Thrift store pc - worth it?

[Norri_Rad]

I already have a solid modern gaming pc, so this is just for fun. I just wanted to make that clear before I get into it. I recently upgraded my graphics card and now I have a 1660 ti and a 550w psu just sitting around collecting dust. I'd like to slap it in a budget build and put it in my basement.

 

I just found a desktop for sale at a thrift store for $17.50 USD, with 6 gigs of ddr3, a 250 gig HDD, and an i3 2100. I know that's old, but it's $17, so I wouldn't expect much. What I'm wondering is 1: does that sound worth $17 to y'all, and 2: what is the newest cpu I could likely upgrade to with a motherboard that ran sandy bridge out of the box? Am I limited to something like an i7 2700k, could I go up to something like an i7 3960x, or could I go even newer? I obviously don't want to spend a lot upgrading the cpu in this thing, but I'm just wondering what kind of support it's likely to have.

 

Obviously my question will be answered if I just buy the thing and see what motherboard it has, but I'm wondering if anyone has experience with pcs of that generation who can chime in before I go back for it in the next couple of days (and hope it's still there). Thanks!

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

48 minutes ago, Norri_Rad said:

I already have a solid modern gaming pc, so this is just for fun. I just wanted to make that clear before I get into it. I recently upgraded my graphics card and now I have a 1660 ti and a 550w psu just sitting around collecting dust. I'd like to slap it in a budget build and put it in my basement.

 

I just found a desktop for sale at a thrift store for $17.50 USD, with 6 gigs of ddr3, a 250 gig HDD, and an i3 2100. I know that's old, but it's $17, so I wouldn't expect much. What I'm wondering is 1: does that sound worth $17 to y'all, and 2: what is the newest cpu I could likely upgrade to with a motherboard that ran sandy bridge out of the box? Am I limited to something like an i7 2700k, could I go up to something like an i7 3960x, or could I go even newer? I obviously don't want to spend a lot upgrading the cpu in this thing, but I'm just wondering what kind of support it's likely to have.

 

Obviously my question will be answered if I just buy the thing and see what motherboard it has, but I'm wondering if anyone has experience with pcs of that generation who can chime in before I go back for it in the next couple of days (and hope it's still there). Thanks!

Is it worth it if you have 17 bucks burning in your pocket? Absolutely. There's still a lot of life in such a device for something to hook into a TV for media consumption. For actual gaming... it better be older casual gaming cause that's all it's really gonna do well in the gaming department. 

[RONOTHAN##]

8 minutes ago, Norri_Rad said:

does that sound worth $17 to y'all

If there's no BIOS passwords or anything on it and you have a plan for it, why not? It's a thrift store, so I'd be a little curious about its origin, but as long as there aren't any red flags about that and you just want to tinker you can't really get a cheaper way to do that. 

 

8 minutes ago, Norri_Rad said:

what is the newest cpu I could likely upgrade to with a motherboard that ran sandy bridge out of the box? Am I limited to something like an i7 2700k, could I go up to something like an i7 3960x, or could I go even newer?

This will depend on the specific motherboard in there for what chips are supported or not, though a 2600K should almost certainly work, 2700K is a little less likely though still pretty likely, and a 3770K is likely to work (though will likely require a BIOS update), and nothing else has a shot. The 3960X is a different socket completely and has no shot of even fitting in the motherboard, let along turning on, same with anything newer. 

[aisle9]

8GB of DDR3 is easy. I got it for $7 on eBay. If you already have a 4GB stick, it's even easier. A 512GB SSD is something like $17 these days, so you're up to $41.50 (don't keep the HDD). If all you're going to use it for is basic desktop stuff, keep the i3. If you want to crunch numbers, grab an i5-2400 for $7-10 If you want it to be an HTPC, get a GPU like a $10 HD 8570 (R7 240) or a $15 GT 730. If you want to game, you're buying the wrong PC.

 

So a better question is is it worth somewhere between $41.50 and $66.50, and I'd venture not when you can get a Dell Optiplex SFF from the Ivy Bridge generation that already comes with an i5 and 8GB of RAM for around $50 on eBay, much less at yard sales.

