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Updated: £450* Budget Gaming - Used/Refurbished Parts

AmisThysia

Update:

 

Already bought: 

Case: Be Quiet Dark Base 900, £50, used

GPU: AMD RX 480 4GB, £60, manufacturer refurbished

Storage: Crucial MX500 500GB SATA SSD, £58, new

Motherboard: MSI B450 Tomahawk Max, £82, new

RAM: Patriot Viper 4 16GB (2x8) DDR4 3000Mhz, £55, new

PSU: Corsair TX650M 650W 80+ Gold, £65, new

CPU: Ryzen 5 2600 with Wraith Stealth stock cooler, £90, used - can hopefully sell on the Wraith Stealth and earn a little back.

Cooler: Arctic Freezer 34 Esports DUO, £27, new

WiFi Card: Ziyituod AX2974, £25, new

Case fans: 2x140mm Noctua NF-A14, 2x120mm Noctua F-12, £30, used

 

TOTAL SPEND: £542. Well over budget, but ended up with significant performance increase and some top-notch parts which I can transfer over to a new build in future. Laptop started to die pretty hard (regular blue screens) so ended up shifting some priority to performance over budget instead. Will be putting this over to the Build Logs thread now!

 

See below for relevant info from original post:

Spoiler

1. Budget & Location

Budget is around £350-£400, based in London. Preferably closer to £350!

2. Aim

Predominantly used for gaming (mainly esports titles, but also some AAA like e.g. DOOM 2016, The Witcher 3, Metro Exodus, or when it comes out Cyberpunk 2077) and basic desktop work (Word, YouTube, Chrome.) Potentially used for streaming, light video editing, and some Adobe InDesign in future, though I'll likely look to upgrade at that point if necessary.

3. Monitors

One monitor at 1440p, 32". (https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/aoc-q3279vwf/). Has Freesync, has a 60Hz and 75Hz mode.

Happy to play in Windowed mode for 1080p where necessary (or scale it up I guess), but would like some older games to run in 1440p at around 45-50fps.

4. Peripherals

Not necessary. Have Asus Cerberus keyboard, Razer Abyssus 2014 mouse, some nice speakers via a XONAR U5 sound card. Only thing is to have a good amount of USBs available for these.

5. Why are you upgrading?

Two reasons: practically, my nearly 4-years-old PC Specialist gaming laptop is getting a bit rekt. Had a lot of issues with it - had to replace the harddrive, it overheats, I've had to replace keyboard and screen, and now the screen is on the fritz again (I'll be seeking advice for this in another section of the forum, don't worry!) I'd like to give it a nice retirement, let it be used mainly for work and occasional gaming when travelling, to extend its life.
The other reason is just for fun. I started getting into PCs and building back when I started to customise the laptop, but have neverput my own build together. Really excited to give it a go, hence working on a budget for now.
I only need a small upgrade - I'm fairly happy with the performance of my laptop (970M, i7-6700hq, 16GB RAM), and it holds up surprisingly well even in modern games. But realistically it's just costing too much to upkeep with the heavy usage I put it through, and I'd rather invest into this as a hobby and build my own if I'm going to spend the money anyway.

 

6. Parts
I'm looking to use refurbished or used kit where I can; for used kit I strongly prefer to buy locally in order to test first, with the exceptions of e.g. case where it's a bit less important to run it in a setup first.

 

I also need advice on how to test components if I'm buying used.

 

 

I'm here to learn, so please chip in with any thoughts or considerations, no matter how pedantic or small! Thank you so much for any help and responses. :) 

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Lol.  The way I’m reading this is “I wat to spend a fifth to a tenth what everyone else does to do something everyone else wants to do”

 

the issue is it starts reasonable and gets crazy fast.  
 

What could possibly be done is start with a low cost system that could be TURNED INTO something that could run titles like that.  Expandability.  Can’t do that with used gear very well.  The cheap used gear is cheap because it’s NOT expandable.  
 

