Advice for Buying a used Desktop

[HugsAreGoodForTheSoul]

Hello. I am buying a used desktop computer, and I have two seemingly great options, and I can't decide between the two. ANd before you ask, I know that the seller is reliable, and he even offers 4-month warranties for all the hardware.

 

On One hand I have a Intel Core i7 2600 @3.8 GHZ with 16 GB DDR3, with nothing else that is special. This would only cost around $400. 

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-desktop-computers/ottawa/dell-tower-core-i7-3-8ghz-16gb-1tb-pay-no-tax-4mo-warr/1340458927 

 

However, on the other hand I have a more expensive option, with an Intel Xeon W3565 @3.5 GHZ and 12 GB DDR3, but also a GTX 1050. This would be around $500.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-desktop-computers/ottawa/dell-gaming-tower-quad-core-3-5ghz-12gb-ddr3-1tb-gtx-1050-notax/1344740568

 

Normally I would choose the second option, but gaming is only a side hobby for, me, as my main purpose for this would be a workstation PC, and maybe watching youtube. Another part of the problem is that my budget is $500, but I have no other peripherals so if I bought the second option I would also have to save for longer before getting peripherals to make it work, where as with the first option it leaves me enough money to buy peripherals. For Context, this is all CAD by the way. If you have any advice on what to do, or if you have any experience with any of these parts, please let me know.

[.Apex.]

3 minutes ago, HugsAreGoodForTheSoul said:

Hello. I am buying a used desktop computer, and I have two seemingly great options, and I can't decide between the two. ANd before you ask, I know that the seller is reliable, and he even offers 4-month warranties for all the hardware.

 

On One hand I have a Intel Core i7 2600 @3.8 GHZ with 16 GB DDR3, with nothing else that is special. This would only cost around $400. 

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-desktop-computers/ottawa/dell-tower-core-i7-3-8ghz-16gb-1tb-pay-no-tax-4mo-warr/1340458927 

 

However, on the other hand I have a more expensive option, with an Intel Xeon W3565 @3.5 GHZ and 12 GB DDR3, but also a GTX 1050. This would be around $500.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-desktop-computers/ottawa/dell-gaming-tower-quad-core-3-5ghz-12gb-ddr3-1tb-gtx-1050-notax/1344740568

 

Normally I would choose the second option, but gaming is only a side hobby for, me, as my main purpose for this would be a workstation PC, and maybe watching youtube. Another part of the problem is that my budget is $500, but I have no other peripherals so if I bought the second option I would also have to save for longer before getting peripherals to make it work, where as with the first option it leaves me enough money to buy peripherals. For Context, this is all CAD by the way. If you have any advice on what to do, or if you have any experience with any of these parts, please let me know.

i suggest getting the first system, and buying a cheap graphics card like the GTX 1050 later when you save more money.

i dont recommend getting any server grade hardware like the Intel Xeon, will only bring you headaches.
the first system is also much faster than the second for your workstation needs.

[dizmo]

Save up a little more, and grab something from eBay. You'll get a significantly better system than either of those.

Or, set forth and build your own.

Frankly those are both over priced.

[HugsAreGoodForTheSoul]

4 minutes ago, syn2112 said:

i suggest getting the first system, and buying a cheap graphics card like the GTX 1050 later when you save more money.

i dont recommend getting any server grade hardware like the Intel Xeon, will only bring you headaches.
the first system is also much faster than the second for your workstation needs.

thanks for the advice, but im still ot sure cuz its really a steal for a 1050

[HugsAreGoodForTheSoul]

1 minute ago, dizmo said:

Save up a little more, and grab something from eBay. You'll get a significantly better system than either of those.

Or, set forth and build your own.

Frankly those are both over priced.

U qualify those as overpriced?

[.Apex.]

2 minutes ago, HugsAreGoodForTheSoul said:

thanks for the advice, but im still ot sure cuz its really a steal for a 1050

not really a steal... the Intel Xeon is a 9 year old system.

also with 500$-600$ you can probably get a new decent system (without graphics card) for your workstation stuff, that will go circles around these 2 PC's combined.

[Christophe Corazza]

I love how they explicitely say:

 

Quote

16GB of DDR3 Ram Memory, much faster than older DDR2 Ram!

 

22 minutes ago, HugsAreGoodForTheSoul said:

as my main purpose for this would be a workstation PC

 

A workstation PC is quite a general term. What are you going to use this workstation for?

[dizmo]

47 minutes ago, HugsAreGoodForTheSoul said:

U qualify those as overpriced?

Absolutely. For example, if the system with the i7 2600 was just a Dell tower, you can get those for $220ish on eBay as a Buy It Now.

If you're willing to wait out auctions, I've seen them sell for as low as $140. DDR3 RAM can be found super cheap with a little looking.

 

As for the second system, you can almost build a new Ryzen 3 computer for the same price.

