What to do with older PC parts

[marurun]

It was worth it when I had more time and energy for the task, but I have less interest in carefully selecting parts, buying them from various locations, and manually assembling them. That's time and energy which could be spent elsewhere. I'm therefore willing to buy a pre-built computer and pay the minor premium (and for low end machines the premium is negative) to not have to deal with it.

[Mozgus]

It was worth it when I had more time and energy for the task, but I have less interest in carefully selecting parts, buying them from various locations, and manually assembling them. That's time and energy which could be spent elsewhere. I'm therefore willing to buy a pre-built computer and pay the minor premium (and for low end machines the premium is negative) to not have to deal with it.

You'd think so, but you'll be regretting it when that piece of shit retail machine dies on you because of shoddy underpowered PSUs, and the non-standard case designs will limit your future upgrade choices. Retail PCs are cheap because they use cheap parts that don't last.

[D.D.D.]

It was worth it when I had more time and energy for the task, but I have less interest in carefully selecting parts, buying them from various locations, and manually assembling them. That's time and energy which could be spent elsewhere. I'm therefore willing to buy a pre-built computer and pay the minor premium (and for low end machines the premium is negative) to not have to deal with it.

You'd think so, but you'll be regretting it when that piece of shit retail machine dies on you because of shoddy underpowered PSUs, and the non-standard case designs will limit your future upgrade choices. Retail PCs are cheap because they use cheap parts that don't last.

All that and you get a ton of crapware free too~

[Ziggy]

Do you still have the PC? I might consider taking it off your hands for a price. Can you give me the specs for it? Brands, models, etc. If it's any thing pre-Pentium 4 then I wouldn't want it.

[elvis]

All that and you get a ton of crapware free too~

My Ubuntu install CD fixes that problem nicely.

[marurun]

I know how to remove crapware. I'm an old hand at this stuff. I'd probably just wipe the system and reinstall Windows. As for underpowered PSUs, the PSUs that ship in pre-built machines are almost always appropriate to the machine as long as you don't upgrade to higher-power parts or add new parts. Plus, I've also noticed that many sellers actually do source their OEM parts from good vendors. Good hardware mfgs can't get buy selling only to enthusiasts, and a lot of their stuff shows up in OEMs. The key, then, is to give the PC you're planning on buying a good look-see, even opening it up to peer inside if you can.

Also, more and more manufacturers are using standard parts in their tower form factor machines. These days you can actually put an ATX PSU in most OEM towers. The mobo is usually still custom, but by the time most of them die it's impossible to find one for the CPU in question anyway. I can't get a mobo anywhere for my Athlon XP any more. Once the mobo is toast I'll pretty much have to buy a new PC.