[My face!] Nicholas Tay

Grad SRE @ IMC Trading | CS/Comm Grad @ Monash Uni

Computer Setups

Contents

At the moment, I frequently use a desktop, 2 laptops and a ‘server’ (of sorts). I’ll list them based on the hostnames I gave them… there’s a story behind each of them usually, but I’ll keep them to myself :)

With regards to the laptops, I primarily use the X230.

Desktops

angel

My current, main computer I use when at home. Recently built: January 2021.

  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600AF
  • MOBO: MSI X470 GAMING PLUS MAX
  • RAM: 16GB(2x8) Patriot Viper DDR4-3200 CL16 RGB White
  • GPU: ASUS NVIDIA GTX 980 STRIX 4GB
  • SSD: Samsung 970 EVO 500GB M.2 NVMe
  • HDD: Seagate Desktop SSHD 2TB 3.5" (64MB Cache) [moved over from ‘dream']
  • PSU: be quiet! Pure Power 11 600W CM 80 PLUS Gold
  • CASE: InWin 101 Mid Tower ATX White
  • FAN: 3x InWin Sirius Pure ASP120 White ARGB

Accessories include:

  • MONITOR: Xiaomi Mi Curved Gaming Monitor 34" 144hz WQHD 21:9
  • MONITOR2: LG Flatron E2251T-BN 21.5" 60hz FHD 16:9
  • MOUSE: Logitech MX Vertical (for productivity)
  • MOUSE2: Microsoft Pro IntelliMouse @ 1550DPI (for gaming)
  • KEYBOARD: Keebio Iris Rev. 4 (self-built; Gateron Yellow) (for productivity)
  • KEYBOARD2: Cooler Master Quick Fire XT (Cherry MX Red) (for gaming)
  • EARPHONES: KZ ZSN PRO Purple (without mic)
  • SPEAKER: Sony SRS-X3
  • TABLET: Wacom Intuos Pen Small CTL-480 (previously for osu!)

Other details:

  • OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Education (from uni)
    • I’d rather use Linux, but I use this desktop to play games too, ha…
    • Education edition is actually quite nice as it doesn’t come with the garbage like Candy Crush and Cortana

Laptops

reflect

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 (purchased secondhand: Jun 2022)

  • CPU: Intel Core i5-7200U
  • RAM: 8GB
  • SSD: 256GB NVMe

Other details:

  • OS: Fedora Linux (KDE spin + sway)
  • Had macOS on here at one point with OpenCore but performance kinda sucked, drained battery a lot and I couldn’t be stuffed tuning it lol

stars

Lenovo ThinkPad X230 (purchased secondhand: May 2019)

  • CPU: Intel Core i5-3320M
  • RAM: 8GB
  • SSD: 120GB

Other details:

  • OS: Fedora Linux (i3 spin)
  • Keyboard modded to X220 Classic 7-Row Keyboard

mocha

Apple MacBook Air, Mid-2011 (purchased new: ~2011, by family)

  • CPU: Intel Core i5-2557M
  • RAM: 4GB
  • SSD: 120GB

Other details:

  • OS: macOS Mojave 10.14.6 (see my post for more details)
  • Surprisingly works pretty damn well still in 2021
    • 2022 update: for some reason the fans spin up so dang often, and it frequently just chugs along… :(
    • Maybe I’ll try reverting to High Sierra to see if it works better some time.

Servers

(“servers” lol)

dream (aka breeze)

My previous main desktop, serving me since 2012 (when I built it as my first desktop!), and upgraded through the years.

Now being used as my primary homelab VM and container (LXC) setup. Has its own VM router with OPNsense.

It was called ‘breeze’ when before ‘angel’ was built, then when I switched it over to a VM host, I renamed it to ‘dream’.

  • CPU: Intel Core i5-4590
    • Previously (to ~2015): AMD A10-5800K
  • MOBO: MSI Z97 Gaming 3 ATX
    • Previously (to ~2015): ASUS F2A85-M Micro ATX FM2
  • RAM: 16GB(2x8GB) Patriot Viper 3 DDR3-1866
  • GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 2GB (acquired ~2014)
  • SSD: OCZ Agility 3 240GB 2.5" SATA
    • Previous HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM (died ~2016)
  • PCI: Intel 82541PI Gigabit NIC (for switch/WiFi AP homelab testing; acquired 2020)
  • PCIe: Realtek RTL810xE Fast Ethernet NIC (100Mbit; spare management interface; acquired 2021)
  • CASE: Thermaltake Versa II ATX Mid Tower

Other details

  • OS: Proxmox VE 6.3
    • Previously (to ~2014): Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro
    • Previously (to 2021): Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
  • Previous MONITOR2: LG Flatron L1510T 15" 4:3
    • I know, this is just here for fun

bubble

Small, low power box I can have in the corner, and is my alternative to a RPi.

Acer Chromebox CXI2

  • CPU: Intel Celeron 3205U
  • RAM: 4GB
  • SSD: 16GB
  • HDD(USB3): Seagate Expansion Desktop 4TB

Other details

  • OS: Debian 10 buster
  • In the process of migrating almost everything to the hypervisor

Older accessories

I don’t use these that often, sometimes maybe I take them around if needed, or they are my older gear.

  • KEYBOARD: Obins Anne Pro (Cherry MX Brown) [small 60% keyboard]
  • MOUSE: Logitech G400S @ 850DPI [old gaming mouse]