best cheap/free scores 1.1

[retiredcaps]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Gigabyte GA-MA770-US3 - $1.21 (5 RON) - needed a new CMOS battery, a little bit warped - also came with Athlon II X4 620 CPU!

Will this become your main rig seeing how it is faster than your Pentium Dual Core E5200 2.5GHz?

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Will this become your main rig seeing how it is faster than your Pentium Dual Core E5200 2.5GHz?

Of course, but first I'll have to get a Scythe Katana IV HSF as the current HSF (an pretty thick Spire HSF) isn't enough for the CPU it has.

And the only minor thing I noticed on this board is that one of the SATA ports has been literally ripped out. Not a problem though since I still have 5 ports left.

[jazzie366]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Just grabbed a Arcam AVR280 about 2 weeks ago from a garage sale for 15$, had two bulging "Elcon" 25v 3300uF capacitors. Replaced with Nichicon KA, still won't stay on for more than a few seconds but it seems to be an output issue. For 15$ though I'm not complaining.

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

My recent scores:
- brand new Inland 2.5" HDD enclosure for around $2.60 (normally $5, but I got it with employee discount).
- Dell XPS 630/630i 8-pipe heatsink for a little less than $11 shipped from eBay
- ThermalTake Commander MS-I Snow Edition case for $10 (used, a bit dirty & dented, and missing a foot... got it from a co-worker... he offered it for free, but I gave him $10 anyways)
- several power supplies, including the ThermalTake Smart M Series M850W from this thread - all free
- XFX GeForce 9400 GT video card... for free. Had a blown FET and Elcon EEZ caps. Replaced the FET and Elcon caps and it's working good now. Has DVI, VGA, and HDMI connectors.
- VisionTek ATI Radeon HD3870 512 MB video card for under $13 shipped - this is probably my favorite video card right now, despite it being so old. Although it is a 115 Watt TDP video card, it actually has a big-enough cooler and fan to stay under 60°C even with my hot room at 30°C in the summer. I just have to crank up the fan manually with RivaTuner.

Some nice goodies for today:

Gigabyte GA-MA770-US3 - $1.21 (5 RON) - needed a new CMOS battery, a little bit warped - also came with Athlon II X4 620 CPU!

Nice!

Lol, I got almost the same thing as you, and fairly recently as well:
Gigabyte GA-MA78GA-US2H and Athlon II X4 635.

The weird thing is, I tested that motherboard with the low-end Phenom X4 CPU I mentioned in post #1513 and the motherboard worked. Then I tested it at work with a Phenom X3, and the board appeared to be short-circuited on the CPU VRM (saw a short-circuit between 12V CPU connector and ground). Now short-circuit is gone when I measure it with multimeter... so I wonder if it will work again. Sounds almost like a bad ceramic cap going in-and-out.

I guess we will see when I test that motherboard again.

Will this become your main rig seeing how it is faster than your Pentium Dual Core E5200 2.5GHz?

I was wondering the same thing too.

Hey Dan81, let me know when you set yours up so I can set up mine too and we can both upgrade at the same time to this "new" hardware.
.
.
Thought, there is a high probability I will be upgrading to the EVGA/Intel nForce 780i SLI motherboard I posted about back here:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...postcount=1513
I have a Core 2 Quad Q8300 CPU for it and 4x 2 GB Corsair XMS PC6400 sticks of RAM. Combine that with the GeForce GTX 560 Ti I got last summer for $10 at a yard sale, the ThermalTake case that I got above, a 500 GB HDD, and a Corsair CX750M PSU... I think that will make a pretty decent updated computer for me.

For now, though, I am still rocking that Althon FX-57 CPU in my (rather oldschool) gaming rig.

Seasonic SS-35HT 350W - $2.42 (10 RON) - just dusty but otherwise in very good condition.

Ha, finally you get something better than Deer!

The other day at work, I saved a 250 Watt Newton Power (NPS) PSU with all-Japanese caps inside. Not very good for testing new computers due to lack of modern connectors, but plenty for a basic motherboard setup and/or possibly testing an older PC. Wish I could send it to you. It'd put all those Deer PSUs to shame.

Sapphire Radeon HD3450 1GB PCI-E - $1.21 (5 RON) - works fine, no artefacts or anything. For some reason it has S-Video instead of HDMI like the AGP version I have from ASUS has.

Most of the PCI-E versions come with S-Video. That said, it is probably the 2-nd gen S-Video connector, with Composite output. If you have the adapter for it, you can still connect it to an HDTV.

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Nice!