 

Is the $500 the money you have available, or how much you're willing to spend? I spent in total less than $400 for my entire build that includes $275 speakers with a little planning and luck.

[HugsAreGoodForTheSoul]

10 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Absolutely. For example, if the system with the i7 2600 was just a Dell tower, you can get those for $220ish on eBay as a Buy It Now.

If you're willing to wait out auctions, I've seen them sell for as low as $140. DDR3 RAM can be found super cheap with a little looking.

 

As for the second system, you can almost build a new Ryzen 3 computer for the same price.

 

Is the $500 the money you have available, or how much you're willing to spend? I spent in total less than $400 for my entire build that includes $275 speakers with a little planning and luck.

I'm not sure about eBay one of the advantages of this seller is that he lives a 5 minute walk away from my home

[Christophe Corazza]

31 minutes ago, dizmo said:

DDR3 RAM can be found super cheap with a little looking.

 

Indeed, that's why i found it more or less humoristic that the seller explicitly pointed out the "high tech" DDR3.

[dizmo]

22 minutes ago, HugsAreGoodForTheSoul said:

I'm not sure about eBay one of the advantages of this seller is that he lives a 5 minute walk away from my home

Most shipping companies deliver straight to your door
I mean, if you don't mind spending the extra for convenience, that's entirely up to you. You'll just be grossly overpaying.

Just now, Christophe Corazza said:

 

Indeed, that's why i found it more or less humoristic that the seller explicitly pointed out the "high tech" DDR3.

Haha, yeah. He's targeting those that aren't tech savvy, and/or he's an older guy. Who even thinks about DDR2 these days?

That's like saying "this MP3 player is awesome, much better than using a cassette tape."

[Christophe Corazza]

25 minutes ago, HugsAreGoodForTheSoul said:

I'm not sure about eBay one of the advantages of this seller is that he lives a 5 minute walk away from my home

 

If you are only buying from sellers that are 5 minutes away from your house, you're really going to have a bad time.

In that case. you should be VERY lucky to find components close to where you live, that are perfect for your build.

[Christophe Corazza]

4 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Haha, yeah. He's targeting those that aren't tech savvy, and/or he's an older guy. Who even thinks about DDR2 these days?

That's like saying "this MP3 player is awesome, much better than using a cassette tape."

 

Hahaha, indeed!

If I see those listings, I always get the shivers. That is someone who tries to deceive his non-techy buyers by pretending that they are able to buy a "very high end" system for cheap.

[HugsAreGoodForTheSoul]

1 hour ago, Christophe Corazza said:

 

If you are only buying from sellers that are 5 minutes away from your house, you're really going to have a bad time.

In that case. you should be VERY lucky to find components close to where you live, that are perfect for your build.

fair enough

[HugsAreGoodForTheSoul]

1 hour ago, dizmo said:

Most shipping companies deliver straight to your door
I mean, if you don't mind spending the extra for convenience, that's entirely up to you. You'll just be grossly overpaying.

Haha, yeah. He's targeting those that aren't tech savvy, and/or he's an older guy. Who even thinks about DDR2 these days?

That's like saying "this MP3 player is awesome, much better than using a cassette tape."

Also kinda like saying "This 720p Monitor, much better than the old 480p Monitors" lol

[HugsAreGoodForTheSoul]

1 hour ago, dizmo said:

Absolutely. For example, if the system with the i7 2600 was just a Dell tower, you can get those for $220ish on eBay as a Buy It Now.

If you're willing to wait out auctions, I've seen them sell for as low as $140. DDR3 RAM can be found super cheap with a little looking.

 

As for the second system, you can almost build a new Ryzen 3 computer for the same price.

 

Is the $500 the money you have available, or how much you're willing to spend? I spent in total less than $400 for my entire build that includes $275 speakers with a little planning and luck.

Then u sir are a legend

[Tailmon1]

it really depends on what you are after and since you stated you wanted a workstation more than a gaming rig then you have more options than you can shake a stick at.  Intel is not the only game in the park and AMD powered systems are just fine also.  You can get an 8 core AMD FX3 with 8 to 16 gigs of memory for around 500 to 600 or less depending on what you get with it..  I build systems and resell them. I build make sure they work well and have basic software on them and run them for days before I list them.  At 450 I have a brand new corsair Carbide case. 4 extra fans over the one red that came with the case.  An AMD 8370 that runs 4.0 and turbos to 4.2  An after market enermax cooler. Nice Asus 990 FX professional Motherboard.  12 gig of corsair DDR3 1600 ram.  A nice Adlink 240 SSD and a 1TB 7200 rpm hard drive for storage.  Finally a EVGA 780 GTX video card.. (New case, Brand new hard drives)

 

This system will do fine with nearly all the games. Maybe not on max settings for the newer ones but it will run the ones people want like fortnight and pub G.

