Author Topic: PC is down, what components are worth salvage?  (Read 1954 times)

Cache

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PC is down, what components are worth salvage?
« on: 23 June 2018, 14:08:51 »
The family PC took it's final dump (harddrive) this week. We've had it for nearly a decade now. (It's been so long I can't remember when we bought it.) Over that time I've replaced all of the fans and the power supply, plus upgraded the graphics card when MWO open beta first dropped. So, being... uh... thrifty like I tend to be, I don't want to just buy a new one. Plus I just built a new machine for myself six months ago and this isn't urgent. Don't let me building one fool you into thinking I know the tech, I pretty much copied a build from Tom's Hardware. I know how to put parts together and I followed tutorials to get what I wanted out of Win10.

That being said, which components are worth reusing? They should last a few more years and be able to handle internet browsing plus occasional work in OpenOffice. I plan to upgrade the processor to the I5 range.

Mobo: Asus M4A78LT-M
RAM: 2x Crucial 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3, and 2x Super Talent 2GB DDR3 1333
Graphics: Radeon HD6870
PSU: Antec 450W


Also, am I on the hook for a new copy of Win10? It had 7 and I did the free upgrade to 10. I'm assuming since the HD is dead, so is my copy of Windows. Any help getting pointed in the right direction is appreciated.

ThePW

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Re: PC is down, what components are worth salvage?
« Reply #1 on: 23 June 2018, 21:26:22 »
I just caved and bought a new PC (but that's because my finances do not allow me things like having a bath tube full of French chocolate pudding, for example) when my previous comp's HD took the big poop. It depends on your knowledge level of computers, really (terms of how it works mechanically/electrically, as well as how skilled in computer operations/functions. Basically if you can code, you are smarter than the rest of us, mate...if not, just go to Best Buy or equivalent).
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CranstonSnord

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Re: PC is down, what components are worth salvage?
« Reply #2 on: 23 June 2018, 22:12:58 »
If you reuse the mobo, you should be good with your existing win7, as long as you have the disks and key. Replace that, and you need a new license for 7 or 10.

Dave Talley

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Re: PC is down, what components are worth salvage?
« Reply #3 on: 23 June 2018, 22:24:01 »
as mentioned previously around here, i rep for HP, meaning I spend my weekends at best buy, if you want new, best you will get for under $500 is a cyberpower built system with a AMD FX processor, not great, for a little more a bew AMD Ryzen 5 is gonna be in the $6-700 range
I ended up getting a refurbished Xeon workstation for about $200 at Xmas, it aint all that powerful but all i needed was a cheap graphic card and i will be downlo the new battletech steam game tomorrow

for more ideas check Linus Tech Ts on YouTube, they actually go over this idea both from the workstation rebuild or bullding a cheap gaming rig

if yoy dont feel up to doing all the work yourself there is a ton of advice here
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garhkal

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Re: PC is down, what components are worth salvage?
« Reply #4 on: 23 June 2018, 22:58:01 »
I would keep the ram, PS and video card if they are all relatively new (3 years or under) same with the mobo if possible..  Heck, if the case is in ok condition, keep it too.  Just get a new hard drive.

THOUGH i do recommend blowing out the dust from the power supply and fans..
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StoneRhino

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Re: PC is down, what components are worth salvage?
« Reply #5 on: 24 June 2018, 03:46:44 »
Check out newegg.com for a cheap harddrive. I recall that they had some that were 500gigs or so for about $20+shipping. If you follow tutorials online you can easily pull the old HD and install the new one. Depending upon what happened to the old HD, you might be able to recover your data by following tutorials.

Regarding the copy of windows that you had on the old computer, that really depends. If you bought the computer prebuilt then its likely that you have a Windows 7 badge somewhere on the computer with a product key on it. If the computer came with any cds/dvds there is a chance that it has a windows 7 install disk. If not, ask a friend to see if they have a copy of windows 7. If so then you can install windows 7 onto the replacement harddrive using anyone's cd/dvd. That is not pirating, so don't worry about that, especially since you will need to use your old computer's windows 7 product key to activate windows.

As for the upgrade from 7 to 10 that you made, it doesn't matter unless you are going to use windows 10. I had an issue with 10 after upgrading from 7. I also had an HD die on me some time afterwards. This meant that I had to reinstall 7 twice and I had no issues doing so. There was an issue with going from 7 to 10 on the second reinstall, but by then I decided that I hated 10 and decided not to use it. Basically your windows 7 is not invalidated by your previous upgrade to 10, you can get all of the updates for 7 still.

in short, with $20 and a bit of time your old computer will be up and running again.

