Why are old CPUs so expensive?

D

DellAxim

Gawd
Joined
Feb 14, 2003
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About 4 years ago I started collecting old CPUs...mostly 386 and 486. At the time, I was buying them on ebay in lots for ~ 50 cents each. I recently dug out my collection, and wanted to add to it, but now I see that old CPUs are going for ~$2 each in lots. Why the hell are they so expensive now? Are they just becoming more collectible? I notice lots of auctions for old CPUs say "gold scrap". Is there really more than $2 worth of gold in a CPU?
 
Are you really saying that $2 for a CPU is a lot?! :eek:

I doubt there's more than $2 worth of gold in a CPU, and I doubly doubt that it's easy enough to separate from the CPU to make it worthwhile.

Seriously... $2 is not exactly breaking the bank.

-Nate
 
Nate Finch said:
Are you really saying that $2 for a CPU is a lot?! :eek:
Seriously... $2 is not exactly breaking the bank.
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It is when you're buying alot of them. Especially when you consider they were 1/4 that just a few years ago. Shouldn't these things be declining in value? A box of 486's shouldn't be worth more than a box of bricks...
 
supply and demand. obviously (well i hope) those processors aren't being made anymore, yet people are still buying them for collections......sooooo, prices will continue to rise as long as there's a demand for it and a dwindling supply.
 
Yeah 2 bucks aint really that bad... I thought you were complaing about old Pentium 2's or something still being like 50 - 100$
 
Im trying to view this from a hobby standpoint... What is the fun of buying CPUs in lots? I mean if yer not using them in puters then do you just pull out a lupe and look at them all day?
 
It's mainly because of supply and demand (as others have stated).

Try searching for a 1Ghz Slot 1 P3 on ebay, the prices are close to $100. You can get a much more powerful modern CPU (Sempron/Athlon XP) for less, but that's because they are readily available.
 
What a strange hobby. I can understand someone wanting to collect one of each type of cpu. Or say two, one of them with the pins cut off so it could be mounted. But lots?
Ahh well, to each their own.
I collect empty wine bottles myself. Having first emptied them. Alas my collection is not big. I believe in recycling glass.
:D
 
Jawadali said:
It's mainly because of supply and demand (as others have stated).

Try searching for a 1Ghz Slot 1 P3 on ebay, the prices are close to $100. You can get a much more powerful modern CPU (Sempron/Athlon XP) for less, but that's because they are readily available.
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In the case of those, many businesses still use them in multi-processor systems, and when one goes bad its cheaper to buy a used processor than scrap a whole system and spend time configureing a new one.
 
Jennifer said:
I collect empty wine bottles myself. Having first emptied them. Alas my collection is not big. I believe in recycling glass.
:D
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Everyone should believe in something... I believe I'll have another glass of scotch =) And if ya need help with that hobby of yours, I volunteer my services to aide your collection
 
Jennifer said:
I collect empty wine bottles myself. Having first emptied them. Alas my collection is not big. I believe in recycling glass.
:D
Click to expand...
But then it's not really collecting anymore, is it? Perhaps you should just say that your hobby is observing the 'glass'-cycle from up close? ^_-
 
Jennifer said:
What a strange hobby. I can understand someone wanting to collect one of each type of cpu. Or say two, one of them with the pins cut off so it could be mounted. But lots?
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Perhaps people want to tile their bathroooms with them...
 
xonik said:
Perhaps people want to tile their bathroooms with them...
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I've seen people break plates so that they could grout them into a countertop before so I suppose thats not out of the question...
 
He's trying to take over the world, one 386 CPU at a time! :p

In seriousness though, old processors can be neat to collect. I guess it's because if you were old enough to own a 386/486, you remember how expensive they were when they came out. It'd be like having an AMD 64 or a P4 chip 10 years from now, and you remembered how damn expensive and cool they were.

I have a P2 233MHz CPU with the casing ripped off on my desk. :)

Edit: This reminds me of my 386 that I had when I was little. The computer was called "Wang"... no kidding... :D
 
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