Should I buy a refurbished ?

[Nidal Hussein]

Hello. I am soon to build my new gaming pc, and for my motherboard I will be getting a MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX II, from NEWEGG. The new one costs $114.99 and you will get a $10 prepaid card back. So the end price will be $104.99 + tax. The refurbished one costs $91.99 and you will get a $30 prepaid card back. So the end price will be $61.99 + tax. Is it worth buying it refurbished? Or should I buy it new for the extra money? I was thinking I can get either the new one with a r5 3600, or I can use the money I save from buying it refurbished to get a r5 3600XT instead. What should I do?

 

thanks for any help!

[Guest]

Motherboards have really long lifespans if fitted with decent capacitors. After the short period of use that motherboard likely had, if it's still working, no reason it shouldn't keep working for 10 more years if you take care of it.

 

BTW, the 3600XT makes no case to be purchased over the 3600. Just overclock the regular 3600, and you'll be fine. Save yourself the money instead of trying to find ways to spend it.

 

I buy lots of computer components refurbished and used. Never had any issues.

[Nidal Hussein]

1 minute ago, wavem2 said:

Motherboards have really long lifespans if fitted with decent capacitors. After the short period of use that motherboard likely had, if it's still working, no reason it shouldn't keep working for 10 more years if you take care of it.

 

BTW, the 3600XT makes no case to be purchased over the 3600. Just overclock the regular 3600, and you'll be fine. Save yourself the money instead of trying to find ways to spend it.

 

I buy lots of computer components refurbished and used. Never had any issues.

Thanks for the quick reply. So better of just get the refurbished and 3600. And I can put the money I save in my pocket or towards a better GPU.

[Nidal Hussein]

3 minutes ago, wavem2 said:

Motherboards have really long lifespans if fitted with decent capacitors. After the short period of use that motherboard likely had, if it's still working, no reason it shouldn't keep working for 10 more years if you take care of it.

 

BTW, the 3600XT makes no case to be purchased over the 3600. Just overclock the regular 3600, and you'll be fine. Save yourself the money instead of trying to find ways to spend it.

 

I buy lots of computer components refurbished and used. Never had any issues.

Btw. On Newegg the 3600 is $220.99 and the XT is $241.66. Should I still get the 3600?

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, Nidal Hussein said:

Thanks for the quick reply. So better of just get the refurbished and 3600. And I can put the money I save in my pocket or towards a better GPU.

The amount of money you save will not be enough to reasonably put towards buying a better GPU.

 

Though $60 saved could be used to put towards something that will actually benefit you, like more storage, better case fans, nicer headphones, perhaps a desk lamp... The possibilities!

 

Also, overclocking the CPU and buying the XT, while they warrant about the same performance boost, is a tiny performance boost. It's a waste of your time to attempt overclocking on Ryzen 3000. It's also a waste of your $20 for 4fps in the case of the XT. 4fps is 4fps, but $20 is also $20.

[CryingWimp]

IMO at such a discount it is definitely worth getting used parts. If anything is wrong you can return it, otherwise you saved nearly 50% of the price.

 

The 3600 and 3600XT are very similar. If it's only $20 difference, get the 3600XT though.

 

10th Gen Intel is quite a bit faster and in many instances cheaper than Ryzen 3000 right now. Check them out to see if its cheaper or the same price for better performance.

[Nidal Hussein]

Thanks for all your help 

6 minutes ago, CryingWimp said:

IMO at such a discount its worth getting used parts. If anything is wrong you can return it, otherwise you saved nearly 50% of the price.

 

The 3600 and 3600XT are very similar. If it's only $20 difference, get the 3600XT though.

 

6 minutes ago, wavem2 said:

The amount of money you save will not be enough to reasonably put towards buying a better GPU.

 

Though $60 saved could be used to put towards something that will actually benefit you, like more storage, better case fans, nicer headphones, perhaps a desk lamp... The possibilities!

