Summary

• I still use my old wired keyboard and mouse to set up new PCs for customers.
• The Samsung 860 EVO SSD I bought long ago sill houses my secondary Windows 11 installation.
• I use my 5-year-old GTX 1660 Ti when testing other PCs, and it's one of the parts that'll always stay with me.

PC components do not suddenly become "outdated" the moment something new comes out. You can comfortably use hardware that's years old without always looking forward to upgrades. For instance, many PC users still run a first-gen Ryzen 1000 series processor, a GTX 900 or GTX 1000 series GPU, or DDR4 systems built 8–9 years ago.

I've been building PCs since 2007, and have witnessed the industry evolve a lot over the years. I've also tried to retain my older hardware in some form or another. I don't have anything super-old, but I'm glad I still have 5 components and peripherals dating back to 2017 which I still use in some capacity — either in my existing setup or for my business needs.

5 Cooler Master mouse

The only time I use a wired mouse

I still have my old mouse belonging to a Cooler Master Devastator 3 combo that I bought in 2017, when I was building my Ryzen 5 1600 PC. It's a simple, black wired mouse with the lower portion reserved for some RGB lighting. It is a gaming mouse, I suppose, since it also has two side buttons on the left, and I can change the DPI from 600 to 2400 on the mouse itself.

All the buttons still work — in fact, the mouse was my daily driver until a year ago.

I retained this mouse even after selling the keyboard from the combo. The reason is that I often need to set up new PCs for customers, and don't want the hassle of connecting my main wireless mouse to the new PC and then back to my personal system. I can simply plug the wired mouse into the customer's PC and do the needful before shipping it out. All the buttons still work — in fact, the mouse was my daily driver until a year ago (a 6-year run), after which I got a Razer DeathAdder V2 X.

4 Cosmic Byte mechanical keyboard

My first-ever mechanical keyboard

You never forget your first. Despite the Cosmic Byte CB-GK-18 being a sub-par, cheaply built keyboard, it was still the first mechanical keyboard I ever used. When I transitioned from the Cooler Master Devastator keyboard to this mechanical keyboard, the biggest change I noticed was the sound. The typing experience and premium feel I got from my later keyboards was missing from the Cosmic Byte model though.

Connecting the USB keyboard is just simpler, and it still works fine, so I don't have any reason to buy a replacement.

The reason to retain it is the same as I mentioned above. I need to connect a keyboard to customers' PCs to set them up before shipping, and switching my main wireless keyboard between PCs is a hassle. Connecting the USB keyboard is just simpler, and it still works fine, so I don't have any reason to buy a replacement.

3 Creative speakers

If it ain't broke...

Back in 2017, I needed a pair of speakers for my budget gaming PC, and I wanted as little as possible. The Creative SBS A120 happened to be the model I picked at the computer store I was buying parts from. It's a 2.1-channel speaker with a subwoofer and two satellite units. It's still the primary audio system on my personal system despite the fact that one of the satellite units has stopped working.

Sometimes, I'm okay with the decent audio coming out of the speakers, enough for a casual gaming session.

When I'm gaming, I don't always like to wear my wireless headphones. Sometimes, I'm okay with the decent audio coming out of the speakers, at least enough for a casual gaming session. And they're perfectly fine for watching YouTube as well. I've been contemplating switching to a soundbar for a year now, but will need a bit more convincing — maybe when the speakers stop working completely, I'll be ready to part with them.

2 Samsung SATA SSD

My NVMe SSD is ten times faster

When I first got the Samsung 860 EVO a few years after building my previous PC, it was an eye-opening experience. Everything on my PC felt extremely responsive, from the boot time and programs to games. Even at around 500 MB/s, the 250GB SSD felt like I'd never need anything faster. Of course, that wasn't the case. I later got a WD Blue SN550, and then a WD Black SN770 on my latest PC.

I will probably use it till it fails, post which I'd like to dissect it and see some NAND flash for myself.

However, I still have the 860 EVO with my secondary Windows 11 installation on it, and it's more than enough for whenever I need to use Windows 11 for some screenshots. It cost a lot more back then compared to what a 250GB drive costs now, but it was one of the best SSDs you could find. I will probably use it till it fails, post which I'd like to dissect it and see some NAND flash for myself.

1 GTX 1660 Ti

Way past its sell-by date

Despite the GTX 1660 Ti being more than enough for some 1080p gaming in 2024, the best time to sell it for a decent price is long gone. I bought it for over $300 in 2019, but if I want to sell it right now, I'd be lucky to get a third of that back. Even in 2022, which is when I built a new PC, I wasn't willing to sell the card at the prevailing market price, so I decided to keep it for some future use case.

The 1660 Ti was one of the last great GTX GPUs to be released. Nvidia recently retired the GTX branding for good.

Today, I regularly use it when testing some old and new PCs. It runs without any fan problems, temperature issues, or other noise. And if I decide to build a spare PC, I'd have a great graphics card ready to be used. The 1660 Ti was one of the last great GTX GPUs to be released. Nvidia recently retired the GTX branding for good, so I might just hold on to my GTX card in hopes of it becoming an antique (a guy can dream).

Sometimes, old is gold; other times, it should just be sold

There are many ways to give new life to your old tech instead of selling it or throwing it away. However, sometimes, you need to take a call at the right time to sell your old PC hardware to recover your money, especially if you don't have any use for it and don't see yourself reusing it for another project.

If selling isn't an option, you can keep your old parts with you to be used as backups or just for sentimental value. You can also try scavenging your old PC to see if you can salvage something for your next build.