I Tried 10 Year Old Tech

- After 10 years, how usable is tech from 2016 really? Did it crash? Between phones, consoles, laptops, and, yes, even a gaming PC, let's put it to the test. Now, when it comes to a gaming PC, the average system from 2016 was very different compared to today. We're gonna go all the way back a full 10 years to 2016 with this, the most popular gaming PC from the Valve Hardware Survey in 2016. So when I say that this is the most popular gaming PC for 2016, I mean that it is a little bit on the older side. We thought, initially, about setting this thing up as like an actual full 2016 spec, but the thing is we wanted to find the average setup, which was, in reality, a few years old at the point of 2016, right? So what we have done is we have tried to build this to the closest possible spec. So we are using a Core i3-2120 from the year 2011, which does still run Windows 10, no problem. It is a dual-core chip. This one actually boosts a little higher. This is a 3.3 gigahertz chip. We also have a Radeon HD 7790 from the year 2013 with a whopping one gigabyte of video memory. It's actually not terrible when it comes to just like regular like web browsing and stuff. So Alex, do you wanna walk us through (Alex laughs) how you chose to put a 240-millimeter AIO that only has one fan spinning. - Ah, well, no. - On a system like this? - [Alex] Apparently, we just did not have any AIOs that fit that particular socket, and I had to kind of pick and choose. - But we're gonna try a couple games, starting out with GTA V. Now, this is a game that is very much 2016 coded. I remember, especially back in like 2013 to 2016, that was like really the prime era for me making PC content, and GTA V was one of the more demanding games at the time. Ooh, uh-oh. Uh-oh, that don't look good, uh-oh. - Oh, oh, hey, oh. (Austin laughs) - We have specifically not running this ahead of time because we wanted to get that real authentic experience of maybe it doesn't... Whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, we're gonna play at 720p. Oh, yeah, look at that. We immediately maxed out the memory. The amount of hours I spent in the GTA V Benchmark, I cannot understate. I close my eyes, and I can see it clearly. We're running through the Vinewood sign. We're about to go fly in the jet. We are getting decent frame rate though. That's in the 40s. Can you hear how loud it is? (fan whirs) (Austin sniffs) You know what? I have not played GTA V on such low settings a long time. It looks like balls. (both laugh) - [Alex] How often are you riding a jet in GTA V? - As often as possible. Here comes the explosion, is everybody ready? Boom! That was actually not as dramatic as I remember it being. GTA V, I think, gets a pass, but we got to play something just a little bit more modern after we wait for it to restart, because there's no choice. You have to wait for it. Next, let's try CS2. If we're playing like CS:GO, it would run on this. CS:GO would run on an actual potato. CS2 is not exactly a graphically demanding game, but it is not as easy to run, but this is probably the most practical example of a game that you might want to play today. That normally doesn't sit there for that long. - [Alex] Yeah. - Oh, no. Oh, no! (laughs) I've never seen it take that long. For optimal gameplay experience, update your graphics driver. What is the minimum spec for CS2? - [Alex] We should clear it. - [Austin] Really? - [Alex] Oh, wait, ooh, oh no. - (laughs) I go like, I'm saying cap right now. - [Alex] A quad core i5-750. - So that's a generation older. - [Alex] Eight gigs of RAM, which is what we have. - Not bad, and GPU is... - [Alex] Oh, dang. Radeon 7850. (buzzer beeps) - 7790, okay. This is actually surprisingly close, 'cause those minimum specs are potato quality. We're just one step... What's a spud? That's 720p? (upbeat music) How is it that it looks the same with and without my glasses now? When we turn everything to low, low. Oh. The game might be over by the time we finish compiling shaders. Oh, whoa, oh, oh. - Whoa, oh, actually, okay, that's not the absolute worst. (Austin groans) Oh, oh, okay, nevermind, nevermind, nevermind. I take it all back. We've made a grave error. Oh, oh, oh, oh, no, oh, no. - Why flash bang me? I can't see anything anyway. I think what we're running into is a CPU bottleneck, because when it's running smoothly, it's actually not terrible. Like this is kind of playable-ish, but when it stutters, it just freezes for like a second or two at a time. Oh, my god, I didn't kill anybody, but I didn't immediately lose. That's not playable. I'm just going to say that that is not it. Compared to most other 2016 tech, a gaming PC actually has a big advantage. You can upgrade it with newer, more powerful hardware that is still way, way cheaper than anything you buy new today. He said before he opened up eBay and found out how wrong he really was. (gentle music) So I have got my good buddy, Matt. Well, I don't say good buddy. My acquaintance, Matt, here to give me a hand. - I've met him like twice. What are we playing? What were you playing? - You know what? Well, we have a selection of games. So this is the same PC. We tried to upgrade this to the kind of spec you could today because, obviously, original old school components. - Yeah. - Only can go so far. - Sure. - So we upgraded to the best CPU we could fit in here, which is a 3770K, a Core i7. - Okay. - And for the GPU, we tried to opt for something that would be somewhat reasonable. We