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Old Radeon Card - What Should I do with them?

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Mag10

Mag10

Member
​
Joined
Mar 17, 2010
So I have 2 old cards but ironically made at then end of ATI's era before being purchased by AMD. The first is an 1950XT 256MB(ie: the jet engine) and the second an HD 4850 512MB which I have an accelero cooler attached, silence is golden! Now I usually like to have a backup but since I am not in need of them they are simply collecting dust. Any ideas what these could be used for? Thought about selling them but I doubt id get even $75 for both lol
 
Umm... giant keychains? I mean if they can't/you don't want to use them as GPUs, nor sell them... I guess its garbage time?
 
TBH the 4850 can still run most games today in DX10 with medium quality turned up, Outside of switching to DX11 and higher qualities theres not much advantage of my newer 760... say 25-50% gains. Its quite an eye opener for sure! Although would you you suspect someone would be willing to trade them for something... such as a monitor? lol at least in that case they can be used for their purpose on both sides... idk just rambling
 
If you decide to throw any of the cards away, see if there are any e-recycling events in your community. No need to it end up in the land fill.
 
Well that's the problem with just tossing them is unfortunately my area isn't exactly tech friendly like that :/ In fact the only places i could take them I would have to pay to get rid of them:screwy:
 
There's toxic chemicals, metals, etc., that can end polluting ground water, runoff, etc. Most people do throw out old electronics without a care. Here in NYC, there e-waste recycling events throughout the city several times a year. Any electronics I have that have no resale value go there.
 
mimart7 said:
There's toxic chemicals, metals, etc., that can end polluting ground water, runoff, etc. Most people do throw out old electronics without a care. Here in NYC, there e-waste recycling events throughout the city several times a year. Any electronics I have that have no resale value go there.
Click to expand...
I wish we had that type of thing here, and I agree people throw away their electronics without thinking as if they are toilet paper while your wiping your ***.
 
Mag10 said:
I wish we had that type of thing here, and I agree people throw away their electronics without thinking as if they are toilet paper while your wiping your ***.
Click to expand...

I first read that thinking "use electronics as toilet paper" and thought of wiping with a heatsink...Ow.

Why wouldn't you sell them? If you only get $75, that's $75 you didn't have and you avoid this whole disposal problem.
 
The problem is finding a buyer for them, I mean sometimes its hard to sell even relatively new GPU's (6 months or less) unless your selling them for dirt cheap. I just figured I could find a way to utilize them somehow.
 
Mag10 said:
The problem is finding a buyer for them, I mean sometimes its hard to sell even relatively new GPU's (6 months or less) unless your selling them for dirt cheap. I just figured I could find a way to utilize them somehow.
Click to expand...

Ah. Well like wagex said, there's the classifieds section. Outside of getting OpenCL working on the 4850 and cryptocurrency mining with it (don't know how effective it'll be, but there are reports of people getting it working), I'm really not sure what else to do.
 
freakdiablo said:
Ah. Well like wagex said, there's the classifieds section. Outside of getting OpenCL working on the 4850 and cryptocurrency mining with it (don't know how effective it'll be, but there are reports of people getting it working), I'm really not sure what else to do.
Click to expand...

I considered doing that, but the 4850 is reported to only have something like 100 Mh rate or so. In truth I have no idea what I would be doing in the crypto field as I have read many guides but the task at hand seems to elude me still.
 
try amazon or ebay, or scrap them. the copper/aluminum heat sink on them is worth something and so are the gold fingers. the board is considered high grade I think so it's worth somewhere around $4 a lb.
 
As weird as it may be...there's an auction site Listia that old computer parts go like crazy on. The site is free, listing is free, BUT there's NO money involved only points that are usable on Listia.

I'm in no way associated with Listia besides being a seller/buyer there of odds and ends I don't need anymore.

https://www.listia.com/signup/4253552
 
wagex said:
classifieds section broski :)
Click to expand...

+1. They will really be of no use to you. You could donate them to a group that builds machine for low income households if you can find one. Sell them here for cost of shipping only. FleaBay may work.
 
I say find a way to hook it up to your phone, SUPER MOD, and play some games. (might be impossible) but there are tons of use for them. Christmas present for someone who is running a Walmart computer, Use it for Art on the wall, make a mini system just for the living room at a budget of $330 and you already have the gpu. Sky is the limit. be creative.

Play clash of clans at 300 FPS lol.
 
Mag10 said:
Well that's the problem with just tossing them is unfortunately my area isn't exactly tech friendly like that :/ In fact the only places i could take them I would have to pay to get rid of them:screwy:
Click to expand...

Have you tried a boys/girls club, or maybe some sort of community service that teaches kids electronics, even if the cards are old, there's a kid somewhere who just maybe grateful
 
Another +1 for listing in the Classifieds. I still have an x1900XT that I use for older games. Both your cards could find new homes instead of collecting dust or being in a landfill. If the 4850 has a good quiet cooler, advertise it as a great HTPC card (which it would be).
 
JLK03F150 said:
Another +1 for listing in the Classifieds. I still have an x1900XT that I use for older games. Both your cards could find new homes instead of collecting dust or being in a landfill. If the 4850 has a good quiet cooler, advertise it as a great HTPC card (which it would be).
Click to expand...

The 4850 has an AC Accelero S1 Rev.2 on it, 0 Db. And thanks to all the suggestions from everyone, Ill have to look into my options and see what is available.
 
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