best cheap/free scores 1.1

[TechGeek]

Got these things for free in the past couple months:

Dell Latitude E6520(bad HDD)
2x Dell Inspiron 1150(one is fine, other has a bad battery)
Some Dell netbook(model unknown, very slow HDD(probably on it's way out))
Toshiba Tecra A2(battery is on it's way out)
A Kensington keyboard
And a REALLY old Microsoft mouse with almost NO tactile response

[Dan81]

Originally Posted by momaka

Take good care of that old hardware. In 10-20 years, things like that would actually still be worth something *and* probably still work fine too (unlike the Xbox 360 and One). I say this, because I've fixed lots of modern PCs lately, and I can tell you from experience that modern hardware nowadays is simply not built to last at all. Best it would do is either work until warranty expires or crap out in 3-5 years at best (i.e. when most people get an upgrade anyways).

Meh. I just dug out a 80GB Maxtor 6Y080L0,the HDD I used initially in my first Xbox (a 1.0,which now has a WDC WD800BB in there),locked it to the drive just so I could have a bootable softmodded Xbox,then I used a specially-made Linux environment (an automated version of Raincoat,look it up for more info) that flashed the TSOP. It's working quite okay now,aside from me screwing up the leds that I had to ghetto-repair the front panel,by soldering to the switches directly. The sticky Samsung drive is a bit of a pain in the arse,but nothing to worry about.

[Hondaman]

Last week there was a random drawing for some prizes at work. The drawing was only for people who had perfect attendance during the Christmas season. I am now the proud owner of:

A brand new Amazon ECHO !

The echo can be paired with home automation stuff like smart thermostats and light switches (you can also tell the Echo to do stuff remotely with the Echo app on your Android/iPhone). You can also use it to play music from Spotify, Pandorra and others. And if you have an Amazon Prime membership, Kindle audiobooks can be read to you in Alexa's voice. (Alexa might be similar to Siri, I am not sure.)

Amazon really wants to draw me into their ecosystem where I consume Amazon content. After 8.5 years of working at Amazon, I think they have just succeeded. I will need to understand the Amazon cloud, my Amazon account, and just what the Echo can do !

EDIT: Yes, there are "Easter Eggs" in the Echo. Say "Alexa, surely you can't be serious" and Alexa will speak back to you "Yes, I am serious. And don't call me Shirley". (Those lines are borrowed from an old US comedy movie [Airplane!] in case you did not know.)

[jondoe]

^ Ain't that the truth. I see TV's going for nearly the same price broken as they would a 2nd hand working example!

[srhofmann]

My top 3 would be:

3: Coleman 3500 Watt generator - rebuilt the carb now it's the one I loan out
2: Generac 6400 Watt generator - cold solder joints in the bridge rectifier - it's big enough to run the central air
1: 46" Samsung LCD TV - Bad power supply cap which I salvaged from an old board. I even had the balls to ask my neighbor for the remote. Makes a great garage TV

In the last year I did 2 - 37", 2 - 39" and 2 - 42" LCDs from the local recycling drop off place. It's closed up so pickings will be a lot slimmer in the future.

[goontron]

Onan 4.0 RV genset. Carb needs rebuilt and a fuse holder replaced along with the usual engine maintenance. hour meter shows 400 hours.

[Dan81]

Newest scores:

Seagate ST3802110A - 80GB PATA
Western Digital WD800BB-75JHA0 - 80GB PATA
Biostar MCP6P-M2 w/ dead Sempron 3600 - board does POST with another CPU,thus 3600 is dead - used a spare 3400 and it booted
Nikon Coolpix L11 - need some batteries for it
Spire ATX-500W-E1-PSU - Yuelin (a fake yuelin at that - they used a Leadman/Powmax model number -99xxD (something like that) - I replaced the innards with a recapped 250W max Premier (aka Deer) and reused the Yuelin's cables. (2x SATA and 24 pin ATX connector)

[momaka]

I **almost** got a Sony GDM-W900 24" CRT monitor (another of those huge behemots, branded as a Dell UltraScan P1690) two weeks ago. Some office/company was trying to get rid of them on Craigslist. Someone beat me to it, though... And I highly suspect copper recyclers , as I now regularly see TVs and monitors hauled from the curb, even when they are clearly broken. Last week, I went to see another "curb alert" on Craigslist about some random electronics (mostly speakers, but also two 21" CRT monitors - one of which a broken ViewSonic flat screen CRT), only to find a power cable and VGA cable left. But hey, at least I didn't leave completely empty-handed.

