What can I do with all of these?

[Werne]

For the past week or so I've been clearing out my garage. Amongst the many bikes and their spare parts, I found lots and lots of good old hardware I didn't want to throw out cause it's still working. And the result is as follows:

 

- 4 old motherboards, unsure of the models since tags fell off, there are Pentium IV CPUs and about 512MB RAM in each

- a motherboard designed to house 6 CPUs (no idea where I go that one from)

- 7 power supply units, 4 are 250W, one 300W, one 400W and a 1200W PSU I use for powering my radio

- 13 PATA HDDs, 3 Seagate 40GB U series 6, 3 Hitachi Deskstar 160GB ones, one Hitachi 250GB HDD and 6 500GB Seagate

- 3 graphics cards, two are ATI with 16MB VRAM and one Nvidia with 64MB VRAM, I guess they won't play games

- 5 good old monitors with a cathode tube

- 16 PATA cables

- 27 PSU cables

- 12 mice (or whatever the hell is a plural of mouse*12)

- 12 keyboards, mostly cheap crap but one is an old IBM mechanical keyboard, I think I'll swap out mine with it

- 8 VGA monitor cables

- 4 pairs of PC speakers

- 4 PC case shells (guess they came with mobos), no sides or front panel but they can be used to house components

- not to mention slave/master jumpers for PATA drives, got a whole box full of them

- and other stuff not worthy of mentioning since there's too much of it

 

And yes, I have a really big garage that I use as my own plain of Oblivion.

 

Anyway, I don't want to throw this stuff away, it's all perfectly functional and from what I've seen, I can assemble 4 usable PCs out of those (got the components, though the cases are quite ugly). Then again, I can't think of a use for those components (aside from the 1200W PSU), I already have a home server so I don't need that. And I can't think of anyone desperate enough to buy this stuff.

 

Then I was thinking of doing something fun with those but I can't think of anything at all. So, do you guys have any ideas about that? I'll take anything, I'd rather have fun and learn by making something out of this rather than simply throw it away (I very much hate throwing away working hardware, feels like a crime).

[TheVampireDante]

Make up any full units you can, and sell them as backup systems for people.

[Thor.]

I hate wasted pc parts, make media boxes out of them, throw Linux on them and sell them in small portable cases.

 

They may not be in HD but its good for the less fortunate :smile:

Donate them if you have to..

 

Also the IBM mechanical keyboards are hard to come by these days, i rather type on a mechanical then gaming any day. keep one for yourself, its much better on your hands.

Edited July 19, 2013 by Thor.

[Vindekarr]

As I've upgraded parts out of my current system I've re-assembled them back into what is essentially my old PC, and equipped it with Win XP. It basically means I have a machine capable of playing old games on demand which my much newer PC can't due to incompatibility.

[Vagrant0]

If you can marry your best power supply, harddrives, and processor to a single machine, you could setup a nice media server to attach to your TV. Essentially you could rip most of the DVDs you own to create digital copies*, and mount them as needed to be played on your TV instead of having to move around the physical disks or increase their wear and tear. If you have an internet connection you could also probably rig up netflix or some other streaming service though it. Depending on what OS and virtual drive software you use, it should be pretty easy to setup.

 

An alternative option if you have room at your desk is to setup a second computer just for browsing or keeping an IRC window or something open while you play a game. It means an extra connection and more desk clutter, but can be useful when playing fullscreen games, or doing work without having to always alt-tab out. Since you're doing little more than running a web interface, it wouldn't be too demanding.

 

The other option, if you have an internet connection you can share between them, is to turn them into very basic computers and set them up for distributed processing to donate to charity or as a rendering farm if you do videos or graphics. It may not necessarily be useful, but it's there.

 

Not very much else you can do with old hardware though unfortunately. I'm in a similar but slightly different situation myself. Have 3 computers from the Vista/Xp era that stopped working for various reasons. Without diagnostic equipment or trying to patch them together into a working system however I pretty much have to assume that everything but harddrives or media drives are toast though. Will have to pretty much scavenge what I can and try to send the rest off to be recycled probably.

 

 

*Even under the DMCA you are still legally allowed to create digital copies of media for your own use.

[Phalanx108]

You've got an old mechanical IBM? I wish!

Would happily buy it off you :P

 

My boss runs an old Model M which I would gladly swap out my K90 for, the Model M is a beastly board to use.

[Werne]

@The Vampire Dante Unfortunately, I may be able to sell the hard drives as storage (new HDDs are quite expensive, especially IDE/PATA) but the rest is a no-go. I could've none that a few months ago but now our market is filled with the new, cheap components from EU, a PC that cost 1000$ 2 months ago now costs 400$ and that put the final nail in the coffin for old PCs around here. :(

 

 

@Thor I like that idea, making media boxes out of those. Even the latest Linux distributions thrive on old hardware (Like Pentium III and 512MB RAM or less) and most Linux distros have a wide variety of open-source codecs that can be installed in a few minutes (Debian, for example, comes with a complete set of multimedia codecs).

 

Even though most people these days are used to HD and high quality/speed in general, that's something to be considered. :smile:

 

 

@Vindekarr I'd set one up with Win98 so I can play old games I miss, but I have no idea where I put the disc. I'd love to be able to play Balls of Steel or Moto Racer, Earthworm Jim, Captain Claw, Worms (the first one), I miss the good old days when people enjoyed games not because of the awesome graphics or 3D effects, but because they were fun. :happy:

 

 

@Vagrant0 Already have a multimedia center, wife's idea (one of her best ones). Second idea is a good one but I barely have the room on the desk to keep my keyboard.

