Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

best cheap/free scores 1.1

Collapse
This is a sticky topic.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

    Apparently, this is "UPS week"...

    Rescued one of these and one of these. Along with a pair of these and 3 extra of these.

    I have my eye on one of these (with a spare) which may end up replacing all of the above. Just not sure I can install it anywhere that will support the weight!

    And, of course, smuggling THAT into the house will be more of a challenge than the smaller units! <frown>

    Comment


      Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

      Scored some free gems:

      - Office 97 Small Business Edition (DE)
      - Windows 95C (DE)
      - AOL Diamond (DE)
      - EPSON Creative Design Pack (Multilanguage, but the sticker on it is in Deutsch)
      - Corel Draw 7 OEM (Multi)
      - Aztech SC16-3D + ATI Rage Pro Turbo Driver CDs (EN)
      - CD-R w/ bunch of pictures from the previous owner.
      - Acer 56K Modem Driver CD
      Main rig:
      Gigabyte B75M-D3H
      Core i5-3470 3.60GHz
      Gigabyte Geforce GTX650 1GB GDDR5
      16GB DDR3-1600
      Samsung SH-224AB DVD-RW
      FSP Bluestorm II 500W (recapped)
      120GB ADATA + 2x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB
      Delux MG760 case

      Comment


        Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

        More free scores:

        -Sony Vaio FZ21M - needs reflow
        -HP Pavilion DV2000 - reflowed, works great but needs some work aesthetically
        -Acer 5315 - no power
        -Fujitsu Siemens Esprimo V6505 - powers on fine but good god the KB is literally slayed
        -HP DV6820 - no display, mobo has no CPU, so untested
        -Nokia CA-42 cable - handy for Seagate repairs (BSY and SMART reset)
        Main rig:
        Gigabyte B75M-D3H
        Core i5-3470 3.60GHz
        Gigabyte Geforce GTX650 1GB GDDR5
        16GB DDR3-1600
        Samsung SH-224AB DVD-RW
        FSP Bluestorm II 500W (recapped)
        120GB ADATA + 2x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB
        Delux MG760 case

        Comment


          Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

          Originally posted by Dan81 View Post
          -Nokia CA-42 cable - handy for Seagate repairs (BSY and SMART reset)
          I've seen that done....seemed a lot of effort for a drive that's worth maybe $2 on a good day...
          <--- Badcaps.net Founder

          Badcaps.net Services:

          Motherboard Repair Services

          ----------------------------------------------
          Badcaps.net Forum Members Folding Team
          http://folding.stanford.edu/
          Team : 49813
          Join in!!
          Team Stats

          Comment


            Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

            Honestly it's not much work, I just cut up an FP_Audio header, wired RX, TX and GND, and isolated the twisted copper with electrical tape, and right now it's resetting a 2TB 7200.11 as I write this.
            Main rig:
            Gigabyte B75M-D3H
            Core i5-3470 3.60GHz
            Gigabyte Geforce GTX650 1GB GDDR5
            16GB DDR3-1600
            Samsung SH-224AB DVD-RW
            FSP Bluestorm II 500W (recapped)
            120GB ADATA + 2x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB
            Delux MG760 case

            Comment


              Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

              Originally posted by Dan81 View Post
              Honestly it's not much work, I just cut up an FP_Audio header, wired RX, TX and GND, and isolated the twisted copper with electrical tape, and right now it's resetting a 2TB 7200.11 as I write this.
              I'd do it perhaps in an effort to recover data for a client....but I don't think I'd ever trust the drive enough to use it again.
              <--- Badcaps.net Founder

              Badcaps.net Services:

              Motherboard Repair Services

              ----------------------------------------------
              Badcaps.net Forum Members Folding Team
              http://folding.stanford.edu/
              Team : 49813
              Join in!!
              Team Stats

              Comment


                Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

                Seagate? Nuh-uh, automatic recommendation for replacement on the spot if it's not showing SMART problems. If it is, it's diagnosed as a failing HDD on the quote.
                Don't buy those $10 PSU "specials". They fail, and they have taken whole computers with them.

                My computer doubles as a space heater.

                Permanently Retired Systems:
                RIP Advantech UNO-3072LA (2008-2021) - Decommissioned and taken out of service permanently due to lack of software support for it. Not very likely to ever be recommissioned again.
                Asus Q550LF (Old main laptop, 2014-2022) - Decommissioned and stripped due to a myriad of problems, the main battery bloating being the final nail in the coffin.


                Kooky and Kool Systems
                - 1996 Power Macintosh 7200/120 + PC Compatibility Card - Under Restoration
                - 1993 Gateway 2000 80486DX/50 - Fully Operational/WIP
                - 2004 Athlon 64 Retro Gaming System - Indefinitely Parked
                - Main Workstation - Fully operational!

                sigpic

                Comment


                  Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

                  Originally posted by Curious.George View Post
                  Apparently, this is "UPS week"...

