How do I safely discard old computers/monitors?

smoothjk · 11-10-2008, 07:33 PM

I have some obsolete computer equipment, and I was wondering how to safely get rid of it. I'm not a hardcore environmentalist or anything, but I'm against the idea of simply throwing it out, letting it end up in landfills.

What do most people do? I think it's too old to even donate. It's a Pentium 3, 600 MHz Hewlett-Packard. I also have an old, ugly monitor...

Gareth · 11-10-2008, 07:36 PM

Id donate it away, I am pretty sure somebody will make good use of it.

Bartmasta · 11-10-2008, 07:52 PM

Honestly I'd take a sledgehammer and destroy it.

Caminokid · 11-10-2008, 08:22 PM

I recycle them. There is gold on the boards. The cases are metal. I always use parts out them.

mac550 · 11-13-2008, 01:55 PM

if you live in the uk ill take it off your hands if it works

Calibretto · 11-15-2008, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bartmasta

Honestly I'd take a sledgehammer and destroy it.

Unless you want toxic chemicals roaming around (CRT monitors)

**voyagerfan99** · 11-15-2008, 05:05 AM

Pull the processor. There be gold on them processor feet!

I've got a box at work of about 100+ processors. Gotta figure out what we're gonna do with the gold.

PohTayToez · 05-20-2009, 02:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by voyagerfan99

Pull the processor. There be gold on them processor feet!

I've got a box at work of about 100+ processors. Gotta figure out what we're gonna do with the gold.

Throw it on eBay, a lot of gold scrappers buy those parts, and pay a decent amount for them.

Tuffie · 05-20-2009, 03:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by voyagerfan99

Pull the processor. There be gold on them processor feet!

I've got a box at work of about 100+ processors. Gotta figure out what we're gonna do with the gold.

Yeah there's like $40 worth of precious metal in the average computer, goddamn intrinsic value

zombine210 · 05-20-2009, 04:22 AM

i researched this myself not too long ago...
(i ended up selling a box of old stuff for like $20)

yes, there is some precious metal in electronic eq., but it's not enough to justify the means of extracting it yourself, especially if it's just a few components; and because they contain mercury as well.

what recyclers do is send boatloads to china where people, including children, work on taking it apart for the reusable materials, poisoning their land and giving them cancer.

waste landfills will not likely sort out the electronic stuff from the rest of the junk when they dump it in the oceans.

crt monitors contain about 8lbs of lead and can be damaging to the environment either way.

also, you're right about not donating it. i read on some other forum/site that non-profits would generally not appreciate the 'old' junk donated to them. think about it, if they really need to do some serious work, they're not going to want the extra trouble of fixing the old computers for mediocre performance.

this is a tough one dude, let us know what you end up doing, but don't feel pressured or guilted into doing it one way or another. we've dug ourselves one nasty hole with this electronic stuff

11-10-2008, 07:33 PM	#1
smoothjk Kilobyte Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 426	How do I safely discard old computers/monitors? I have some obsolete computer equipment, and I was wondering how to safely get rid of it. I'm not a hardcore environmentalist or anything, but I'm against the idea of simply throwing it out, letting it end up in landfills. What do most people do? I think it's too old to even donate. It's a Pentium 3, 600 MHz Hewlett-Packard. I also have an old, ugly monitor... __________________ CPU: AMD Phenom II 955 (@3.6 GHz, Dark Knight cooler) GPU: Diamond Radeon HD 5850 1gb Mobo: MSI 790GX-G65 AM3 RAM: 4 GB DDR3 OCZ Platinum HDD: Seagate 7200.12 + WD Caviar Black (total 1TB) PSU: Antec EA650 Case: Cooler Master CM690 Monitor: Samsung 24" Widescreen LCD

11-10-2008, 08:22 PM	#4
Caminokid Byte Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Springfield IL Posts: 72	I recycle them. There is gold on the boards. The cases are metal. I always use parts out them. Last edited by Caminokid; 11-11-2008 at 01:22 AM.

11-15-2008, 05:05 AM	#7
voyagerfan99 Zettabyte Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Columbia, CT Age: 22 Posts: 14,394	Pull the processor. There be gold on them processor feet! I've got a box at work of about 100+ processors. Gotta figure out what we're gonna do with the gold. __________________ Gigabyte 790FXTA-UD5 Socket AM3 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition (3.92Ghz) Lian-Li LanCool PC-K62 Case w/600W CoolerMaster SilentPro 8GB G-Skill RipJaw DDR3 RAM Intel 520 120GB SSD/Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit Gigabyte GTX570 1280MB Logitech G15 Keyboard/G51 Speakers/MX Revolution 500px Photography Portfolio Ian's Camera Forum

05-20-2009, 04:22 AM	#10
zombine210 Gigabyte Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: TX, usa Posts: 1,357	i researched this myself not too long ago... (i ended up selling a box of old stuff for like $20) yes, there is some precious metal in electronic eq., but it's not enough to justify the means of extracting it yourself, especially if it's just a few components; and because they contain mercury as well. what recyclers do is send boatloads to china where people, including children, work on taking it apart for the reusable materials, poisoning their land and giving them cancer. waste landfills will not likely sort out the electronic stuff from the rest of the junk when they dump it in the oceans. crt monitors contain about 8lbs of lead and can be damaging to the environment either way. also, you're right about not donating it. i read on some other forum/site that non-profits would generally not appreciate the 'old' junk donated to them. think about it, if they really need to do some serious work, they're not going to want the extra trouble of fixing the old computers for mediocre performance. this is a tough one dude, let us know what you end up doing, but don't feel pressured or guilted into doing it one way or another. we've dug ourselves one nasty hole with this electronic stuff __________________ Laptop: Acer Aspire 5732Z / Intel Pentium T4400 / 4GB DDR2-667 / Intel GMA 4500M Gaming Rig: DFI LP DK X38-T2R / C2Q Q9550 / 8GB G.Skill DDR2-1066 / Saphire HD6870 FileServer: Super Micro C2SBC-Q / C2D E8400 / 4GB G.Skill DDR2-800 / 4x 1TB HDDs

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11-10-2008, 07:52 PM	#3
Bartmasta banned Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: your mom Posts: 623	Honestly I'd take a sledgehammer and destroy it.

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