 

Also, overclocking the CPU and buying the XT, while they warrant about the same performance boost, is a tiny performance boost. It's a waste of your time to attempt overclocking on Ryzen 3000. It's also a waste of your $20 for 4fps in the case of the XT.

Thanks for the help. I think I’ll get the refurbished. I think I might get the XT thought considering it’s only $20 more. Also I need help finding a good AIO. 240mm and in white is what I prefer. So far the ID COOLING ZOOMFLOW 240X SNOW is what I have my eye on. Is this a good choice. I’m looking for something nice and not too expensive. 

[CryingWimp]

IMO A i7 10700f 8 core CPU without an AIO will be an infinitely better choice. Nearly 50% faster CPU.

 

To be blunt: A 3600 + AIO is a terrible idea compared to an 8 core Intel CPU without the AIO.

[Guest]

Just now, Nidal Hussein said:

Thanks for all your help 

 

Thanks for the help. I think I’ll get the refurbished. I think I might get the XT thought considering it’s only $20 more. Also I need help finding a good AIO. 240mm and in white is what I prefer. So far the ID COOLING 240X SNOW is what I have my eye on. Is this a good choice. I’m looking for something nice and not too expensive. 

This is an overkill cooling solution for a Ryzen 5 3600/XT. It's also going to be loud.

 

Consider buying a Noctua NH-U12S. Cheaper, quieter, and most importantly, very reliable.

 

If you simply must have an AIO, though, consider the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240.

[Nidal Hussein]

1 minute ago, CryingWimp said:

IMO A i7 10700 8 core CPU without an AIO will be an infinitely better choice. Nearly 50% faster CPU.

I don’t know, I was kind of leaning towards AMD. I had a r3 3200g in my previous build.

[CryingWimp]

Ryzen 3000 use to be recommended because it was cheaper, it was acceptable that it was slower.

 

Since Zen3 launched the price of Ryzen 3000 has gone up and its actually no cheaper for a slower CPU.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, CryingWimp said:

IMO A i7 10700 8 core CPU without an AIO will be an infinitely better choice. Nearly 50% faster CPU.

 

To be blunt: A 3600 + AIO is a terrible idea compared to an 8 core Intel CPU without the AIO.

The i7-10700 is $100 more expensive, and the air cooling solution required would be $50-$60. A 3600 with an air cooler would be more cost effective.

 

OP would get an 8 core CPU if they needed it... The i5-10400F would be my Intel choice. The 10400F would actually be a superior CPU, but it'd run hotter. And it's pretty hard to find at the moment.

[CryingWimp]

Its 33% more cores and 10-20% core per core better at gaming.

 

The 10700f will also last longer, the 3600 will require an upgrade sooner. At similar prices it makes no sense at all to get the 3600 + AIO.

 

Just trying to help you get the best you can for your money. A 50% difference is no joke.

[Nidal Hussein]

4 minutes ago, wavem2 said:

This is an overkill cooling solution for a Ryzen 5 3600/XT. It's also going to be loud.

 

Consider buying a Noctua NH-U12S. Cheaper, quieter, and most importantly, very reliable.

 

If you simply must have an AIO, though, consider the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240.

I know this is dumb and performance should be over aesthetics, but I want something white. I am going for an all white build.

[Nidal Hussein]

3 minutes ago, wavem2 said:

The i7-10700 is $100 more expensive, and the air cooling solution required would be $50-$60. A 3600 with an air cooler would be more cost effective.

 

OP would get an 8 core CPU if they needed it... The i5-10400F would be my Intel choice.

What about AMD. I’m more of an AMD guy. All my previous builds has been AMD.

[CryingWimp]

IMO get a white cooler in the future, you can't easily upgrade your entire platform, you can easily add a cooler later.

 

Both will be amazing coming from what your coming from, but the 10700f at 50% more performance will be significantly better going forward.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Nidal Hussein said:

What about AMD. I’m more of an AMD guy. All my previous builds has been AMD.

