Would you buy this computer?

[CommanderAlex]

Budget (including currency): $700-800

Country: United States of America

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Web browsing, hardly any games. 

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

Hello all, this is probably my first time posting a build question, I am looking for a new computer system for my father, who currently has a HP Pavilion p7-1534 with a R9 270X and Corsair CX750 installed. I came across a system someone was selling used online and thought it was good but I want your opinion on it compared to a newer system. My father hardly plays video games so the graphics card is overkill but I would replace it with a MSI GTX 1070 gaming x.

This is the system specifications from the post:

Phanteks Eclipse P400a Case * NEW *

Asus Rampage IV Black Motherboard * lightly used *

Intel i7-4960X CPU * lightly used *

Radeon R9 295X2 GPU * lightly used * (claimed it was used for gaming and not cryptocurrency mining) 

32 GB DDR3 Corsair Dominator Platinum RAM * NEW *

EVGA 850W Bronze Rated PSU * refurbished *

1 TB HDD * lightly used * 

I requested a photo of the system working with the specs and it showed the ram running at 667Mhz, so I believe that is ~1333Mhz in dual channel. I have spare DDR3-1600 laying around so if I wanted to, I can replace the RAM with those sticks.

They want $540 or best offer and the system only includes the power cord and no licensed copy of Windows 10. 

I don't need a monitor or keyboard/mouse as he has some that he can use. 

[jaslion]

4 minutes ago, CommanderAlex said:

Budget (including currency): $700-800

Country: United States of America

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Web browsing, hardly any games. 

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

Hello all, this is probably my first time posting a build question, I am looking for a new computer system for my father, who currently has a HP Pavilion p7-1534 with a R9 270X and Corsair CX750 installed. I came across a system someone was selling used online and thought it was good but I want your opinion on it compared to a newer system. My father hardly plays video games so the graphics card is overkill but I would replace it with a MSI GTX 1070 gaming x.

This is the system specifications from the post:

Phanteks Eclipse P400a Case * NEW *

Asus Rampage IV Black Motherboard * lightly used *

Intel i7-4960X CPU * lightly used *

Radeon R9 295X2 GPU * lightly used * (claimed it was used for gaming and not cryptocurrency mining) 

32 GB DDR3 Corsair Dominator Platinum RAM * NEW *

EVGA 850W Bronze Rated PSU * refurbished *

1 TB HDD * lightly used * 

I requested a photo of the system working with the specs and it showed the ram running at 667Mhz, so I believe that is ~1333Mhz in dual channel. I have spare DDR3-1600 laying around so if I wanted to, I can replace the RAM with those sticks.

They want $540 or best offer and the system only includes the power cord and no licensed copy of Windows 10. 

I don't need a monitor or keyboard/mouse as he has some that he can use. 

If all he does is web browsing and barely even play a game (you did not specify the games) then this machine is in all ways shapes and forms the wrong machine for him.

 

This thing will consume a LOT of power and will make a pretty noticeable impact on the power bill for just a web browsing machine. A cheap laptop or a ryzen apu system would be well beyond plenty for him.

 

What are the current specs for his system? May be a simple upgrade may fix the problem. What even is the problem with the current system that he needs a upgrade?

[Dedayog]

I'd probably pay $350 for it, it's outdated and the performance is going to be beaten by APU's.  IF PSU is good but old,.. it still needs replacing.  1TB HDD?  what, $20 maybe?

 

It's a good mom/dad or young child PC maybe.

[jaslion]

1 minute ago, Dedayog said:

I'd probably pay $350 for it, it's outdated and the performance is going to be beaten by APU's.  IF PSU is good but old,.. it still needs replacing.  1TB HDD?  what, $20 maybe?

 

It's a good mom/dad or young child PC maybe.

I do think you are mistaken here. A 4960x whilst old is still a good cpu and hovers around the ryzen 2600 in terms of performance. The r9 295x2 is basically a r9 290 in games which is still a decent card and is the performance of a rx470. Even the current best apu's are not close in terms of gpu performance and basically have identical single core cpu performance but have fewer cores.

 

I do still come back to it that this system is the totally wrong system for someone that mainly browses the web.

[CommanderAlex]

1 minute ago, jaslion said:

If all he does is web browsing and barely even play a game (you did not specify the games) then this machine is in all ways shapes and forms the wrong machine for him.

 

This thing will consume a LOT of power and will make a pretty noticeable impact on the power bill for just a web browsing machine. A cheap laptop or a ryzen apu system would be well beyond plenty for him.

 

What are the current specs for his system? May be a simple upgrade may fix the problem. What even is the problem with the current system that he needs a upgrade?

The current system is an

CPU:AMD A8-5500 APU with CPU cooler from HP

MOBO: from HP p7-1534

RAM: 16GB DDR3-1600

PSU: Corsair CX750

GPU: XFX R9 270X

Case: Corsair 100R

The problem that he has is it is very slow with CPU utilization maxing out at 100%, when he looks at Yahoo email, he has over 100k emails...I don't know why he doesn't delete them but yeah. There are strange audio issues with the computer, sometimes it cuts out during a video, tried checking audio drivers but HP pulled downloads and if available, are for Windows 8 as it was a Windows 8 system (We purchased the HP new in 2013). 

 

[Dedayog]

2 minutes ago, jaslion said:

I do think you are mistaken here. A 4960x whilst old is still a good cpu and hovers around the ryzen 2600 in terms of performance. The r9 295x2 is basically a r9 290 in games which is still a decent card and is the performance of a rx470. Even the current best apu's are not close in terms of gpu performance and basically have identical single core cpu performance but have fewer cores.