The “max stuff now with used gear” option:

some kind of old business desktop with a 1650 or other no-power-plug GPU  card stuffed in it.  Will NOT be expandable

 

The “expandable into something that could to stuff later with more money added” option.

 

There is literally no intel option at all for this one AM4 is absolutely required.


1: see what kind of used am4 motherboards can be gotten used. A series boards are not an option.  They don’t have the VRM for newer chips unless there’s a board in the A series I don’t know about (very possible) something with a B or an X in front of the chipset series that ALSO has decent VRM.(this part is critical)

 

2: see what kind of AM4 compatible CPUs can be gotten used.  Maybe something bulldozer and awful, or some kind of 4/8 chip.  This WILL need to be replaced befor those newer AAA titles become possible.

 

3: a DECENT PSU in the 600w range.  This one you will keep.  Do not buy used PSUs unless you are intimately familiar with the entire lifecycle of THAT particular box.  This is a place to not be afraid to spend money.

 

4: RAM.  Two options here.  Buy slow for cheap and replace it or buy fast now and keep it.  It is possible to buy memory faster than what something is rated for.  It will still run it will just run slower, and if you want to play clocking games you can lower the cas so it acts like faster ram anyway.  Ryzen (which is what you are headed for) has a serious thing for fast ram.  As close to 3600mhz cas16 as can be gotten.  Anything under 3000mhz is considered crippling.  A lot of people have been going for 3200 lately.

 

5: storage. Sata is fine.  Sata6 is fast enough generally. Buy whatever.  Keep it.  Small ssd with cache is nice.  Cacheless SSDs have problems.

 

6: case. Something vaguely usable can be had for about $50.  Or $0 if you’re willing to go caseless and screw stuff to a board.  It’s ugly but it works and you can hang it on a wall to make it take 0 effective space.

 

Not a pro, not even very good.  I’m just old and have time currently.  Assuming I know a lot about computers can be a mistake.

 

Life is like a bowl of chocolates: there are all these little crinkly paper cups everywhere.

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5 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

Lol.  The way I’m reading this is “I wat to spend a fifth to a tenth what everyone else does to do something everyone else wants to do”

 

the issue is it starts reasonable and gets crazy fast.  
 

What could possibly be done is start with a low cost system that could be TURNED INTO something that could run titles like that.  Expandability.  Can’t do that with used gear very well.  The cheap used gear is cheap because it’s NOT expandable.  
 

The “max stuff now with used gear” option:

some kind of old business desktop with a 1650 or other no-power-plug GPU  card stuffed in it.  Will NOT be expandable

 

The “expandable into something that could to stuff later with more money added” option.

 

There is literally no intel option at all for this one AM4 is absolutely required.


1: see what kind of used am4 motherboards can be gotten used. A series boards are not an option.  They don’t have the VRM for newer chips unless there’s a board in the A series I don’t know about (very possible) something with a B or an X in front of the chipset series that ALSO has decent VRM.(this part is critical)

 

2: see what kind of AM4 compatible CPUs can be gotten used.  Maybe something bulldozer and awful, or some kind of 4/8 chip.  This WILL need to be replaced befor those newer AAA titles become possible.

 

3: a DECENT PSU in the 600w range.  This one you will keep.  Do not buy used PSUs unless you are intimately familiar with the entire lifecycle of THAT particular box.  This is a place to not be afraid to spend money.

 

4: RAM.  Two options here.  Buy slow for cheap and replace it or buy fast now and keep it.  It is possible to buy memory faster than what something is rated for.  It will still run it will just run slower, and if you want to play clocking games you can lower the cas so it acts like faster ram anyway.  Ryzen (which is what you are headed for) has a serious thing for fast ram.  As close to 3600mhz cas16 as can be gotten.  Anything under 3000mhz is considered crippling.  A lot of people have been going for 3200 lately.

 

5: storage. Sata is fine.  Sata6 is fast enough generally. Buy whatever.  Keep it.  Small ssd with cache is nice.  Cacheless SSDs have problems.

