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

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

Can I get a white chip as I been good?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Can I get a white chip as I been good?

And -- actually -- a gold star on the forehead. You manage your surplus well. You turn things over at EBay.

Corkyg's "wall of cables" is interesting, though. I've got to fold them up, stuff them in bags or boxes, find a way to get them into the Rubber-Maid chests. And eventually, the USB cables get mixed up with the SATA cables and they all get mixed up with VGA-DVI-HDMI cables. So when I want something, there are unnecessary "search costs" in time and trouble.

OH -- here's a good one. I'd rigged my brother's "old" C2D system with a "cold-cathode" green light, its power-pack and a little red switch I'd modded into a front-panel 5.25" bay cover. I've said enough about replacing his system with 3570K/Z77 hardware. It was about a week ago that I took the whole assembly -- maybe even decided to throw away the light and power-pack, but saved the wiring and the switch.

Now I want that little bay-plate and switch to use with a string of LED lights.

I'll have to go through all four parts-locker boxes until it turns up! I can see the benefits of keeping an "inventory" in a spreadsheet or database and numbering the vinyl chests where I keep that stuff. But -- really -- who takes the time and trouble?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I have been doing better and not hoarded as much as I used to, but I still have a stack of IDE DVD burners, a few floppy drives, tons of cables, etc. I also still have the second system I ever built in my garage (Pentium Pro 180 overclocked to 233 from 1997) and on top of all of this, I still have my Vic 20, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Amiga 2000 (restored and upgrade a few years ago) and an Amiga 3000.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I tend to hoard boxes as much as parts. You get a new gizmo, you never know if you might have to return it, or you might one day sell it, so you keep the retail box, and maybe the shipping box as well. The bigger shipping boxes are broken down and leaned against a wall, the smaller ones and all the retail boxes are in a ginormous stack, six feet tall and five feet deep at the back of my garage.

I go through them every once in a great while.

"Do I really need 25 Amazon A1 size boxes? No, I guess I'll recycle most of them."

"Do I need the box for that ATX case that I bought 12 years ago? Probably not. I don't even have the case any more."

"What's this? A box for an old CD-ROM drive that is packed away in the basement. Really?"

 

[VirtualLarry]

I keep mobo boxes, and my current-gen gaming GPU boxes.

Edit: I also keep monitor boxes for larger monitors, at least until the warranty is up.

 

[mfenn]

I keep mobo boxes, and my current-gen gaming GPU boxes.

Mobo boxes are awesome! You can keep all the various bits that are left over after building a computer in one. And of course, when you retire the board, you have a ready-made container for it.

 

[gochi123]

I got rid of all of my single-core computers, that were in my apt., some time ago. Also got rid of some dual-cores, probably could have gotten some money for them when I got rid of them (5 years ago). Oh well. I donated them, I didn't trash them, so someone got some benefit, hopefully.

i still have my old towers lmao

windows 95

floppy disk
zip disk

 

[DaveSimmons]

Does anyone need an Athlon A64 X2 3200+ system? I have one gathering dust . . . .

I moved 4 years ago and got rid of a good chunk of my hoard at that point -- PCI (not PCI-E) and AGP graphics cards, 486-66 and P3 PCs, etc. so now the A64 and some PATA drives are the oldest junk I'm too lazy to clean out.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Mobo boxes are awesome! You can keep all the various bits that are left over after building a computer in one.

Except for many case parts, such as drive cages and fan brackets. Actually, what ends up in the motherboard box after a build mostly came in the motherboard box: unused screws, drive cables, USB and eSATA backplates.

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

10 years cycle. I finally got rid of all the pre 2005 stuff.

That said, I keep some historical Suff.

Examples.

First Radio Shack NoteBook circa 1983.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_100

Sinclair ZX-90 Circa 1982

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum

And this, iMac G4 (still working), I Keep it as an "objet d'art" Decoration.

That's awesome stuff man, id love to go back and build a tape drive! Anyone willing to direct/help me?
Oh,
I got 6 big plastic bins full of parts/tools/junk D:

 

[hoorah]

Does anyone need an Athlon A64 X2 3200+ system? I have one gathering dust . . . .

AM2 or 939? If AM2 I'll pay shipping.

 

[MrTeal]

I just cleared a bunch of stuff out of my parts boxes, but couldn't get the nerve to clean out S775 or newer parts. I was pretty sure I'd never use the ISA modem or EDO RAM though.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Sentimental value.
I still have a ton of old stuff, eg. first 10k-rpm UW-SCSI Cheetah, Tseng ET6000, Canopus Pure3D I + II, Canopus Spectra 2500, some caching VLSI controller, etc.

