Old Desktop still useful for rendering video?

[JoeDaCabbie]

I've got a buddy who is a budding YouTuber and is running into a problem with not having enough time to record and render videos in an evening. My landlord gave me an old HP m7664x Media Center PC. I don't know the exact specs yet but it has an AMD dual-core, up to 4 gb DDR2 RAM, and a 600 gb 5400 rpm hard drive. Can this be used as a really poor man's render farm at all, even if it takes 12 hours? Or is this just too old for modern software? I don't want to get his hopes up needlessly.

Thanx!

 

[JalYt_Justin]

I mean, it still COULD do rendering, it's just going to take an abominable amount of time. Unless you're really killing for cash, it would be better to spend <$500 to get a budget rendering PC with one of the new Ryzen APUs, and it would be significantly better.

 

[Karadjgne]

Use it. Free up evenings by letting the dinosaur render overnight.

 

[JoeDaCabbie]

@JalYt_Justin -LOL, I like the guy but I'm saving for my own PC upgrade later this year (that Intel 16 core whispers in my dreams; who needs rent and a car, anyway?)

@Karadjgne -Thanx!

 

[Alabalcho]

The only way to know is to try it - let that old guy do some work, eg rendering 10 minutes or one hour video, time how long it takes, and you'll know what to expect (that is, what it is able to do over 12-hour period).

 

[Karadjgne]

Lol, no problem. I learned the hard way on that. Needed a fresh install of one of my games, so of course I jumped on it after I got home, expecting it to take maybe 20mins. Tied up the pc for 7hrs. I'd forgotten about the dlc's, updates etc and of course the original game files didn't include all that. So next time I need to do something like that, it's hit the button, go to bed, worry about it tomorrow kinda deal.

As long as the pc can physically do the work, time isn't an issue for home users with a hobby. Time management is far more important.