                  Rescued one of these and one of these. Along with a pair of these and 3 extra of these.

                  I have my eye on one of these (with a spare) which may end up replacing all of the above. Just not sure I can install it anywhere that will support the weight!

                  And, of course, smuggling THAT into the house will be more of a challenge than the smaller units! <frown>
                  Cripes! I'm a sucker for "free"... Time to see if there are any other things that I can add to my "scrap" pile to get rid of them, tomorrow!

                  Comment


                    Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

                    Originally posted by TechGeek View Post
                    Seagate? Nuh-uh, automatic recommendation for replacement on the spot if it's not showing SMART problems. If it is, it's diagnosed as a failing HDD on the quote.
                    Honestly I wouldn't trash a 7200.11 if the only issue is BSY. I'd just reset SMART using the already known guide, update the FW and be happy with it.

                    Also that adapter comes handy for experimenting with Samsung (non-Seagate) drives too.
                    Main rig:
                    Gigabyte B75M-D3H
                    Core i5-3470 3.60GHz
                    Gigabyte Geforce GTX650 1GB GDDR5
                    16GB DDR3-1600
                    Samsung SH-224AB DVD-RW
                    FSP Bluestorm II 500W (recapped)
                    120GB ADATA + 2x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB
                    Delux MG760 case

                    Comment


                      Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

                      Samsung SyncMaster 730b 17" monitor for $1.

                      Not much use for a monitor like this (17" 1280X1024) on a PC these days, but it works great as a display for my video surveillance system.

                      Attached Files

                      Comment


                        Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

                        Originally posted by Curious.George View Post
                        Cripes! I'm a sucker for "free"... Time to see if there are any other things that I can add to my "scrap" pile to get rid of them, tomorrow!
                        Originally posted by Curious.George
                        And, of course, smuggling THAT into the house will be more of a challenge than he smaller units! <frown>
                        Given the pictures of that 5KVA unit, I can totally see this:

                        Wife: Hey honey, what happened to our kitchen stove?
                        You: Sorry babes, that stove had to go. We weren't really using it too much anyways.
                        Wife: Well, I'm trying to make some tea. What I'm I supposed to do?
                        You: Just wrap the car battery booster cables around your cup and connect across the batteries in this UPS here. Or just leave it out under the sun - we're in the desert, after all.


                        Originally posted by TechGeek View Post
                        It's a process that involves removing the weak plastic rivets from a Model M that are used to hold the barrel plate to the backplate and sandwich everything in between them together. Over time, these rivets weaken and eventually fall off, causing the key feel to change. Eventually, the keyboard will be unusable as parts of it will no longer type.
                        Interesting.

                        Good to keep in mind if I ever decide to use my single Model M for anything (I'm really mostly keeping it just for the novelty and to show around.)

                        Otherwise, I don't find it that great for everyday use. While it's great for typing, the lack of Windows key makes it hard for me to use on a productivity / "main" PC.

                        And I also find that a lot of these older keyboards have terrible key roll-over. Moreover, many can't take more than 2 simultaneous key presses (Ctrl+Alt+Del and a few other special function keys excluded, of course.) Very few old keyboards can interpret any 3 simultaneous key presses and even less, more than 3 keys. So for that reason, I find a lot of these older keyboards are not that great for gaming either - at least for competitive games that require a lot of key press action (e.g. Fortnite.) Otherwise, I really like the sound and key press feel of the Model M.

                        Originally posted by dmill89 View Post
                        A Lionel "RW" 110W transformer for $10. Everything works properly except the whistle button, a common issue with all older Lionel transformers as the rectifier discs become weak with age (for anyone not familiar most O-gauge trains are AC powered and inject DC to trigger the whistle), nothing a diode won't fix.
                        Beautiful piece of vintage train equipment there.
                        They sure don't make then like that anymore.

                        Originally posted by Dan81 View Post
                        Scored some free gems:

                        - Office 97 Small Business Edition (DE)
                        - Windows 95C (DE)
                        Nice.
                        For typing up documents and making spreadsheets, honestly I think this is all you will ever need for a lifetime. Unlike modern Office 365, which requires subscription, you can use this older Office version pretty much forever.

                        On that note, I found 2 copies of Office XP Small Business Edition discarded at my previous job's trash. The disc sets were still unopened and with original CD key sticker attached.

                        Originally posted by dmill89 View Post
                        Samsung SyncMaster 730b 17" monitor for $1.

                        Not much use for a monitor like this (17" 1280X1024) on a PC these days, but it works great as a display for my video surveillance system.
                        Yup, those old Dell monitors are perfect for applications like that: reliable and good enough to get the job done.

