<rant>
ARGH. some kid today was trying to explain to me why I should sell him my Asus K7V + SlotA Tbird 700 + 256mb pc100 for about $65. He proceeded to show me how, new, this hardware goes for about $80, and since it is used, $65 is reasonable. We also looked up how much it would cost for me to upgrade to the hardware I'd get (a tbird 1.4, sis735 mobo, 256mb pc2100) and it looks like about $180 including shipping (from pricewatch). So... the net result would be that I could upgrade to that hardware for $180-$70, which is $110.
Now, my room-mate (partly by my recommendation
) has that exact hardware. When I consider the benefits, there is NO WAY upgrading from mine to his is worth $110. What marginal benefit do I get? The kid who wants to buy my hardware said that normal stuff is faster. Uh... no, it really isn't, even in XP. Maybe minimally. I wouldn't pay a cent for the difference. So lets look at games. In every game we play (UT, Halflife, Starcraft, Quake3), my framerate is always playable. Sure, the 1.4 looks prettier, but the difference is once again not worth money to me. Unreal Tournament 2 is choppy for me - but since it isn't out yet, I see no reason to use that as a basis for a purchase today 
the "buyer" could not come up with any reason I agreed with that I would want to spend the $110 to upgrade, and then told me that I should take a business class to see that I SHOULD in fact sell it because that was the value. He is the one who needs to take the class - I should not sell unless I get some benefit from it.
</rant>
It is interesting how the sale price of hardware drops SO fast compared to the "actual" value. for most people, my system is probably as functional as an OEM 1ghz box, since they tend to use cheap video cards and other components. Buying the highest-end parts now doesn't really provide that much marginal benefit
<thought>wow, very high rant/content ratio
</thought>
ARGH. some kid today was trying to explain to me why I should sell him my Asus K7V + SlotA Tbird 700 + 256mb pc100 for about $65. He proceeded to show me how, new, this hardware goes for about $80, and since it is used, $65 is reasonable. We also looked up how much it would cost for me to upgrade to the hardware I'd get (a tbird 1.4, sis735 mobo, 256mb pc2100) and it looks like about $180 including shipping (from pricewatch). So... the net result would be that I could upgrade to that hardware for $180-$70, which is $110.
Now, my room-mate (partly by my recommendation
the "buyer" could not come up with any reason I agreed with that I would want to spend the $110 to upgrade, and then told me that I should take a business class to see that I SHOULD in fact sell it because that was the value. He is the one who needs to take the class - I should not sell unless I get some benefit from it.
</rant>
It is interesting how the sale price of hardware drops SO fast compared to the "actual" value. for most people, my system is probably as functional as an OEM 1ghz box, since they tend to use cheap video cards and other components. Buying the highest-end parts now doesn't really provide that much marginal benefit
<thought>wow, very high rant/content ratio
