Question At what point is your old CPU garbage?

[CuriousMike]

I was just throwing out an old Antec case / guts - I even left an ASUS B350 mobo in it.
I pulled out the Ryzen 1700, the 250GB SSD and the 16GB of DDR4 ram.

I have no idea why I kept those parts - the Ryzen 1700 is useless, the 250GB SSD is too small / useless and the ram... well... I have two other Ryzen 5x00 mini-itx builds that are already maxed on RAM.

But yet I kept these pieces.
I seem to always keep my old pieces ... they just sit in the garage for about 10 years until they're finally recycled.

What do you do with your old hardware? Do you hold onto it "just in case" ?

 

[bigboxes]

You guys made me go through my old stuff again. There was also a Volcano cooler. Don't know why I still have this box; the cooler is gone.

I still have that cooler. No box though. 8t is not loud.

 

[mindless1]

^ I had one of those Thermaltake Volcanoes, was really a bad era where some manufacturers like Thermaltake were taking little heatsinks and strapping little, but high RPM fans on them. Plus thermtake's fans were junk, started getting really noisy once they had wear.

It pushed me towards the higher end heatsinks using 80-92mm fans, Alpha PAL8045 pin-fin sink, and Thermalright all copper, SLK-800/900/etc... were the last CPU 'sinks I recall using, before the permanent move to heatpipe based 'sinks.

 

[Ranulf]

I had a volcano 7 on a duron 1ghz. One of these guys:

 

[Motostu]

I had a volcano 7 on a duron 1ghz. One of these guys:

Sorry for the continued OT...
I still have one of those too; couldn't remember what it was called. And an Alpha 6035, and a pretty cool Arkua (70mm?).

While I wouldn't throw away PC parts, I won't bash the OP for doing so. I would hope, though, the feedback here has been helpful; at the very least a lot of good discussion was generated.

Early on, my PCs and parts got repurposed for family because I was always upgrading something. That doesn't happen any longer, so beyond the parts in my bins, I've got several old PCs in my basement collecting dust. I need to look into one of those charity programs and see if any of my hardware might be useful.

 

[Hotrod2go]

Sorry for the continued OT...
I still have one of those too; couldn't remember what it was called. And an Alpha 6035, and a pretty cool Arkua (70mm?).

While I wouldn't throw away PC parts, I won't bash the OP for doing so. I would hope, though, the feedback here has been helpful; at the very least a lot of good discussion was generated.

Early on, my PCs and parts got repurposed for family because I was always upgrading something. That doesn't happen any longer, so beyond the parts in my bins, I've got several old PCs in my basement collecting dust. I need to look into one of those charity programs and see if any of my hardware might be useful.

A lot of old pc parts can be recycled via e-waste programs. At least that is what we have here in Australia today. Don't know what part of the world your in, but I bet there is some kind of recycling system available because being environmentally friendly is a trendy phase, globally speaking these days.

 

[Motostu]

A lot of old pc parts can be recycled via e-waste programs. At least that is what we have here in Australia today. Don't know what part of the world your in, but I bet there is some kind of recycling system available because being environmentally friendly is a trendy phase, globally speaking these days.

Definitely; we do have a program here. I just wanted to see if they could be useful to someone first. Some are too old for the charity program I just checked into, so might throw them up in a thread here if any retro gamers want them.

 

[bigboxes]

I appreciate the stroll down memory lane. Gives me an excuse to dig out my old HSFs. From left to right: Volcano 7+, Super Orb, Volcano II. I loved the Volcano 2. It was a small hunk of aluminum that was quiet and did its job. To cool an Athlon 1200 Thunderbird. The Super Orb was an impulse buy. It seemed cool and figured to be an improvement. Then I read AnandTech's review and it was dead last in a cooler roundup. D'oh! But I kept it. Unused, box and all. Then, I upgraded to the Volcano 7+. It had a copper heatsink and 70mm fan. I figured it would be quieter than the 25mm fan of the older Volcano II. Nope. That heatsink had these really thin fins in the heatsink that would resonate this obnoxious noise. I'm pretty sure I replaced it with a stock fan when I moved to Socket 939.

 

[lyonwonder]

I hope Windows 11's official hardware requirements are an aberration because of the need for improved security features and the commodity x86 market and Microsoft doesn't adopt Apple's forced "planned obsolescence" policy where any Mac that's over 5 years is considered garbage with no support in the newest release of OSX.

