[SOLVED] Buying a Used PC; it is worth the price?

[Jezzelle]

These are the specs for $690:

i5 9400F motherboard Asus H310 eight and ninth gen

graphics card is Asus RX 580 8GB vram 2 fans

ram DDR4 8GB 2666 hyper x

The Hard disk is 500 gb

Power supply is Huntku 550 w

rgb gaming case

OR

Asking price: $560

Cpu:intel core i3-9100f

Gpu:GeForce gtx 1650 super rog strix

Power supply:cooler master 550w

Motherboard:tuf gaming H310-plus

Case:cooler master 1tb hdd 8Gm

(spelling mistakes might exist cuz I copy pasted the ads!)

So I need it for some high end programs (video editing and the like) but not too high end (animations), games too (probably not overclocking battlefield though or any online fighting games)

Most importantly: probably can't get another one for a long, long while. I'm forking out the money because

a) mine is going on 12 years and has no graphics cards whatsoever, no support (drivers, parts hard to find, if charger breaks it's a pain every time), and is very well-loved;

and, b) My situation improved a bit to allow for some liquidity.

This is an investment; I need experienced advice so obviously I came here!

Thanks very much for reading!

 

[USAFRet]

Both need work.

PC A:
New PSU
More RAM (8GB is not enough) ANd that RAM is kinda slow.
Add SSD
GPU is several years old

PC B:
Unknown RAM
Add SSD

 

[DSzymborski]

It's hard to be sure because a lot of information isn't very specific. A is very easy to dismiss though if you're not making upgrades; the PSU is a fire hazard while the PSU in B only maybe sucks.

Honestly, neither strikes me as all that interesting for the price.

 

[Jezzelle]

Thanks for your informative replies! I'll definitely keep looking with your advice in mind.

Used PCs are a gamble where I live; if they're selling that means something's broke. But also I don't know enough about PCs to build my own cost-effective one.

I'm really glad I found this site, thanks again!

 

[Karadjgne]

A has the better major components, better cpu, gpu, most likely ram too. But the cost difference is blown apart by the fire hazard of a psu, the rediculousnous of an 'rgb gaming' case etc. B parts might not be quite as good, but are a more solid choice all around.

Either one would be a $300 used PC at best, except for gouging due to the fact they actually have a gpu that's 1080p decent.

And that's going to be any PC, new or used.

 

[ARICH5]

go pre-built...a nvme ssd and 32 dual channel ram

 

[Karadjgne]

go pre-built...a nvme ssd and 32 dual channel ram

32Gb of ram is seriously a waste in a pre-built unless it comes with a 3080 and 5900x/10900k or better, or is purposed for small virtual machine use/production usage that needs high amounts of ram.

For most i5/R5 and even i7/R7 pc's with midfle/lower tier gpus, they h ave no need for more than 16Gb of ram because they very rarely even use more than 12Gb. The hardware simply cannot support higher. So it's wasted.

A well balanced pc is not only cheaper, but better balanced overall. If all you do is drive the kids to school and grocery shop, a Ferrari is pointless waste, a Honda crossover is far better suited, just doest have the same appeal.

 

[ARICH5]

So I need it for some high end programs (video editing and the like)

photoshop and the like can access 64-128 gb of ram iirc. thats why i said 32gb of ram

 

[Karadjgne]

How much RAM does Photoshop need? The exact amount you need will depend on exactly what you are doing, but based on your document size we recommend a minimum of 16GB of RAM for 500MB documents or smaller, 32GB for 500MB-1GB, and 64GB+ for even larger documents.
https://www.pugetsystems.com › Ha...
Recommended PC Hardware for Adobe Photoshop in 2021 - Puget Systems

And if you are taking a RAW file from something like a DSLR, it could be much larger than the BMP. Possibly in the range of (3*14/8) * 3840 * 2160 = 41.5 MB, though most DSLRs are actually much higher resolution, but offer lossless compression (for example a 24 MP RAW on our camera is typically around 30 MB)

4K video is significantly larger than 1080p and as a result requires a lot more storage space. While a single minute 1080p footage at the standard 30 frames per second requires only 130 MB, a 4K video at the same framerate will require a whopping 375 MB.

Pretty much means 16Gb of ram is plenty for most applications, you'd need to be editing RAW 4k movies to be looking at 64Gb of ram or more, and photoshop only uses 70% of available ram at best unless you manually change that. (not recommended). Ram speeds and timings generally have a greater impact on performance than ram size.

 

[Jezzelle]

I agree that they're definitely over-priced (the "gaming case" line means that the seller doesn't understand what he bought in the first place)

In this case would you recommend I stick to big-name chain stores or are they also prone to overpricing?

Thanks so much for the replies, I definitely learned a lot!

 

[Jezzelle]

Okay so get a new PC with these specs, right?
I'll see what I can find, thanks for your advice!

 

[Jezzelle]

Update:

Found a store selling this @ 775 USD:​

​

motherboard msi h410​

​

cpu Intel Core i5-10400F​

​

RAM 16 GB DDR4 PNY​

​

Nvme 240 GB Kingston A2000​

​

Graphic Card GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB​

​

Power supply 500w vision​

​

Case inpower RGB​

disregarding the RGB-whatever,

I'm not too keen on the price.

But it's better than the above two (as far as to what google says). I'm aiming for minimal upgrading.

It seems PCs are cheaper than laptops (maybe cuz they're not mobile?)

 

[Karadjgne]

Some ppl still claim 'size matters', and in some respects it does. But not always in the way ppl imagine. Smaller is more often more expensive when 2 things are equitable. MITX motherboard, sfx psu, mITX cases, all more expensive than atx counterparts. That'll apply to laptops as well, you get an atx desktop crammed into something 1/10th the size, it's going to take some rethinking and re-engineering. So will cost more.

 

[LeviTech]

I would go for the 775 USD