Lol, I got almost the same thing as you, and fairly recently as well:
Gigabyte GA-MA78GA-US2H and Athlon II X4 635.

The weird thing is, I tested that motherboard with the low-end Phenom X4 CPU I mentioned in post #1513 and the motherboard worked. Then I tested it at work with a Phenom X3, and the board appeared to be short-circuited on the CPU VRM (saw a short-circuit between 12V CPU connector and ground). Now short-circuit is gone when I measure it with multimeter... so I wonder if it will work again. Sounds almost like a bad ceramic cap going in-and-out.

I guess we will see when I test that motherboard again.

I guess you meant MA78GM, as GA doesn't exist

Hey Dan81, let me know when you set yours up so I can set up mine too and we can both upgrade at the same time to this "new" hardware.
.
.
Thought, there is a high probability I will be upgrading to the EVGA/Intel nForce 780i SLI motherboard I posted about back here:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...postcount=1513
I have a Core 2 Quad Q8300 CPU for it and 4x 2 GB Corsair XMS PC6400 sticks of RAM. Combine that with the GeForce GTX 560 Ti I got last summer for $10 at a yard sale, the ThermalTake case that I got above, a 500 GB HDD, and a Corsair CX750M PSU... I think that will make a pretty decent updated computer for me.

Sure. As soon as I'll get a Scythe Katana 4 (which is quite cheap here) I'll let you know. Mine will be equipped with a Radeon R7 240, my current case, my 1TB HDD (although 5400 RPM) and the Seasonic SS-351HT PSU I bought.

Ha, finally you get something better than Deer!

The other day at work, I saved a 250 Watt Newton Power (NPS) PSU with all-Japanese caps inside. Not very good for testing new computers due to lack of modern connectors, but plenty for a basic motherboard setup and/or possibly testing an older PC. Wish I could send it to you. It'd put all those Deer PSUs to shame.

OST caps aside (yes,it came with OSTs, but as far as I know the main primary cap is a Hitachi. There's only one of it though since it's a APFC design (even says so on the sticker - Active PFC T3) that uses only one primary cap.) it's quite a solid build. Wish I got another PSU along with this one - it was a 350W Enlight GPS-350CB-102A.

Some of my Deers still make for some solid 250 watters though. At least two of them are fully packed with components and quite good heatsinks and one of them I use for testing.

Most of the PCI-E versions come with S-Video. That said, it is probably the 2-nd gen S-Video connector, with Composite output. If you have the adapter for it, you can still connect it to an HDTV.

From what I saw, it's a 7 pin S-Video connector, and it's ATi's funky design that gives a B/W picture with a normal 4pin cable. My old MX440 AGP8x has one of these and that one gives a color picture with the cable I use.

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

UGH!

I just found out that 5 of the 2GB PC6400U DDR2 RAM sticks I got recently are REGISTERED, non-ECC, meant for server only.

I was planning on using those in a build to have 4x 2 GB sticks for 8 GB total. Now I can't. What a bummer!

I guess you meant MA78GM, as GA doesn't exist

Ooops. Yes. Late night typo.

Sure. As soon as I'll get a Scythe Katana 4 (which is quite cheap here) I'll let you know.

That's a nice cooler. Just curious, how cheap are we talking about?

Mine will be equipped with a Radeon R7 240, my current case, my 1TB HDD (although 5400 RPM) and the Seasonic SS-351HT PSU I bought.

I guess yours is going to be slightly better.

For PSU, I might use this for a little bit, just to test it out:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...postcount=2352

HDD: either a 250 GB or 500 GB HDD (most likely 250 GB)... if not even 160 GB, at least for testing (though knowing me, I'll probably leave it like that, and then that system will forever have a small HDD.)

RAM: 4 GB (2x 2GB)... would have been 8 GB if that RAM I mentioned above wasn't SERVER RAM. Lame!

GPU: I'm thinking about having a Radeon HD3870 in mine. According to this:
http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R7-240-vs-Radeon-HD-3870
... we should be getting more or less the same performance
The only notable differences are that your R7 240 has 4x the amount of RAM and is DX12-capable. So in newer games like GTA5, the R7 240 will probably easily outperform my HD3870. And all of that while using almost 4x less power (R7 240 has almost 4x lower TDP, so your PSU will have to work less hard to render the same stuff). But in older games (DX10 and lower), the 256-bus on my HD3870 should allow for full AA and AF without choking at all, and probably at a higher resolution too.
What's funny is that the R7 240 and HD3870 have the same number of shader units, similar Texture rate, more or less similar core clock, and almost the same Floating-point performance.