 

6: case. Something vaguely usable can be had for about $50.  Or $0 if you’re willing to go caseless and screw stuff to a board.  It’s ugly but it works and you can hang it on a wall to make it take 0 effective space.

 

Hi - thanks for the feedback! My budget is more firm than my performance expectations for now. This is essentially a practice kit for learning to build, which I hope to tide me over for the next year or so before I invest in a significant upgrade (for which I'd be happy to start mostly from scratch.) So expandability in future isn't a huge priority, as weird as that sounds.

I was looking at online benchmarks and videos using similar setups and reasonable frames (50ish average) at 1080p, high settings, or on older games (like vanilla Skyrim or something) potentially cranking up to 1440p seemed possible. Can you explain where I've gone wrong in assuming this system wouldn't be able to achieve that, whereas theirs did?

My concern with picking up like an old Dell or something is around OEM/ECC, like specialised parts or mobos, where finding e.g. a sizable enough compatible PSU could become a problem, even without worrying about future expandability. However I really don't have a firm understanding of this aspect.

 

After that, I feel like the components I linked fulfil the requirements you specified, for the most part - I'll explain my reasoning below, so you can explain what I'm not understanding here. I'm probably just missing something obvious in my inexperience.

 

Then:
1. The motherboard in the combo I linked is an AM4, which works with the attached 1800x. It supports overclocking. It's also apparently compatible with Ryzen 3000 series CPUs for future expandability. I've also seen a variety of reviews describe it as having strong VRM. It supports dual GPU setup for future expandability.

2. The 1800x works with the motherboard as its an AM4 socket. It's good for overclocking. This fulfils the "replacement" aspect, skipping the step of buying a bulldozer or something, and from online benchmarks should be strong enough to handle AAA gaming at 1080p.

3. That's great advice, thank you. I'll be sure to spend a good amount here. What about a Corsair CX650M for £60? (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CP-9020122-UK-CX650-Bronze-Power-Supply/dp/B01C3FFATU/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=650w%2Bpsu%2Bbronze&qid=1582047450&s=computers&sr=1-2&th=1)

4. The barebones I linked comes with 2666MHz DDR4, which as you say might be insufficient long-run and not pair the best with the Ryzen. The mobo also only supports up to 2666MHz as a maximum apparently. This could be a problem area. However, I get the impression that getting a >2666MHz-compatible motherboard feels like it would take me out of my price range. The monetary savings on the barebones linked (mobo, CPU, RAM, cooler) might be worth the decreased performance - i.e. the "buy cheap and replace later" option.

5. Cool, will make sure to get cache. If I were to buy used off e.g. ebay, how would I test it to make sure its not dodgy? I'm inexperienced so the best thing I could think of is sfc /scannow and chkdsk, and see how long they take etc., but there are probably more efficient and accurate methods?
For now I'm thinking this Crucial MX500 from Amazon Warehouse: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B0786QNS9B/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=all

6. Cool, just have to make sure it's big enough and stuff right? What other things should I be considering? (Strongly prefer a case, as I rent and can't just put screws in the walls to hang stuff up or anything.)

 

Appreciate the help, thanks!

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13 hours ago, AmisThysia said:

Hi - thanks for the feedback! My budget is more firm than my performance expectations for now. This is essentially a practice kit for learning to build, which I hope to tide me over for the next year or so before I invest in a significant upgrade (for which I'd be happy to start mostly from scratch.) So expandability in future isn't a huge priority, as weird as that sounds.

I was looking at online benchmarks and videos using similar setups and reasonable frames (50ish average) at 1080p, high settings, or on older games (like vanilla Skyrim or something) potentially cranking up to 1440p seemed possible. Can you explain where I've gone wrong in assuming this system wouldn't be able to achieve that, whereas theirs did?

My concern with picking up like an old Dell or something is around OEM/ECC, like specialised parts or mobos, where finding e.g. a sizable enough compatible PSU could become a problem, even without worrying about future expandability. However I really don't have a firm understanding of this aspect.

