I’ve got a problem. I’m a technology hoarder. I still have the first PC I bought myself some 15 years ago cause “I might use it for something!”

My desktop after that one is an unRAID box. The one after that is my “lab” PC (3d printing, embedded projects etc) and then finally, my current generation main PC.

I want to upgrade my main PC soon (can’t run new games, CPU and GPU limited), which means potentially kicking everything else “down the chain” to a new purpose as it gets a slightly better version of itself. I find the thought of this exhausting though. So much configuration/setup to give upgrades to things whose existence is only because I didn’t want to part with functioning hardware.

My current thought is to “break the cycle” by condensing all non-primary functions to my current PC, as an unRAID box hosting everything other than main gaming PC. From there, the rule needs to be tech goes into one of those two boxes, or it gets sold/donated.

What do you all think. Is that reasonable? How do you manage your spare equipment post upgrade?

  • @_MoveSwiftlyMEnglish
    13•1 year ago

    If it’s no longer usable to you, either sell or donate it. Simply because you don’t have a use for it anymore doesn’t mean you have to make a new use for it.

    • StickyOPEnglish
      6•1 year ago

      Perfectly logical, but somehow difficult… “I might want to turn this into a media center PC” or “maybe I should put xp on this for old SecuDrive(sp?) games”. I’ve got a little bit of a hoarder mentality with things that could turn into fun new projects!

      • @_MoveSwiftlyMEnglish
        1•1 year ago

        I hear ya, and I do a little bit of that. However, I’ve had to force change this habit slowly by throwing away anything without a functional need.

        Unless I do look into the project and have a plan for it, then more likely than not I won’t make a use of it. :)

        • StickyOPEnglish
          1•1 year ago

          Yeah, I think I need to move that way. If it doesn’t fit in the unRAID box or the main PC. It needs to go. Whether that’s donation, selling, recycling or trash, I should just quit hoarding the parts. I’m one of those folks that saves the best weapons till the end of the game “in case I need them”, picks the neutral path instead of the dark/light path cause I don’t want to cut off my options, and would rather organize my 50 spare USB cables by size/type/length than throw them away. 🤣 It’s a thought process that pervades more than just spare PC parts after upgrade lol. Habit breaking is definitely the name of the game!