Help me cook up a "Stone Soup" PC for a local Veteran!

[Draco1962]

Most of you know I’m a bit of a tech enthusiast. Lately, I’ve been considering the "e-waste" sitting in closets, offices, and garages — perfectly good hardware that’s one upgrade away from being useful again — and I want to do something about it.

I’m starting a project to refurbish hardware to keep it out of landfills, but I want the first build to be special. I’m calling it the Veteran Stone Soup PC.

The Goal

In the old folk tale, a traveler starts with a pot of water and a stone, and the community adds a carrot here or a potato there until they have a feast. I’m providing the "pot" (the labor, data sanitization, and OS setup), and I’m looking for the "ingredients" to build a solid machine for a local Veteran who needs a reliable PC for social media and light gaming.

The Pot — I’m providing the labor, including:

• Component testing
• Assembly
• Storage data sanitization
• OS license & misc odds & ends purchases
• Drivers and fine-tuning

What We Need (The Ingredients) — Do you have any of these gathering dust?

The Broth

• An older PC tower or office workstation (Dell Optiplex, HP EliteDesk, or chassis from a pre-built PC, etc. — ATX preferred due to potential GPU length constraints)
• Intel Core 12th/13th/14th Gen (LGA 1700 socket) with B660/B760 motherboards, or AMD Ryzen 5000/7000/9000 series (AM4/AM5 socket) with B550/B650 motherboards — to support Windows 11 64-bit compatibility due to UEFI secure boot and TPM version 2.0 requirement for future-proofing

The Seasoning

• GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) — GTX 10-series or newer, or AMD Radeon RX 580 or newer
• Case Fans120mm and 140mm fans — non-ARGB is perfectly fine and preferred!
• CPU Cooling — Intel or AMD compatible fan coolers or working AIOs

The Hearty Bits

• DDR4 RAM sticks (any size)
• SSDs (Solid State Drives) — 2.5” or NVME/m.2 256GB capacity or higher
• HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) — 3.5” 512 GB larger for storage
• PSUs (power supply units)* — 500W or higher. *If modular, please include all cables!

The Garnish

• Mechanical or wireless keyboards & mice — if wireless, please include dongle
• Xbox or similar compatible controllers in good condition
• External speakers or sound bars — with or without subwoofer
• Monitors (with HDMI and/or Display Port) — most of what I have are older office-grade with DVI-D and/or VGA ports only. 

Why donate to this project? 3 good reasons:

1. Support a Hero: Once the "Soup" is ready, this PC will go directly to a local Veteran to help them stay connected and decompress with some gaming. Video games can help Veterans recover from mental health challenges.
2. Eco-Friendly: We’re extending the lifecycle of silicon and keeping heavy metals out of the soil.
3. Data Security: With my IT background, I personally guarantee a "scorched earth" data wipe on any drive donated, or I will physically destroy the platters if they’re non-functional.

FAQ

Do you have some "ingredients" to spare but you are not local to me in the Jacksonville, Florida area?

•  DM or email me at [email protected] with your hardware details and for shipping address.!

What happens to hardware that doesn't go into this build?

• Any hardware that doesn't fit this specific build. I’ll refurbish it for inclusion with or for sale to fund future community builds.

I have older hardware that is compatible with DDR3 RAM that I would like to donate. Is this acceptable?

• DDR3 RAM and compatible systems/parts made within the last 10 years are acceptable, as I am considering for retro builds for sale or donation. DM or email me at [email protected] with your hardware details and for shipping address.

Why not Laptops?

• Laptops are being considered for future donations, with preference for good working order, including charging cables & bricks. They do take more time to clean up and reconfigure and are more expensive to replace broken or malfunctioning parts, such as batteries, drives, RAM, missing or inoperative power supplies, etc. Below is a “wish list” for the future:
•  
  • Lenovo ThinkPad T480 / T490 / T14 (Gen 1 & 2): Often considered the gold standard for repairability. They feature DDR4 RAM, hot-swappable batteries (on some), and easy access to internals.
  • Dell Latitude 5490 / 5400 / 5420 / 5520: These 8th to 11th gen models are widely available, have standard Phillips-head screw access, and often have dual RAM slots.
  • HP EliteBook 840 G5 / G6 / G8: Known for durable chassis, easy access to components, and standard repair paths.
  • Acer TravelMate P4 / P6: Recommended for having two SODIMM RAM slots, swappable Wi-Fi modules, and accessible M.2 SSDs.

• I will consider any working laptops built within the last 10 years in good working order with chargers, working battery, and good display. DM or email me at [email protected] with your hardware details and for shipping address.

 

Let's see what we can cook up!

 

 

[Draco1962]

A shareable PDF for the project.

Veteran Stone Soup PC.pdf

[ClassicGMR]

I have a 1650 or 1660ti here somewhere. I *think* it’s a 1660ti. In’nerested?

[Draco1962]

12 minutes ago, ClassicGMR said:

I have a 1650 or 1660ti here somewhere. I *think* it’s a 1660ti. In’nerested?

Yes and thank you! I've been going through my own stash(es) sorting through cables, WiFi adapters, keyboards and mice.

Monitors. Too damned many - most are office grade with DVI-D and VGA, but no Display Port or HDMI. Some will complete a build or two.

Some stuff is heading to a hazardous & e-waste event in a month or two - about time according to my wife. 

[ClassicGMR]

Well I’m under 33” of snow up here in RI but if you shoot me your details I should be able to send to you by the week’s end? 

[Draco1962]

DM sent. No need to hurry. I anticipate that this will take a while to complete but will be worth the effort!

