What would you do with an old PC like this?

[DanielCoffey]

I have been given a second-hand PC in working condition from around the 2007-2008 era to clean up, test and pass on to a new home so I thought I would ask what YOU would do with an old PC like this and why.

 

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First the technical specs...

 

OS - Windows 7 Ultimate (retail boxed)

 

Motherboard - Foxconn ELA LGA775, Intel P45, supports Core 2 duo/quad/extreme

Processor - Intel Core 2 duo E8500 3.16GHz

RAM - 4x1Gb 800MHz DDR2 Crucial Ballistix

GPU - Leadtek Winfast nVidia 8800GTX TDH 768Mb

HDD - Western Digital Caviar Blue 500Gb SATA II

Optical - Freecom DVD-RW

PSU - unknown

Monitor - BenQ FP202W 20" 1680x1050

Keyboard - generic

Mouse - Logitech optical 2-button plus scroll wheel

 

Case - 6x3.5" bays, 3x5.25 bays, broad width, 190mm top fan plus 3 other fans on rear/front

 

CPU Cooler - Zalman 90mm, something like THIS

 

All fans have molex so run direct off the PSU and have no fan speed control since they are not attached to the motherboard.

 

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I should state that the PC is in full working order apart from the front USB/Audio connectors on the case which are broken and the fact that all the fans run at full speed all the time.

 

The PC has been kept on the floor in a house with cats and has NEVER been cleaned out. The CPU heatsink was totally caked and felted up with hardened dust. I did my best with the vacuum cleaner and a paint brush. I got all the cables disconnected and removed the drive cages and gave everything a surface clean. While the GPU looks clean and all the surface dust is gone, I reckon the PSU is still furred up and the CPU cooler would benefit from being removed, stripped and totally washed. I get a smell of baked dust when the PC is turned on.

 

At the moment, the PC is hygienic, cleaned enough to test and in its stock non-overclocked configuration.

 

My intention at the moment is to make sure Win7 is fully updated, all the external surfaces are clean (the keyboard is yuk!) and then put it up on Freecycle as a Case Swap project for someone. I reckon it would do well as a browsing/household computer if the fan noise can be resolved. At the moment, it would be classed as "noisy".

 

So... since I will not be keeping it myself (I have a 2010 Mac Pro), so what would YOU do with it?

[Aiyen]

Bury it with honors ? :p

 

 

Well first off I would properly get some compressed air and clean it properly. Since much of the noise issue comes from this.

If it is still too bad, then individual fans are not expensive.

Would properly also reapply some thermal paste etc.

 

As for its uses... well normally what I do with my old hardware was to give it to people who do not spend money on the latest of the latest, they then give me a beer or two and then we call it even! :)

[DanielCoffey]

That is what I am leaning towards... no cash spent by me on it, just the time to clean it and then they can use it as a project

[WilliamImm]

Honestly, recycle it. Services for it exist. The input devices, the monitor, and maybe even the case can be kept for future needs. You can pass it off as is, but see they will agree to a new custom-built computer, and if so, the needs/wants and budget for it. PC Part Picker would help a lot in that respect.

[MontyMM]

That's still a fine machine for many purposes. I'm sure someone could get good use out of it.

[DanielCoffey]

Yeah, if they need to spend cash on the fans or case just to get it suitable for putting in a living room, they can probably get a newer second-hand machine for similar money.

 

Is the Win7 Ultimate license tied to that machine? The reason I ask is that I have Win7 Home on mine. They are both Retail Boxed.

[Aiyen]

Ultimate licences tend not to be OEM as I recall.

[DanielCoffey]

Hmm... the Windows User Experience score for the machine was 5.9... and only because of the SATA II HDD. The 8800GTX got a 6.9 and the processor got a 6.6... what are they smoking?

[phazer11]

Never trust the Windows Experience Index Score for it take it with several dozen grains of salt. It only measures (mostly) how well the OS runs on the system. For instance my laptop had a 6.8-7.5 I think and it jumped to about 9 when I put the SSD in and it's a beast it'll play skyrim fully loaded with Aiyen's ENB @900P with between 40-50FPS outdoors (only because my .ini settings are UBER and I'd prefer to keep my components under 65C) 

[rootsrat]

How about turning it into personal cloud service? :)

[Gyro]

Personally, I would use a box like that for a server or HTPC of some kind. I'd probably end up upgrading the RAM, though.

[DanielCoffey]

I have finished cleaning it and updating the Win7 service packs and updates and it took two and a half days to complete. It is now fully updated, completely cleaned with the exception that I have not washed the CPU heat sink and has been rock solid. Slow, yes... but solid. I found that the Magic Eraser block stuff was great for getting the smudges off the monitor and keyboard. Still sounds like a hair dryer though.

 

In my opinion, it needs a fan swap, new thermal paste and some over clocking to, say 4GHz or an upgrade to a Core 2 Quad Q9550 but at least it is reliable in its current state.

 

It is going up on Freecycle this afternoon in the Edinburgh area. It is too noisy to live in this house.

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The motherboard can handle 4x2Gb DDR2 but the sheer noise means HTPC is out of the question. As a project for a case swap it would be ideal.

[Uhuru]

All Windows versions come in OEM and Retail When I got my Gaming PC April I could choose either for it I chose the Retail Windows 7 Ultimate but could get OEM.

Having said that even OEM can be transfered but you may have to register it to new machine the difference is it's a permenent transfer where as theoretically a retail licence allows you to use on as many different machines as you wish and to switch between them as long as you only use it on one machine at a time (not at the same time basically)

 

[Edit] Why Ultimate tend to be retail is reason I got retail. If you buy ultimate it's usually because you want no restrictions and OEM is restriction so not usually chosen by Ultimate buyers but you can get it.