I've also been buying quite a bit of broken/as-is crap on eBay lately. Not sure if it qualifies as a best cheap score (or even good, for that matter)... but some of it is interesting hardware, nevertheless.

The most interesting one, IMO, is a Medion Radeon 9800 XL, which reports to have a R350 core in CPU-Z, but actually has a R360 core (which is what the Radeon 9800 XT uses). Also, the RAM is only clocked at 310 MHz DDR (620 MHz effective), but the chips are Samsung and rated for 350 MHz. I haven't tried "overclocking" the RAM to its rated frequency, but the GPU core had no problems going to 380 MHz (up from 350 MHz). So I think 400-410 MHz should be attainable (what the XT core runs at). I put a nice and big heatsink on it, because the original was tiny and causing the core to overheat and show artifacts. I hope it lasts with the new heatsink. I got the video card for $2, so that in itself was an okay score. But the seller was new and couldn't combine the shipping on another item I bough from him, so overall cost of the video card ended up around $14.

Originally Posted by Dan81

Newest scores:
...
Biostar MCP6P-M2 w/ dead Sempron 3600 - board does POST with another CPU,thus 3600 is dead - used a spare 3400 and it booted

Beware of the Chemicon KZG caps near the CPU. I've seen them go bad on almost every Biostar mobo. Worth checking/changing before tossing that "dead" Sempron 3600 CPU.
Otherwise, that's a good score. Biostar motherboards tend to have decent features. Not locked down like Intel and the low-end Asus boards.

Originally Posted by Dan81

Nikon Coolpix L11 - need some batteries for it

Does that mean you are going to take and upload pictures in the future?

[Dan81]

Originally Posted by momaka

Beware of the Chemicon KZG caps near the CPU. I've seen them go bad on almost every Biostar mobo. Worth checking/changing before tossing that "dead" Sempron 3600 CPU.
Otherwise, that's a good score. Biostar motherboards tend to have decent features. Not locked down like Intel and the low-end Asus boards.

Yeah,I took care of that a long time ago - Panasonic FL now run on the board. (although I downgraded the 1500uF 16v KZGs to 1000uF 16v,but in theory I've worked with these and it doesn't make any difference between the two.)

As for the Sempron,it was an ridiculously easy fix - only one bent pin - I broke it accidentally though,but the CPU seems to work fine now.

Originally Posted by momaka

Does that mean you are going to take and upload pictures in the future?

Not unless I can find some rechargable batteries and a data cable. All of my batteries seem not to hold charge anymore. I have my phone until then.

Also,some of the free stuff I got quite recently:

-Allied AL-8400BTX (w/ERL-28 transformer) - I replaced the transformer with an EI-33 transformer from another Deer of the same platform(the 2005Z Deers seem to have a different pinout that isn't compatible with other transformers )
-ASRock K7VT4A+ w/ Sempron 2600+
-Frontier 8865KHA case (Deer - it's almost the same as my JNC RJA-52 (the bigger one without plexiglass) except the metal is that tiger-textured type)
-nVidia Geforce MX440 64MB TV AGP 8x - recapped,had bulging Yihcons
-Segotep C-K106 PS/2 keyboard
-Radeon R7 240 2GB PCI-E card (which I run on my Pentium E5200 LGA775 machine)
-Marvo M309 gaming mouse - had a broken wheel data convertor (dunno what's the correct name)that I replaced from my now defunct Sweex PS/2 mouse (which was pretty crappy anyways)
-PS2 SCPH-77004a w/ 2 memory cards
-2x 40GB HDDs - WD400BB and a Maxtor D540X 40GB - I can't get the latter to be detected by any motherboard,even though it does the seek test without problems. (it's a 4D40H2,not the 6E series) The other just needs a Windows reinstall.

As a happy fact - I just "upgraded" three PSUs as of now - the aforementioned Allied has a EI-33 transformer now,another 350w Premier is now capable of powering a 5v-heavy system,and my old Yuelin YLP-010 now sports a real ERL-35 transformer from a FUBAR'd Kaisen.

