Open box pre-built worth it?

[Simple_Jack]

Hey guys!

 

I'm looking to buy a PC to last a couple of years and I don't have the time or mental energy to configure&build one myself. Or maybe I'm just a bit afraid

Anyhow, I've just come across a pre-built system @850 Euros (equivalent). Here it is:

CPU: I5 9600K

Cooler: Deepcool DP-MAEL120K

MB: Gigabyte AORUS Z370 Gaming K3

Videocard: Gigabyte RX VEGA 56 GAMING OC

Storage: Seagate 2Tb+Kingston A1000 240Gb+Optane 32Gb

RAM: 2x8 Corsair Vengeance 3000MHz

PSU: Seasonic Focus+ 650W

 

Is it worth it?

I don't really game too much and I dont go above 1080p/60 Hz but I'm a little worried about the VEGA 56 and the PSU.

 

[williamcll]

Open box? Check if there are any damages first. The original owner might have done a Linus and dropped it.

[Simple_Jack]

Unfortunately I can only look at pictures of it. Seems kinda ok....

But the sellers says A) it heavily discounted (>50%) which is super-suspicious and B) it has the full warranty of a new build.

My guess was some kid bought it for BF, used it a couple of weeks and returned it within 30 days for a full refund.

[Jumballi]

2 minutes ago, williamcll said:

Open box? Check if there are any damages first. The original owner might have done a Linus and dropped it.

When I worked in computer sales, we relied on our returns dept to check the condition of the returned computer.
THEY NEVER CHECKED
 

For $850, the pc is ever so slightly above average in performance, comparable to something just below a 2060 non super. That said you could build something very comparable for around the same price give or take a few bumps.

[Jumballi]

3 minutes ago, Simple_Jack said:

Unfortunately I can only look at pictures of it. Seems kinda ok....

But the sellers says A) it heavily discounted (>50%) which is super-suspicious and B) it has the full warranty of a new build.

My guess was some kid bought it for BF, used it a couple of weeks and returned it within 30 days for a full refund.

This doesn't look like something from a store, I don't see any logos or anything to show that it's from a major brand, and that's the cheapest thing to put on a system.
It honestly looks like a computer someone built and they're trying to sell for some small profit, if this is a craigslist ad, show up with a monitor and ask they seller to preinstall heaven benchmark so you can verify the components irl.

[Simple_Jack]

It is from a store (a reputable one actually), just not a major brand. It's a 200 mile drive to their showroom so I'd rather not go if I can.

It's ~$930, down from $1900 so it's very tempting but I'd kick myself for buying a dud.

Another thing is I live in Europe and we enjoy a rather nasty VAT so stuff is simply more expensive than in the US.

 

[Sakkura]

That combination of GPU and PSU may cause issues. But it depends what version of the PSU it is, early models are affected while later ones are not.

 

I happen to have a Gigabyte Vega 56 and a Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 650W and can confirm that the issue is very real. And that newer revisions of the PSU fix it.

 

https://www.bit-tech.net/news/tech/psus/seasonic-warns-of-focus-plus-psu-compatibility-issues/1/

[Jumballi]

2 minutes ago, Simple_Jack said:

It is from a store (a reputable one actually), just not a major brand. It's a 200 mile drive to their showroom so I'd rather not go if I can.

It's ~$930, down from $1900 so it's very tempting but I'd kick myself for buying a dud.

Another thing is I live in Europe and we enjoy a rather nasty VAT so stuff is simply more expensive than in the US.

 

I did take the vat into consideration, but now I think that it's just more expensive to pick the pc up in general if it's 350km both ways.

[Fasauceome]

The price tag gives you enough room to scoop up a proper power supply for that Vega, here's a comparable build I started speccing

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	€204.48 @ Amazon Deutschland
Motherboard	MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard	€102.58 @ Mindfactory
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	€66.90 @ Amazon Deutschland
Storage	Samsung 860 QVO 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive	€94.90 @ Amazon Deutschland
Storage	Seagate Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	€67.90 @ Amazon Deutschland
Video Card	Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 8 GB PULSE Video Card	€375.89 @ Mindfactory
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	€912.65
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-12-27 12:35 CET+0100

Once it got over 900 euro I figured that open box prebuilt was a good solution. Looking at around €70~80 ish for a decent PSU

https://de.pcpartpicker.com/product/zBfmP6/bitfenix-formula-gold-550w-80-gold-certified-atx-power-supply-bp-fm550ulag-7r

And then you can sell the old one as "barely used" for a good price, probably around 50 or 60

[Simple_Jack]

@Sakkura

Yeah, that's the combo I'm worried about. There's no way of knowing whether the PSU is rev.1 or 2. A little more reading on reddit makes me think that 650W + Vega 56 is safe, if barely.

@Jumballi

I would have it shipped for $10, no problem there. It's just that I can't check it myself before buying.

[Jumballi]

1 minute ago, Simple_Jack said:

@Sakkura

Yeah, that's the combo I'm worried about. There's no way of knowing whether the PSU is rev.1 or 2. A little more reading on reddit makes me think that 650W + Vega 56 is safe, if barely.

@Jumballi

I would have it shipped for $10, no problem there. It's just that I can't check it myself before buying.

My prior experience in retail tells me there's something funky with this system. It's just a gut feeling, but whenever we had a system that clearly cost around the same price, and we'd discount it to this price, there was something very wrong with it.

Supposedly new cpu and gpu will be unveiled by the big 3 this next 2 weeks, and that'd probably cause some of the current components in the market today to go down in value and make this computer look a lot less of a good value. My advice is to just keep holding out, the new stuff is hinted to be another step forward and that'd benefit you, even if you might end up spending just a bit more.

[Simple_Jack]

@Jumballi

Totally forgot about new hw being announced. I guess I can wait a couple of weeks, there's no rush to buy/build anything right now.

 

Thanks everyone for your advices!

Happy New Year!