                        I personally don't mind the lower resolutions that much. Just recently started switching my CRTs from 1024x768 to 1152x864 (and 1280x960 on the 21" ones.) I was testing a 22" 1650x1050 LCD monitor on my main PC all this summer (to make sure it can take the heat), and since it's an LCD, that higher resolution was actually bearable. But if I want higher resolution, it will have to be on a bigger screen. I dislike high resolutions on a small monitor - makes text and icons on most websites too small to see from far away.
                        Last edited by momaka; 10-19-2020, 02:26 PM.

                        Comment


                          Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

                          Originally posted by momaka View Post
                          On that note, I found 2 copies of Office XP Small Business Edition discarded at my previous job's trash. The disc sets were still unopened and with original CD key sticker attached.
                          oi! sell me one copy! i could use one of those as im still on winxp!

                          Comment


                            Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

                            Finally got around and fixed the Sony Vaio FZ21M.

                            Notable "issues" found:
                            - thermal paste was as dry as Sahara
                            - whoever tried to reflow the GPU literally didn't heat it enough - it was showing rainbow puke before reflow
                            - BD drive is semi-kaput, laser-wise

                            I replaced the old dry paste with brand new MX2, and reflowed the GPU with my automotive heatgun set to 350*C for ~30sec-1min, closed everything back together and it works like it's brand new.

                            Also a few small upgrades I did are a T8100 in place of the old T7250, a 500GB Samsung (made by Seagate) in place of the old 200GB Fujitsu it had, as well as 4GB of DDR2-800 in place of the 1GB 667 sticks it had.
                            Last edited by Dan81; 10-19-2020, 10:47 PM.
                            Main rig:
                            Gigabyte B75M-D3H
                            Core i5-3470 3.60GHz
                            Gigabyte Geforce GTX650 1GB GDDR5
                            16GB DDR3-1600
                            Samsung SH-224AB DVD-RW
                            FSP Bluestorm II 500W (recapped)
                            120GB ADATA + 2x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB
                            Delux MG760 case

                            Comment


                              Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

                              Originally posted by momaka View Post
                              Given the pictures of that 5KVA unit, I can totally see this:

                              Wife: Hey honey, what happened to our kitchen stove?
                              You: Sorry babes, that stove had to go. We weren't really using it too much anyways.
                              Wife: Well, I'm trying to make some tea. What I'm I supposed to do?
                              You: Just wrap the car battery booster cables around your cup and connect across the batteries in this UPS here. Or just leave it out under the sun - we're in the desert, after all.
                              Today, I recycled 6 Smart-UPS 1500s as a token offering to the "God of Equilibrium". I figure I still need to shed some more volume and mass. But, that was a good start.

                              What I really need to do is take another pass through all of my books and paper notes...

                              Comment


                                Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

                                Scored an free Acer Aspire 5720G.

                                Original specs as I got it from the dump:

                                - no HDD
                                - Core 2 Duo T5450
                                - Panasonic UJ-850 DVDRW
                                - Fujitsu-Siemens (FSC) OEM'd Geforce Go 7600 GS 256MB (which surprisingly works fine, as well as has not been reflowed, though someone soldered some screw standoffs and the reason for that is beyond me (5520G/7520G/5720G/7720G all have a proprietary removable bracket on the back of their GPUs, held on by adhesive tape, and not those funny-ass standoffs)
                                - 1GB RAM (2x512, and one was PC2-4200 no less!)
                                - greek KB, saved it as it's working fine, but is in dire need of a key replacement session (assuming I still have some of the special keys)as its keys are more yellow than one of my Maxell DVD-Rs lol
                                - Intel 3945ABG Wi-Fi card

                                Specs after restoration:

                                - 250GB Seagate Pipeline Mini HDD
                                - Core 2 Duo T5800 (for the time being, as I have a T8300 handy)
                                - HT-DT-ST GSA-T40N DVDRW
                                - Acer branded HD4650 1GB DDR2
                                - 4GB DDR2-800
                                - italian KB (not very new, but at least it's matching the white color of the case)
                                - Intel WiFi Link 5100

                                Left to do is also upgrade the screen, assuming I can source an 7520/7720 LVDS cable, and drop in a 1680x1050 panel.
                                Main rig:
                                Gigabyte B75M-D3H
                                Core i5-3470 3.60GHz
                                Gigabyte Geforce GTX650 1GB GDDR5
                                16GB DDR3-1600
                                Samsung SH-224AB DVD-RW
                                FSP Bluestorm II 500W (recapped)
                                120GB ADATA + 2x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB
                                Delux MG760 case

                                Comment


                                  Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

                                  I picked up yet some more of those silly Nobilis C2-era systems, I've got to have 50 of them now.

