What To Do About Old PC Hardware...

We've all been there before. You have lots of old PC hardware sitting around and you might want to get rid of it. But should you? Will you regret it? In this video Adam talks to Brad Shoemaker from @Nextlander about this and more.

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[LifeIsButaBluff]

As an old engineer I'm "I'll keep that just in case..." Now with 2 garages full of junk and nowhere to park the car!

[Gryfang]

I used to struggle with this. Then as COVID was kicking off, I put 5 computers together from parts and have them away to good homes. Work from home for some of them depended on having a computer and companies hadn't quite picked up the price tag yet. I still miss my Atari 1200XL

[redslate]

7700K is a beast! Overclockable to 5GHz!
It may have lost some of its appeal when Intel started strapping more cores to their subsequent processors to compete with Ryzen 2+, but Skylake was revolutionary.

Kaby Lake (Skylake II) may have marked Intel's stagnation in the modern market, but it still offered solid CPUs at the time (at a _slightly_ reduced cost if I do recall).

[ElladanKenet]

One thing I've struggled with recently is the need for a Retro PC. There are software, mainly older games, that I just cannot play on my current machine, or if it does, it plays awfully. And no, it's not a case of my memories fooling me, but sometimes less is more, when it comes to optimization.

[bassgoul]

Still using i7 860 build from 2009... Upgraded to the gills with 32gb ram, 2tb ssd, 6700xt and nearly every pci slot filled. Plan on using another couple years at least. Minus a couple avx required new games, runs everything juuust fine

[Keivz]

I don’t miss any of my old pc parts. Consoles, I definitely do. Turbografx 16, Sega Saturn (I had two of them!), even my PS3. Wish I still had those around to fiddle with :(

[Oceanborn]

I generally repurpose old hardware.

I used to have multiple Unraid servers plugged together from old stuff until I combined it all into one big machine that currently has 46TB or storage that consists of ancient HDDs from an era long gone, going back to drives from my old PS3 in 2008. Surprisingly, those old drives actually still work and the only ones that keep dying are the newer ones, although I am slowly replacing them now as they simply have become too small. The next step for this server is waiting for current Threadripper and SSD memory to become cheap enough to replace it all with flash memory.

All my systems tend to boot from ancient SSDs that are too small for actual storage use nowadays. Those 128-256 GB SSDs, no matter if SATA or NVMe, are pretty much perfect as isolated system drives with all the actual stuff on separate drives. Makes reinstalling or switching OS super easy. However, I have to say 128GB is too small by now. Windows keeps producing so much junk from stuff like Windows Update that you're constantly fighting against the "C: is full!!!" messages, cleaning up temp files against an ever growing operating system. Next upgrade rotation I'll get rid of the 128GB ones and maybe put them in an USB encloser to use as USB sticks until they finally die.

However, during the pandemic with crazy prices, I sold off a lot of hardware, most notably graphics cards (and somehow managed to break the Z390 mainboard that used to run my main Unraid so I sold off the 9900K that used to be in there as well). The only old thing I have left from before is a 1050 Ti that I used to use in my server for transcoding videos but eventually replaced with a 3060 for the higher supported NVENC version, which really made a huge difference in file sizes when you have a lot of movies and shows stored. Everything I have here now is AM4 or AM5 and a single LGA 1700 system that's still in pieces waiting for the new Montech KING 95 to be delivered to put it in.

[itprowalters]

Cyrix?! Wow. That’s a name I haven’t heard in years. Takes me back to the days of installing RAM on my Sound Blaster PCI card.

[sc]

I've always ended up having too many of them. I still have my first two PC that I built, one is Pentium 4 and another is Athlon XP. I also have a few LGA775 systems. They are too old, I really don't know what to do with them. The only PC that I miss most and didn't keep is the one bought by my parents. It was a Pentium II with an intel i740 display card. Those slot 1 CPUs are really special

[ragingmonk]

My gaming PC becomes my Linux system once I upgrade. Work station is not old that way.

[Gailim]

I have a second PC hooked to my TV for streaming and light gaming. Whenever a new part goes into my main PC, whatever it replaced goes into the second PC.

[alrecks]

older PC hardware are still desirable in less developed countries where modern ones aren't simply feasible because they're generally dropped slower in price due to the market being less receptive towards the changes in more developed countries (although this seems to be less and less of the case nowadays), or that's just an anecdote from where i come from, anyway.

[blackbirdpctech]

I struggle with this too ... I think it's a good idea to keep GPU's because it's nice to see how the cooling solutions change over time but for most other items they end up just getting thrown out eventually ... better to simply give them away. The other question is what to do with cables ... I never seem to throw any out.

[granulardwelling]

I still have my first computer system from 1980. I won't throw anything that can be made to work today.

[Druac]

My 6th gen with a 1080 is in my man-cave for casual gaming and media consumption. Other than that...I usually give my old parts away to someone that can use them in the family.

[OmegaCaldereroid]

i wish i still have my first portable pc, it was an ECS laptop without a battery and only plug-in with 64MB RAM and 20GB HDD, 14" 720p, but i still have my first self built pc, 2600k with 2x gtx770, also still have my 4770k with EVGA titanX, and my daughter stll uses her Ryzen 1700x with 3060ti...

[megatronmegatron]

My first computer was the Tandy 1000AX. I'm still trying to find one to buy, but all I found so far is it's twin the 1000sx. I still have my Intel E8500 build to play late 90's early 2000's games that have issues playing on modern OSs.

[robreinbrecht]

I just recently pretty much upgraded my whole computer and under normal circumstances, I'd just keep it laying around (I also considered turning it into a pfsense machine) but since space is kinda low right now, it was the perfect opportunity to give the system to my 11 year old nephew. An i7 4790k and gtx 970 isn't great for me but with an m2 ssd and 32 gb of ram he's in heaven since he also didn't have a game console

[mqcapps]

You don't want to be in a situation where at 3 AM and working on your homework, something pops out or just gives up the ghost. A lot of the old stuff works perfectly well except it doesn't get social media cheers anymore. You always need spare parrts because the stuff is going to fail; it's just a matter of when. You need to have at least two GPU's for just in case including one of those that "there is no sponsorship for anymore"; as the latest and greatest can often be a tweaking nightmare.

It will surprise you how many charities and schools will take some of your last generation stuff because the technology may still be sound even if the marketplace has moved on. My question is how many manufacturers do the same thing with their RMA returns, as some of the stuff makes good teaching material.

My IBM A-T still works and I keep it as a memorial but the rest of the stuff that isn't technologically usable I get rid of. Things like DDR3, USB 2.0 cables and hubs, stuff you can't find drivers for, and especially CRT monitors. I will hold onto my non RBG mice and keyboards. But we do need a segment of how to decommission storage devices.

[Turbobuttes]

I like to keep older but still-compatible stuff around for troubleshooting reasons. You know, one day your computer doesn't post or show a picture or something else, and it's going to be incredibly tough to diagnose if you don't have components to switch out to either rule out or pinpoint, or just to have a backup system so you can go on the internet and google solutions in the first place instead of having to awkwardly google stuff on your phone. That is unless someone I know could make immediate use of something I'm putting aside. Helping out a family member or friend or co-worker at a low price always comes first. This of course isn't a long term answer, and my long term answer is I end up with far too much old hardware piling up anyway and eventually just throw it away since I never buy the top tier collectable stuff to begin with, and no one wants 20 years old midrange parts.