HOARDERS: How long do "enthusiast-DIY'ers" keep old junk?!

[OVerLoRDI]

I have 3 duffel bags full of wires/computer junk. I actually reduced my stockpile massively when I graduated college, but I still have a lot of junk. Rarely is it useful, but man when you need that cable and you have it.... life is good.

 

[burninatortech4]

I hang on to a GeForce 4 Ti 4200 because you never know when you'll need an AGP card.

And I hang on to a Radeon 9800 PRO because you never know when you'll need an ATI AGP card.

OK. I may have a problem.

That 9800 Pro is a collectors item. I don't blame you!

 

[mfenn]

I could say so, but don't be ashamed. Or -- you're being facetious.

I really do have those parts, but I was having a little fun with my reasons for keeping them.

That 9800 Pro is a collectors item. I don't blame you!

How's that for validation! :awe:

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I have 3 duffel bags full of wires/computer junk. I actually reduced my stockpile massively when I graduated college, but I still have a lot of junk. Rarely is it useful, but man when you need that cable and you have it.... life is good.

Yes! Absolutely -- positively!

Ever so often, you have to pat yourself on the back .. . . for being . .

A Hoarder!!

 

[ultimatebob]

That 9800 Pro is a collectors item. I don't blame you!

I still have the AllInWonder version of that card in a box somewhere. I spent too much on that damn thing to just throw it out!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I still have the AllInWonder version of that card in a box somewhere. I spent too much on that damn thing to just throw it out!

I know tech-naïve "mainstreamers" who kept their OEM Win-98 systems until 2007. With that sort of mileage, a mainstreamer would simply take the whole kit and caboodle to the county electronics recycler and be done with it. Then, they'd buy another OEM system.

But if we "build them," there are "not-so-low-end" parts. We indulge ourselves with "better" cases, "better" PSUs, "better" HDDs, "better" mobos. Once you get into a "habit," you might not consider building current-gen systems at the low end with $100 boards, 400W PSUs, non-Z processors. But that's a discipline of equal value.

So . . . you paid out $300 "back when" for a "better" GPU. And, like me, it takes you years with the part sitting in storage before you can bear to part with it, handing it over for $0 to the county recycler.

 

[ronbo613]

I still have the AllInWonder version of that card in a box somewhere. I spent too much on that damn thing to just throw it out!

I think I have the same card and am keeping it for the same reason. Is it worth putting it on eBay?

 

[Phynaz]

I have a 386 board that I've been hanging onto to build a print server.

Considering every router out there has a built in print server, maybe I should rethink that.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I have a 386 board that I've been hanging onto to build a print server.

Considering every router out there has a built in print server, maybe I should rethink that.

Oh! Oh-Ho!! We need to fund a "prize" for this thread -- to endow it to the poster with the most extreme example of hoarding I've ever seen!

You're kidding, aren't you?! A 386 board?!

Across town, there's a computer-repair-and-parts shop across from the university. The guy who runs it sort of resembles Edgar Winter -- the rock star of the '70s. He does a thriving business.

He also has the makings of a "computer museum." He's got a contraption from the 1950s in there, when "programs" were implemented as large slide-in frames with copper wires plugged into its sockets -- each the size of a truck-radiator.

He tells me he rents a large warehouse . . . for all the stuff he doesn't keep in the shop . . .

I gave my NEC 386 system to charity in 1994 -- at the urging of a friend. It was "only" seven years old!

 

[VirtualLarry]

I have a 386 board that I've been hanging onto to build a print server.

Considering every router out there has a built in print server, maybe I should rethink that.

I heard all of the hip kids these days build print servers out of RasPis, and Linux.

 

[inachu]

I still have somewhere my old Voodoo 4 and 5 video card.

 

[corkyg]

I confess to being a cable hoarder. I have a closet full - all kinds, SCSI, Centronics, USB A, B & C, power, audio, etc. The wife thinks they reproduce at night. But, I can always find what I need.

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

I was hoarding for a while, when I got the computer itch back in 2004 till recently. But being as I move a lot, recently started to cycle through stuff and try to be honest if I'll be needing it or not.
That said I have gotten ride of a lot of stuff, I have three working computers(2in cases)1 naked. A phase change unit, 2 boxes full of older GPU'S(5,9800GTX+,2 3870X2,5 5770's,ETC). A couple extra PSU units, I had about 5 motherboard with issue's(I pulled the usable caps out got ride of them). So I am trying, I was in need of a new case for my back up computer as it was naked. Was on another forum and boom found this In Winn D Frame Mini made for an ITX, I converted it for my needs

Named it HEY YOO as I'm watching re runs of Breaking Bad and the kid is always using that saying so it just kinda fit. Still way less then I used to have...........