 

After that, I feel like the components I linked fulfil the requirements you specified, for the most part - I'll explain my reasoning below, so you can explain what I'm not understanding here. I'm probably just missing something obvious in my inexperience.

 

Then:
1. The motherboard in the combo I linked is an AM4, which works with the attached 1800x. It supports overclocking. It's also apparently compatible with Ryzen 3000 series CPUs for future expandability. I've also seen a variety of reviews describe it as having strong VRM. It supports dual GPU setup for future expandability.

2. The 1800x works with the motherboard as its an AM4 socket. It's good for overclocking. This fulfils the "replacement" aspect, skipping the step of buying a bulldozer or something, and from online benchmarks should be strong enough to handle AAA gaming at 1080p.

3. That's great advice, thank you. I'll be sure to spend a good amount here. What about a Corsair CX650M for £60? (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CP-9020122-UK-CX650-Bronze-Power-Supply/dp/B01C3FFATU/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=650w%2Bpsu%2Bbronze&qid=1582047450&s=computers&sr=1-2&th=1)

4. The barebones I linked comes with 2666MHz DDR4, which as you say might be insufficient long-run and not pair the best with the Ryzen. The mobo also only supports up to 2666MHz as a maximum apparently. This could be a problem area. However, I get the impression that getting a >2666MHz-compatible motherboard feels like it would take me out of my price range. The monetary savings on the barebones linked (mobo, CPU, RAM, cooler) might be worth the decreased performance - i.e. the "buy cheap and replace later" option.

5. Cool, will make sure to get cache. If I were to buy used off e.g. ebay, how would I test it to make sure its not dodgy? I'm inexperienced so the best thing I could think of is sfc /scannow and chkdsk, and see how long they take etc., but there are probably more efficient and accurate methods?
For now I'm thinking this Crucial MX500 from Amazon Warehouse: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B0786QNS9B/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=all

6. Cool, just have to make sure it's big enough and stuff right? What other things should I be considering? (Strongly prefer a case, as I rent and can't just put screws in the walls to hang stuff up or anything.)

 

Appreciate the help, thanks!

The issue is core count.  Everything intel except the very new stuff maxes at 4/8.  This is enough to run everything up to to but likely not including those brand new and not yet released AAA titles you talked about.  Future computing is likely (though to date unknown) to need more than 4 cores.  To run current older games like Skyrim the old intel prebuilt with 1650 is likely enough.

Not a pro, not even very good.  I’m just old and have time currently.  Assuming I know a lot about computers can be a mistake.

 

Life is like a bowl of chocolates: there are all these little crinkly paper cups everywhere.

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1 hour ago, boggy77 said:

Solid enough build for the price!

 

Scour facebook marketplace, offerup, letgo, craigslist, etc. (Idk if all of them operate in the UK, but I don't see why they couldn't.)

A local cash deal will always be a friend. You can haggle, have them plug it in and watch it work, etc.

If you don't need a unit NOW you can do the research and look for the great deals.

 

There is no reason you couldn't get into Ryzen 5 and an RX 570/580

Also no reason you couldn't find something like a 6600K and maybe a GTX 970/1060 etc. 

I'd personally go the Ryzen route, since it's newer and i5 hasn't impressed me in a while.

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7 hours ago, m777y said:

£72 hard maximum for case, psu, cooler, and storage seems pretty low :/ 

3 hours ago, boggy77 said:

See OP, I'm doing this to practice and learning to build rather than just to have a cheap PC. :) 

2 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

The issue is core count.  Everything intel except the very new stuff maxes at 4/8.  This is enough to run everything up to to but likely not including those brand new and not yet released AAA titles you talked about.  Future computing is likely (though to date unknown) to need more than 4 cores.  To run current older games like Skyrim the old intel prebuilt with 1650 is likely enough.

Yeah but as I said, the X370-Pro (with a BIOS update, I think) can support Ryzen 3000 cpus, so plenty of room to theoretically upgrade if necessary. And the Ryzen 1800x that comes with it has 8 cores. Not sure I really follow what you're saying, or what the issue with the parts I linked in the OP are.