have a GTX 1660 inside for the GPU. - Which came out in like 2020 or something? It came out 2020. - 2020, okay, we got CS2, GTA V, Overwatch, your pick. (crickets chirp) - [Alex] Do you want to download WoW on it? - GTA V is the only one I've played... Like the only time... You can count how many times I've played CS:GO. - Yeah, you're bad. - [Matt] This is loading really fast. - [Austin] It's a old system. - Okay, this black screen is running at 60 FPS. - Give it a minute. (Adriana laughs) - 100 hertz. See, I know how to do things. - [Alex] I've always believed in you, Matt. - [Austin] Okay, let's not go that far. Oh, it's immediately in the 60s and the 70s. - [Matt] Yeah. We hit 100. - Yeah, this is like completely playable, right? Everyone knows that if you buy a new system, it's going to be better, like of course, but that's not the question we're trying to answer. In the case of this, we're playing an older game, GTA V. This new hardware between the CPU and the GPU is a very impressive 100 FPS as we're flying through. Like it looks better. It plays smoother. The flip side though is that if you try to load some very modern AAA style games, you're going to have a bad time. - [Matt] Well, but, also, like if someone is selling this on Craigslist, Facebook, like this is a system. - It's a usable system. - We're probably all in like maybe $120, $130 in upgrades? - I mean, that's what, like $250, $300 all in? - Oh probably less. Broom, get in there! - Oh, wait, no. - Wait, why is there a... Wait, was there a bunch of Christmas stuff in there? - Yeah, it's in there. - Since when is there - It's always been in winter. - Those weren't there before. - They were. - Yeah, just like how "Die Hard" is a Christmas movie. - Did you just turn on RTX or something? - No. - He's going, he's going! - [Adriana] No, cause they leave and it's all snowy. - God (quacks) it, Matt! I think it's pretty safe to say that our 2016 gaming PC, not amazing in 2026, but you throw a few dollars in upgrades, and it is still usable. - My only thing I'm going to say is meh is USB 2. - Yeah, if you really want to get sexy with it. - Sorry, what? - You can get a USB 3. - PCI. You get your hat out of here. - My ladies. (arcade music) - The iPhone 6s, technically, was from the end of 2015, but I think about this as one of the last great old school iPhones. You still had the headphone jack. You had the physical home button, and I got to say this hardware actually still feels really nice. I'm a sucker for smaller phones, although I will say that this is a little bit small with the giant white bezels, but I have a lot of fond memories. This was back when you really had to go and like stand outside in line for the Apple Store. Like it felt like it was a bigger moment when an iPhone came out, especially when they started bending in half. That was great. I'll pull up the video I did on the iPhone 6s. Oh, did the YouTube app crash? - [Alex] (laughs) No. - This is back when I did two-minute videos. I did a two-minute video on how fast the iPhone 6s is. - [Alex] Dang, can we start doing two-minute videos now? - [Austin] 6s Plus side by side with the 6 Plus and not much has changed. It is noticeably heavier. It was such a pain to shoot this video. Look, it's baby Jud. Actually, we were all babies back then. I got a lot of fond memories about the iPhone 6s. - [Alex] Yeah, well, what about playing games on it? I have loaded a few of the most popular games from 2016 on there. Pokemon GO! - Yeah, the summer of Pokemon GO, baby. - Does it work? Oh, well, it's asking me for my date of birth. - [Alex] Oh, well. - I gotta scroll a long way to find that one. So this iPhone 6s, even though it's running iOS 15, technically, still supports Pokemon GO. Okay, we're in. Where the hell are my Pokemens? - [Alex] Yeah, the downside about showing this is that you have to actually walk around. Hey, you wanna walk around? - No, I don't, but I'm gonna catch this Natu. Oh, God, that's really hard. Yeah, I did it! Does anyone even still play Pokemon GO? - Yes! - Like for real? Like actually though? - [Adriana] He's obsessed. - Slither.io, oh, dude, I haven't played this forever. I got to run away, because... Oh, oh, no, no, no. Dude, I have not played this in so... (groans) This is great. I feel good about the iPhone 6s, but here's the question. Is it still usable in 2026? - Uh... - No, no, the end. The issue is that not only are you missing a lot of the creature comforts, like a nicer camera and whatnot, but you are really, really insecure, and I think that you should not be using a phone that no longer gets security updates. That's just sort of my opinion. It is hard to talk about 2016 without discussing the PlayStation 4. So it came out in 2013, but by 2016, not only was this the year that the PS4 Pro launched, but, also, this is when the PS4 Slim came out, and a lot of great games, such as DOOM 2016, came out. I also like the fact that our copy came from GameStop, which also feels very 2016. I actually did a very extensive video all about using both the PS4 and the Pro in 2026, very recently. So if you want, you can go check that video out, but the TL;DR is the PS4 actually still holds up pretty well. Most new games have dropped support, but not only is there obviously a huge library of older titles, but, also, a lot of live service games, such as Fortnite, actually play no problem. Oh, right, yes. - What? - We just got to install 12 gigs from the disc. So while I slowly and patiently wait for