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I was hoarding for a while, when I got the computer itch back in 2004 till recently. But being as I move a lot, recently started to cycle through stuff and try to be honest if I'll be needing it or not.
That said I have gotten ride of a lot of stuff, I have three working computers(2in cases)1 naked. A phase change unit, 2 boxes full of older GPU'S(5,9800GTX+,2 3870X2,5 5770's,ETC). A couple extra PSU units, I had about 5 motherboard with issue's(I pulled the usable caps out got ride of them). So I am trying, I was in need of a new case for my back up computer as it was naked. Was on another forum and boom found this In Winn D Frame Mini made for an ITX, I converted it for my needs

Named it HEY YOO as I'm watching re runs of Breaking Bad and the kid is always using that saying so it just kinda fit. Still way less then I used to have...........

"Welcome to OC-Anonymous, Philly!" [clap-clap-clap]!! We're all hoping to turn our lives toward "recovery."

[It's still better for you than booze or even high-THC buds . . . Ummm . . . Let ponder that a bit more . . . ]

 

[doubledeluxe]

I got rid of everything. It was taking up too much space. I regret dumping the old B/W Mac but the rest really was just collecting dust and served no purpose. Not even nostalgic. What am I going to do with a 40GB ATA hard drive? An AGP video card? A CRT? Old cables? Absolutely nothing. There are no bragging rights busting out an old Voodoo card. It's like flashing an A track at this point. I do wish I had my first computer though

 

[ronbo613]

I got rid of everything. It was taking up too much space. I regret dumping the old B/W Mac but the rest really was just collecting dust and served no purpose. Not even nostalgic. What am I going to do with a 40GB ATA hard drive? An AGP video card? A CRT? Old cables? Absolutely nothing. There are no bragging rights busting out an old Voodoo card. It's like flashing an A track at this point. I do wish I had my first computer though

There's a lot of computer users not quite as tech savvy as most of the folks here on this forum. I had a crappy old AGP card that I would have never used again, a friend of mine's AGP video card died and I gave it to him. Without it, he would have had to buy a new computer. For his family's email and internet needs, an older computer works fine. Heck, I gave my buddy's daughter an IBM T30 laptop I haven't used in years; it was her first computer that was all hers. She's stoked to have it and she's learning about Linux.

Value is relative.

 

[MongGrel]

I still have a couple boxes of old bacles and a few things hanging out in the Florida Room I guess.

I try to keep it down and have thrown or given away things over the years.

 

[doubledeluxe]

I agree but I haven't been in that situation in years. There was a point where I'd grab a bunch if spare parts and with $200 give a "new" computer to someone but today that's not for me. I'd rather recommend they buy a $200 chromebook

 

[Z15CAM]

I have a 1800 Mhz P3V4X Slot 1/Vidded Taulatin 1.3 Mhz Celron on a MSI converter card running WinSE with 150 MHz SDram and an ATi 2900XT in the closet ;o)

Don't think it has One Week of run time. I believe it runs @ 2.8 Volts - LOL

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I got rid of everything. It was taking up too much space. I regret dumping the old B/W Mac but the rest really was just collecting dust and served no purpose. Not even nostalgic. What am I going to do with a 40GB ATA hard drive? An AGP video card? A CRT? Old cables? Absolutely nothing. There are no bragging rights busting out an old Voodoo card. It's like flashing an A track at this point. I do wish I had my first computer though

Oh, I purge periodically. I limit myself to four, 14" x 18" x 36" Rubber-Maid chests with double latches and padlocks.

Our garage is crowded. No place for them there. We're in So-Cal. There's a corner of the hillside patio sheltered from the rain (scarce as it is here) and perpetually in shade. The chests are stackable and lock together. Once every couple years, the outdoor temperature may come close to freezing, but only during one or two nights in a given year. Since it's in shade, the July heat in that corner is as mild as it gets, and there's no sun damage to the chests.

But if I'm perpetually working with hardware in this room, stuff piles up on the large glass coffee table and everywhere else -- on the fireplace, the floor -- every . . freakin' where. I keep trying to clean up. All the small stuff may find its way into a single box for more orderly distribution later. I've got my "computer toolbox," which I try to store in a corner of the room. Under one chair, I've temporarily stowed my solder kit and dremel box.

It's just a continual battle. I keep thinking that -- sooner or later -- I'll wake up in the middle of the night with a PCI card stuck up my crack.

