Time to get rid of LGA775? (Donation material?)

[VirtualLarry]

I realize that many people here, being enthusiasts, have already done this, but I'm trying to make that decision for myself now.

I have two Q9300 rigs, at 3.0Ghz / 400FSB. 8GB DDR2, 240GB SATA2 SSD.

I have an unRAID server with ten 2TB Hitachi drives, and a Q6600 that is underclocked. This runs 24/7.

I also have a backup Q8200 CPU / P45 board / 4GB DDR2 RAM, as a backup for the server, should that board ever give out.

I've been toying with what to do with the Q9300 rigs, being that they run 24/7. In the winter they do DC, so the extra heat actually helps out. (I have electric heat.)

In the summer though, they make the room slightly unbearably warm. (Don't like sweating while I'm trying to use a PC.)

I also have an MSI A85X FM2 full-ATX board that is brand new. It has 8 SATA6G ports, and plenty of PCI-E slots. That board would go into the server.

Edit: I guess my point of this thread, is not about power-saving so much as it is, whether or not I should unload my 775 gear, if it's still worth something, or if I should modernize (Haswell / FM2+), and mothball my 775 gear if it's not worth much. I already purchased two N2830 laptops for "summertime computing", and I picked up several FM2+ MSI boards, as well as some G3258 / H81 CPU / mobo combos, to choose among for my desktop rigs.

As an aside, is it better for motherboards, CPU, and RAM (connectors) to leave them connected when mothballing a board, or is it better to remove the components?

 

[nenforcer]

I'm still using a Core 2 Quad Q9550 (Xeon X3360) nForce 790i as my daily browser / gaming machine.

However, the chips and motherboard have started their price descent and for instance your Q9300 chips are going for less than $50 on eBay IF you can find a buyer.

Your old mechanical 2TB Hitachi drives aren't limited by the SATA 2 speeds so I'd just stick with them until they crash.

We're at the transition between DDR3 and DDR4 and I wouldn't recommend you upgrade all of your rigs to DDR3 machines since that is now going to be obsolete. DDR4 prices should stabalize later next year which is when I would consider the low voltage 1.2V DDR4 to replace your servers.

I also built a FM2+ HTPC and its 6 native SATA III 6Gbps ports would handle being an unRAID server just fine. You would also start to save on your power bill and this might be important as power prices in my region have spiked considerably compared to last year.

 

[Blain]

Use them for charity rigs.

 

[VirtualLarry]

However, the chips and motherboard have started their price descent and for instance your Q9300 chips are going for less than $50 on eBay IF you can find a buyer.

Bummer.

Your old mechanical 2TB Hitachi drives aren't limited by the SATA 2 speeds so I'd just stick with them until they crash.

Yes, I'm not getting rid of the drives.

I also built a FM2+ HTPC and its 6 native SATA III 6Gbps ports would handle being an unRAID server just fine.

The FM2+ boards I picked up only have 4 SATA2 ports on them.

Use them for charity rigs.

I was debating offering the local Boy's Club some computers. But I don't know of they would prefer S775 rigs, or the G3258 Haswell rigs.

 

[evident]

I just trash picked a dell inspiron from my neighbor that had a E5200 in it. Bought an E8200 for $10 on at FS and going to make it into a HTPC for my parents, I think. I would have probably built them a sandy or ivy based setup for lower power consumption if i had the chance though. I dont think many people are buying 775 stuff on ebay or craigslist anymore. I cant even move the system for $60.

it still has its uses, but I dont think you can make any considerable cash back on unloading it.

 

[richierich1212]

I'd donate them to the local Boy's club. LGA775 is dead.

 

[schmuckley]

yes,It's time.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Ok, let's say hypothetically that I will donate them.

I would remove the 240GB SSD, and the 3TB HDD from each of them.

What should I use for storage?

I do have some smaller SSDs, including two 40GB Kingston-labeled X25-V drives with 99% health left, that a fellow AT member graciously donated to me. (Thanks! You know who you are.)

I have a valid Win7 64-bit key that's already activated on those mobos.

What video card should I include? (P35 boards require one.)

I have some older and slightly-worn 9600GSO 384MB and some HD4850 512MB cards. I also have a pair of new and like-new GT620 cards.

The power supplies are Antec VP-450 units, with one PCI-E 6-pin. They are probably nearly 3 years old at this point. Should I replace them before donating? With what?

 

[richierich1212]

Get rid of anything from that Era!

I think those power supplies should still last for a few more years. Use the small SSDs paired with the 9600GSOs. I don't think they will be able to install much on them anyways, so if they really wanted to game you'd have to see if they can get some decent 250/500GB drives for storage. That way you could donate the HD4850s.

 

[escrow4]

Dump it. A Haswell i3 will kill most of the Core 2 quad's never mind the duals whilst sipping power. Holds its value too and it easy to reuse.

 

[SPBHM]

I think I remember seeing a 10-20W difference on idle power usage when I tested a few years back a 65nm quad and 45nm dual core CPU on the same MB,


but the last time I touched a C2Q (Xeon with the mod and 775 board) I was not to displeased with the power draw, idle total under 50W, using handbrake to convert videos (100% load) was around 100w (that's with a 2.5GHz 12MB l2 quad),

if you are to worried about power the q9300 would probably make more sense than the q6600 for 24/7 operation also, there is no need for overclocking and you could undervolt.

