Advice on buying a 2nd hand *GAMING PC* from my colleague

Lmrtal92 on 21/08/2020 - 23:45

Hi,

Looking to get back into light PC gaming. My work colleague has just offered to sell me his for $610. Just after some much needed advice if the below build will be worth it?

Specs:

  • Genuine Intel i5 4590 CPU 4C/4T (CPU with 3.3-3.7GHz core clocks).
  • 12gb DDR3 Ram in dual channel.
  • GIGABYTE NVIDIA 1050 TI GPU with 4gb GDDR5 VRAM - low profile (He emphasized it's a great card with performance in between a GTX 1650 and GTX1050, and will play many games smoothly at Full HD).
  • ACER Motherboard - 4 RAM Slots, micro-atx.
  • 120gb SSD (Western Digital).
  • 1 TB storage (comprising 2 Seagate 500GB mechanical drives in RAID0).
  • Small Form Factor Case / Home Theatre PC (148 x 335 x 473) - can be stood up or laid flat.
  • 300w SFX Power Supply.
  • Wifi Card and 2 case fans. Includes power cable.

Additional notes: Windows 10 pro preinstalled/activated. Custom built with a mix of new and refurbished parts. He also advised the build is very quiet, cool and power efficient.

Thank you!

Computing

Comments

  • Mechz on 21/08/2020 - 23:59
    +8

    Maybe worth $500 at best.

    • RobBoss on 22/08/2020 - 10:26
      +4

      Wouldn’t get it even at that price

    • FireRunner on 22/08/2020 - 13:05

      I'd say $400 is a fair price for both sides

  • DraftPunk on 22/08/2020 - 00:08
    +14

    Reckon you're better off saving up an extra 300-400 to get a better gaming PC. That setup isn't going to last long.

  • Tehcookiemonsta on 22/08/2020 - 00:19
    +10

    Yeah no way for $610. Personally wouldn't pay $500 either myself. Might be worth while trying to buy parts on gum tree… i didn't have a 1050 Ti but i was selling my 1050 2GB for $90 which a lot people offered for $60 (Just to be clear i'm not advertising or selling the card its been gifted to a friend)

    I'm just copying and pasting this from one of Techfast's comments because the build looks good for the price, it is a bit more then $610 but all parts are brand new and come with warranty… Yes you would have to put it together yourself..

    Marx on 11/08/2020

    Here is a comparable build

    https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/D93b7T

    Type Item Price
    CPU AMD Ryzen 3 3100 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor(au.pcpartpicker.com) $159.00 @ Umart
    Motherboard Gigabyte B450M H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard(au.pcpartpicker.com) $99.00 @ Austin Computers
    Memory Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory(au.pcpartpicker.com) $90.99 @ Amazon Australia
    Storage Kingston A400 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive(au.pcpartpicker.com) $78.00 @ Centre Com
    Video Card GALAX GeForce GTX 1650 4 GB EX (1-click OC) Video Card(au.pcpartpicker.com) $229.00 @ PC Byte
    Case Antec VSK3-500 MicroATX Mini Tower Case w/500 W Power Supply(au.pcpartpicker.com) $95.00 @ Umart
    Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
    Total $750.99

    You can even get the 1650 Super from Centrecom with just $20 more from this deal.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/556121

    Slightly better case with PSU(centrecom.com.au)

    https://www.centrecom.com.au/cooler-master-masterbox-lite-3-…

    • FireRunner on 22/08/2020 - 10:16

      When did you try sell your 1050? Since COVID I've been monitoring low profile cards and the GTX1050 sell for $150+ and GTX1050TI $200+.

  • YeemaiI on 22/08/2020 - 02:49
    +9

    Overpriced.

  • raptormesh on 22/08/2020 - 03:53

    Yeah that CPU and RAM is long in the tooth, recommend a newer budget build instead.

  • Skyllian Blitz on 22/08/2020 - 05:38
    +4

    That's looks like a dead end pre built from Acer.
    -Weird RAM config of 12GB
    -Acer brand motherboard, probably a cheap OEM board with features cut out by Acer
    -Unknown power supply of low wattage, another bulk OEM part
    -Sff case, limited options on upgrading
    -Because of the case, that 1050ti may possibly be a low profile model with reduced performance.

    The only advantage is that it probably has a windows licence but that's most likely an OEM ver tied to the board so you can't transfer it.

    Set a budget for yourself and either build new from everyone's suggestions here or look elsewhere for other 2nd hand PCs.

  • scotty on 22/08/2020 - 07:33
    +9

    Looks like someone bought an Acer Veriton SFF ex-fleet desktop for $300 (thus Win10Pro license), added an old stick of 4GB RAM (thus weird 12GB configuration) and two very old 500GB HDDs, then added a low profile GTX 1050ti for $150, used for a while and then tried to off-load it to someone else for $610. Maybe your colleague is also an ozbargainer? I can see many people doing that with those cheap Dell Optiplex 9020 SFF a while ago…

    • Kangal on 22/08/2020 - 13:17

      Damn, scotty with the ninja : )
      Beat me to it!!

  • AustriaBargain on 22/08/2020 - 07:56

    All those parts getting long in the tooth. I'd probably pass on that even at half that price. Small form factor is cool though. And those parts would do okay for a kids my first budget computer or something, I thought the 4560 was getting old, the 4590 is three years older than that.

  • arkie0 on 22/08/2020 - 07:57
    +9

    I'd pay max $300 and would still think twice about it at 300.

    He emphasized it's a great card with performance in between a GTX 1650 and GTX1050, and will play many games smoothly at Full HD

    I would emphasize its a Circa 2013 prebuilt Acer with low end gfx card and offer to take it for 200.