 

[Sooper Trololo]

Me being one of those,I have a TRS-80 4k Home computer.
My answer:forever!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Me being one of those,I have a TRS-80 4k Home computer.
My answer:forever!

Amazing. There are at least a couple posters so far who should organize themselves and start a museum.

I tend to distribute whole systems to family members if they still have everyday use-value. I've donated whole computers to charity, but not so many. And I've built just about every machine I've had since 1995 -- my last OEM purchase -- a Gateway tower.

The old Gateways were stripped of their "working" parts eventually, which were then sent to the recyclers. The cases got extended use to house my more recent creations, until I could see advantages to junking the chassis and related parts to actually "buy" a case from a reseller.

It's a lot easier to save the three-wire-and-plug assembly for old fans; I probably have 6-32 hex-head screws from my OEM machines of the '90s -- never throw away screws. But screws and other fasteners aren't the major disabling aspects of "hoarding" -- they don't take up much space, and they always come in handy.

I DO have a collection of fans: Panaflo's, Evercool, Delta -- some old Zalman OP-1 92x15mm fans which I suspect may still see active duty again -- but maybe not -- who knows?

CAT-5 Ethernet cables. USB A-B cables. AC Power cables. COAX-TV cables. Splitters. Filters. Audio cables of different varieties. Bezels, 5.25" bay plates. IDE HDDs (time to kill them and recycle). The SATA-II drives -- those are still useful. I certainly have spare SATA-III drives, don't I?

A couple G-bit Ethernet NICs. One old but well-revered sound-card.

For motherboards and processors, my holdings are not excessive. I think I have three motherboards in storage -- any of which could become the basis of my next home-server re-build -- including an EVGA 780i board!! The remaining two are Z68 and Z77 boards -- anticipating one more replacement project when Moms is more eager to give up her LGA-775 C2D.

I have too many spare kits of DDR2 RAM, though.

But mainstreamers don't do this stuff. They don't save screws, wires, cables, fans, HDDs.

They tend to think they can replace a desktop with a tablet, and may be disappointed. Anybody who hoards old tablets and cellphones has to be a bit nutty. A major implication of mobile devices that can't be customized: they're the substance of a throw-away or recycling culture.

If I'd had greater vision a decade ago, I would've started an electronics-waste-recycling company of my own. They seem to exist side-by-side with facilities of local government, and I suspect the two types of entities work hand in hand.

 

[illram]

Basically I get rid of stuff once it is really legitimately obsolete. Which takes a while, sadly. I have an old C2D system in my closet (the first computer I built, actually, about 10 years ago) and two ancient laptops. They all still work perfectly fine for web surfing--heck the C2D system still runs old games like Bioshock like a champ...which makes it hard to get rid of them. My old Xbox 360 which I tried to sell is boxed up with all of its games... I stupidly deleted everything on it when I listed in on craigslist, and recently I got the itch to fire it up and play some old stuff for nostalgia, and it was sad to see all my saved info completely wiped. So back into the plastic crate it goes to gather dust.

Once in a blue moon it is nice to have spare parts around to test/troubleshoot... for instance my old C2D system still has a perfectly good PSU in it that I used recently to troubleshoot my current living room PC's dead GPU.

So these little things make me hang onto stuff I shouldn't hang on to for too long.

This is not to mention the giant crate of cables and connectors I have, but that stuff is actually legitimately useful.

 

[BroHamBone]

I have dell systems given to me by a friend. Torn apart and put into plastic grocery bags, stored in a diaper box. Some old DDR modules I give to my kids so they will leave me alone. Oh, what about having those logitech mouse weights when my current mouse can not use them.

I do have an amd x720 system sitting under my desk in an antec 1200 case...not being used

 

[hoorah]

I believe OP and I have discussed this before, as we recycle a similar number of older S775 systems.

For both better and worse, I've discovered a local place that accepts e-waste at a dropoff location. While against the rules to take anything from there, rarely do I see anyone that would be upset about it. Because of that, I've thrown away a lot of my useless things like cables, power cords, Dell/HP cases and power supplies, etc because I know if I need something like that I can always grab one from there.

On the other hand, I've sometimes left with more stuff than I came to drop off...

I try to make my breaks on tech boundaries. At some point I say "no more single core systems", or "No more DDR1 stuff" or "no more PATA hard drives".

I keep my spare parts down to 1-2 extra complete computers and about 1 rubbermaid full of parts. Anything past that and I start getting rid of stuff.

If I can, I try to take as many extra parts and put them into a complete system and sell it for $50 on craigslist. I'd rather have the $50 and buy a part that I sold if I need something than keep on hand 20 random parts in case I need one of them.