 

[Blain]

Ok, let's say hypothetically that I will donate them.

I would remove the 240GB SSD, and the 3TB HDD from each of them.

What should I use for storage?

I do have some smaller SSDs, including two 40GB Kingston-labeled X25-V drives with 99% health left, that a fellow AT member graciously donated to me. (Thanks! You know who you are.)

I have a valid Win7 64-bit key that's already activated on those mobos.

What video card should I include? (P35 boards require one.)

I have some older and slightly-worn 9600GSO 384MB and some HD4850 512MB cards. I also have a pair of new and like-new GT620 cards.

The power supplies are Antec VP-450 units, with one PCI-E 6-pin. They are probably nearly 3 years old at this point. Should I replace them before donating? With what?

You're overthinking it. With all the mental turmoil you're going through, I've changed my suggestion...
Just dispose of them (after removing any components you desire to keep), at a recycler.

Ok, let's say hypothetically that you drop the components off at said recycler...
1. Your mental gymnastics are over.
2. This thread has a happy ending.
3 You can move on with your life.
It's a win for you, a win for mother earth, a win for the recycler and a win for us.

 

[VirtualLarry]

You're overthinking it.
...
It's a win for you, a win for mother earth, a win for the recycler and a win for us.

Sorry for causing you so much trouble, Blain. At least I didn't mention Newegg, right?

Edit: I only have epic Q9300 threads, because these 775 quads are so epic themselves, hehe.

 

[Blain]

If the Pc's were ready to donate without any alteration, that would be great.
But having to reconfigure them just to donate them, isn't worth the effort.

 

[jjmIII]

Build the scraps into PC's and sell them. I could get $100+ all day long for a Win7 tower.

I like $100 bills.

 

[justinm]

I'm still running my old Q9550s/Asus Q35 combo in an HTPC and torrent box. When it craps out I'll upgrade but it's been good the last few years I've been running it.

 

[cbn]

I was debating offering the local Boy's Club some computers. But I don't know of they would prefer S775 rigs, or the G3258 Haswell rigs.

Unless Boy's Club has a specific use in mind for these Q9300 rigs, I would just sell them.

Then after you receive the money for the Core 2 quad desktops, you can donate the cash to Boy's club.

 

[MiddleOfTheRoad]

Yeah, Socket 775 just isn't worth it. It was a great back in the day, but that day has passed. I'd sell the stuff off to raise money for a fresh build.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I initially decided that I didn't want to part with my beloved Q9300 rigs, but the one on the right (my "main" one), froze on me twice a few days ago, and once yesterday. The first time, it was running PrimeGrid on both the CPU and GPU (and putting quite a load on it), the second time it was running F@H on both CPU + GPU.

I notched up the vcore a couple of notches, and still running F@H on it at "Full" strength (which appears to use 3 CPU cores for a CPU WU, and one CPU core and the GPU for GPU WUs).

I'm keeping an eye on it. But if it starts flaking out, I can't really donate it in good conscience. I could part it out on ebay, and clearly disclose that the parts had been overclocked for most all of their life, and it was starting to flake out. Or I could diagnose it down to a component that might be failing, and try to replace it. Or just chalk it up to CPU degradation, if it doesn't freeze again.

I do have 240GB OCZ SSDs (Refurbs!) as primary drives in these two rigs. So it could be that too.

I'm going to keep them for the month of Dec., I think, at least, for the AT F@H race. Or maybe not, they don't have the greatest PPD. If only I could afford a monster video card for these boxen.

 

[Yuriman]

I'm willing to bet that, if put back at stock or even dialed back just a bit, the Q9300 would work fine for many years. Mild degradation is probably not a problem.

 

[ronbo613]

Donate them to a senior center if you don't want them. I helped out at a local retirement home for awhile, the old dudes fixed up old computers and passed them around to the residents who have plenty of spare time to kill.

I convinced them to get a Wii to replace bowling night, but that's another story.

 

[dontsh00tmesanta]

I'll take the cpu

 

[escrow4]

Junk them and slap some 4790's non K and H97 boards into the 2 main boxes. If Core 2 lasted this long for you, these will last for another 5yrs. I use a 4770 non K as my main system daily (5930K for my gaming box) and I doubt I'll upgrade it ever at this point unless I start encoding x265/x264 daily, just if something dies. Idle sips power, load power use is fairly lite and they will murder any Core 2 quad.

 

[Socio]

You could have some fun and do a LGA 771 to 775 mod and drop faster Xeon CPUs in your rig.

 

[fleshconsumed]

You won't get much for the C2Q stuff. I finally sold my 9450/9550 rigs earlier this year and I only netted ~$65 for the CPUs and ~$30 for the motherboards after shipping and amazon/ebay/paypal fees. Q9300 is going to fetch even less. I wouldn't spend too much time debating what you want to do with those. Even if you managed to sell CPU/Mobo/RAM you'd only net around $100 per RIG. Is it nice? Sure, but that kind of money is not worth overthinking.