2 hours ago, trevb0t said:

Solid enough build for the price!

 

Scour facebook marketplace, offerup, letgo, craigslist, etc. (Idk if all of them operate in the UK, but I don't see why they couldn't.)

A local cash deal will always be a friend. You can haggle, have them plug it in and watch it work, etc.

If you don't need a unit NOW you can do the research and look for the great deals.

 

There is no reason you couldn't get into Ryzen 5 and an RX 570/580

Also no reason you couldn't find something like a 6600K and maybe a GTX 970/1060 etc. 

I'd personally go the Ryzen route, since it's newer and i5 hasn't impressed me in a while.

Yeah that's what I've been doing! But I wanted some tips about the 'testing' part when you head over to pick something up - just seeing something POST or boot a game doesn't feel like enough to know I'm not getting something with a problem, so wanted some testing tips or things to look out for.

The 1800x is about as good as I'll get on my budget, I think, but maybe I'll hold out for a 570/580 - although I think the £55 for a 480 I linked is still super solid so might just roll with that.

Absolutely going Ryzen, at least for CPU - just because of the AM4 socket, if nothing else!

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34 minutes ago, AmisThysia said:

£72 hard maximum for case, psu, cooler, and storage seems pretty low :/ 

See OP, I'm doing this to practice and learning to build rather than just to have a cheap PC. :) 

Yeah but as I said, the X370-Pro (with a BIOS update, I think) can support Ryzen 3000 cpus, so plenty of room to theoretically upgrade if necessary. And the Ryzen 1800x that comes with it has 8 cores. Not sure I really follow what you're saying, or what the issue with the parts I linked in the OP are.

Yeah that's what I've been doing! But I wanted some tips about the 'testing' part when you head over to pick something up - just seeing something POST or boot a game doesn't feel like enough to know I'm not getting something with a problem, so wanted some testing tips or things to look out for.

The 1800x is about as good as I'll get on my budget, I think, but maybe I'll hold out for a 570/580 - although I think the £55 for a 480 I linked is still super solid so might just roll with that.

Absolutely going Ryzen, at least for CPU - just because of the AM4 socket, if nothing else!

I don’t.  It was a reply specific to the question about intel stuff.  One thing you may want to keep a good eye on with an 1800 is it draws a lot of watts, it overclocks better than more modern CPUs (drawing yet more watts) So quality of the VRM on which board you choose for that CPU is going to be particularly important.  As will cooling.

One other thing you may want to look at is how the prospective motherboard deals with ram.  Ryzen likes fast ram even more than overclocking.  Just because a given board is rated for a particular ram speed doesn’t always mean it isn’t capable of more.  Taking a hard look at exactly how a ram system is laid out on a given motherboard will control what level of ram speed it is actually capable of.  With ryzen faster ram means more performance to a greater degree than it does with intel. 

Not a pro, not even very good.  I’m just old and have time currently.  Assuming I know a lot about computers can be a mistake.

 

Life is like a bowl of chocolates: there are all these little crinkly paper cups everywhere.

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2 hours ago, AmisThysia said:

See OP, I'm doing this to practice and learning to build rather than just to have a cheap PC. :)

Well, you can get it, disassemble it and put it back again

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2 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

I don’t.  It was a reply specific to the question about intel stuff.  One thing you may want to keep a good eye on with an 1800 is it draws a lot of watts, it overclocks better than more modern CPUs (drawing yet more watts) So quality of the VRM on which board you choose for that CPU is going to be particularly important.  As will cooling.

One other thing you may want to look at is how the prospective motherboard deals with ram.  Ryzen likes fast ram even more than overclocking.  Just because a given board is rated for a particular ram speed doesn’t always mean it isn’t capable of more.  Taking a hard look at exactly how a ram system is laid out on a given motherboard will control what level of ram speed it is actually capable of.  With ryzen faster ram means more performance to a greater degree than it does with intel. 

