Computing » Computer specs

Referring people to here is easier than typing everything out manually. I also have a list of retired computers and their specs.

Main workstation

I decided to upgrade after eight years with a Dell XPS 8700, and the internals only cost me $1100 altogether. Never in my life did I think I’d go AMD.

Processor AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-core @ 4.20GHz, 35MB LSB
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX PC4-28800 DDR4-SDRAM @ 3600MHz
Motherboard
& chipset
MSI X470 GAMING PLUS MAX
AMD X470
Graphics XFX Speedester SWFT 309 RX 6700 2304-core @ 2174MHz w/ 10GB 2000MHz GDDR6-SDRAM
Acer SB230 23″ IPS FHD display (1920×1080)
Logitech C920 HD Webcam (2017 model)
Storage Samsung 980 1TB M.2 NVMe solid-state drive @ 3500MB/s
Western Digital Red Plus 3TB SATA III hard-disk drive @ 5400RPM
Seagate Barracuda 2TB SATA III hard-disk drive @ 7200RPM
Western Digital Blue 1TB SATA III hard-disk drive @ 7200RPM
Media Dell SATA III Multi Burner Drive @ 24×
Audio Realtek ALC892/897 7+1HP SPDIF with additional dual-jack
Logitech Z323 2.1 speaker system
Sony MDR-V6 headphones
TONOR TC30 USB condenser microphone
Networking Realtek 8111H Gigabit 10/100/1000 Ethernet Adapter
Expansion
slots/ports
2 full-height PCIe 3.0 x16
1 full-height PCIe 3.0 x16
3 full-height PCIe 2.0 x1
2 USB 3.2 Gen2 Type A
4 USB 3.2 Gen1 Type A
2 USB 3.0 Type A
4 USB 2.0 Type A
DE-9 serial port
DB-25 parallel port
Input IBM Enhanced Keyboard (Model M), 1991 (1391401)
Elecom DEFT PRO finger-operated wireless trackball
Other devices
& components
Fractal Design Define R5 mid-tower case
EVGA 100-GD-0600-V1 600-watt power supply
Scythe Fuma 2 dual sink w/ 2× 120mm Kaze Flex fans
3× Fractal Design Dynamic X2 GP-14 140mm fans
Operating sys. Gentoo Linux AMD64
Windows 11 Pro x86-64 (via QEMU/KVM)

Fun fact about that Radeon RX 580 mentioned at the top of this section: I got it for a then-cheap $200 used during the chip shortage in ‘21, but I managed to brick the card in ‘23 by flashing the wrong vBIOS image.

Dell XPS 8700

My wife’s PC; formerly mine from 2013–21. She basically only uses it to play The Sims 4 and Minecraft, so it still works for her purposes.

Processor Intel Core i7 4770 Quad Core @ 3.40GHz, 8MB LSB
Memory 12GB Crucial PC3-12800 DDR3-SDRAM @ 1600MHz
Motherboard
& chipset
Proprietary
Intel Z87
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 1162-core @ 1033MHz w/ 2048MB 6100MHz GDDR5-SDRAM
Storage Kingston 120GB SATA III solid-state drive @ 550MB/s
Western Digital 250GB SATA II hard-disk drive @ 7200RPM
Media Realtek 2C44C Card Reader
Audio Realtek ALC899-GR 7+1HP with additional dual-jack
Networking Intel 82573L Gigabit 10/100/1000 Ethernet Adapter
OEM Bluetooth 4.0
Expansion
slots/ports
1 full-height PCIe 2.0 x16
1 full-height PCIe 2.0 x4
2 full-height PCIe 2.0 x1
6 USB 3.0 Type A
4 USB 2.0 Type A
Operating sys. Windows 10 Pro x86-64

Acer Aspire A315-51-380T

Basically what my wife and I use when we don’t want to (or can’t) be sitting at our desktops.

Processor Intel Core i3-7100U Dual Core @ 2.40GHz, 3MB LSB
Memory 4GB OEM PC4-17000 DDR4-SDRAM @ 2133MHz
8GB PNY PC4-19200 DDR4-SDRAM @ 2133MHz (underclocked)
Motherboard
& chipset
Proprietary
(chipset unknown)
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 620
15.6″ LCD WXGA display (1366×768)
Integrated webcam (unknown model)
Storage Timetec 256GB SATA III M.2 solid-state drive
Seagate 1TB SATA III hard-disk drive @ 5400RPM, 300MB/s
Media OEM five-in-one card reader
Audio Realtek ALC3234CG 2-channel with microphone input
Networking OEM 10/100 Ethernet adapter
OEM 802.11ac wireless adapter
OEM Bluetooth 4.0
Expansion
slots/ports
1 USB 3.0 Type A
2 USB 2.0 Type A
Input OEM touchpad
OEM keyboard
Operating sys. Windows 11 Pro x86-64

Dell Optiplex 760

The computer which serves as a… server. My website, a testbed Minecraft server and some other services are hosted here, at my house. Electricity is cheaper than hosting around here.

Processor Intel Core i3 2120 Dual Core @ 3.30GHz, 3MB LSB
Memory 8GB Hynix PC3-10600 DDR3-SDRAM @ 1333MHz
Motherboard
& chipset
Proprietary
Intel Q65 Express
Storage Seagate 250GB SATA II hard-disk drive @ 5400RPM, 300MB/s
Media Dell SATA III Multi Burner Drive @ 24×
Networking Intel 82579LM Gigabit 10/100/1000 Ethernet Adapter
US Robotics 5686E V.92 External Modem
Expansion
slots/ports
1 full-height PCIe x16
1 full-height PCIe x1
2 full-height PCI
10 USB 2.0 Type A
DE-9 serial port
Operating sys. FreeBSD 13-STABLE x86-64

Archive-O-Matic 3000

An old prebuilt originally used for bookkeeping at a gas station in Ohio (for which it was severely over-specced), now serving as a floppy disk archival machine in lieu of not having enough drive bays on my workstation.

Processor AMD A8-3850 quad-core @ 2.90 GHz, 4MB LSB
Memory 8GB Nanya PC3-10600 DDR3-SDRAM @ 1333MHz
Motherboard
& chipset
MSI A75MA-G55
AMD A75
Storage Western Digital Caviar 200GB SATA hard-disk drive @ 7200RPM, 300MB/s
Media SATA II multi burner drive @ 16× (unknown model)
Chinon FR-506 RevB 5¼″ floppy disk drive
NEC FD1231H 3½″ diskette drive
Panasonic JU-256A216P 3½″ diskette drive
Networking Realtek RTL8111E 10/100/1000 Ethernet Adapter
Expansion
slots/ports
2 full-height PCIe x16
1 full-height PCIe x1
1 full-height PCI
2 USB 3.0 Type A
6 USB 2.0 Type A
DE-9 serial port
DB-25 parallel port
Other devices
& components
Thermaltake V3 mid-tower case
Thermaltake TR2-430 430-watt power supply
Operating sys. Gentoo Linux AMD64