However, paying over $1000 is absurd

It's absurd because payment is mostly for the meme cooler. The card itself is far from unobtanium status.

anyone who isn't paying $1000+ on their retro build is a plebeian

It disgusts me a little when I see hardware that wasn't impressive at launch, being priced absurdly now. Nvidia's FX series cards for example, plus the same premium isn't being charged for comparable Quadro cards.

plus the same premium isn't being charged for comparable Quadro cards.

For a long time people were oblivious about Quadro cards being pretty much identical to GeForce, so nobody cared about them. It's changing though, because Youtube. So don't be surprised if you have to pay premium for Quadro cards within few years.

The Serpent Rider wrote:

So don't be surprised if you have to pay premium for Quadro cards within few years.

From a collector's perspective, I don't really see the point in buying the Quadro cards.

A collector isn't buying an FX 5800 Ultra because of its performance, he's buying it because it's an FX 5800 Ultra.
The Quadro FX 2000 isn't an FX 5800 Ultra, even though it's functionally the same.
The PCB might be the same, but it doesn't have the same cooler and it doesn't have the same printing on the heatspreader.
You might as well buy a 5900 XT, it's much more easily available and cheaper.

The only plausible use case is to be able to make performance comparisons against other cards without spending the big bucks.
However, this phenomenon doesn't surprise me at all.

20 years ago, I'd have never thought people would be collecting obsolete computer parts. I wonder what's next. How about a collection of vintage microwaves?

feipoa wrote:

20 years ago, I'd have never thought people would be collecting obsolete computer parts. I wonder what's next. How about a collection of vintage microwaves?

I'm in! (SO glad you didn't say washing machines..)

Actually, now you mention it, I would really like to own one of those absurd 'Juicero' machines. Just because.

meljor wrote:

I'm in! (SO glad you didn't say washing machines..)

I was annoyed with my dad recently for throwing away his deceased mother's Indesit L5 washing machine from the 1970s. It still worked too.

From a collector's perspective

From a collector's perspective both Quadro 2 Pro and GeForce 2 Ultra are quite valuable cards, which are hard to find this days. Quadro FX 2000 is just not there yet, because supply did not dry up. And you might as well go for the next best thing as a collector.

You might as well buy a 5900 XT

That's practical, but it's different chip and different PCB.

Ah, old Apple hardware parts also can get ridiculous...

The price to think different 🤣

^Amiga prices are sky high in comparion to Apple hardware..
About 300€ for a defective A2000 that looked like it fell from a truck and was stored in a barn for 60 years.
Come to think of it that this was the least loved model of the entire series.

Too much hype for Amiga.

Actually 68k mac gear is going up in price as well. I seen a loaded Quadra 950 sell for $800+

meljor wrote:

feipoa wrote:

20 years ago, I'd have never thought people would be collecting obsolete computer parts. I wonder what's next. How about a collection of vintage microwaves?

I'm in! (SO glad you didn't say washing machines..)

Actually, vintage toasters can be waaaay better buys than new ones. After trying out a couple of garbage toasters that had "reputable" brand names stuck on the box, we had to return them. One stopped working the second time it was used because it was so light that pushing the lever down to start the toaster caused the back to lift up in the air and then smack down on the counter... which shook something loose and it wouldn't stay down anymore. Now, we own a 35 year old Sunbeam automatic toaster and it works amazingly well and cost $50 versus the $300+ that a modern "high end" toaster costs.

Also, some times washing machines are the same way. Look up "spider flange" failures on modern washers and you'll see why a basic old water-guzzling agitator washer in good shape (especially a good one, like a SpeedQueen) are worth as much or MORE than the newest Samsung trash that plays you a pretty song but only lasts a few years before becoming dangerous to operate. Longevity of modern washers greatly depends on several factors, like if the washer is ventilated properly, what detergent is used, how much detergent is used, and water quality... things that never mattered at all to old washers. And don't get me started on how "clean" a high efficiency gets your cloths compared to a washer that actually uses more than half a cup of water.

Anyway, as far as old hardware prices go, its the same as anything else. You can spend $35,000 on a 40 year old sports car that is outperformed by a 10 year old used family sedan worth about $6,000. Nostalgia is a big seller, and it is usually completely illogical.

Similarly, you can buy an FX 5800 Ultra with a dustbuster cooler for $1500 (or whatever they go for now) or a used Geforce 9800GT for $5 that will do basically everything a thousand times better, except for the oldest games.

The people that remember reading about quirky old hardware when it was new (many of whom have had decently high paying tech jobs for many years now), apparently have the money and the desire to buy and collect these things. Just like the retirement age guy that wants the car he had (or wished he had, or had read about as being hilariously bad) back when he was a teen, and can now afford to buy one for what would seem to others to be a really bad price.

Modern toasters aren't designed to be serviced when they fail, just thrown away. This is a problem of course since accumulated breadcrumbs and other gunk eventually gum them up inside. To clean the interior you often have to break or cut the case in order to get it off. I have a 20 year old toaster that is still going strong, but only because I cut a strategic hole in the case to enable easy disassembly for cleaning. The average user just isn't going to bother with this.

The cheap $20 toaster we have has a door in the bottom to get the crumbs out. It also has a button for frozen items (pop tarts) and one for bagels. Has a push button to pop the toast up before the timer is done if needed.

BLACK+DECKER TR1300BD 2-Slice Toaster - Black

Toasters break because the mechanism gets jammed or the heating element snaps. If they last 5+ years what else do you want?

There is a Greek seller on ebay that sells stupidly priced hardware, and it's not to avoid re-listing fees or something since everything is 1-qty, he's just desperately waiting for some noob to buy his overpriced junk. It's not even rare pieces, for example he sells a 400Mhz PII for $300+...

To be fair, times are tough in Greece.