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

That's a nice cooler. Just curious, how cheap are we talking about?

About $31.59 (129.01RON).

[jwillifixit]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

Samsung UN55ES7500 with stand and remote. Not a scratch on it and absolutely nothing wrong with it. I seriously don't know what makes someone wake up one day and say to themselves "I just can't stand that gorgeous, big, smart, 3D 1080p, 240Hz any longer - I'm going to put it in the car and drive it down to the electronics recycling drop off". Owner of this thing has probably been divorced 3 or 4 times I'd guess.

I just wish they'd have brought the Bluetooth active 3D glasses too 'cause I don't have any of those. I only have the passive ones that came with the LG that I bought some years ago.

[mikay786]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Grabbed a couple of good scores today at boot sale

• Dell 2407WFP monitor 1920x1200 @ £10

Working perfectly, no dead pixels either

• Panasonic DMR-EZ47V VHS / DVD Recorder @ £5

Untested but I know these Panasonic DMR units do good money

• Original xbox with loads of games and controllers @ £15

Might have paid a bit much for it but has a load of games so think it's ok

• Kustom Vienna16 guitar amp @£5

Bit roughy but can't complain at a fiver

[Agent24]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Grabbed a couple of good scores today at boot sale

• Dell 2407WFP monitor 1920x1200 @ £10

Working perfectly, no dead pixels either

Be careful with that, worth checking the primary filter capacitor in the power supply. They are a known failure in this model series, and tend to take the PFC MOSFET\controller as well as a bunch of other components with them.

Might as well do the output capacitors while you're in there too.

[diif]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Picked up a Samsung 40" TV for £18 with no sound. Volume was set on 0. Turned it up and working fine.

[tom66]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Picked up a Samsung 40" TV for £18 with no sound. Volume was set on 0. Turned it up and working fine.

Hahaha that's brilliant.

A while ago I curb-picked a 32" Samsung TV that had a distorted picture. I simply changed the picture mode from Cinema to Normal. For some reason, that TV had a messed up "Cinema" mode.

[diif]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

An easy fix is nice but there's always a niggle there is a real issue. The seller also claimed it turned off intermittently. I've updated the firmware so hopefully all is well.

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Picked up a Samsung 40" TV for £18 with no sound. Volume was set on 0. Turned it up and working fine.

Nice!

Be careful with that, worth checking the primary filter capacitor in the power supply. They are a known failure in this model series, and tend to take the PFC MOSFET\controller as well as a bunch of other components with them.

Might as well do the output capacitors while you're in there too.

Interesting.
I have a W207FPc on my hands right now, and it's PSU uses nothing but good Chemicon capacitors. Came to me for repair because the menu keeps popping up randomly.

[stj]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

remember to remove the supercap from the xbox, before it removes the xbox from you!

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

YAY for untested stuff, my source really came up with a good one this time.... Finding one of these for under 200 bucks is near impossible.

X8DAI, cost me about $40 worth of caps (retail, not my cost )..... They didn't have processors to test it.....but I did!

Works like a champ, and now a build that silently faded away incomplete can now be finished!

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

YAY for untested stuff, my source really came up with a good one this time.... Finding one of these for under 200 bucks is near impossible.

X8DAI, cost me about $40 worth of caps (retail, not my cost )..... They didn't have processors to test it.....but I did!

Works like a champ, and now a build that silently faded away incomplete can now be finished!

Lucky bastard!!!

Enjoy the new project... *tries to not act Jealous*

Edit- looks like it might have one of those supermicro RAID slots (read: cheap SAS card option like I showed you before)... which leaves all the PCIe for GPUs and stuff. USB 3.0 card?

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Lucky bastard!!!

Enjoy the new project... *tries to not act Jealous*

Edit- looks like it might have one of those supermicro RAID slots (read: cheap SAS card option like I showed you before)... which leaves all the PCIe for GPUs and stuff. USB 3.0 card?

That slot is bigger than the one on our X7DWA's, but I'm sure that's what its intended for. I will find one for sure. The onboard RAID is pretty weaksauce, and you know me better than that!

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

That slot is bigger than the one on our X7DWA's, but I'm sure that's what its intended for. I will find one for sure. The onboard RAID is pretty weaksauce, and you know me better than that!

Check the manual; the same card might fit there too.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Check the manual; the same card might fit there too.

the slot is called "SIMLC"....and the card that goes in it is some kind of remote management controller (IPMI). This is what apparently goes in it: https://cdn.badcaps-static.com/pdfs/...e0881f0305.pdf

I couldn't find a raid card that interfaces with it.