Dave Talley

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Re: PC is down, what components are worth salvage?
« Reply #6 on: 24 June 2018, 05:35:49 »
if you wish you can get a windows license cheaply and legally via
if you are willing to do the extra work to download and Install
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXTqz3Fd28M&t=365s
Resident Smartass since 1998
“Toe jam in training”

Because while the other Great Houses of the Star League thought they were playing chess, House Cameron was playing Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip Poker the entire time.
JA Baker

guardiandashi

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Re: PC is down, what components are worth salvage?
« Reply #7 on: 24 June 2018, 12:34:54 »
since its only the hard drive that died... replace the hard drive and it can soldier on.  8gb of ram is ok, its not great, but if you aren't gaming, and don't open tons of browser tabs/windows simultaneously it shouldn't matter much.

as far as the windows if you have win 7 and upgraded to 10, you can either reinstall the 7 you have, or download a copy of 10, FROM MICROSOFT, and save it on a dvd/thumb drive, and install it from there, and then use the old windows 7 license key to activate it. I know it sounds odd and like pirating but its not.

also it depends on how you got your copy of win 7 whether or not it can be migrated to a new system or not.  if it came from a prebuilt system (dell, hp or other) then more than likely no not really.  If on the other hand you bought a full new system install copy, then no you don't have to replace it just because you replaced your motherboard you have a legitimate copy to install on one (1) pc that you own.

Bosefius

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Re: PC is down, what components are worth salvage?
« Reply #8 on: 26 June 2018, 00:06:38 »
Ok, to answer your actual questions. If you're looking to keep what you have, replace the hard drive and redownload Windows in another system. Create a bootable USB drive and you should be able to install no problem. I know when i built a replacement desk top Windows 10 activated based on my email.

If you're going to replace the system not much is usable from the old one. The power supply (presuming it has the needed plugs) it should be fine. Anything current will be using DDR4. The video card is eight year old tech (looks like the 6800 series was released in 2010) so it's not going to play most current games very well.

Good luck
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pheonixstorm

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Re: PC is down, what components are worth salvage?
« Reply #9 on: 26 June 2018, 00:27:16 »
Actually with modern video cards the 450 watt PS is useless even with proper plugs. It just doesn't have the juice to power the MB and a current VC. Best to replace the HD and reload windows. Win 10 isn't difficult to reload even for the free version. My HD died last year and I have the free version. I was able to reinstall with out much issue.

Sometimes though it is just cheaper to buy a new computer. W/O looking up the specs you posted there are several on newegg.com for under $100 that included Win 10 and free shipping.

So those are the two best options. Buy a new HD for cheap and spend a few hours getting everything installed again (probably around 4hrs total) or buy another computer thats under $150 or $100 depending on the budget you have for this.

idea weenie

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Re: PC is down, what components are worth salvage?
« Reply #10 on: 29 June 2018, 21:12:25 »
I'd recommend double-checking the nut behind the keyboard, but that is just me    ;D

pheonixstorm

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Re: PC is down, what components are worth salvage?
« Reply #11 on: 29 June 2018, 23:27:49 »
Trying to say someone has a screw loose? Could be memory problems.. never know when dementia might set it for something that old. Once your data storage goes it's all downhill from there.

Cache

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Re: PC is down, what components are worth salvage?
« Reply #12 on: 30 June 2018, 12:02:49 »
Thanks for all the input. I went with all new components, save for the case and PSU.

Dave Talley

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Re: PC is down, what components are worth salvage?
« Reply #13 on: 30 June 2018, 15:10:15 »
out of curiosity what did you get?
Resident Smartass since 1998
“Toe jam in training”

Because while the other Great Houses of the Star League thought they were playing chess, House Cameron was playing Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip Poker the entire time.
JA Baker

Cache

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Re: PC is down, what components are worth salvage?
« Reply #14 on: 01 July 2018, 17:58:46 »
Copied a recent Tom's Hardware build, minus the PSU and case: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KRKKyf

Dave Talley

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Re: PC is down, what components are worth salvage?
« Reply #15 on: 01 July 2018, 21:14:04 »
cool nice basic system without busting the budget
Resident Smartass since 1998
“Toe jam in training”

Because while the other Great Houses of the Star League thought they were playing chess, House Cameron was playing Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip Poker the entire time.
JA Baker