                                  Several new-old-stock Coolermaster 400W PSU's

                                  and the pick of the litter, rescued from a recycle bin....a Supermicro C2SBA+ LGA775. It had 6gb RAM and some lousy/worthless/slow C2D processor in it...in working order. Here's where it gets good though!! I checked the board specs at Supermicro (it wasn't a board I was familiar with), checked the BIOS revision against the latest on their site, it was current. It's a G33 chipset....which got my wheels turning (dangerous sometimes) since it *can* support 5400-series Xeons with the correct modifications... Yup, I modded an E5450 c0 stepping and plopped it in there....it POST'd right up. I booted into Hiren's and checked CPU-Z, CPU is reported correctly, all instructionsets and goodies are working/supported....I didn't even have to mod the BIOS with Xeon microcode. I've noticed some Intel LGA775 boards (the DG45ID was a good one) that do this as well.... Of course they don't 'officially' support Xeon CPU's due to them having to be physically carved up....but they toss the microcode into their firmwares.

                                  Ok, not a horribly stellar system....but I always have a love for making things run stuff they weren't intended to!





                                  Attached Files
                                  <--- Badcaps.net Founder

                                  Badcaps.net Services:

                                  Motherboard Repair Services

                                  ----------------------------------------------
                                  Badcaps.net Forum Members Folding Team
                                  http://folding.stanford.edu/
                                  Team : 49813
                                  Join in!!
                                  Team Stats

                                  Comment


                                    Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

                                    Today's score is a Compaq CQ57-460EA. i3 380M, 4GB of RAM (originally had a single 4GB stick, I replaced it with 2x2GB so I might at least get dual-channel hopefully). Originally had a Seagate 320GB (unchecked) but I replaced it with a 500GB HGST, and the Panasonic DVD-RW with a Lite-ON DVDRW. Will probably crack it open though to replace the thermal paste, as well as give it a good cleaning.

                                    Anyone know compatible mobos with discrete GPU for a G6-1000 series and this CQ57 though? As in, P/N for them is what I'm looking for.
                                    Main rig:
                                    Gigabyte B75M-D3H
                                    Core i5-3470 3.60GHz
                                    Gigabyte Geforce GTX650 1GB GDDR5
                                    16GB DDR3-1600
                                    Samsung SH-224AB DVD-RW
                                    FSP Bluestorm II 500W (recapped)
                                    120GB ADATA + 2x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB
                                    Delux MG760 case

                                    Comment


                                      Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

                                      Another score today... another 5520G. Jeez, the 8400M G variants seem to be everywhere! Very scarce on the 8600M front tho, a shame since the G84s are nice if cooled properly.

                                      Anyways. I had to reflow both the GPU and chipset. The GPU had white screen issue, which the reflow fixed (along with repasting and adjusting the GPU heatsink a bit) and the chipset was almost working - the only issue it had was it would not recognize the DVD drive no matter what. Reflowed it, boom. DVD drive would show up fine.

                                      Anyways, it's running Windows 7 now, although it's quite hot (GPU stays in mid 50s - low 60s) but honestly that's to be expected of anything AMD running DDR2 and older than S1G4.
                                      Main rig:
                                      Gigabyte B75M-D3H
                                      Core i5-3470 3.60GHz
                                      Gigabyte Geforce GTX650 1GB GDDR5
                                      16GB DDR3-1600
                                      Samsung SH-224AB DVD-RW
                                      FSP Bluestorm II 500W (recapped)
                                      120GB ADATA + 2x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000340NS 1TB
                                      Delux MG760 case

                                      Comment


                                        Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

                                        Cooler master tower HAF 932, Asus p6x58D premium mb, 24g ram, 1TB hdd, I7 950, Optiarc DVD RW, Gforce GTX570 1.25g ram. $50
                                        Goshen NY, USA

                                        Comment


                                          Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

                                          Originally posted by speter View Post
                                          Cooler master tower HAF 932, Asus p6x58D premium mb, 24g ram, 1TB hdd, I7 950, Optiarc DVD RW, Gforce GTX570 1.25g ram. $50
                                          Not bad at all!
                                          Those X58 boards are still viable for modern use. Maybe they won't be able to play all of the latest games (if that's something you even had in mind.) But if the board supports 6-core Xeon Westmere CPU, I strongly suggest to go with one. The 2 extra cores will help a lot, even if you do get a slower chip (not to mention you may be able to OC it quite a bit more, being a Xeon chip and all.)

                                          If anyone watches TechYesCity on YouTube, he still does the occasional build comparison of socket 1366 / X58 platforms with modern stuff... and these old chips still perform respectably well.
                                          Last edited by momaka; 11-07-2020, 12:48 AM.

                                          Comment

                                          Working...
                                          X