Desktop Tower Analysis

I was trying to figure out how much (if anything) I could pay for a Desktop PC.



So I went ahead and bought 20 from an auction. They ranged from 486 to Pentium 2

I broke down all 20, weighed everything and then averaged to determine quantity of each material for each PC. Here are the results:

CPUs - .051 lbs - Got 1 Pentium Pro got 2 Pentium 2s and a couple of Fiber
RAM - .061 lbs
Boards - 2.1 lbs
Steel - 13.5 lbs
Cables - .4 lbs
Fans - .35 lbs
Plastic - 2.29 lbs
Aluminum - .3 lbs
Power Supply internal - 1.35 lbs

They didn't have HDDs.
Each PC also had a DVD/CD and a 3.5 floppy, which I haven't broke down yet.

Multiple these numbers by the amounts you are getting to determine per PC price.

for $3.5/lb for boards, and $15/lb for CPU and RAM. I get around $12 per PC. I guess $5 would be what you could pay and still make money

while I have paid $5 for a few towers, I try and keep it at $2 each. I ended up with three of them this weekend at garage sales at $2 each. You have to figure in your time and vehicle in all of this as well. I use the $2 figure basically because the scrap yard pays .20 per pound and I figure they weigh about 10 pounds each or less.

ya the auctions have become usless for scrap computers. idiots are paying average $10 t0 $25 each for then these days. the GOLD rush is on.

Originally Posted by Kris Kringle

I just weighed 3 Mid Tower PC here and the weights was 22.21,22 they each have 1 DVD.

hmmm. thanks for the numbers. I will weigh these before I dismantle them and compare.

I pay $3 per PC from a local thrift store... But most of what I'm getting are 12-18 year old PC's, lot's of 486's. They're definitely worth it.

Buying them is simple...buy it by the pound...I am buying them at $0.15 per pound (whole) if you only have a few....or buying them at $0.20 if you have more than a pallet load.

I would suggest trying to trade for computers when the situation is appropriate. If you have items that you would like to get rid of anyway, you can increase the perceived value the other person is getting and receive the computer(s) you want. For example I have found more power strips than I can use. Not really worth trying to CL or Ebay but why scrap them. I try to buy computers at $2 or offer a $5 power strip that I don’t want to look at anymore. Or a lamp, or a …. The end result is you get what you were after and they feel they got something of more value than the cash you offered. Classic win win. Also if you are getting them from a thrift type store, the owner/manager may trade in a similar fashion. Don’t limit this to computers either.

Best of luck

J

soooo....I need to start hauling 200 power strips, 100 lamps an some other mix stuff....

yea I think I will stick by buying it by the pound =P

(sorry I just had to mess with you on that one...I buy an sell e-waste all the time...cash is KING)

“when the situation is appropriate” easy

You ever had anyone put fill in the computers to up the weight while you were buying by the pound?

Originally Posted by Scrap Master J

“when the situation is appropriate” easy

You ever had anyone put fill in the computers to up the weight while you were buying by the pound?

I know what each computer should weight...when one is X amount of pounds over...I kick it on over an pop her open an have a lookie.

Originally Posted by dherik

I have found after breaking down hdd the aluminum case weights on average about .5 lb

They add up when you fill up a tote

Tis tis....taking them apart takes to much time. I will buy them at $0.70 a pound an you wont have to spend all that time taking them apart.

I need to live where you do - none of the yards by me buy the CPU's/fans separately. One buys the boards for 30 cents a pound but not the big CPU's if I take them off. BTW, the fans are plastic - do you throw the fins away or are they buying them as is?

Originally Posted by dherik

my platters go in my refining pile, that's why I break them down.

It still takes to much time to open each one an ect. They dont even use the same bit size so you have to keep on changing bits an its just a pain in my ^$@#

newattitude inside the fans there is a motor that I send off to the copper mill for refining an what do you mean fins?

^^ Wrong word descriptive lol, I meant the plastic blade part. I thought the OP meant those. Whats a ''Platter?''

What he is calling a platter is the hard drive disks. They are found on the inside of the hard drive.

Later on this week (if I don't forget about it.) I will make a video on how to brake down the computer systems an tell you what each part is / the going price for that part.

Reason why I say going price is that the price can and will change over time so the video can become out dated but you will still know what each item is an where you will get the bulk of your money.

These are platters out of a hard drive.

I havent been taking those platters off, I assumed they were just aluminum like the casing and turn them in like that.

There is a coating only a couple of atoms thick of platinum, but yes the actual platter is aluminum. On the HD's the top cover can be stainless or cast aluminum, and the bottom is usually cast alum.