Will work just fine with data crunching.  When your ready just buy a new video card like a 1060 6 gb later when you want to serious game. 

 

 

[Christophe Corazza]

6 minutes ago, Tailmon1 said:

it really depends on what you are after and since you stated you wanted a workstation more than a gaming rig then you have more options than you can shake a stick at.  Intel is not the only game in the park and AMD powered systems are just fine also.  You can get an 8 core AMD FX3 with 8 to 16 gigs of memory for around 500 to 600 or less depending on what you get with it..  I build systems and resell them. I build make sure they work well and have basic software on them and run them for days before I list them.  At 450 I have a brand new corsair Carbide case. 4 extra fans over the one red that came with the case.  An AMD 8370 that runs 4.0 and turbos to 4.2  An after market enermax cooler. Nice Asus 990 FX professional Motherboard.  12 gig of corsair DDR3 1600 ram.  A nice Adlink 240 SSD and a 1TB 7200 rpm hard drive for storage.  Finally a EVGA 780 GTX video card.. (New case, Brand new hard drives)

 

This system will do fine with nearly all the games. Maybe not on max settings for the newer ones but it will run the ones people want like fortnight and pub G.

Will work just fine with data crunching.  When your ready just buy a new video card like a 1060 6 gb later when you want to serious game. 

 

 

 

Not sure if this is the right section of the forum to be promoting the systems that you build and sell though

[HugsAreGoodForTheSoul]

1 minute ago, Christophe Corazza said:

 

Not sure if this is the right section of the forum to be promoting the systems that you build and sell though

ya thats fair

 

[Tailmon1]

I am making a point I seriously doubt hes next door to buy.  There are people that can and do have decent systems in your area for decent prices.

[kokakolia]

4 hours ago, HugsAreGoodForTheSoul said:

Hello. I am buying a used desktop computer, and I have two seemingly great options, and I can't decide between the two. ANd before you ask, I know that the seller is reliable, and he even offers 4-month warranties for all the hardware.

 

On One hand I have a Intel Core i7 2600 @3.8 GHZ with 16 GB DDR3, with nothing else that is special. This would only cost around $400. 

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-desktop-computers/ottawa/dell-tower-core-i7-3-8ghz-16gb-1tb-pay-no-tax-4mo-warr/1340458927 

 

However, on the other hand I have a more expensive option, with an Intel Xeon W3565 @3.5 GHZ and 12 GB DDR3, but also a GTX 1050. This would be around $500.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-desktop-computers/ottawa/dell-gaming-tower-quad-core-3-5ghz-12gb-ddr3-1tb-gtx-1050-notax/1344740568

 

Normally I would choose the second option, but gaming is only a side hobby for, me, as my main purpose for this would be a workstation PC, and maybe watching youtube. Another part of the problem is that my budget is $500, but I have no other peripherals so if I bought the second option I would also have to save for longer before getting peripherals to make it work, where as with the first option it leaves me enough money to buy peripherals. For Context, this is all CAD by the way. If you have any advice on what to do, or if you have any experience with any of these parts, please let me know.

That first system seems a little pricey...but it includes 16gb of RAM, a core i7 and a 1TB hard drive so that's probably why. You can buy something almost as good for half the price here:

 

Spoiler

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-desktop-computers/canada/gaming-and-business-pcs-starting-from-199-99-www-infotechcomputers-ca/c577851?referral=cas&channelId=107&td=D4LEsUKBGx9zEJTF-kwZzOLG8nmhLMerzX3O4KKp5n5Ew0h4uQzHf4-O71mePscQij5Ewh4wwgBvBT5pbuGvuK0qFmOh3DOGWCpANwTQ90UpTuPGahAKSUEZbu5AR84_tA0QxeqoPu5NbjlUn3Y7w9ZlX4w75YG2u5N-KXJTuXFu2_P6hePDmtH3mL2Wu6r3IqWXtLWdSQBq8-SjbhnY6iBmFg5RyC3dblB5ynzlF_VnV3xXE3C8PSZJHKEqe_bmms1nFhMz-k3DEQAqGGvUubXsKkBr79kPRN4NJho-PZkQKRI3tDMCkvoNMM1_NdVBOMC-MgZmt6nw8_z8bGoH894A_MDIrgsDu0ZqtLMx9iE

 

DELL VOSTRO 460 TOWER i5 - $199.99
Intel i5-2400 (Core i5), 8 GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Win 7

 

I would simply add a GTX 1050 later.

[Christophe Corazza]

20 minutes ago, kokakolia said:

That first system seems a little pricey...

 

To be honest, both systems are overpriced for what they actually have to offer in return.

[dizmo]

1 hour ago, HugsAreGoodForTheSoul said:

Then u sir are a legend

It's not so hard. There's a write up about it in the Build Blogs section.