 

[mfenn]

Except for many case parts, such as drive cages and fan brackets. Actually, what ends up in the motherboard box after a build mostly came in the motherboard box: unused screws, drive cables, USB and eSATA backplates.

You must be getting some different motherboard boxes than me. I stick all the books, discs, case accessories (drive bay covers, slot covers, etc), CPU socket covers, etc. into mine.

 

[Carson Dyle]

You must be getting some different motherboard boxes than me. I stick all the books, discs, case accessories (drive bay covers, slot covers, etc), CPU socket covers, etc. into mine.

I keep manuals separate, where I can get to them easily if need be. Discs go into a CD case.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I keep manuals separate, where I can get to them easily if need be. Discs go into a CD case.

That's also my own habit, but some of the other ideas folks have provided make sense.

I just went through a massive clean-up and "re-allocation" effort. There had been a pile-up of Newegg cardboard shipping boxes, PSU boxes (they always have the little latch in the design) and other similar containers. I used to find them useful for keeping things sorted inside my vinyl storage boxes. But suddenly you realize you've built a little city of cardboard skyscrapers on the floor of your room. Time to crush and discard.

 

[bendixG15]

I try, I really do, but There's certain "junk" I just can't heave.

 

[Oyeve]

I have literally tons of junk. Hell, I still have an 8088 system board around. I cant seem to let go of my junk. I still have boxed Intel Above-boards.

 

[ultimatebob]

I have literally tons of junk. Hell, I still have an 8088 system board around. I cant seem to let go of my junk. I still have boxed Intel Above-boards.

Hah! I had one of those in my old PS/2. 8 Megs of RAM in a 286, baby!

 

[ultimatebob]

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

Heh.. An AGP graphics card with an integrated standard resolution analog TV tuner? It's worthless.

 

[twinrider1]

Bringing back this thread, because I can't bear to throw it away.

I threw away an old broken monitor today.

Having a harder time with the stuff that still works but is hopelessly out of date. AGP stuff, floppy and CD drives, a left handed joystick, a crap ton of old cables. Some of the stuff might be worth a little (P4C800-e) but selling used electronics on eBay seems like you're just asking for headaches.

Some generic stuff I'll keep for possible electronics projects...power supply boards, fans, heat sinks. But the rest, might be time to pitch it. Still, I have a nagging feeling I'll need an AGP video card next week.

 

[Raduque]

I suppose I might be considered a computer parts hoarder. I have at least 3 Pentium 3-era motherboards (one is a dual-CPU, with I think Tualatins on it), a bunch of old slot Pentium II and Celeron CPUs, ancient GPUs (Have a Voodoo 2, Voodoo 3, Voodoo 4 pci AND Voodoo 5). Numerous AMD Socket A CPUs, 3 working Pentium-M era laptops with one or two minor problems (keys missing, etc), 4 old PCs (Pentium 4 or older). That's just at my other house.

At this house, I have a massive 50ish pound tub of wires and cables, two old PCs, two socket 775 motherboards with CPUs and ram to match, two Core2-era laptops...

 

[piasabird]

I often keep computer gear till it is so old that no one wants it. Then I wait for a local technology turn-in day.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I ditched a LOT of stuff a few years back. Got my "spare parts" stash down from 3-4 40 gallon plastic totes to a couple plastic shoeboxes.

It's been creeping up - I have some old Macintosh II cases in the garage that I intend to do some casemod stuff with. But overall, it's much more survivable.

Also, the TI-99/4a was an awesome piece of history that will always have an honored place in my home.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Years back after I got married, I had a tenant who had a younger brother (high school age). I donated most of my scrap-heap to him so he could learn our ways. Sadly, giving away the bulk of my computer scrap meant that I only had 1 working computer left and I have yet to upgrade/replace it even after all these years because I just don't have time for gaming and rely on consoles for that now. (I really miss my FPS games back when I used a keyboard and mouse...console FPS control is still terrible if you ask me)

At one time, I used to have a bunch of Commodore stuff from when my dad ran an authorized repair shop (Vic20s, C64s, later a C128, and an Amiga 500 demo...Silent Service and Flight Simulator FTW!). I also had a Sinclair (non-working), a Zenith Z100, IBM PS250Z and a bunch of other systems that could never match the C64 for gaming or game selection.