[Topcat]

Picked up 3 free IBM/Lenovo M90Z All-in-One's in working condition. All 3 are I5's @ 3.2GHz, 8GB RAM, 250gb spinning HDD's. All 3 have severely degraded CCFL's in their panels. 2 show a dim & greenish image, and 1 displays fair, but dim. These are worth an attempt at a CCFL replacement.

[Dan81]

Got a free LG GH24NSB0 Super Multi DVD-RW. It won't read discs,so I might have a shot at trying to transplant a laser from my old GSA-H55N.

[Topcat]

Was given 2 Dell optiplex 790 USFF's. I3 @ 3.3 4GB ram, HDD's missing of course. Tossed an SSD in one with win7 pro (SLIC + COA). Not a bad little web browser.

[Dan81]

Got some free stuff from the dumpster yesterday:

Deer DR-A300ATX PSU - just bad caps and a lot of dust - thick heatsinks though
ASUS P4B533 - also bad caps (Taicon 3300uF 6.3v) but now works fine after recapping with Sanyo WG,Nichicon HM and a lone Samwha RD
52x LG CD-ROM drive
ATI Rage 128 GPU (Xpress2000Pro 32MB)
3com NIC
Gameport &USB bracket.

[Hondaman]

It seems like I never get the "good finds" like everyone else (except for my wonderful Amazon Echo). Here is more evidence of my bad finds:

Last week my neighbor threw an E-machines T5010 in his garbage, and I got it:

Pentium 4, 2.93 GHz (single core, 64 bit)
512 Megs of 533 MHz RAM
2 PCI slots, 1 PCI-e x1 slot
PCI 56K Modem
IDE CD/DVD-RW, not a famous brand
Multi-card reader in front panel, probably won't read today's larger SD cards
Windows XP
500 MB SATA-2 drive. Approximately 82 start-stop cycles, 28000 hours running time.
Hipro HP-P3507F5 300-watt PSU

The hard drive had 3 user accounts, not many files in them. I guess this computer sat for a long time, turned on but idling. Finally one of the neighbor's children dropped it, kicked it and threw it (a couple of times) to the curb. The outer case shows this was literally "kicked to the curb".

I'm surprised the thing worked. I'll keep the hard drive (and maybe the Windows COA) and junk the rest of it. A few questions:

1. Is the Hipro PSU any good? Should I throw it out because of old age and dust? Today's aftermarket units are probably much better, correct?
2. Should I "creatively" destroy this computer, perhaps with fire, or a sledgehammer?

Thanks in advance for your time and attention !

[ratdude747]

Originally Posted by Hondaman

It seems like I never get the "good finds" like everyone else (except for my wonderful Amazon Echo). Here is more evidence of my bad finds:

Last week my neighbor threw an E-machines T5010 in his garbage, and I got it:

Pentium 4, 2.93 GHz (single core, 64 bit)
512 Megs of 533 MHz RAM
2 PCI slots, 1 PCI-e x1 slot
PCI 56K Modem
IDE CD/DVD-RW, not a famous brand
Multi-card reader in front panel, probably won't read today's larger SD cards
Windows XP
500 MB SATA-2 drive. Approximately 82 start-stop cycles, 28000 hours running time.
Hipro HP-P3507F5 300-watt PSU

The hard drive had 3 user accounts, not many files in them. I guess this computer sat for a long time, turned on but idling. Finally one of the neighbor's children dropped it, kicked it and threw it (a couple of times) to the curb. The outer case shows this was literally "kicked to the curb".

I'm surprised the thing worked. I'll keep the hard drive (and maybe the Windows COA) and junk the rest of it. A few questions:

1. Is the Hipro PSU any good? Should I throw it out because of old age and dust? Today's aftermarket units are probably much better, correct?
2. Should I "creatively" destroy this computer, perhaps with fire, or a sledgehammer?

Thanks in advance for your time and attention !

Depends on the wattage and connectors. Being a hipro, I wouldn't toss it... If it were a bestec, I'd toss it (as while they can be properly fixed, it's a lot of trouble for 250/300W).

[momaka]

Originally Posted by Hondaman

1. Is the Hipro PSU any good? Should I throw it out because of old age and dust? Today's aftermarket units are probably much better, correct?
2. Should I "creatively" destroy this computer, perhaps with fire, or a sledgehammer?

