I am like many others in this community - always searching for the "perfect" system and upgrading to the latest and greatest. So I have a question for you - What do you do with your old hardware when you upgrade? Personally, I've used old parts to build 3 systems and gave them to people who didn't have a decent computer. Sometimes, I just throw the parts out - ebay is too much hassle.So what is the consensus of the Avsim group - what happens to old but still good hardware?Thanx,Vic

I was able to sell my LGA 775 system on overclock.net. After shipping expenses and paypal fees, I made $200 selling my P5Q-EM mobo, Q9550 processor, and some no-name ram. Only problem is you have to have so many reps to sell there. Giving parts to friends who are perhaps just getting into computers is perhaps the best solution. I'm just a stingy college student, so I have to hold onto every penny I can.There's a goodwill computer store here in Austin. I have a 7600GS with no fan and a scythe zipang heatsink I need to take in... unless anybody wants either of them. Just pay shipping and I'll send it your way!

Sold - to someone I know, internet or Ebay. If older, then give away. Sometimes throw away if selling price crosses the lower hassle-threshold...

This is what happens to old computers:I give some computers to my brothers or my sons family. I keep some computer parts as spare parts.

Try to use what I can, hold onto stuff until it builds up, then sort through it and throw most of it away.

Since you mention disposal of old hardware on the Avsim group, are you referring to silicon- or carbon-based hardware?Cheers,- jahman.

I have generally taken out the hard drives and then driven them over to the electronics recycling depot in the city where I live. I have a pretty good P4 now that was my old second computer for things like FSInn, Weather, etc. and I would like to give it away, but not sure anyone wants such an old beast....perhaps I should start my own Flight Sim computer museum and put it there.Mark.

This is what happens to old computers:I give some computers to my brothers or my sons family. I keep some computer parts as spare parts.

What a good laugh Ulf So far I've sold everything I've replaced. It was always less than a year old so it helped mitigate the expense of the upgrade frenzy i've been in the last two years

I gave my AMD6000 system to a coworker - he just put his wife through school and his PC was just an office PC... even though it was dated he says it working great for FS9 and hooked it up to his big screen tv.

I will typically upgrade a computer when it gains to be about 4-years of age. I then pass it to the kids, making the kids computer 8-years of age by the time they get the next one. When the kid’s computer is 8-10-years it goes to recycling. I might scavenge the odd part if needed prior to taking it to the recycling Centre.

I have generally taken out the hard drives and then driven them over to the electronics recycling depot in the city where I live. I have a pretty good P4 now that was my old second computer for things like FSInn, Weather, etc. and I would like to give it away, but not sure anyone wants such an old beast....perhaps I should start my own Flight Sim computer museum and put it there.Mark.

Dang, my machine IS a P4. Of course, I'm on this forum right now because it's actihg up and I'm leaning towards replacing it.We have an electronics recycling truck show up at work every year on Earth Day. We don't get anything for it, but at least we don't have to pay someone to take it. Gave them a perfectly good 19-inch CRT display last time. I know I'll never use it again. I was keeping it as a backup in case one of the flat screens fails and I need something for a couple of days while I replace it.

I keep my last PC as a test for issues with components. Its saved me a few times, a month ago my PC started shutting down on its own, after some time I plugged the PSU into my old PC and it started doing the same thing, which told me it was a bad PSU and not anything else. Also I have to reinstall Win7 but I didnt have the driver disk And could not connect to the internet without the Mainboard drivers so I used my old PC to get them. I also gave an old PC to a charity that sends computers to 3rd world countries.

So what is the consensus of the Avsim group - what happens to old but still good hardware?Thanx,Vic

I used to upgrade much more often, but since the last upgrade I haven't felt nearly the need. The sim runs very good on this hardware which is now 3y old, so I would imagine you should be fine indefinitely since your platform should push the sim at least another 60% over what I see. I'm thinking my performance x 160% would be amazingly good enough since I currently enjoy super clean image quality, and frame rates that range from acceptable to more than excellent, and great smoothness. I do have to be cautious to not overload the sim w/ for example the PMDG 747 flying out of Melbourne w/ FTX scenery, but even that the worst I see is maybe 17 FPS while taxing, and that low is really rare. I guess that translates to maybe 25 FPS on your machine, which is hardly enough to make me feel the need to upgrade. Further, once that plane is off the ground it quickly approaches 25-30 FPS. And w/ less demanding scenarios, I often run locked at 30fps from startup forward, even w/ BLOOM on when in less complex situations. I plan to maybe upgrade when Ivy Bridge comes along. I also use only one display at 1650 x 1080, so that offloads some work as well. I can see with dual screens or higher resolutions IB will be welcomed, though the current screen I use I can keep fairly close to me, so there really isn't much benefit in going larger for me. I'm glad not to have to bother with frequent upgrades ;o)Noel