Potential motherboard purchase

[Anarchyz11]

I'm currently bidding on a Z97 MSI motherboard on Ebay, a board I've been searching for but haven't really been able to find for a while as it's discontinued. 

However, seller has stated that though the board works in every other way, seller was unable to get his graphics card (GTX 770) to work through any of the board's 3 PCIe slots.  He had no other dedicated GPU to test, and the board posts and works as expected in every other area. 

 

My initial thought is that the guy's card is bad, and after some research have also come to the conclusion that the board may just need a bios update as well.  But in reality the issue may or may not be fixable, or a problem at all to begin with, but I have no clue.  Naturally due to this transparency of condition, it's going for a fairly cheap price. 


But, I don't have experience in motherboard troubleshooting.  I'm curious as to what insight you hooligans experts here can give me to what the problem may be and if this is a risk that would be worth taking.  If one slot didn't work, that would make sense, lots of boards need RMAd for dead slots, but all 3 not working leads me to believe that it has nothing to do with the PCIe slots at all. 

 

 

Thanks for the help.

[Faceman]

Way too sketchy.  I wouldn't risk it.

[ELSknutson]

@Faceman is right too risky dont do it 

[UnofficialPotato]

Heres a good idea, don't buy 2nd hand PC parts unless you know EXACTLY what you're doing. Since people often don't have problems with motherboards there isn't too much help, so I would advise just buying it new. If you're really stuck for cash and need it now then just get a micro atx board if aesthetics isn't what you care for.

[QuadNine]

You shouldn't buy a used Motherboard, that is really the one part you shouldn't buy used.

[Anarchyz11]

Heres a good idea, don't buy 2nd hand PC parts unless you know EXACTLY what you're doing. Since people often don't have problems with motherboards there isn't too much help, so I would advise just buying it new. If you're really stuck for cash and need it now then just get a micro atx board if aesthetics isn't what you care for.

 

Over half my build is secondhand, and the motherboard in question is still under warranty from a realtively high rated seller.   

 

The board has been discontinued, can't really be found new.  Only new ones to be found are twice their original price, and the other used ones look like shite.  At bare minimum this one appears in otherwise good condition, and is under warranty. 

[xeromynd]

I wouldn't do it. I'd only buy secondhand if there were videos of the components working, or I saw them working for myself.

Plus, just the thought of some ol' regular joe shipping a motherboard, eugh. I don't even like to ship out motherboards.

 

Take it with a grain of salt, but the seller could just be covering his ass for a bigger problem. Maybe ALL of the PCIe slots are fried and he damn well knows it, this way if it doesn't work, he can claim it was stated before the time of purchase, and wham, he's got your money and you've got a basically useless mobo. Might not be the case, but hey..

 

Maybe this was a common fault with the board and it's why it was discontinued?

 

Can you post what the board is?

[Anarchyz11]

I wouldn't do it. I'd only buy secondhand if there were videos of the components working, or I saw them working for myself.

Plus, just the thought of some ol' regular joe shipping a motherboard, eugh. I don't even like to ship out motherboards.

 

Take it with a grain of salt, but the seller could just be covering his ass for a bigger problem, like maybe ALL of the PCIe slots are fried, or something, this way if it doesn't work (which he is positive of), he can claim it was stated before the time of purchase, and wham, he's got your money. Might not be the case, but hey..

 

Maybe this was a common fault with the board and it's why it was discontinued?

 

Can you post what the board is?

 

MSI Z97S SLI Plus

 

AKA:  The blue MSI board featured in the "Motherboard Showdown". 

Paypal is very buyer centric.  They more or less force the seller to take returns within a certain window, so worst case scenario I've got a $12~ shipping cost.  I highly doubt a seller with 120+ confirmed sales is going to be pawning off a problem board well knowing Paypal policies to make a quick $30.

 

Either way, I'm much less concerned with the "I don't trust secondhand parts, you shouldn't either" argument, much more concerned with the board and what this potential problem may be. 

[xeromynd]

MSI Z97S SLI Plus

 

AKA:  The blue MSI board featured in the "Motherboard Showdown". 

Paypal is very buyer centric.  They more or less force the seller to take returns within a certain window, so worst case scenario I've got a $12~ shipping cost.  I highly doubt a seller with 120+ confirmed sales is going to be pawning off a problem board well knowing Paypal policies to make a quick $30.

 

Either way, I'm much less concerned with the "I don't trust secondhand parts, you shouldn't either" argument, much more concerned with the board and what this potential problem may be. 

Actually, instead of a return, couldn't you just buy it, and RMA it with MSI if it doesn't work?

[Anarchyz11]

Actually, instead of a return, couldn't you just buy it, and RMA it with MSI if it doesn't work?

 

That's an option.  I've thought the "What if seller is a scumbag" thing through, bases are covered in multiple ways there, that's not the issue.

 

But to snowball off your post, given the board is discontinued, they'd probably send me something else which defeats the purpose of getting this exact board to fix my OCD.