After the previous posts about my technology falling behind, I started thinking creatively, mostly because I cannot even think of affording the obvious solution, buying replacements, for a while yet.
Quick recap – Windows computer needs help, as it’s performance is hurting a little. Mac computer is desperately low on space and is now obsolete.
For the Windows computer, three things made me think of getting a new computer: I really need more storage, more RAM, and an upgraded video card. Of those three things, the RAM is the only item that can only be fixed with buying hardware – more RAM, and I cannot find $750 (possibly plus ~20%/minus ~5% depending on moon phase or the position of Uranus in various constellations.
More storage has already been applied with two 2TB external SSDs, but that could be resolved by adding another external SSD, as I have two more USB 3.0 ports available, or even adding one that is more than 2TB, transferring everything from one or both other drives over to the newest drive, and then decommissioning the old drive(s).
Still kinda spendy, but not $700+ spendy, unless I choose a 8TB external SSD drive. Going from 2TB to 8TB is a huge jump, tho’, so that craziness isn’t required or seriously considered. But 4TB is looking fairly good.
The video option has been a little more interesting. Because I have multiple USB 3.0 ports and two USB 4.0 ports, I could get an external GPU/Video card housing.
This is not necessarily a cheap option. But it could be an amazing option.
Most external housings are between $100 and $200 and do not include the GPU/video card or the power supply. The power supplies supported are typical ATX, and should be sized for the desired video card, so generally run between $60 and $100. This isn’t where it gets expensive, not yet.
The video cards are where it gets expensive, because of the AI Data Center madness. MSRPs are not even suggestions anymore, they are wishes made into the darkness. A $500 MSRP card is currently running between $550 and $750, again, dependent on the moon phase and astrological conditions.
BUT – the external housing would free up the RAM used by the internal GPU, so the video card could be less-than-top-of-the-line and still improve things greatly. So this is more of a possibility.
To free up 6GB of RAM and get a better video system? 6GB isn’t huge, but it is a bit back into the general pool.
I need to do more reading on how well external GPUs/Video Cards work when they functionally replace the built-in GPUs for mini computers.
The Mac computer is a bit more thorny. Since the previous posts and beginning this mental journey, Apple announced new things and tweaked some other things.
So, while the computer didn’t magically become un-obsolete, the replacement computer has remained the same. But, I could possibly replace the internal SSD used as the main system drive – I just need to use the existing system installation to download the system installer for a new blank drive. (The new blank drive won’t have a system rescue partition to recover from, and it’s unclear if I could use just Internet Recovery to install Mac OS onto the new drive without having a bootable USB drive.)
Boiled down – I need to clear enough space to download the OS installer so I can use that installer to create a bootable USB drive, but I’m running out of things I can safely delete to get enough space to do that.
Even using external drives.
It’s mostly because I purchased this computer with 256GB drive, and it’s just been the same old drive for all these years, and it’s been running so well for all this time I never thought to create a bootable USB drive to be able to wipe the drive and reinstall the OS, if only to clear out the garbage files that just linger over time.
I think I have some ideas about uninstalling apps previously moved to external drives, but I’m not sure how that will clear enough space. I need to clear at least 10GB, possibly more. And every movable app that could be moved to an external SSD has been moved to an external SSD.
Another idea is to keep running it as-is and start making “payments” to my savings account like I’m financing the computer through Apple – $200/month for a year.
I mean, it is still completely functional as an Internet machine, also as an Entertainment system.
The hypothetical Linux computer is just kinda put off. I cannot afford a new computer right now, at least not one that isn’t less-powered than the two I currently have.
But I have been thinking that if I can get a new Mac, I could re-purpose the old Mac (after migrating as much as possible over to the new one) as a Linux computer – since it is Intel architecture.
And since the Linux computer would be used internally as a cross-platform bridge, it doesn’t need to have the latest and greatest, it just needs to be about as strong as what I have now.
So, plans are being sketched out and revised as I catch up on hardware offering and work out what that means in dollars.
Thanks for reading! Please keep on keeping on, it’s hard work but it’s rewarding, and what I’m doing.
Skåll!!!
Update:
I found an abandoned Google Drive folder on the Mac that wasn’t synced, just sitting as local files. Over the past three hours I’ve verified that making changes to that folder and files within that folder did not update Google Drive, while making the same changes to the same files available through the Google Drive app did sync over, so I deleted the folder (as it was at least 16 months behind everything in Google Drive.)
I recovered almost 20GB!
So, I’m going to try downloading the MacOS installer and making the emergency bootable USB thumbdrive, so I can wipe the drive clean and reinstall MacOS.
I don’t know what discombobulates me more – that Google Drive just orphaned that much data on my system drive without a clear indication that it was orphaned, in a hidden location that I’ve been idly trying to find for the past year, OR that I finally found a massive pile of files that I was only quasi-convinced existed, and after searching for a year I was seriously doubting even existed.
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