A copypasta of a post on another forum --- originally titled 'What computer will you have ten years from now' --- a long run back.
~1992 Amiga 500
It had a Processor
It had RAM
It had no way of storing programs on it - except for the Floppy Drive
It could speak. It could paint. It played Stunt Car Racer, Thomas the Tank Engine, Advanced Destroyer Simulator, Bart Versus the Space Mutants, Captain Planet, Formula One, and Fighter Bomber among others. It had 3D Graphics.
Long gone. I still miss it.
Gateway desktop thing
AMD Athlon -
128MB of RAM
Nvidia GPU of some description
9GB HDD
-Windows 98 SE
-Was dismantled 10 years ago and scrapped
-The HDD still exists. The keyboard off it was in regular use until it got tea'd for the final time 2 years ago.
What was bought for me in 2005
Toshiba Satellite Pro-L10
Intel Pentium M - 1.6ghz
256Mb of 266Mhz DDR RAM - upgraded to 1GB.
Dedicated intel graphics.
40GB HDD
Started with Windows XP-pro, was upgraded to Windows 7 - and spent a lot of time running Xubuntu linux. 256MB of RAM was shit
It couldn't play games - 3d performance was so shit that it took a whole second to render a frame of a screensaver
Still intact. Hasn't been booted in a while
I found a /b/ folder from this machine still living in my current backup when I migrated to the last thing. Also - a lot of music I ripped on this I still have the 'same' files.
We first got Diallup with this machine. I started college on this thing and failed 2nd year because of it.
What I used in work in 2007 and took home as scrap.
IBM Thinkpad X20
Intel Pentium 3 -- 600Mhz (I think)
192Mb RAM -- likely DDR
30GB HDD
It included a dock-station with a floppy drive and CD drive
It ran Xubuntu. It was light and portable. It was killed by tea.
What I bought in 2008
Dell XPSM 1530
Intel Core2Duo, T9300 - 2.4ghz I think. Penryn
4GB RAM - 667mhz DDR2
Nvidia 8600GT with 256mb GDDR3 RAM (G84M)
320GB HDD
1440x900 display
Still intact - hasn't been booted in a while but did boot properly last time. The display is fucked due to a broken switch - it's stuck off.
It could not play DCS. It barely played STALKER. It did play Left4Dead. It also ran Linux for a lot of its life. The GPU liked to cook itself.
We first got 'broadband' with this machine. And actual Wifi. I finished college on this thing.
What I bought in 2013.
MSI GE70
Intel Corei7 3610qm - Ivy Bridge
8GB RAM - 1333mhz DDR3
Nvidia GT650M with 2GB GDDR5 RAM (Kepler?)
500GB Hdd - which died 3 times
1080p display
It played STALKER, Borderlands, War Thunder, Metro 2033, and Autocad. It ran Windows 7 -> 10
Still 'intact'. The case is held together by zip-ties. The keyboard is fucked, the webcam and mic are fucked, all the USB ports like to short out every now and then, the fan rattles and the PSU puts out radio noise and runs dangerously hot. Still boots on a new battery happily.
What I built in 2014 as a Media centre
AMD A10, 7700k 3.4ghz (Kaveri)
8GB RAM - 2400mhz DDR3
256GB SSD, + 1TB from a NAS and the 320GB drive from the XPS
It played Crysis. Slowly. It played Borderlands the Pre-Sequel. It also handled War Thunder. It runs Window 8 ->10. It also briefly and inadvertently ran a Xubuntu install off the XPS' harddrive without flinching.
It still runs. It doesn't do much work.
What I bought last month
ASUS TUF A15
AMD Ryzen7 5800h (Zen 3)
16GB RAM - 3200MHZ DDR4
500GB NVM2e SSD, with a spare slot that I plan to fill
Nvidia RTX3060 Laptop with 6GB GDDR6 (Ampere)
1080p, 144hz display
Windows 10 .
It'll run DCS at near max settings so long as Antialiasing is left at 2x and anisotropic filtering is left off. I haven't tried much else until I get a bigger drive for it. I expect this will last another decade or so in service.
It's new and already has dust.
In ten years, I expect to have the same bloody laptop, held together by zipties. Lets see how long it lasts in the Mad Max apocalypse.
