Need Advice

[Lovinthemech]

Hello everyone! 

 

Forgive me if I am breaking any rules, but I need a little bit of advice. So I am building my own pc, and I am getting a really good deal on some used parts. The parts are i7-6700k, Asus Maximus VIII Hero Alpha, and Corsair vengence 16gb ddr4. All for about 226 USD. The parts seem to be in good condition and not used much. The seller says I can show up at his apartment and test them out (boot up the system). And see if i am satisfied with the condition. 

 

Is there something I should know before buying the parts to make sure that everything is actuallly in good condition. Anything to look out for in the bios. 

 

Any advice would be much appreciated. 

 

EDIT: So I went over the guy's place, everything was running very well. The parts are practically new (he said he used them for about three months, then upgraded to X99 chipset). The ram and everything was working well. So I made the deal. Thanks everyone for the advice.

Edited April 15, 2017 by Lovinthemech
Giving an update on how it went.

[WereCat]

I would grab bootable USB key with Memtest86 on it and CinebenchR15 + CPU-Z.

 

Let memtest run for at least 5 minutes... there must be 0 errors or else something is wrong.

CPU-Z to check the CPU and Cinebench for quick rough stability check.

 

Seems like a great deal.

[GDRRiley]

look at temps make sure the cpu is real and that memory is running at rated speed., also ask why such fast replacement 

[PCn00b3000]

Obviously, if there's a great deal of cosmetic damage, it may be bad news.. Also, check that all the monitoring that's going on in the BIOS is running off of the latest version (helps with compatibility, I've heard). Everything else that was listed is a great way to gauge what sort of condition the parts are in. Great suggestions, by the way! I'll keep them in mind.

 

I don't know if the seller is hoping you're not too tech-savvy or if this is real.. Seems too good to be true, honestly Could you post how everything went on this thread afterwards? I'm very curious

[Lovinthemech]

2 hours ago, WereCat said:

I would grab bootable USB key with Memtest86 on it and CinebenchR15 + CPU-Z.

 

Let memtest run for at least 5 minutes... there must be 0 errors or else something is wrong.

CPU-Z to check the CPU and Cinebench for quick rough stability check.

 

Seems like a great deal.

Thank you for the ideas, the only concern is that he will be setting the mobo/cpu/ram with a psu and monitor, so I the only thing I can probably (not so sure about this, not the most tech savvy person) look at is the BIOS. If I can set up a cooler, I will definitely run something that is very CPU intensive (Cinebench, not exactly sure about CPU-Z), I don't think it is a good idea to run Cinebench without a cooler.

 

Thanks again.

[WereCat]

Just now, Lovinthemech said:

Thank you for the ideas, the only concern is that he will be setting the mobo/cpu/ram with a psu and monitor, so I the only thing I can probably (not so sure about this, not the most tech savvy person) look at is the BIOS. If I can set up a cooler, I will definitely run something that is very CPU intensive (Cinebench, not exactly sure about CPU-Z), I don't think it is a good idea to run Cinebench without a cooler.

 

Thanks again.

 

Well, Memtest86 requires bootable USB so you can run that even without OS installed.

If there will be no OS then maybe make another bootable USB for Linux, put some stress testing software there as well, not sure about the programs through. I don't use Linux. It is just an idea.

[Lovinthemech]

1 minute ago, WereCat said:

Well, Memtest86 requires bootable USB so you can run that even without OS installed.

If there will be no OS then maybe make another bootable USB for Linux, put some stress testing software there as well, not sure about the programs through. I don't use Linux. It is just an idea.

A bootable Linux drive is actually a really good idea, I will definitely try that out and let you know if there are programs for stress testing. 

[Lovinthemech]

1 hour ago, PCn00b3000 said:

Obviously, if there's a great deal of cosmetic damage, it may be bad news.. Also, check that all the monitoring that's going on in the BIOS is running off of the latest version (helps with compatibility, I've heard). Everything else that was listed is a great way to gauge what sort of condition the parts are in. Great suggestions, by the way! I'll keep them in mind.

 

I don't know if the seller is hoping you're not too tech-savvy or if this is real.. Seems too good to be true, honestly Could you post how everything went on this thread afterwards? I'm very curious

Hello,

Thanks for the input, cosmetic damage is definitely a big red flag. The pictures he has uploaded have the parts looking like new. The reason why it seems like a legitimate deal, is because the guy easily agreed on me coming over to test the parts out, rather than shipping it out or sth. I will keep your advice in mind, and I am going over this Saturday morning, so I will let you know how it goes.

 

Thanks again

[Conan1600]

7 minutes ago, Lovinthemech said:

Thank you for the ideas, the only concern is that he will be setting the mobo/cpu/ram with a psu and monitor, so I the only thing I can probably (not so sure about this, not the most tech savvy person) look at is the BIOS. If I can set up a cooler, I will definitely run something that is very CPU intensive (Cinebench, not exactly sure about CPU-Z), I don't think it is a good idea to run Cinebench without a cooler.

 

Thanks again.

do not turn on the power without a cpu cooler mate. while there are safeguards that is asking for trouble and could easily result in a burnt cpu. at any pc shop you can probably buy a stock intel cooler for little to nothing. make sure to use cpu paste between cooler and cpu.

[Lovinthemech]

14 minutes ago, Conan1600 said:

do not turn on the power without a cpu cooler mate. while there are safeguards that is asking for trouble and could easily result in a burnt cpu. at any pc shop you can probably buy a stock intel cooler for little to nothing. make sure to use cpu paste between cooler and cpu.

Hmm... Thank you. I will probably buy the cooler that I was planning on buying later on.

[Lovinthemech]

On 4/13/2017 at 0:24 PM, PCn00b3000 said:

Obviously, if there's a great deal of cosmetic damage, it may be bad news.. Also, check that all the monitoring that's going on in the BIOS is running off of the latest version (helps with compatibility, I've heard). Everything else that was listed is a great way to gauge what sort of condition the parts are in. Great suggestions, by the way! I'll keep them in mind.

 

I don't know if the seller is hoping you're not too tech-savvy or if this is real.. Seems too good to be true, honestly Could you post how everything went on this thread afterwards? I'm very curious

Hey, not sure if you saw the update. But here is how it went. Everything is in great condition (it's all practically new) , no cosmetic damage at all. And everything was running smoothly. I decided to buy it cuz this would have been cheaper than buying new parts even ones that are weaker. 

[PCn00b3000]

On ‎4‎/‎16‎/‎2017 at 5:39 AM, Lovinthemech said:

Hey, not sure if you saw the update. But here is how it went. Everything is in great condition (it's all practically new) , no cosmetic damage at all. And everything was running smoothly. I decided to buy it cuz this would have been cheaper than buying new parts even ones that are weaker. 

That's fantastic to hear, AWESOME steal!