[Draco1962]

UPDATE: I may have landed a Thermaltake V200 Tempered Glass Edition Mid-Tower Computer Chassis.

Given the paucity of DDR4-based systems and doubling of RAM & storage, I may scale back to a higher-end DDR3 system with Windows 10 IoT Enterprise which will receive essential security updates through 2032. They are still viable systems for most games and definitely fit in the realm of daily driver with light to moderate gaming. Your thoughts?

Stay tuned...

[ClassicGMR]

I mean... from the standpoint of building PCs for people that do not have one that is functional then absolutely there is nothing wrong with backing down to DDR3 if needed. There are quite a few games and productivity software out there that won't care the platform is dated. It still works and works well.

 

EDIT: As a side thought though... drivers may no longer have W10 support. Also anything before GTX10XX are no longer supported correct?

[Draco1962]

18 hours ago, ClassicGMR said:

As a side thought though... drivers may no longer have W10 support. Also anything before GTX10XX are no longer supported correct?

Per Gemini AI: NVIDIA supports GeForce GTX 10-series GPUs on Windows 10 with driver updates, including Game Ready drivers, until October 2026. While major optimizations for new games may cease sooner, critical security and stability updates will continue until that date, despite Windows 10 itself approaching end-of-life. 

• • Driver Availability: Current drivers can be downloaded from NVIDIA's official website (https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/drivers/) or the NVIDIA App. 
• • Support Timeline: Regular, frequent game-ready updates are expected to transition to quarterly updates, with full support ending in October 2026. 
• • Performance: While the cards remain functional, they may not receive performance optimizations for the newest, most demanding titles as they approach end-of-life. 
• • Recommendation: Keep your drivers updated to the latest available version (e.g., 353.30 or newer) to ensure maximum compatibility. [2, 3, 4, 5, 6]  

The GTX 10-series (Pascal architecture) has been well-supported, but after 2026, users should anticipate reduced support for new features. [3]  

Note that AI responses may include mistakes.

[1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/07/nvidia-announces-end-of-gpu-driver-updates-for-geforce-10-series-windows-10/

[2] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kAeBtGpkXzE

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfM31zjlIR8

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7sLJlRMMU0

[5] https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/drivers/

[6] https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/details/86510/

 

Sorry you asked, yet? But wait - there's more AI blah blah blah for you!

NVIDIA’s driver support for GPUs before the GTX 10‑series (Pascal) is now split into two categories:

• legacy “frozen” feature support
• limited security‑only support, depending on the architecture.

The key point is that no pre‑Pascal GPU receives Game Ready feature updates anymore, and several older architectures are now on long‑term legacy branches.

🧩 Where support stands today (pre‑GTX 10xx) — Kepler (GTX 600 / 700 series) — Fully legacy

Kepler desktop and mobile GPUs are now maintained only through Legacy GPU drivers, not the mainline unified driver.
NVIDIA explicitly classifies these as Legacy GPUs that receive only periodic compatibility updates for Linux components (kernel, X.org) but no new features or optimizations. Nvidia

On Windows, Kepler support ended earlier, and these GPUs no longer receive Game Ready updates.

---

🧱 Maxwell (GTX 750 / 750 Ti / 900 series) — Feature support ended

Maxwell is newer than Kepler but still pre‑Pascal, and NVIDIA has officially ended Game Ready Driver support for Maxwell GPUs as of October 2025.
After that date, Maxwell receives security updates only, delivered quarterly until October 2028. Techweez

This includes cards like:

• GTX 750 / 750 Ti
• GTX 950 / 960 / 970 / 980 / 980 Ti
• Titan X (Maxwell)

🧱 Pre‑Kepler (Fermi, Tesla, older Quadro) — Long retired

These architectures were moved to legacy branches years ago and no longer receive updates beyond occasional Linux compatibility patches. They are effectively end‑of‑life.

---

🧩 How NVIDIA organizes legacy support

NVIDIA maintains several Legacy GPU driver branches, each tied to a specific generation.
These branches receive:

• Kernel/X.org compatibility updates (Linux only)
• No new features
• No Game Ready optimizations
• No Windows feature updates

The 470.xx branch is one example, covering many Kepler GPUs. Nvidia

---

🕒 Current driver lifecycle context

NVIDIA’s driver lifecycle table shows that older branches (R550, R545, R535, etc.) have already ended active support, with only LTSB branches receiving extended security updates. endoflife.date
This aligns with the broader trend: pre‑Pascal hardware is aging out of active support entirely.

---

📌 Summary by architecture (pre‑GTX 10xx)

Architecture	Example GPUs	Current Status
Maxwell	GTX 750/750 Ti, GTX 900 series	Game Ready support ended Oct 2025; security updates until Oct 2028
Kepler	GTX 600/700 series	Fully legacy; no Game Ready support; limited Linux compatibility updates
Fermi & older	GTX 400/500 series	End‑of‑life; legacy only, minimal maintenance

---

🧭 What this means for your builds (mine specifically but good info)

Given your interest in retro‑modern builds and balanced GPU/CPU pairing, this support landscape matters:

• GTX 660 / 760 / 780 (Kepler) → Legacy only; still fine for retro gaming but not ideal for modern OSes or drivers.
• GTX 960 / 970 / 980 (Maxwell) → Still viable, but feature support has ended; security updates continue through 2028.
• GTX 1060 / 1070 / 1080 (Pascal) → First generation still receiving Game Ready updates until October 2025, then security‑only.

The key point is that no pre‑Pascal GPU receives Game Ready feature updates anymore, and several older architectures are now on long‑term legacy branches.

---

So there you have it!