making my 2012 computer better than yours (and the guestimated cost)
Upgraded from Win 10 to Win 11, a thing Microsoft didn't think was possible since it was never meant to get past Win 7. [Upgrade free; the computer was used from a thrift with 10 on it for $25]
Went from 4gb to 16gb RAM... and it is capable of 32gb, but sixteen gigs is still 3x-4x more RAM than I ever actually use at a time. [$50]
I should have done it years ago, but moved Windows from a mechanical drive to the M.2 card -- power-on to desktop went from 2 minutes to 20 seconds. [$30 for the card, transfer software free]
Swapped the 3.1ghz processor for a 3.4ghz. Probably cut a second off of the boot sequence. [$15]
The USB modem was changed from 1300 to 1800. Not just a speed boost but the antenna is better -- went from 2 bars with the bedroom door closed to 5 bars. [$25]
In the three PCI-E x1 slots: I already had a Firewire 300 card [$2] and a USB 3.0 2-port card [$20], and to catch up with modern technology got a USB 3.2 A (1 port) & C (1 port) card [$15] from Temu today.
A bonus on that last item: the other day I picked up a USB-C male to female extention cable at Habitat Re-Store [$5], so the C jack is on the side of the machine with the Amazon Basics A extention's jack [$5].
When my last UPS failed me circa 2018, I walked over to Costco to buy a new one [$100] and it worked great up until a couple weeks ago, when everything would just drop out without a beep when the overhead lights flickered. The 12V batteries were now holding 10V after twelve hours of charging and would somehow lose the charge if powered off for a second. The manual says these batteries are good for five years, so I think I got the lifespan out of them. Crossing fingers that the sudden drops are a battery issue and not a UPS hardware issue; ordered a couple new batteries [$26], received today and installed, and now all is well -- unplugging the UPS now results in beeps without the computer slamming shut, and it reports there are 74 minutes available to shut down the computer elegantly.
Since I don't game, I don't need to fiddle with the vid card / GPU.
Since the core temperature is less than 50°C I don't need a cooler.
I don't know who I'm writing this for but I feel awesome about all this.
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