 

I do still come back to it that this system is the totally wrong system for someone that mainly browses the web.

You may be right, I didn't think the r9 was that decent still.  Then I'll go up to $400, but that's my final offer!!!

 

 

[Naijin]

14 minutes ago, CommanderAlex said:

Budget (including currency): $700-800

Country: United States of America

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Web browsing, hardly any games. 

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

Hello all, this is probably my first time posting a build question, I am looking for a new computer system for my father, who currently has a HP Pavilion p7-1534 with a R9 270X and Corsair CX750 installed. I came across a system someone was selling used online and thought it was good but I want your opinion on it compared to a newer system. My father hardly plays video games so the graphics card is overkill but I would replace it with a MSI GTX 1070 gaming x.

This is the system specifications from the post:

Phanteks Eclipse P400a Case * NEW *

Asus Rampage IV Black Motherboard * lightly used *

Intel i7-4960X CPU * lightly used *

Radeon R9 295X2 GPU * lightly used * (claimed it was used for gaming and not cryptocurrency mining) 

32 GB DDR3 Corsair Dominator Platinum RAM * NEW *

EVGA 850W Bronze Rated PSU * refurbished *

1 TB HDD * lightly used * 

I requested a photo of the system working with the specs and it showed the ram running at 667Mhz, so I believe that is ~1333Mhz in dual channel. I have spare DDR3-1600 laying around so if I wanted to, I can replace the RAM with those sticks.

They want $540 or best offer and the system only includes the power cord and no licensed copy of Windows 10. 

I don't need a monitor or keyboard/mouse as he has some that he can use. 

For that price it's way overkill and costs way too much. Just get him a 10th gen i3, 8 or 16 GB of RAM and a good SSD. "refurbished" just means used and "lightly used" probably means used a lot.

[CommanderAlex]

1 minute ago, jaslion said:

I do think you are mistaken here. A 4960x whilst old is still a good cpu and hovers around the ryzen 2600 in terms of performance. The r9 295x2 is basically a r9 290 in games which is still a decent card and is the performance of a rx470. Even the current best apu's are not close in terms of gpu performance and basically have identical single core cpu performance but have fewer cores.

 

I do still come back to it that this system is the totally wrong system for someone that mainly browses the web.

I do agree with you on the point of the R9 295X2, its old, power hungry video card. Hell the thing doesn't even have HDMI and the seller provides a DVI to HDMI adaptor. I would take that out of the system as I knew that he would never even need something like this. I do have a GTX 1070 sitting in its box that I can swap in for that card or use the 270X over again from the HP. 

[jaslion]

3 minutes ago, CommanderAlex said:

The current system is an

CPU:AMD A8-5500 APU with CPU cooler from HP

MOBO: from HP p7-1534

RAM: 16GB DDR3-1600

PSU: Corsair CX750

GPU: XFX R9 270X

Case: Corsair 100R

The problem that he has is it is very slow with CPU utilization maxing out at 100%, when he looks at Yahoo email, he has over 100k emails...I don't know why he doesn't delete them but yeah. There are strange audio issues with the computer, sometimes it cuts out during a video, tried checking audio drivers but HP pulled downloads and if available, are for Windows 8 as it was a Windows 8 system (We purchased the HP new in 2013). 

 

Then I'd either do a apu build or do the typical random office dell from ebay add ssd and budget psu and call it a day.

[CommanderAlex]

Just now, Naijin said:

For that price it's way overkill and costs way too much. Just get him a 10th gen i3, 8 or 16 GB of RAM and a good SSD. "refurbished" just means used and "lightly used" probably means used a lot.

Yeah I know, that's how I felt about the "lightly used" piece when they described that. Just trying to cover for something but in reality was used a lot. 

[Naijin]

1 minute ago, CommanderAlex said:

Yeah I know, that's how I felt about the "lightly used" piece when they described that. Just trying to cover for something but in reality was used a lot. 

If you do want to buy it, look at every part for dust and scratches. Also, listen to the fans at different speeds. I have had experiences with gpu's making irritating noises when gaming at specific fan speeds and I did not inspect the cards before I bought them. Lessons learned.

[CommanderAlex]

Just now, Naijin said:

If you do want to buy it, look at every part for dust and scratches. Also, listen to the fans at different speeds. I have had experiences with gpu's making irritating noises when gaming at specific fan speeds and I did not inspect the cards before I bought them. Lessons learned.

Yeah, they claimed they put the system together using parts leftover that haven't been used in awhile and to me this sounds like they need money. The GPU I don't even trust cause its water-cooled and I've read horror stories about leaks and stuff and this being a 6 year old system, the concern of the pump/seals arise. 

[jaslion]

9 minutes ago, CommanderAlex said:

Yeah, they claimed they put the system together using parts leftover that haven't been used in awhile and to me this sounds like they need money. The GPU I don't even trust cause its water-cooled and I've read horror stories about leaks and stuff and this being a 6 year old system, the concern of the pump/seals arise. 

Does point to a somewhat cobbled together computer as a bunch of these parts released far apart from each other. Again a 200-250$ budget for a used system will more than do do give your father a nice computer or a 400$ budget for a new system.

[CommanderAlex]

Ok, so I put together a build that I believe would be suited for him. I don't want the machine to last only a couple of years so I have some room for upgrades in the future if its needed. 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3400G 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$134.99 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-U9S 46.44 CFM CPU Cooler	$59.95 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard	$109.99 @ B&H
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$59.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Samsung 870 QVO 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$109.99 @ Amazon
Case	Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case	Purchased For $0.00
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA G3 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$114.94 @ Office Depot
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$108.78 @ Other World Computing
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$698.63
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-10-13 09:56 EDT-0400