Ah sorry, misunderstood you. I believe the x370 has solid VRM, though any check/confirmation of that from someone more experienced would be nice. And I think the H100i will be enough cooling but again, hard for me to know without the experience. As for RAM stuff, I'll definitely look into that - I think it may be one of the weaknesses of this board.

Thank you for all the advice!

 

1 hour ago, boggy77 said:

Well, you can get it, disassemble it and put it back again

True, but it doesn't really give me any practice of researching compatibility and understanding why certain parts work together. The above post by Bombastinator is a good example - just buying this, disassembling, and reassembling doesn't teach me about the importance of fast RAM for Ryzen, or about needing good VRM for overclocking (I didn't even know that VRM was a thing, honestly). It'd purely be about what cable plugs in where in this particular setup. Choosing parts and constructing my own, by contrast, does bring up those questions in conversation that allow me to learn. Plus I think it's more fun, and I'm entering this to develop a hobby and passion - that's the end goal, really, rather than my end goal being the actual product I end up with.

 

As a sidenote, I am genuinely astonished at the value CeX is selling that at. Really good. They're often fairly expensive (they want £95 for the 4GB RX 480 that I'm getting for £55 manufacturer-refurbished off Ebay!)

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Right, i see what you mean. In that case, try to find something like this:

Ryzen 5 2600 (should perform better than 1800x in games due to faster cores)

B450 motherboard that has some sort of vrm heatsink - important for upgradeability

2x8gb ram, 3000mhz or 3200mhz is great for second gen ryzen. It's important to have 2 sticks. If 16gb is too much, get 2x4.

A ssd, even sata for os and some games for fast loading times and system responsiveness. I wouldn't get the ssd second hand, though.

A used rx 580 or 1070

A bronze rated psu of 500w or more. Check the tier list in my signature for decent psus

A case with good airflow, preferably a mesh front and some case fans.

 

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40 minutes ago, AmisThysia said:

Ah sorry, misunderstood you. I believe the x370 has solid VRM, though any check/confirmation of that from someone more experienced would be nice. And I think the H100i will be enough cooling but again, hard for me to know without the experience. As for RAM stuff, I'll definitely look into that - I think it may be one of the weaknesses of this board.

Thank you for all the advice!

 

True, but it doesn't really give me any practice of researching compatibility and understanding why certain parts work together. The above post by Bombastinator is a good example - just buying this, disassembling, and reassembling doesn't teach me about the importance of fast RAM for Ryzen, or about needing good VRM for overclocking (I didn't even know that VRM was a thing, honestly). It'd purely be about what cable plugs in where in this particular setup. Choosing parts and constructing my own, by contrast, does bring up those questions in conversation that allow me to learn. Plus I think it's more fun, and I'm entering this to develop a hobby and passion - that's the end goal, really, rather than my end goal being the actual product I end up with.

 

As a sidenote, I am genuinely astonished at the value CeX is selling that at. Really good. They're often fairly expensive (they want £95 for the 4GB RX 480 that I'm getting for £55 manufacturer-refurbished off Ebay!)

There are many different x370 boards which will be laid out very differently.  X370 is just they type of chipset used ON the board and defines several maximum capabilities.  Just because a board has an x370 chipset doesn’t necessarily mean it can do everything that x370 can do.  Remember there are $1000 x570 motherboards and $160 x570 motherboards.  They can have verrrry different capabilities.  Model of motherboard can matter a lot.  

Not a pro, not even very good.  I’m just old and have time currently.  Assuming I know a lot about computers can be a mistake.

 

Life is like a bowl of chocolates: there are all these little crinkly paper cups everywhere.

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1 minute ago, Bombastinator said:

There are many different x370 boards which will be laid out very differently.  X370 is just they type of chipset used ON the board and defines several maximum capabilities.  Just because a board has an x370 chipset doesn’t necessarily mean it can do everything that x370 can do.  Remember there are $1000 x570 motherboards and $160 x570 motherboards.  They can have verrrry different capabilities.  Model of motherboard can matter a lot.  

