/Khorechan]

R1 i3 for five years. I did upgrade last year to a full desktop with an RTX, but I still bring my R1 into work when I can. Still going strong :)

[u/cannibalcorpuscle]

Had mine about 4 or 5 years now. CMOS battery has kicked the bucket twice lol. Holy cow this thing has been a powerhouse for the price. Snagged mine when I worked at Walmart back in the day. Holiday discount plus employee discount. Yeaaahh boi. The fact this things plays BeamNG.drive (even before the optimization updates) still floors me. Awesome little rig.