 

The distributed processing sounds quite interesting though, a few years ago I've seen a 12 PC Beowulf cluster on the science competition in Zagreb and as far as I understand, it shouldn't be too hard to set one up. Debian Project even has documentation on that. This is also to be considered, could be fun and if nothing, at least I'll learn something new. :thumbsup:

 

 

@Phalanx108 Mine's an IBM Model F, I had Model M but had to sell it last year due to money problems, and I regret it. Now I'm using a 12 years old Chicony KB-9810 (not mechanical, but it sounds like one) that was used by two professional programmers before it got into my hands, clicking buttons is quite loud. Not to mention that there's a whole loaf of bread beneath the keys. ;D

Edited July 20, 2013 by Werne

[FMod]

The processing power per watt of these old machines is pretty much a joke. No profitable uses for it and a better charity would be saving on their emissions (in total you probably have about 1% of a modern video card's computing power). If you want to do it as an experiment, it's different, of course.

 

The main value of old x86's is their ability to run x86 software, i.e. Windows and to lesser extent Linux (that one runs well/better on ARMs though). They'd make for very ghetto media centers due to high noise, low capability and low responsiveness, but would work nonetheless.

 

I'd look a bit closer into the 6-CPU motherboard. ID the chipset, try and figure out details. Some PC enthusiast may want it for their collection.

IBM mech keyboards like Model M had a market value of about $60 last time I checked. Depends on whether it's a PS/2 or an AT model, the former is better as the best modern mobos still support PS/2.

[Werne]

The processing power per watt of these old machines is pretty much a joke. No profitable uses for it and a better charity would be saving on their emissions (in total you probably have about 1% of a modern video card's computing power). If you want to do it as an experiment, it's different, of course.

One man's junk is another man's treasure. I asked around and it seems there are those who'd like something like the PCs I have, for browsing the web, sending emails, and so on, not for gaming. Mostly guys setting up PCs for their mothers/grandmothers who don't play games anyway.

 

I decided to keep one for myself to replace an even older than those file server I have in the basement and sell the rest.

 

It's not always all about having the latest and greatest, you know? Sometimes even having small things is good, beats having nothing at all. :smile:

The main value of old x86's is their ability to run x86 software, i.e. Windows and to lesser extent Linux (that one runs well/better on ARMs though). They'd make for very ghetto media centers due to high noise, low capability and low responsiveness, but would work nonetheless.

That is correct, though I disagree on one thing, Linux works well on old x86 hardware. It works better on embedded ARM platforms and x64 CPUs but it works well on x86 as well. As far as I've seen, Debian 6 LXDE performs about the same as Win98 on Pentium III 1200MHz with 512MB RAM. Most other distributions are too demanding though, Lubuntu and Fedora LXDE are far less usable on it.

 

The PCs I mentioned in OP have Pentium IV "Northwood" 3GHz CPUs and they function perfectly with Debian 7 LXDE. They are really noisy and not as responsive as new comps though, I won't argue with that.

I'd look a bit closer into the 6-CPU motherboard. ID the chipset, try and figure out details. Some PC enthusiast may want it for their collection.

IBM mech keyboards like Model M had a market value of about $60 last time I checked. Depends on whether it's a PS/2 or an AT model, the former is better as the best modern mobos still support PS/2.

Now that's something I do find interesting, I always wanted to get my hands on a multi-CPU motherboard but they are far too expensive around here. As for PC enthusiasts, there's plenty of ancient hardware circling around our market, selling these in parts would be like trying to sell ice to an Eskimo. I'll put up ads for some parts though, can't have all that stuff lying around, it clutters up my garage.

 

Also, I sold my Model M PS/2 for 150$, it was pristine, wasn't used much, had the original box and a manual (or whatever that little book was) still wrapped in plastic. Pretty much brand new, just 30+ years old. Model M keyboards range from 50$ (used, most likely needs some key caps or keys replaced) to 250$ (never used, original packaging, everything in mint condition).

 

Model F I have is an AT but I have an adapter to connect it to a PS/2 port, seems to work quite well. It needs a thorough cleaning before I start using it though, there's motor oil on it. :pinch:

[FMod]

That is correct, though I disagree on one thing, Linux works well on old x86 hardware. It works better on embedded ARM platforms and x64 CPUs but it works well on x86 as well.

 

Different point. It's not about running it.

Old x86 junk with Linux is still junk.

Cheap ARM hardware with Linux can play HD videos and all that while fitting in 1/30 the space and power envelope.

 

Essentially, Linux runs on almost anything. There's no rational reason to use an old power sink to run it, when it eats up more in bills in a year than new better hardware would cost. Windows on the other hand doesn't run on just anything, so there is a rational reason to.

 

 

Also, I sold my Model M PS/2 for 150$, it was pristine, wasn't used much, had the original box and a manual (or whatever that little book was) still wrapped in plastic. Pretty much brand new, just 30+ years old. Model M keyboards range from 50$ (used, most likely needs some key caps or keys replaced) to 250$ (never used, original packaging, everything in mint condition).

 

Seems like a collector's market is building up. A decade ago they were <$100 mint and you'd still take a $150 new MX if you had the extra $60.

 

As a typist's tool, MX blues are better and Topre are better still.