Ah sorry, I should have been more clear - I meant the specific board I linked in the gumtree combo, the ASUS Prime X370-Pro. I shorthanded it without realising that X370 meant the chipset and would therefore be confusing haha

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3 minutes ago, AmisThysia said:

Ah sorry, I should have been more clear - I meant the specific board I linked in the gumtree combo, the ASUS Prime X370-Pro. I shorthanded it without realising that X370 meant the chipset and would therefore be confusing haha

No worries.

Not a pro, not even very good.  I’m just old and have time currently.  Assuming I know a lot about computers can be a mistake.

 

Life is like a bowl of chocolates: there are all these little crinkly paper cups everywhere.

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17 hours ago, AmisThysia said:

Yeah that's what I've been doing! But I wanted some tips about the 'testing' part when you head over to pick something up - just seeing something POST or boot a game doesn't feel like enough to know I'm not getting something with a problem, so wanted some testing tips or things to look out for.

I mean there are certainly running issues that can occur with gear beyond not posting, but if it posts you know:

  • MOBO, PSU, CPU, RAM are operational. (RAM will give notifications if there are issues, or it just won't post.)
  • If Windows boots up, you know the boot drive is operational.
  • Confirm the monitor is hooked up to the GPU and not to the MOBO's IO Shield. If you're seeing display, the GPU is working.
  • Talk to the seller ahead of time and express that you'd like to see the PC benchmarks. There are free stress tests you can perform that should show you that the GPU or CPU isn't gonna shut down under stress.

Really from there, that should be a good indicator that it's all working fine.

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On 2/20/2020 at 9:53 AM, trevb0t said:

I mean there are certainly running issues that can occur with gear beyond not posting, but if it posts you know:

  • MOBO, PSU, CPU, RAM are operational. (RAM will give notifications if there are issues, or it just won't post.)
  • If Windows boots up, you know the boot drive is operational.
  • Confirm the monitor is hooked up to the GPU and not to the MOBO's IO Shield. If you're seeing display, the GPU is working.
  • Talk to the seller ahead of time and express that you'd like to see the PC benchmarks. There are free stress tests you can perform that should show you that the GPU or CPU isn't gonna shut down under stress.

Really from there, that should be a good indicator that it's all working fine.

Thank you for the advice! I'll ask that they install the free 3DMark from Steam and run those. 

 

EDIT: They've refused to set it up to do anything more than just post (barebones CPU+mobo+RAM+cooler.) I'm wondering if that should be a cause for concern...?

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46 minutes ago, AmisThysia said:

Thank you for the advice! I'll ask that they install the free 3DMark from Steam and run those. 

 

EDIT: They've refused to set it up to do anything more than just post (barebones CPU+mobo+RAM+cooler.) I'm wondering if that should be a cause for concern...?

Who is “they”?

Not a pro, not even very good.  I’m just old and have time currently.  Assuming I know a lot about computers can be a mistake.

 

Life is like a bowl of chocolates: there are all these little crinkly paper cups everywhere.

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1 minute ago, Bombastinator said:

Who is “they”?

The seller - on Gumtree, which is a buy-and-sell site similar to e.g. Facebook Marketplace. In other words, the dude selling it is just some random guy. I feel okay taking a risk on used parts if I can test them but idk about this considering he won't even let me run a free bench.

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Just now, AmisThysia said:

The seller - on Gumtree, which is a buy-and-sell site similar to e.g. Facebook Marketplace. In other words, the dude selling it is just some random guy. I feel okay taking a risk on used parts if I can test them but idk about this considering he won't even let me run a free bench.

That might be “wtf? I’m just trying to move computer parts here.  She wants the machine set up?  That costs more.  I’ve got to do a full windows install now?!  I don’t have time for this!  I’ve got a fricken job!”

 

It could also be used car sales BS.  You could do the benches yourself after you receive the machine.  Return policy would be a big deal though.

Not a pro, not even very good.  I’m just old and have time currently.  Assuming I know a lot about computers can be a mistake.

 

Life is like a bowl of chocolates: there are all these little crinkly paper cups everywhere.