 

[CuriousMike]

Sorry to harp on this, but the more I look at this thread, the more I'm bothered by the tone-deaf attitude in the OP as a brutal illustration of the discrepancy between the U.S. and the rest of the world (or between the affluent and the poor.)

IMHO, to discard perfectly good technology without even giving it a second chance shows a disdain for others, akin to "Let them eat cake".

Particularly if you're an old-timer on these forums... why even brag about it? "Hey, look at me, I'm so rich I can afford to toss a last-gen motherboard in the garbage and it's literally not worth my effort to box it up and deal with going to the post office".

Ugh.

I'm here. Tone-deaf attitude? "brutal" "disdain" "look at me" - wow. All that because I recycled a 15 year old case and a motherboard and everyone started pooping on me?

I feel like you read into my post how you want to narrate it - can't stop you.

Disappointing that a post really meant to talk about how to handle old hardware ( and obviously, horror of horrors, my definition of an old case and mobo doesn't match yours) marks me as braggart and worse.

 

[igor_kavinski]

You are free to do with your stuff as you please but if you had posted here about your intentions before acting on them, maybe someone would have taken the old stuff off your hands. A lot of us are not lucky enough to have a first gen Ryzen for everyday use. The best I have at work is i7-4770 and it's not even my primary machine which happens to be an i5-2400. Maybe you didn't have any feelings of disdain as you chucked the mobo but it was still something that could have provided years more of service and I guess many people here feel saddened that it died prematurely. I don't blame you but I do mourn the loss of a usable mobo.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

I'm here. Tone-deaf attitude? "brutal" "disdain" "look at me" - wow. All that because I recycled a 15 year old case and a motherboard and everyone started pooping on me?

I feel like you read into my post how you want to narrate it - can't stop you.

Disappointing that a post really meant to talk about how to handle old hardware ( and obviously, horror of horrors, my definition of an old case and mobo doesn't match yours) marks me as braggart and worse.

See post #85. It answered everything, and it's not even coming from me.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Still have one of those old Zalman Bloom coolers sitting around somewhere.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Bye Felicia.




Played the victim card too = weak. Instead of you know, perhaps reexamining his habits, which might result in altering his behavior." All I did was throw an old case and board away." Leaves out the part where the rest sits in the garage until he eventually recycles it years and years later. Then rage quits.

Epic thread backfire.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Good things can seem to be "Garbage" or compel you to treat them as such when you've had 12 years of mileage on them and there's no more room for them in the house -- or -- especially -- adding to those factors, the family member who used it is no longer able to.

I gave a perfectly perfect i7-2600K system to a friend. It had second-tier higher-end parts from 2010. 16GB of RAM. I gave him a smaller SSD and a 500GB 2.5" spinner with it, together with the CM HAF midtower case (of which I still have two). He got it with a clean install of Win 10 Pro.

I have a 2700K system -- same case -- later-gen graphics card -- which will continue to be my "media" PC.

Somebody mentioned continuing with Win 7 for refusing to give up Media Center. I felt the same way. And I think I made a mistake. I had HDHomeRun tuners, with the same satisfaction of the other poster. At some point, I thought my cable company had stopped supporting the cable cards. But looking back, I think it was possible that I changed the hardware connections slightly going to the HDTV, and it may have borked the HDCP configuration. I might have tried reconfiguring it. Maybe I did -- I don't know. It was a bitch when I first did it, but once done -- I didn't have to mess with it for the longest time -- until around 2018. The 2700K was the PC I was using, and it still runs.

We have 3 years and a few months to decide what to do with these older systems. We may want to use some of our more eager colleagues as guinea-pigs, to see whether they run into snags eventually with Win 11.

I just finished building a twin to the Skylake I originally had, refitted with a Kaby last year. People say I'm nuts. I should get an Alder Lake -- I'm sure. But I'm just not in a hurry with these bad boys I have.

I'm slowing down as I get older. I buried one family member in January, and I change diapers on another daily. So it will be easier for me to take my freaking time to get "up to date".