    • RobBoss on 22/08/2020 - 10:29
      +1

      Agree, more like “play many games on low settings smoothly at 1080p”

      • FireRunner on 22/08/2020 - 10:44

        If you’re aiming for 1080p 60Hz the 1050ti should be able to handle at least medium graphics in most AAA games

        • RobBoss on 22/08/2020 - 11:01

          AAA from 2016? Yes. But if you want to get to 60FPS for the full potential of a 60Hz monitor, it would be hard. Make no mistake, 1050ti is one powerful card when compared to its predecessor.

          • FireRunner on 22/08/2020 - 11:33
            +1

            @RobBoss: Just looked up some benchmarks, you usually get around 45fps on med to high. The more demanding will put it down to 30pfs on med. it’s definitely not future proof

    • [Deactivated] on 22/08/2020 - 12:08

      👍👍

  • mrtal92 on 22/08/2020 - 09:45
    +1

    Thanks for the advice guys, I really appreciate it. I'm disappointed in my colleague, who may well have taken advantage of my little knowledge around PC builds and decided to oversell his PC.

    I was originally tempted to buy a build from TechFast, but had 2nd thoughts about it, due to seeings many comments regarding the waiting times, lack of sales support etc.

    I'm willing to spend no more than $1K on a gaming PC, but just unsure where to start, as I have very little knowledge on the specs side of things.

    • nomoneynoproblems on 22/08/2020 - 10:07
      +1

      Tbf to your colleague he probably is as clueless as you are regarding gaming pc prices and pulled price that out of you know where. A rig like that doesn't really scream "gamer" to me.

  • Muzeeb on 22/08/2020 - 10:07
    +3

    Where did the $10 come from.

    At least round it down.

    What a w@nker.

    • FireRunner on 22/08/2020 - 11:16

      My guess is this is how much he spent on the build. Probably selling to break even

    • humdingaling on 22/08/2020 - 12:33

      i was thinking the same thing….rather odd 10 bucks to chuck in there if its supposedly "mates rate"

  • RobBoss on 22/08/2020 - 10:34
    +2

    If you watch any tech Youtubers who review PC deals, you’ll find that “activated Windows 10 Pro” is only used to make to buyer think they they are getting few hundred dollars of value added. In reality, Windows 10 Pro keys can be purchased for $10-$50 (at times, a couple bucks).

    And what’s with the GENUINE i5? Are knockoff i5s common, haha?

    In short, $250-$350 is probably what it should go for. CPU is not just 1 generation behind, but 5 generations behind.

  • pinchies on 22/08/2020 - 10:50

    I estimated some prices if buying second hand. I didn't check ebay, these are just off the top of my head.

    $45 Genuine Intel i5 4590 CPU 4C/4T (CPU with 3.3-3.7GHz core clocks).
    $75 12gb DDR3 Ram in dual channel.
    $175 GIGABYTE NVIDIA 1050 TI GPU with 4gb GDDR5 VRAM - low profile
    $35 ACER Motherboard - 4 RAM Slots, micro-atx.
    $20 120gb SSD (Western Digital).
    $25 1 TB storage (comprising 2 Seagate 500GB mechanical drives in RAID0).
    $25 Small Form Factor Case / Home Theatre PC (148 x 335 x 473) - can be stood up or laid flat.
    $30 300w SFX Power Supply.
    $30 Wifi Card and 2 case fans. Includes power cable.

    Total $460. Still a bad buy at that price, I would say it's actually worth $350-380, and might be passable for basic performance and light gaming for that price.

    • miarn on 22/08/2020 - 15:15
      +1

      Yeah I think you're probably over-estimating on the value of the parts, especially given most of them are crummy OEM bits (like the PSU).

      $45 Genuine Intel i5 4590 CPU 4C/4T (CPU with 3.3-3.7GHz core clocks). not bad, but now very old and not oc-able
      $50 12gb DDR3 Ram in dual channel. probably an 8GB kit with a random 4GB chucked in, or maybe 22 and 24
      $150 GIGABYTE NVIDIA 1050 TI GPU with 4gb GDDR5 VRAM - low profile
      $15 ACER Motherboard - 4 RAM Slots, micro-atx. hard to say, could be basically worthless if it's got weird proprietary connectors
      $20 120gb SSD (Western Digital). this is probably generous, a new 240GB is ~$40
      $15 1 TB storage (comprising 2 Seagate 500GB mechanical drives in RAID0). two small, old, slow HDDs - basically worthless
      $10 Small Form Factor Case / Home Theatre PC (148 x 335 x 473) - can be stood up or laid flat.
      $0 300w SFX Power Supply (honestly a 5+ year old, low wattage, crap brand OEM PSU is a liability, not an asset)
      $5 Wifi Card and 2 case fans. Includes power cable.

      Total $310, which seems about right given $200 gets you a similarly-specced refurbished Dell Optiplex with some sort of "warranty".

      • pinchies on 22/08/2020 - 15:38
        +1

        I think you may be closer, but I was going for fair replacement cost in the second hand market — I too agree an ACER power supply, case and motherboard are worth $0. 😆

  • FireRunner on 22/08/2020 - 11:06

    Prices of PC components have gone up recently but $610 is a rip off. You could build you’re own SFF desktop for cheaper.
    $160 for 8GB, i5 and $60 for a quality 250GB SSD
    A GTX1650 costs about $250. Extra 4GB ram should be $20-$30. A 1TB HDD should be less than $50
    Total $550 for a better PC. You might be able to get it for $500 if you spend carefully

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