Parts that are highly compatible and can be used in builds that span years are pretty desirable. Consider the K6+ cpu for example - higher clocked versions can go for decent amounts of money, as it can be used to build a decade+ spanning DOS/Win95 PC. Penitum3 CPUs are like confetti however - they are multiplier locked and common as flies.

Anything with genuine OPL3 gets an automatic boost. Bug free SoundBlasters also do.

Voodoo cards have excellent compatibility, but they are also nostalgia parts that are special for their place in history.

Consider GeForce FX cards - crap at DX9 yet the high end ones are far more expensive than subsequent generation cards. A nice 5950U can go for hundreds of dollars. Why? Because they are the very best for DX8 and below gaming, allowing high performance with AA and excellent image quality.

The GUS is both rare and nostalgic, and quite compatible for a certain period in the early 90s. But it is also special in it's own right with powerful capabilities that demos took advantage of.

I saw a Microsoft Force Feedback 2 (new) joystick sell for over $400 on eBay yesteday. Why? Because almost 20 years later it is still considered by many to be the best joystick ever made, even by today's standards, and it works with Win10 just fine.

Often we don't know what will become valuable until years later and the dust settles, and we realize what parts are useful for spanning years of gaming. I am sure a lot of people threw out DOS PCs full of voodoos and ultrasounds in the late 90s never thinking they would be worth anything. Too bad.

It really depends on the specific parts in question. It also depends on where you are located. Some stuff that is cheap as chips in some places is very rare in other places and thus commands a higher price.

Pre-Pentium stuff is good for games that are speed sensitive.

Some games don't like more than 33Mhz and some are fine up to around 133Mhz. Just depends on the game.

Winmodems are pretty much worthless now. That being said, Lucent windmodems gave me the absolute highest connection speed to dial-in BBSes.

for me value increases with nostalgia or actually the opposite of that, things I never had back then, I just like trying out all the different things or re-living my past computers.

I have a monetary hard limit when it comes to buying parts so I never buy expensive single parts, I'd rather try out 20 different mediocore sound cards than pay like $200+ for a single ultrasound for example.
that is reflected a lot in my collection, the pieces that are most valued among collectors are usually nowhere to be found in mine unless I find them in a scrap box for cheap.

same goes for amiga, I never had one and I'd like to play around with one, but I just can't justify those prices.

the items I usually pay most for are generic stuff that I used to own back in the day.

so for me, cheaper stuff often has "more value" as I can acquire more variety of it and preserve it for the future.

Fabelen wrote on 2020-04-09, 20:33:

I came across lots of old computer parts throughout the years. I don't understand why a 386 and 486 are more valued than a Pentium 1 or Pentium II. I know of course a Voodoo card is a golden collectible. And obviously the mass market low end gear such as the cheap Riva TNT2 M64 are too unspectacular. I have the bad habit of e-cycling a lot of old stuff... So I want to know what your opinions are on what is worth saving. Which parts would people pay good money on? Take my rare working Athlon 1.4GHz model C for example. I don't want it but I know it's worth something to someone.

Working Socket A boards with a decent processor are worth some money, specially if name brand board like Asus, MSI, etc.
Any motherboard that has ISA slots or mixed ISA and PCI are worth keeping. Any card that requires a ISA slot that is not a modem is worth keeping, anything PCI that is not a modem is worth keeping. Most all AGP boards are worth keeping. Just tossing out some generic what I would save....

Horun wrote on 2020-04-09, 23:58:

anything PCI that is not a modem is worth keeping.

add TV tuners to that list, unless they include other capture functionality.

I have accumulated a whole box full of TV tuners that are of absolutely no use already x3

Horun wrote on 2020-04-09, 23:58:

Fabelen wrote on 2020-04-09, 20:33:

I came across lots of old computer parts throughout the years. I don't understand why a 386 and 486 are more valued than a Pentium 1 or Pentium II. I know of course a Voodoo card is a golden collectible. And obviously the mass market low end gear such as the cheap Riva TNT2 M64 are too unspectacular. I have the bad habit of e-cycling a lot of old stuff... So I want to know what your opinions are on what is worth saving. Which parts would people pay good money on? Take my rare working Athlon 1.4GHz model C for example. I don't want it but I know it's worth something to someone.

Working Socket A boards with a decent processor are worth some money, specially if name brand board like Asus, MSI, etc.
Any motherboard that has ISA slots or mixed ISA and PCI are worth keeping. Any card that requires a ISA slot that is not a modem is worth keeping, anything PCI that is not a modem is worth keeping. Most all AGP boards are worth keeping. Just tossing out some generic what I would save....

Well...I wouldn't consider ultra low end AGP cards worth keeping, but midrange and better are worth keeping.

imi wrote on 2020-04-10, 00:08:

add TV tuners to that list, unless they include other capture functionality.

I have accumulated a whole box full of TV tuners that are of absolutely no use already x3

Oh crap Yes ! I have some Hauppauge that also do DVD capture but are mostly useless today. Some were very expensive back when they first came out.

EvieSigma wrote on 2020-04-10, 00:19:

Well...I wouldn't consider ultra low end AGP cards worth keeping, but midrange and better are worth keeping.

If you do a lot of testing then a low end AGP is better than risking a good AGP card !

