The short version
Value in a desktop is concentrated, not spread evenly. It sits in this order, and the gap between the first item and the last is much wider than most people expect.
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01
The graphics card
Usually the most valuable single component, often by a wide margin. If the machine has a discrete card, that is the answer to this question.
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02
The processor
Holds value well, and its generation matters more than its model name.
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03
Memory and storage
Steady rather than spectacular, and they stay saleable long after the machine around them stops being worth selling.
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04
The motherboard
Modest alone, better bundled with the CPU and memory that match it.
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05
The case, fans and power supply
Very little. Loose power supplies are not bought at all.
A machine with no discrete graphics card is a different conversation from one with a card in it, and that is the first thing worth establishing. How to check what is in yours →
Age is a rough guide, not a rule
Roughly, hardware from the last five years or so still has a real market, and the further back you go the more the value narrows to specific parts rather than the whole machine.
That is a guide rather than a cutoff. A ten-year-old workstation card can be worth more than a five-year-old office desktop, because demand is about what people still want rather than what is newest. It is why we would rather you called than worked it out from a rule of thumb.
Working, or not working?
This changes the shape of the answer more than age does.
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It boots
It can be tested as a complete system, so it gets priced both as a working machine and as the sum of its parts, and you are shown both prices.
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It does not boot
It is priced on the parts that come out of it. Still worth bringing — a dead machine with a good graphics card in it is not a dead loss.
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It is missing the drive
Fine, and common. The offer is lower without it by a known amount, which is a trade rather than a penalty.
When the honest answer is no
Some machines are not worth selling and we would rather tell you on the phone than after you have driven across town.
If that is what you have, bring it anyway. We recycle computer gear free at the same location, including things we would not buy, so the trip still ends with the machine out of your house rather than back in the car.
We also will not beat a patient private sale, and we do not pretend otherwise. We buy to resell and the margin is the business. What we beat is the waiting, the lowball messages and meeting a stranger in a car park.
How to find out in one call
Call (210) 710-2020 and describe it, or text a photo of the parts. You get a ballpark before you decide anything.
A ballpark stays a ballpark until the hardware is in front of us — what it is good for is answering the question on this page, which is whether to come at all.
Common questions
What is my old computer worth?
Not a price we can put on a page, because it depends on the exact parts, their condition and what they are selling for used this week. Call or text a photo and you get a real answer in a couple of minutes.
Is a computer without a graphics card worth anything?
Often yes, just less. The processor, memory and storage all still carry value, and business desktops in particular are worth more than people assume.
Do you buy Apple computers?
No. No Apple products and no Chromebooks, whatever condition they are in. We do buy Windows laptops, though not with cracked screens.
What if it is genuinely worthless?
We recycle it free, same visit, no charge. That is the outcome for a fair number of the machines that come in and nobody is embarrassed about it.