DOOM to install on the PS4, some of the reasons why you actually might want to pick up a PS4 really come down to value. Especially if you're open to a launch model of the PS4, you can pick them up for less than $100. Other things the PS4 still does pretty well, the Blu-ray player, and, also, it is possible to jailbreak PS4s. You know, if this was an Xbox One, it's a little bit of a tougher sell. It feels like a lot of titles have rolled off support faster than they have for the PS4. I totally agree that I'm old enough to play this game. I haven't played in a minute, but like when this game came out, it was like, "Damn, these new consoles are fricking sick." You know what really makes this game stand out is the bokeh. The bokeh looks so good in this. Demonic invasion in progress, status report. What do I do? I haven't played this a long time. - [Adriana] I think you probably put that really ominous suit on. - Oh, yeah, yeah, I probably should, yeah. Hey, what the hell? Oh, did it crash? It did. Oh, no, don't! Classic 2016. (duck quacks) Oh, look, I think it's pretty clear. 2016 was a great year for gaming, and I would argue the PS4 probably holds up better than the PC of the equivalent era just because games were actually optimized for this hardware. Really, a whole decade of games were designed specifically to handle the PS4. Hell, yeah, PS4. So hot, ow, I shouldn't have touched it. When I think 2016, I don't... (transition rewinds) Cause I get sad. - You don't... - So when it comes to a 2016 laptop, let me present to you with the Razer Blade Stealth. This was a laptop that was ahead of its time in some ways, but a piece of garbage in most others. So this is back when Razer were really, really trying to be the Apple of gaming laptops. It pretty much looks like a black MacBook, right? The idea was you could use this with Thunderbolt to plug it into an external GPU, and, therefore, get yourself a docked setup, and you could play all the games you wanted, and you unplug it and you have an actual nice little laptop that you could walk around and use all day as a regular device. Alex, how the hell did you get Windows 11 on this? I actually didn't think Windows 11 supported the Blade. - [Alex] It came with it, I don't know. - Oh, you know what? That's a great point to mention. This is not my original Razer Blade Stealth. My original Razer Blade Stealth, the battery ballooned and exploded. Also, it smells like burning dust. Now, you might notice. I'm not doing a lot with this laptop. This is, I would say, a little bit too slow to do anything besides super basic web browsing. There's also another option if you're running 2016 hardware, which is a MacBook. - [Alex] What? - This is a 2016 13-inch MacBook Pro. So as you can see from the screen, we have done some slight modifications to it, but this was the very first time that Apple had fully redesigned the MacBook in years, and it was a radical departure. This has four Thunderbolt 3 ports. It has no USB-A, no HDMI. While the hardware was and still is pretty nice, it had some limitations. Behold, my friends, the butterfly keyboard. This butterfly keyboard was one of the least reliable keyboards in any laptop of all time. A crumb of dust got in and stuck a key, you basically have to replace half of the laptop. In fact, it's... (transition squelches) Why are there so many bugs in the office, huh? These laptops are just about good enough to be very, very basic laptops. The problem though is that they're not gonna do much more than that, and I know this because I've actually spent a lot of time over the last year or so trying older laptops. If you want an up-to-date operating system, Linux is your best choice. Where do we start here? The Razer Blade... - [Alex] I dare you to game on it. (laughs) - This laptop is gonna fall apart and stop working in 30 seconds. Oh, my god, what? Is that how many seconds per frame is that? Turn everything to balls. I want nothing but balls on my laptop. Can this run Balls Gone Wild? - Um, um... - [Austin] This can run Balls Gone Wild, I think. - What's the worst that that could happen? - [Alex] Death. (transition explodes) - [Austin] Oh, oh, are we in? - [Alex] Did it just crash? - Something exploded. - I think it's crashing. - Oh, oh, no, it crashed out. It literally crashed out, yup. So maybe don't buy yourself a 2016 Razer Blade Stealth. The problem with the MacBook though, this laptop right now, you're probably gonna still spend about 200 bucks on. The issue is that you can buy an M1 MacBook Air, which is Apple Silicon and vastly better, for in the mid 200 range, even up to like 300 bucks, and I'll tell you that spending between 200 and $300 is gonna get you a system which is literally like three or four times more powerful, and that really kind of brings us to... What the hell's the point of this video again? Here's the thing, 2016 was a great year, one of the best years that has happened in the last 10 years. - I don't think that's true. - You know what I just wanna do? I just wanna "Hotline Bling" my way all the way through. - [Alex] Oh, god. - What was your favorite tech of 2016? Are you using anything right now from 2016? Do you still listen to music from 2016? Do you miss 2016 like I do? Let me know in the comments below. Subscribe to the channel, like this video, and let's go back and watch some 2016 Austin videos, which are all two minutes long for some inexplicable reason. (bones creak) You know what, my back would've done that a lot better in 2016, ow.