Oh right, yes, good point. I have an atrocious GeForce 2MX 200 for such a purpose.

well there's plenty of ultra low end AGP cards that have rare and unusual chipsets on them 😉
worth keeping just out of curiosity... and I just like to have "one of each" at least, no matter how trash it is x3

imi wrote on 2020-04-10, 00:08:

Horun wrote on 2020-04-09, 23:58:

anything PCI that is not a modem is worth keeping.

add TV tuners to that list, unless they include other capture functionality.

And ISDN cards, no matter if PCI or ISA.

I'm gradually adding SCSI-HDDs to that list. Apart from the odd SCSI optical drive, I've stopped using SCSI controllers in my systems for HDDs*. The trade-off is just not worth it.

Which means I have lots of spare ISA, PCI and PCI-X controllers.

* I'll make an exception if ever I try restoring the Compaq quad Xeon system in the garage.

To the list of highly collectible or ordinary and unwanted? Because working SCSI HDDs are getting more and more sought-after and pricey. In old Macs for example, you can't just stop using them. Well, you can by using a SCSI-to-SD/CF adapter, but these are expensive as well.

derSammler wrote on 2020-04-10, 08:14:

To the list of highly collectible or ordinary and unwanted? Because working SCSI HDDs are getting more and more sought-after and pricey. In old Macs for example, you can't just stop using them. Well, you can by using a SCSI-to-SD/CF adapter, but these are expensive as well.

I do not bin them, but as I am not into vintage Mac stuff, I just keep some 50-pins, 68-pins and SCA-disks in storage because I can.

The original SCSI HDDs in my systems have all but been replaced by CF or SSD where possible.

Should people force me to bin part of my collection, I wouldn't mind terminating the SCSI-disks.

I keep SCSI around mainly for older optical drives, I have a few HDDs from old office PCs but I do not specifically look for any.
but as I usually get SCSI controllers in every other scrap bin I have more than enough of these already.

and yes I don't use HDDs as much as I can anymore.

derSammler wrote on 2020-04-10, 07:52:

And ISDN cards, no matter if PCI or ISA.

heh, yeah, though I group them with modems and throw them into the same box ^^ I still keep them around if I want to salvage parts from them eventually.

it's like anything, hold on to it long enough and it'll go from obsolete to desirable.
e.g. Prices are starting to creep up for Socket 478 , something even at the time wasn't overlay popular at the time.
Due to earlier AGP and IDE based motherboards getting expensive demand (and price) is now going up for this era.

earlier hardware is worth more due to numbers, far less 386 systems were built then 486's and far far less then anything recent let alone whats been lost to the landfill over the decades.
Sure not much a 386 can do that a later Pentium cant but few games have speed issues and others just want to have a complete collection or have a similar PC to when they were young.

I can see 2 more reto eras. WinXP era and Win7 Era. Top end WinXP hardware is just reaching that obsolete/disposal point in time now. This is hardware that's really better suited to Win7 and above but will make for "Ultimate XP" builds. Win7 hardware is basically currant hardware as driver support is just dying off now.

Re SCSI HDD's keep (or sell) them!
If a system has onboard SCSI I'm still "forced" to use it till SCSI to <whatever> prices drop.

What about input devices?
A lot of mice and especially gaming controllers are insanely expensive. For example the super overpriced and overrated Gravis Gamepad.
Good luck scoring a classic mouse like a Microsoft or Logitech MouseMan for cheap.

I actually somehow lucked into two Gamepads with the MIDI adapter(!!!) for $10 and a new in box GamePad Pro I got as part of a trade.

chinny22 wrote on 2020-04-14, 11:41:

it's like anything, hold on to it long enough and it'll go from obsolete to desirable. e.g. Prices are starting to creep up for […]
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it's like anything, hold on to it long enough and it'll go from obsolete to desirable.
e.g. Prices are starting to creep up for Socket 478 , something even at the time wasn't overlay popular at the time.
Due to earlier AGP and IDE based motherboards getting expensive demand (and price) is now going up for this era.

earlier hardware is worth more due to numbers, far less 386 systems were built then 486's and far far less then anything recent let alone whats been lost to the landfill over the decades.
Sure not much a 386 can do that a later Pentium cant but few games have speed issues and others just want to have a complete collection or have a similar PC to when they were young.

I can see 2 more reto eras. WinXP era and Win7 Era. Top end WinXP hardware is just reaching that obsolete/disposal point in time now. This is hardware that's really better suited to Win7 and above but will make for "Ultimate XP" builds. Win7 hardware is basically currant hardware as driver support is just dying off now.

Re SCSI HDD's keep (or sell) them!
If a system has onboard SCSI I'm still "forced" to use it till SCSI to <whatever> prices drop.

I agree about 386 era being one of the smaller ones (in number) compared to 486, Pentium, Slot1 and up. The only other somewhat small era was Socket8 only because the pricing and numbers built/sold was about same as 386 era. Yep about Win7 ! It can run on z370, h370, etc chipsets because of drivers, only last year did Intel and MS decide to not release any more Win7 support files...
Yes ~ have to keep some SCSI stuff and old small drives are getting more expensive by the year.

486 computer and slower.
They are just too old , slow and loud for good quality DOS game play.
Not worth investing your money on.

You are better off buying a Pentium computer.