[Norri_Rad]

8 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

If there's no BIOS passwords or anything on it and you have a plan for it, why not? It's a thrift store, so I'd be a little curious about its origin, but as long as there aren't any red flags about that and you just want to tinker you can't really get a cheaper way to do that. 

 

This will depend on the specific motherboard in there for what chips are supported or not, though a 2600K should almost certainly work, 2700K is a little less likely though still pretty likely, and a 3770K is likely to work (though will likely require a BIOS update), and nothing else has a shot. The 3960X is a different socket completely and has no shot of even fitting in the motherboard, let along turning on, same with anything newer. 

Thanks! I'll see what the motherboard is and consider an old i7 if I buy it.

[Norri_Rad]

6 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

8GB of DDR3 is easy. I got it for $7 on eBay. If you already have a 4GB stick, it's even easier. A 512GB SSD is something like $17 these days, so you're up to $41.50 (don't keep the HDD). If all you're going to use it for is basic desktop stuff, keep the i3. If you want to crunch numbers, grab an i5-2400 for $7-10 If you want it to be an HTPC, get a GPU like a $10 HD 8570 (R7 240) or a $15 GT 730. If you want to game, you're buying the wrong PC.

 

So a better question is is it worth somewhere between $41.50 and $66.50, and I'd venture not when you can get a Dell Optiplex SFF from the Ivy Bridge generation that already comes with an i5 and 8GB of RAM for around $50 on eBay, much less at yard sales.

I'm already thinking about going from 16 to 32 gb ram in my main pc, so I'd likely just stick my 16 gb set in this thrift store pc. And, as I said, I have a 1660 ti in my closet that I would toss in if it's compatible. I already have a gaming pc, so I'm really just looking for a fun and inexpensive way to get my 1660 ti out of my closet and into something that can be used occasionally.

[RONOTHAN##]

Just now, Norri_Rad said:

I'm already thinking about going from 16 to 32 gb ram in my main pc, so I'd likely just stick my 16 gb set in this thrift store pc.

That Sandy Bridge era PC will be running DDR3, and unless your current PC has a motherboard and CPU that are also 10 years old they aren't going to be running DDR3. You'll have to buy new RAM for this system. 

[Norri_Rad]

Just now, RONOTHAN## said:

That Sandy Bridge era PC will be running DDR3, and unless your current PC has a motherboard and CPU that are also 10 years old they aren't going to be running DDR3. You'll have to buy new RAM for this system. 

Ohh shit yeah I have ddr4, so nvm. I'll either live with 6 gb for now or grab some more for cheap. The ram is low down on my list of concerns. I was just wondering about cpu compatibility with the motherboard and also wondering what pcie compatibility will be like. Speaking of, how likely is a 1660 ti to actually work in a 12 year old motherboard?

[aisle9]

7 minutes ago, Norri_Rad said:

Ohh shit yeah I have ddr4, so nvm. I'll either live with 6 gb for now or grab some more for cheap. The ram is low down on my list of concerns. I was just wondering about cpu compatibility with the motherboard and also wondering what pcie compatibility will be like. Speaking of, how likely is a 1660 ti to actually work in a 12 year old motherboard?

It will work, but even if you go hog wild and spend $30 on an i7-2600, the 1660 Ti is going to be badly held back. You're swapping the rough equivalent of a GTX 1070 onto a CPU from 2012.

[Norri_Rad]

5 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

It will work, but even if you go hog wild and spend $30 on an i7-2600, the 1660 Ti is going to be badly held back. You're swapping the rough equivalent of a GTX 1070 onto a CPU from 2012.

Ok, thanks. I may or may not still get it just to play with since it's $17, but I'll be sure not to expect much from it lol.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

Just send a pic of the board

If its a z board maybe you can get a 2500k with a 4.6-4.8ghz oc for decently cheap

 

ill have to do some testing on h/b boards crossflashed with a z bios to see if they work or not, though youll need a board that has a removable bios chip since those are alot easier to flash with a ch341a