1. Keep the HiPro. Generally, they make pretty reliable PSUs and are pretty easy to work on / recap.
No, not all aftermarket units are better. In fact, the HiPro is probably better than most. It just has an underrated label. 300W is more that enough even for a modern basic PC with a low/mid-range CPU (60-100 Watt max TDP) and low-end GPU (like a GTX 1050 or possibly GTX 1060 if used with a 65W TDP CPU).

So it is definitely worth saving. Comparable aftermarket units like the EVGA 430W and Corsair 430W are not that much better inside.

2. Nah, that would be wasteful. Set it on the curb and let someone else use the rest of the parts. You know the saying - one man's trash, another man's treasure

Also, since that P4 chip is 64-bit, that means you probably have a Socket 775 motherboard there. It's possible that the board can take Core 2 Duo chips, in which case this can actually make a nice basic internet browser PC for someone, if the RAM is upped to 2 GB.

The real shortfall is the lack of PCI-E 16x slot. HOWEVER, you can always cut the back on the PCI-E 1x slot and insert a decent GPU there. For older games, the PCI-E 1x won't be that much of a limitation. I already did this with one of my boards, and it works great. Allows you to easily set up 2 to 4 more monitors, besides the onboard GPU (so anywhere between 3 and 5 monitors).

And I would also save the CD/DVD-RW drive if it works. Modern SATA CD/DVD drivers are shit and don't last at all. The older IDE drives seem to be built a bit better. If it burns discs OK, keep it.

[jazzie366]

R9 390 graphics card, got it when it was 30 days old never used for 200$, this was at the time when it had just come out and was retailing for around 400-500$. Apparently the PCs were being parted out for some reason.

FX-8320E processor, found in the trash with a pc that had been rained on, I thought the thing was dead but only the mobo died, the area where the CPU was was completely dry, 45$ asus motherboard later and I have my current gaming PC.

Corsair HX750 PSU, found in the local landfill, brand new never used all cables still tied up from the factory, no idea why the fuck it was thrown out being brand new, but I'm using it right now after re-soldering the output wire joints.

[Wester547]

Originally Posted by momaka

1. Keep the HiPro. Generally, they make pretty reliable PSUs and are pretty easy to work on / recap.
No, not all aftermarket units are better. In fact, the HiPro is probably better than most. It just has an underrated label.

Not that model. The HP-P3507F5 is pretty underwhelming for a Hipro. Remember that this model was built for eMachines/Gateway. Think cheap (I.E, they only used 470µF primaries in this one). The stock brands on the input would be either Teapo, Panasonic, or Elite and on the output either Teapo, LTEC, or OST. It may even have conductive glue, and probably had an ADDA sleeve bearing fan that needs lubrication (but there is a very slight chance that it could have a Foxconn fan). The output rectifiers and capacitors are pretty underwhelming (especially the former since it's single forward topology) and the ventilation leaves much to be desired. It even has a linearly regulated -5V rail, but with a freestanding regulator! -12V is generated from the +12V winding, too, and does not have its own dedicated rectifying diode. At least it has a Fairchild TO-220F-4L PWM controller (KA1H0165R) on the primary for +5VSB. It's still worth fixing up if deemed necessary. It's probably 300W at room temperature and 250W under harsher conditions...

[Compgeke]

12x Samsung 8 gig DDR3 ECC modules for the low low price of free. Someone I know was decommissioning servers at their worksite and got to strip some parts before they went to scrap, part of that was a bunch of ram. http://i.imgur.com/pkmZLKB.png

[momaka]

^ Nice!

I only got four 1 GB DDR2 sticks of RAM recently. Came out of a trashed PCs. Haven't tested them yet, but they look good, so I am hoping they are good too.

Also got two 120 mm Yellow LED fans for $1.30 each. Cheap brands, and they are low RPM, but they work OK for what I need them. And they are very quiet.

Originally Posted by Wester547

Not that model. The HP-P3507F5 is pretty underwhelming for a Hipro.
...
It's probably 300W at room temperature and 250W under harsher conditions...

Which is what I would expect from those models as well. After all, those newer 300 Watt HiPros are not built better than their 250 Watt ancestors, so one shouldn't expect them to perform better either.

That said, 250 Watt is still plenty of power, even for a modern entry-level PC. Just do your CPU and GPU TDP calculations before stuffing it into any PC.