Ok, so I have recently acquired an old Dell XPS T600r. It was pretty good in its heyday, which is almost a decade ago--but it's pretty slow, and even with 640MB of RAM and GeForce 2 MX in the slot, it cannot do much. Plus the fans are pretty loud.
So here is my question: should I keep this computer? If I do keep it, I can fiddle around by installing Linux or making it a fileserver. Hard drive can be swapped (although it may cost me a bit), but the internal fans (system and power supply fans) are easy enough to swap out, so it might be worth it--but chances are it would cost me more to mod it up than this computer is worth. Plus, it might be a little too underpowered and inefficient to keep around; Pentium III running at 600MHz is hardly a good processor to do foldings with, either.
So what do you think I should do with it? Selling it on eBay is not out of the question.
Keep it or sell it? Question over an old computer
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Re: Keep it or sell it? Question over an old computer
hmmm... I'd have to disagree, as for the amount you'd get for such an old system it just isn't worth the bother.duality wrote:Selling it on eBay is not out of the question.
If you enjoy fiddling with things though, there's loads of options - you could install Linux and build a fileserver, a firewall/router/gateway, a web server, email server... the possibilities are endless really.
You could install FreeNAS (which has minimal hardware requirements), and build a genuinely useful NAS box for remote storage/backup/whatever. It would only involve the cost of the HDDs (which you'd have to pay for anyway if you bought an off-the-shelf NAS device), plus maybe a cheap controller card and a couple of quiet fans.
Otherwise, your best option would be the local dump, but it's very satisfying to squeeze useful life out of old crap that other people would throw away without a second thought.
I think it's a nice heavy paperweight. And if you've already got a paperweight, it's basically garbage. You can get a better 2nd computer for $100 easy, if you should ever need a such. By the way, my old 650 MHz Duron with GeForce2 MX440 is today a HTPC/winamp-player-machine in my old dorm kitchen. One of the best computers I had!
Uses for an old PC is endless, but in reality, I wouldn't bother anything else than keeping it for parts like spare PSU and such.
Uses for an old PC is endless, but in reality, I wouldn't bother anything else than keeping it for parts like spare PSU and such.
Big Fat Warning - Dell used to have an annoying habit of wiring their PSU/mobo connectors differently from the ATX standard, so although the PSU's 20-pin connector might fit into a different (non-Dell) motherboard, it probably won't work properly, or you could even end up frying the mobo. The same goes for using old Dell motherboards with a standard ATX PSU...Strid wrote:I wouldn't bother anything else than keeping it for parts like spare PSU and such.
Well the problem with keeping it to play around with (at least for me) is that it would be big and probably electricity-guzzling.Too oversized for a firewall imo, and too much electricity/noise for running 24/7.
Seeing as it's worth almost nothing (don't bother ebaying it, sell it locally if you can), I would recommend giving it to somebody who doesn't have a computer (or somebody who still has a 486 or something
).
Seeing as it's worth almost nothing (don't bother ebaying it, sell it locally if you can), I would recommend giving it to somebody who doesn't have a computer (or somebody who still has a 486 or something
).Your most cost-effective solution is to donate it to the Salvation Army and take the writeoff, depending on your tax bracket. I doubt anybody would even give you $100 for that system. You could estimate the writeoff as $300 - $400 or so (I'm not a tax accountant, but I doubt the IRS would hassle anybody who claims that small amount.)
Lots of uses for old computers. If you can max out the memory cheaply (ebay) some inexpensive HD's it would make for a nice storage solution as stated earlier.
I have a K6-2/350 that serves as a mailserver, newsserver, and storage server. Works quite well, isn't overly noisy (especially since it's in the basement) and doesn't consume much power. With 384MB ram, 4 HD's it uses about 90-100 watts.
I also have a K6-2/500, K6-III+/550, 486, 386 and 8088 based machines in regular use for various things.
I have a K6-2/350 that serves as a mailserver, newsserver, and storage server. Works quite well, isn't overly noisy (especially since it's in the basement) and doesn't consume much power. With 384MB ram, 4 HD's it uses about 90-100 watts.
I also have a K6-2/500, K6-III+/550, 486, 386 and 8088 based machines in regular use for various things.
