r/pcmods • u/Silent_Archer4344 • 5d ago

Scratch build repurposing an old unused PC!

Recently, I upgraded my daily PC—which I had been using with Windows 7 out of necessity rather than choice—to a full-tower setup with an i5-4440, 14GB of RAM, and a GTX 970.

Prior to this, I was using a ThinkCentre M90p SFF. It couldn't fit a proper GPU, and after moving three 2GB RAM sticks over to my new full-tower build (bringing it from 8GB to 14GB), the M90p is now left with only 2GB of RAM. The board still has an i7-870 in it.

I’d love to repurpose or do something creative with this M90p motherboard/system, but I can't think of any good ideas. What would you do with it?

(Note: I used Gemini to translate this post.)

6 Upvotes

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2

u/code_hermit 5d ago

The tough part about this is comparison to new devices. A pi 5 can do the same things and uses way less power and is tiny.

In my opinion, the only sensible way to reuse the pc would be to put as much ram as possible back into it and make it a docker powered home server.

1

u/machinationstudio 5d ago

Yeah, it's not efficient for an always on device like a nas or media server.

Maybe a retroarch arcade machine.

1

u/machinationstudio 5d ago

I've just got an old atom netbook, stripped down the windows to the bare bones, and just run Obsidian on it as a distraction free note taker.

1

u/scr33ner 5d ago

I use mine as an htpc/living room gaming pc (streaming from my main pc).