$50 junk second-hand motherboard turns into a SSD treasure trove worth $1,500 — 12 terabytes of blazing-fast storage finds a new owner amid crushing shortages

When something is truly meant for you, it will find its way to you regardless of the obstacles or the time it takes. The best SSDs are usually pricey these days, but not when you find them for the cost of a tank of gas. One Redditor took a gamble on a $50 damaged motherboard and walked away with over $1,500 worth of SSDs, or 12TB of cheap but fast storage, that the original owner left installed in the board.

The story may seem about fortune at first glance, but it's more about technical expertise, as the Redditor's sharp eye for detail and knowledge of PC hardware played a significant role. Nonetheless, we can't discount the role of luck in their stumbling upon the motherboard listing on eBay. The listing was for an MSI Pro Z690-A WiFi motherboard with a bent pin for an asking price of $50. What really caught the Redditor's attention was that all four M.2 slots still had their heatsinks installed. It was a very subtle hint that there may be SSDs under the hood.

Driven by rising SSD prices during the AI boom and a little hope, the Redditor made the half-hour drive to meet the seller and came home with four used M.2 SSDs that were operational. The haul was impressive: two WD Black SN850X 4TB, each retailing for $449.99; one Intel 670p 2TB, priced at $299.99; and a EOL Corsair Force MP600 2TB that sold for $374.99 at its peak. Overall, these high-performance SSDs returned $1,574.96 in value on a $50 investment.

There goes my luck for the entire year from r/pcmasterrace

Although launched four years ago, the WD Black SN850X, or should we say the Optimus GX Pro 850X, is still a very venerable SSD. There's a reason the drive remains our recommendation for the best M.2 SSD alternative. The Intel 670p and Corsair Force MP600 have long been retired, but they should suffice as secondary backup drives.

According to the author of the Reddit post, the eBay seller reportedly has limited knowledge of computer hardware and was selling the motherboard "for lower than prices on eBay." Some Redditors believe the motherboard was stolen, so the urgency to dispose of it as quickly as possible makes sense. Others think the seller may simply be unacquainted with computer hardware and its value, which could call into question the buyer's morality in the matter.

It's not uncommon to find very good deals on new and sometimes used computer hardware at unexpected places. People have bought the latest graphics cards at lower prices in Walmart's clearance aisles or spent $5 to $9 on older models at thrift stores. Marketplaces like eBay or Facebook could be the next destination for good deals, although sometimes you don't always know the provenance of what you're buying.

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