~1992 Amiga 500
It had a Processor
It had RAM
It had no way of storing programs on it - except for the Floppy Drive
It could speak. It could paint. It played Stunt Car Racer, Thomas the Tank Engine, Advanced Destroyer Simulator, Bart Versus the Space Mutants, Captain Planet, Formula One, and Fighter Bomber among others. It had 3D Graphics.
Long gone. I still miss it.
Gateway desktop thing
AMD Athlon -
128MB of RAM
Nvidia GPU of some description
9GB HDD
-Windows 98 SE
-Was dismantled 10 years ago and scrapped
-The HDD still exists. The keyboard off it was in regular use until it got tea'd for the final time 2 years ago.
What was bought for me in 2005
Toshiba Satellite Pro-L10
Intel Pentium M - 1.6ghz
256Mb of 266Mhz DDR RAM - upgraded to 1GB.
Dedicated intel graphics.
40GB HDD
Started with Windows XP-pro, was upgraded to Windows 7 - and spent a lot of time running Xubuntu linux. 256MB of RAM was shit
It couldn't play games - 3d performance was so shit that it took a whole second to render a frame of a screensaver
Still intact. Hasn't been booted in a while
I found a /b/ folder from this machine still living in my current backup when I migrated to the last thing. Also - a lot of music I ripped on this I still have the 'same' files.
We first got Diallup with this machine. I started college on this thing and failed 2nd year because of it.
What I used in work in 2007 and took home as scrap.
IBM Thinkpad X20
Intel Pentium 3 -- 600Mhz (I think)
192Mb RAM -- likely DDR
30GB HDD
It included a dock-station with a floppy drive and CD drive
It ran Xubuntu. It was light and portable. It was killed by tea.
What I bought in 2008
Dell XPSM 1530
Intel Core2Duo, T9300 - 2.4ghz I think. Penryn
4GB RAM - 667mhz DDR2
Nvidia 8600GT with 256mb GDDR3 RAM (G84M)
320GB HDD
1440x900 display
Still intact - hasn't been booted in a while but did boot properly last time. The display is fucked due to a broken switch - it's stuck off.
It could not play DCS. It barely played STALKER. It did play Left4Dead. It also ran Linux for a lot of its life. The GPU liked to cook itself.
We first got 'broadband' with this machine. And actual Wifi. I finished college on this thing.
What I bought in 2013.
MSI GE70
Intel Corei7 3610qm - Ivy Bridge
8GB RAM - 1333mhz DDR3
Nvidia GT650M with 2GB GDDR5 RAM (Kepler?)
500GB Hdd - which died 3 times
1080p display
It played STALKER, Borderlands, War Thunder, Metro 2033, and Autocad. It ran Windows 7 -> 10
Still 'intact'. The case is held together by zip-ties. The keyboard is fucked, the webcam and mic are fucked, all the USB ports like to short out every now and then, the fan rattles and the PSU puts out radio noise and runs dangerously hot. Still boots on a new battery happily.
What I built in 2014 as a Media centre
AMD A10, 7700k 3.4ghz (Kaveri)
8GB RAM - 2400mhz DDR3
256GB SSD, + 1TB from a NAS and the 320GB drive from the XPS
It played Crysis. Slowly. It played Borderlands the Pre-Sequel. It also handled War Thunder. It runs Window 8 ->10. It also briefly and inadvertently ran a Xubuntu install off the XPS' harddrive without flinching.
It still runs. It doesn't do much work.
What I bought last month
ASUS TUF A15
AMD Ryzen7 5800h (Zen 3)
16GB RAM - 3200MHZ DDR4
500GB NVM2e SSD, with a spare slot that I plan to fill
Nvidia RTX3060 Laptop with 6GB GDDR6 (Ampere)
1080p, 144hz display
Windows 10 .
It'll run DCS at near max settings so long as Antialiasing is left at 2x and anisotropic filtering is left off. I haven't tried much else until I get a bigger drive for it. I expect this will last another decade or so in service.
It's new and already has dust.
In ten years, I expect to have the same bloody laptop, held together by zipties. Lets see how long it lasts in the Mad Max apocalypse.
I love the smell of rotaries in the morning. You know one time, I got to work early, before the rush hour. I walked through the empty carpark, I didn't see one bloody Prius or Golf. And that smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole carpark, smelled like.... ....speed.
One day they're going to ban them.