"throwing away" a computer

[kstockfo]

hi all,
i have an old pc that crapped out on me. i thought it was the power supply, but best guy's geek squad thinks it's the motherboard. anyways, to make a long story short, i'm buying a new one because i don't want to repair a 5-year old computer. so the question is... how do you properly dispose of one? i don't want to part it out and sell it piecemeal for a few bucks, i'd rather donate it than deal with the hassle of selling each piece of hardware. but who wants an old computer? if i can't find someone interested, do i just put it out to the curb and let the city trash collectors take it?
thanks for any help,
kstockfo

 

[detox1]

if you curb it, someone will pick it up.

 

[Luke_Uk_Baggy]

Theres lots of things you can do with it.

Firstly, 5 years old isnt THAT old, for a computer. My brothers rig is 10 years old, Dual core Intel Pentium D Processor, and still runs pretty well.

You could probably sell the whole thing for a little bit, ebay / craigslist etc. Also computer / tech shops will probably either buy it (depending on specs) or some might collect and take it from you for free.

Similarly, Universitys / schools / colleges IT Departments, are on the lookout for PC's to take apart for practical lessons to show people how to build PC's. Could give them a ring.

Just make sure you clear any personal / sensitive data. Write 0's to the Harddrive with a program, to erase all the data (although even that sometimes doesnt get rid of it) or even better take the hard drive out and smash it to bits for some anger relief.

Believe it or not there are a quite a few people out there who will want it.

Whats the specs on it, out of interest?

 

[rockyjohn]

In the past, I just called the local elementary school who were happy to get it. They asked me to drop it by the office, a simple solution.

But have you looked at the savings of rebuilding it? When you build a fresh new computer, you usually can save a little over store systems. But the big savings comes from upgrading it later instead of buying a new system. Can you reuse the case, PSU, optical drive, and OS? That alone will save about $300. The hard drive? Although you might want to upgrade that as for about $70 you can get a new, much faster 1 TB drive. You could save a bundle by just replacing the mobo, CPU, memory, and graphics card.

But then I don't want to dissuade you from donating to a worthy source like a school. Goodwill is also another worthy donee to consider.

 

[Indigo]

Don't forget that if you give the PC to Goodwill, or even in some cases, public schools, you can write it off come tax time.

Craigslist would be my first choice - just post a CURB ALERT and list what it is. It'll be gone before you get home from the store to pick up some soda.

I'm all for recycling old pc parts, but in this age, some of the things that rockyjohn suggests won't even work anymore with the new stuff.

 

[rockyjohn]

I'm all for recycling old pc parts, but in this age, some of the things that rockyjohn suggests won't even work anymore with the new stuff.

Which components I listed are not resusable? All of the will work with todays systems.
If he has a small PSU and gets a significant upgrade to the video card, he might have to upgrade the PSU, but he has not yet told us what PSU he has or video card he plans to get. Case? Has the ATX standard changed? Optical drive? Have DVDs changed? I have a computer over 5 years old and that optical drive stills works with DVDs.

 

[lhuser]

One thing you can do is go to a local shop and recycle it there. Don't go to Best Buy. They claim they'll recycle it, but they throw it out.

Theres lots of things you can do with it.

Firstly, 5 years old isnt THAT old, for a computer. My brothers rig is 10 years old, Dual core Intel Pentium D Processor, and still runs pretty well.

That goes back to 2001, where P4s were brand new. I'm not talking about 533/800MHz FSBs, must mostly 400MHz. Your PC must at most be 6 years old, as Pentium Ds were released in 2005.

 

[Luke_Uk_Baggy]

That goes back to 2001, where P4s were brand new. I'm not talking about 533/800MHz FSBs, must mostly 400MHz. Your PC must at most be 6 years old, as Pentium Ds were released in 2005.

Sorry I didnt make myself super clear. The actual rig itself is roughly 10 years old (come to think of it probably 8-9 years) after a few years of having it, he wanted an upgrade, so Whipped out a few parts, and threw in the new Pentium D. Must of been when they were fairly new yeah, because the upgrade cost a hell of a lot.

Suppose it does sort of negate the fact that it is 10 years old though, guess it is 6 years - surprising where the time goes!

 

[Indigo]

Which components I listed are not resusable? All of the will work with todays systems.
If he has a small PSU and gets a significant upgrade to the video card, he might have to upgrade the PSU, but he has not yet told us what PSU he has or video card he plans to get. Case? Has the ATX standard changed? Optical drive? Have DVDs changed? I have a computer over 5 years old and that optical drive stills works with DVDs.

The case is the only thing I see that will work. DVDs have not changed no, but the drives themselves use different interfaces, and depending on which side of the fence you go with, the motherboard may not have the appropriate connections. Why buy your motherboard based on which DVD Drive you have? Or hard drive for that matter? It's poor planning, and on a system as old as he states, it's just not worth it anymore. Save the case, but only if it's got some good cooling options that aren't 10 different mounts for 80mm fans.