For budget builds at the moment, Intel is just better, dude. The i5-10400F is $40 cheaper than the Ryzen 5 3600 and better in every way other than heat output. It feels awfully weird both to see this and say this, but Intel's got a death grip on the sub-$200 CPU market, mostly because AMD has neglected to release anything in that price bracket since Zen 2.

 

You'd be a fool to buy a Ryzen 5 3600 at a time like this when AM4 is about to be replaced and there are cheaper, better options available. The case for buying these CPUs used to be that they were cheap and AM4 had support for several generations, but that's simply not true anymore.

 

Having an emotional attachment to a brand is not a good enough reason to choose a worse CPU. I'm no Intel shill, I just choose what's best for me for the best price. There was a time when it was AMD, there was a time when it was Intel.

[Nidal Hussein]

3 minutes ago, CryingWimp said:

IMO get a white cooler in the future, you can't easily upgrade your entire platform, you can easily add a cooler later.

 

Both will be amazing coming from what your coming from, but the 10700f at 50% more performance will be significantly better going forward.

Wouldn’t this mean I would have to change my MOBO?

[CryingWimp]

Check the price of a 5600x compared to the 3600 + AIO.

 

Add the cooler later.

[Nidal Hussein]

Ok, we have talked about a lot of parts. Which cpu exactly should I get and what about the motherboard. And what about a Arctic Freezer 34 eSports Duo for the cooler along the line?

[Nidal Hussein]

6 minutes ago, wavem2 said:

For budget builds at the moment, Intel is just better, dude. The i5-10400F is $40 cheaper than the Ryzen 5 3600 and better in every way other than heat output. It feels awfully weird both to see this and say this, but Intel's got a death grip on the sub-$200 CPU market, mostly because AMD has neglected to release anything in that price bracket since Zen 2.

 

You'd be a fool to buy a Ryzen 5 3600 at a time like this when AM4 is about to be replaced and there are cheaper, better options available. The case for buying these CPUs used to be that they were cheap and AM4 had support for several generations, but that's simply not true anymore.

 

Having an emotional attachment to a brand is not a good enough reason to choose a worse CPU. I'm no Intel shill, I just choose what's best for me for the best price. There was a time when it was AMD, there was a time when it was Intel.

What about i5- 10600k?

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Nidal Hussein said:

What about i5- 10600k?

Being that it's the same price as the Ryzen 5 3600 and is even better than the 10400F, also not a bad choice. If you don't need integrated graphics, you can get a 10600KF for just $200, and it will perform the same as the 10600K, just without the iGPU.

[Nidal Hussein]

2 minutes ago, wavem2 said:

Being that it's the same price as the Ryzen 5 3600 and is even better than the 10400F, also not a bad choice. If you don't need integrated graphics, you can get a 10600KF for just $200, and it will perform the same as the 10600K, just without the iGPU.

I have a rx 550 for the GPU.

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Nidal Hussein said:

Ok, we have talked about a lot of parts. Which cpu exactly should I get and what about the motherboard. And what about a Arctic Freezer 34 eSports Duo for the cooler along the line?

If I were building this computer, I would switch to a Micro ATX form factor and get a Gigabyte B460M D3SH, for $85. The i5-10600KF would be my CPU of choice, as well. This also saves you money on a case as you can get a mini tower instead of a full tower, decent mini towers can be around $60. The Freezer 34 eSports Duo is not a bad choice for a CPU cooler, if all white is what you're going for.

 

If you're not into the brown motherboard (yeah, I know), the B460M Pro4 would suffice. It has white VRMs, and a black PCB. $15 more expensive though.

[CryingWimp]

Get either the 10700f or pay the premium for a 5600x if you want AMD. Get the cooler you want later.

 

If you really need to save money the 10400f is also a good cheap option, but I'd only consider it if you really absolutely need to save every $.

 

Check to see if a K/KF or non f model is on sale for the same price.