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2 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

That might be “wtf? I’m just trying to move computer parts here.  She wants the machine set up?  That costs more.  I’ve got to do a full windows install now?!  I don’t have time for this!  I’ve got a fricken job!”

 

It could also be used car sales BS.  You could do the benches yourself after you receive the machine.  Return policy would be a big deal though.

I get that, but they haven't given a reason why they won't do it - if they said something like what you typed I'd be less sketched out. Plus we're meeting at their place, at a weekend, at 5pm, so it's not like they're at work. 

 

But all they've done is assert that it isn't a common thing to run benches when selling used parts, and that nothing over a POST will be happening. No justification at all. See attached images.

 

Just seems mega sketchy to me. It's a crazy deal on the parts, which possibly contributes to me being wary. But even so, for £170 I'll have no way to get back I'm not sure it's worth the risk.

 

image.thumb.png.1bfb06a738aa50324e4385dd0d9b1227.pngimage.thumb.png.a080fd4a6eb3e22ad73a878dc35ec5d0.png

 

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43 minutes ago, AmisThysia said:

I get that, but they haven't given a reason why they won't do it - if they said something like what you typed I'd be less sketched out. Plus we're meeting at their place, at a weekend, at 5pm, so it's not like they're at work. 

 

But all they've done is assert that it isn't a common thing to run benches when selling used parts, and that nothing over a POST will be happening. No justification at all. See attached images.

 

Just seems mega sketchy to me. It's a crazy deal on the parts, which possibly contributes to me being wary. But even so, for £170 I'll have no way to get back I'm not sure it's worth the risk.

 

image.thumb.png.1bfb06a738aa50324e4385dd0d9b1227.pngimage.thumb.png.a080fd4a6eb3e22ad73a878dc35ec5d0.png

 

So “as is”.  there was a saying my dad liked “when something seems too good to be true it often is.”

Not a pro, not even very good.  I’m just old and have time currently.  Assuming I know a lot about computers can be a mistake.

 

Life is like a bowl of chocolates: there are all these little crinkly paper cups everywhere.

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2 hours ago, AmisThysia said:

The seller - on Gumtree, which is a buy-and-sell site similar to e.g. Facebook Marketplace. In other words, the dude selling it is just some random guy. I feel okay taking a risk on used parts if I can test them but idk about this considering he won't even let me run a free bench.

Well the majority of issues a computer will face can be seen just by not posting. 

 

I wouldn't feel that weird about it. 

 

It's not super likely that most people are selling their daily driver PC. So it's not super weird that they don't wanna plug it in and deal with setup.

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1 minute ago, trevb0t said:

Well the majority of issues a computer will face can be seen just by not posting. 

It's not super likely that most people are selling their daily driver PC. So it's not super weird that they don't wanna plug it in and deal with setup.

Tbh it was more the guy's attitude that put me off. If someone says "hey, I can't set it up for that because [decent reason]", that's normal and I'd be more willing to put my faith in them. This guy's reaction just seemed sketch to me. I'm also more willing to take that risk on a single part than half my build. This ends up being better for my purposes anyways.

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14 minutes ago, AmisThysia said:

Tbh it was more the guy's attitude that put me off. If someone says "hey, I can't set it up for that because [decent reason]", that's normal and I'd be more willing to put my faith in them. This guy's reaction just seemed sketch to me. I'm also more willing to take that risk on a single part than half my build. This ends up being better for my purposes anyways.

If i got that response,.. I'd not buy it.
Test equipment before you buy.
Plain and Hella SImple.
Done Deal or No Deal, I want to know more, if they don't offer that, I don't offer anything either.

 

A few minutes to guarantee the sale,.. isn't much to ask IMO.
He found a way to limit his own potential... I have no idea why people think this way and are so stubborn to accommodate SIMPLE needs.

Maximums - Asus Z97-K /w i5 4690 Bclk @106.9Mhz * x39 = 4.17Ghz, 8GB of 2600Mhz DDR3,.. Gigabyte GTX970 G1-Gaming @ 1550Mhz

 

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