 

[DrMrLordX]

Just an FYI, but a lot of electronics/e-waste recycling programs amount to shipping the stuff to some country in Africa where locals will "recycle" it for you:

The Burning Truth Behind an E-Waste Dump in Africa

Ending the toxic smoke rising from an iconic dump in Ghana will take more than curbing Western waste

www.smithsonianmag.com

It's better than direct landfilling it but meh.

As for a B350? No need to throw that out lol. A Ryzen 1700 is fine for a Win10 or Linux machine too.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Bye Felicia.
Played the victim card too = weak. [...] Then rage quits.

Epic thread backfire.

Wait, what? the OP quit the forums after the criticism received from the rest of us?
Jeez... talk about over-reacting!

 

[DAPUNISHER]

As for a B350? No need to throw that out lol. A Ryzen 1700 is fine for a Win10 or Linux machine too.

Agreed. It's fine with windows 11 too. They can use @JackMDS easy guide here Fast, easy, win11 on unsupported hardware.

A 1700 will average 60fps+ in just about every game. In many titles providing a high refresh experience.

 

[bigboxes]

Wait, what? the OP quit the forums after the criticism received from the rest of us?
Jeez... talk about over-reacting!

That's weak sauce. Overreacting indeed!

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Okay, here is an FYI:

When I ran a busy break/fix I quickly developed a relationship with a local non profit/charity that provides free PCs and pro bono I.T. work to the disadvantaged in our community. Chances are there is one near you, and they are a search query away. Many of these non profits will even come get the stuff from you.

There are too many ways to pass the parts on, to be tossing them in the landfill. And if the reason you aren't doing it, is that it "isn't worth your time" you are part of the problem, and not part of the solution.

 

[Hotrod2go]

Just an FYI, but a lot of electronics/e-waste recycling programs amount to shipping the stuff to some country in Africa where locals will "recycle" it for you:

The Burning Truth Behind an E-Waste Dump in Africa

Ending the toxic smoke rising from an iconic dump in Ghana will take more than curbing Western waste

www.smithsonianmag.com

It's better than direct landfilling it but meh.

As for a B350? No need to throw that out lol. A Ryzen 1700 is fine for a Win10 or Linux machine too.

That's only partly true, a complete global picture of the situation as per 2019 statistics from a 2020 report demonstrate that at least officially, Africa does not score highly in volume of e-waste dumps.


On a per head of population basis. Australians are the most guilty of generating e-waste!

 

[DrMrLordX]

That's only partly true, a complete global picture of the situation as per 2019 statistics from a 2020 report demonstrate that at least officially, Africa does not score highly in volume of e-waste dumps.

Read carefully, it only documents who collects and recycles. If a recycling program officially claims local recycling but in actuality ships overseas, then it would not show up in the numbers. Documentation may say one thing, but reality may say another.

Activists slam Europe for dumping on Africa – DW – 04/01/2022

Activists in Africa are concerned about how fast the continent has become a dumpsite for Europe — for everything from electronic waste to used clothing. It's a toxic nuisance that poses a huge environmental threat.

www.dw.com

Of course "activists" can be wrong about some things, but. I do not think everything is exactly as documented.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I heard you want to mail me the CPU for a small fee paid by me!

 

[Hotrod2go]

Read carefully, it only documents who collects and recycles. If a recycling program officially claims local recycling but in actuality ships overseas, then it would not show up in the numbers. Documentation may say one thing, but reality may say another.

Activists slam Europe for dumping on Africa – DW – 04/01/2022

Activists in Africa are concerned about how fast the continent has become a dumpsite for Europe — for everything from electronic waste to used clothing. It's a toxic nuisance that poses a huge environmental threat.

www.dw.com

Of course "activists" can be wrong about some things, but. I do not think everything is exactly as documented.

I always take documentation as theory only, that's why I mentioned the words "officially" in my post.

 

[Zor Prime]

My WD Raptor HDDs were crazy loud bitd. I had one of the loudest CPU coolers on the market for sktA? at one point, when I exclusively wore good closed ear headphones. I think it was called the tornado, hurricane, or something?

haha, I had a CPU fan that was Delta black label. PC was in the basement, you could hear it on the 2nd floor. When you pressed the power button it sounded like a jet spooling up for takeoff, except the noise never leveled out.

 

[bigboxes]

I found a few more. The first one was used with an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Winchester. The second one was used for my first dual-core, an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo. Both Socket 939.