discussion Is it worth selling your old computer where you are at?

[User_62681]

used parts are really cheap from china

 

[yesplznothxkk]

The leftover computers can probably earn you a few bucks, but computers are becoming better fast - and games/applications raise their standards along with them.
I can manage by buying the most current gfx, cpu and 32 gb ram (maybe 64 next time), every 4-5 years. That way I can play most games comfortably, on max settings, until some idiotic AAA studio decides that the latest feature of GFX cards needs to be a must-have in their game.
So, with the specs you've posted, you can probably ask for around 20-25% of the original price, maybe a little less if its a picky buyer, maybe a little more if its someone looking for their sons (or daughters) first gaming pc.
Some eco-minded consumers actually favors buying used, to avoid unnecessary drain on resources, so read your buyer if you wish to sell.

A word of warning though, even if you wipe your hdd drives, data may still be recovered and if you're not thorough in wiping them its actually quite easy for the average techsavvy dude to recover your old files, should they wish to.
A thorough format is a minimum, not just a quick format X: /q - and you might want to research ways of byte flipping, there are certain hdd shredder programs that do this, but some are above board, others not.

Ram should be pretty safe, just don't use them for alot of questionable material before your final boot down since they can store a ton of information, it takes a specialist to fish the data out of ram though, as they're usually wiped clean on bootup.
GFX cards are an interesting case, as modern cards *might* hold image data temporarily on their onboard ram, again, would take a specialist to fish data out of the ram, but still keep it in mind.

That said, there are certainly folks looking for a cheap functional computer that do not need top of the line, good on you for not just throwing your old computer in the dumpster.

 

[User_3471]

I have always donated mine to our local safe space organization. We have a local non profit that provides phones, computers and other items to neglected and/or abused spouses and children to help them get back some normal function in their lives. I do a factory restore on all of my phones, tablet and computers and donate them. It makes me feel good to help others.

 

[Arclight]

Depends entirely on the hardware.
My old PC runs 4790k and 1070Ti with a 1500 watt platinum PSU with a full size mother board and a good deal of expensive cooling and a water cooling block.
It still outperforms most PC's you can buy under the price tag of 600 euro, and is competitive up to 1000ish euro bracket.
I might sell it, as it would recoup my expenses on a new PC, roughly by 25%.
On the other hand, I have a few old PC's back home that are entirely office trash tier, where I can only see myself ripping the parts out for gold scrap but I keep them because I can harvest some parts to sell for people that make their own electronics, which, while uncommon, isn't completely dead as an industry.

 

[yurilover32]

I have two computers, the first one I gets any upgrades and the second one gets all these hand-me-down parts. Its worth recycling it in that way I feel, but you can always sell some of the parts locally or give them away if they're more than a bit outdated.

 

[User_48306]

I just realized my attic is becoming quite full with old computers, every 2-3 years I tend to buy a new computer with latest and greatest hardware. Like i have just put away an 5800x3d computer with rtx3080 nvidia the other day, since I have upgraded to 7800x3d with 7900gre. I always keep my old computers, since I have a lot of room and no need to sell for funds. Does anyone have experience reselling computers? Do you keep the ssd's in or sell without? Is it actually worth selling? What prices would like my 3rd oldest system get it consists of a I9-11900k , 32gb, 1tb nvme ssd, with 6800xt amd. In a rgb case I don't know the name.

If i did get a new computer while my old one still works I would 100% pass it down to friends who dont need the latest and greatest. I have to many friends that have 20 year old computers that just do basic stuff, so even a 5 year old computer is a blessing to them.

Also how the hell do you have that much disposable income?!

 

[JustAlice12]

I re-use whatever I can (my current PC case and PSU are part of fourth re-build)
Other parts I re-sell
Except for HDD/SSD - I use them for long term redundant offline backups/storage for most important data.

 

[User_8924]

I'm still using my 3080 and have no plans on upgrading it anytime soon

 

[User_80256]

No. It's not profitable. In terms of the ratio of finding a buyer to financial return.

 

[anonvonbron]

I just realized my attic is becoming quite full with old computers, every 2-3 years I tend to buy a new computer with latest and greatest hardware. Like i have just put away an 5800x3d computer with rtx3080 nvidia the other day, since I have upgraded to 7800x3d with 7900gre. I always keep my old computers, since I have a lot of room and no need to sell for funds. Does anyone have experience reselling computers? Do you keep the ssd's in or sell without? Is it actually worth selling? What prices would like my 3rd oldest system get it consists of a I9-11900k , 32gb, 1tb nvme ssd, with 6800xt amd. In a rgb case I don't know the name.

Just pull the drives and sell the hardware. There's always budget component seekers out there

 

[gugusty]

yes dont forget to remove the data

 

[ilkhan.ulric]

not worth the hassle of dealing with dickhead people. give away or recycle

 

[walld]

This is a good article for info about how to securely erase your data from your drives.

You must be registered to see links

Another good idea is to buy an SSD adapter and use the old SSD as an extrnal drive - very fast, very handy, much better than an external HDD.

The comments on the article are probably more up to date. The comments say that "current technology" on HDD overwrite is enough, and for ssds, using the bios overwrite works, when available.

A common idea is using encryption for the whole disk and then a reformat will wipe the keys and make all the data gibberish. Encryption is a good option for every system and with computer power so high, very little performance hit from the encrypt/decrypt process overall. I don't do "gaming" and have no metrics about it.

 

[esgulepino]

Even if it isn't worth it, I don't like stockpiling old stuff. So I'd rather sell it or give it away, if not for the money or gratitude, for the free room -- and you know, it's also for my mind.

There are things you have to let go. Be it materially or mentally.

 

[stevie]

I always plan to use my old PCs as a backup in case something breaks but I have never had to. Selling to random people online seems like a hassle too so they collect dust and take up space.

 

[stevethepirate]

You could always throw a light weight Linux on there (DSL, xubintu, etc) and have a dedicated AVN machine.

 

[Elinan]

Technology gets old very fast which makes it hard to sell. Why don't you invest in a really good chassi, really good PSU, after that you basically only need to upgrade GPU as often as you feel it's needed. CPU, motherboard, RAM etc will not bottleneck in a long time if you invest money on that aswell.

 

[zzzzzzzzzz]

Technology gets old very fast which makes it hard to sell. Why don't you invest in a really good chassi, really good PSU, after that you basically only need to upgrade GPU as often as you feel it's needed. CPU, motherboard, RAM etc will not bottleneck in a long time if you invest money on that aswell.

Pretty true especially if you are buying a top end cpu/ram when you do the initial build.
Then again, it sounds like this guy's got money to burn if he is doing a full new top end build every 2-3 years, so why not go big or go home.

on the original topic, I think keeping at least one working backup is a good idea in general. After that it depends on if you can be bothered to try to sell them

 

[Goldy1]

damn you buy one ever 2-3 years? I still have my one and only for 6.

 

[RHS71]

Not really...? I've upgraded my video card and have been trying to sell the old one but no one wants to buy it at the price I'm selling, and I don't want to sell it for the price they want, so, eh?