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bonestonne
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fileserver isn't too bad, nor is a linux test box...its always nice to have a box to play with. i have an old workstation i refuse to get rid of [partly because its still worth some good money] but i just use it when i need a tower and my new computer is either down or in use elsewhere.
granted my old computer is a Pentium 3 Xeon based server, while it has seen better days, the previous owner kept it on plywood with Pentium 2 Xeons [450mhz].
even if you just put in new fans, it would be a good system to use just as a music player with a sound system somewhere.
granted my old computer is a Pentium 3 Xeon based server, while it has seen better days, the previous owner kept it on plywood with Pentium 2 Xeons [450mhz].
even if you just put in new fans, it would be a good system to use just as a music player with a sound system somewhere.
Re: Keep it or sell it? Question over an old computer
Thanks for the replies!
).
I have a 92mm Nexus fan lying around gathering dust, and would need to buy a 80mm fan and a cheap IDE drive. At around $60-70 for such investment, it might lead to a good experience. Too bad I can't have more than 1 hard drive; this Dell has only one "official" hard drive bay (another 3.5" bay is there, but it's for zip drive. Remember those?nick705 wrote:If you enjoy fiddling with things though, there's loads of options - you could install Linux and build a fileserver, a firewall/router/gateway, a web server, email server... the possibilities are endless really... It would only involve the cost of the HDDs (which you'd have to pay for anyway if you bought an off-the-shelf NAS device), plus maybe a cheap controller card and a couple of quiet fans.
).Funny thing, I got this computer when I was driving around and saw it sitting on a curb, waiting for the dumpster truck. I cleaned it and refurbished it, just because I can. I don't even know why I did that now.nick705 wrote:Otherwise, your best option would be the local dump, but it's very satisfying to squeeze useful life out of old crap that other people would throw away without a second thought.
Agreed on the electricity part; hence I said it's rather inefficient.aaa wrote:Well the problem with keeping it to play around with (at least for me) is that it would be big and probably electricity-guzzling.Too oversized for a firewall imo, and too much electricity/noise for running 24/7.
8088? Regular use?NyteOwl wrote:I also have a K6-2/500, K6-III+/550, 486, 386 and 8088 based machines in regular use for various things. Smile
Re: Keep it or sell it? Question over an old computer
If that's the model I'm thinking of, it *does* actually have extra HDD bays - one drive goes vertically at the front, and another goes in horizontally just above it (upside down, screwed to a kind of slide-out tray). I also seem to remember another mounting in the removable 5.25" cage at the top - it may be the zip drive bay you mention, but I'm almost certain it also has rails and screw holes for a HDD (you may need to use the bottom screw holes on the HDD rather than the usual side mountings).duality wrote:Too bad I can't have more than 1 hard drive; this Dell has only one "official" hard drive bay (another 3.5" bay is there, but it's for zip drive. Remember those?
It's a reasonably compact case as well (no bigger than many modern micro-ATX cases), so you could easily tuck it away somewhere it would be out of sight (it's not exactly a thing of beauty IIRC). I don't suppose it would be very energy-efficient by today's standards, but if you only fired it up for occasional access or for backup purposes that needn't be a major issue.
Don't forget the motherboard won't support 48-bit LBA, so you'd have to get a cheap PCI ATA133 controller card for use with >128/137GB IDE drives, or use an OS which bypasses the BIOS for HDD accessing (Linux and BSD do, but you might still run into problems with transfer speeds and actually booting the system).
I may well be thinking of a different model entirely though, in which case disregard most of what I said above.
Re: Keep it or sell it? Question over an old computer
clean it and make it in good working order.duality wrote:Ok, so I have recently acquired an old Dell XPS T600r. It was pretty good in its heyday, which is almost a decade ago--but it's pretty slow, and even with 640MB of RAM and GeForce 2 MX in the slot, it cannot do much. Plus the fans are pretty loud.
So here is my question: should I keep this computer? If I do keep it, I can fiddle around by installing Linux or making it a fileserver. Hard drive can be swapped (although it may cost me a bit), but the internal fans (system and power supply fans) are easy enough to swap out, so it might be worth it--but chances are it would cost me more to mod it up than this computer is worth. Plus, it might be a little too underpowered and inefficient to keep around; Pentium III running at 600MHz is hardly a good processor to do foldings with, either.
So what do you think I should do with it? Selling it on eBay is not out of the question.
then put it in the museum room and enjoy it there, when you are in a nostalgic mood.
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The Gangrel
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If you use it as a thin client and use your 24/7 pc as the server it'll run much faster and take up unused server load at the same, a winner all round in my eyes.
You could also give it away to some school, charity, non-profit organisation or somesuch, throwing it away is wasteful and damaging on several levels.
You could also give it away to some school, charity, non-profit organisation or somesuch, throwing it away is wasteful and damaging on several levels.