Question Buying an old PC ?

[DubleAX]

Hello there

My brother has an old gaming PC from ten years ago that he bought out of curiosity and never used it,
it has gathered dust and a little bit of rust on outside components like places to plug in peripherals.
Now the thing is this gaming pc was a monster at that time and it cost around 2400 dollars.

It has an intel i5-4460 CPU and an MSI H97 Gaming 7918 motherboard.
There is a label on the graphics card that says 970 and right now it's connected to the motherboard.

Now the thing is we both bought a gaming PC 10 years ago and mine survived with few fixes for that long
am wondering will this computer survive for long?
and what is it worth today assuming also it is mostly needed for work and not gaming a top tier AAA games on 16K resolution with ultra graphics

Maybe stuff like age of empires 2 def or any modern game on 1920x1080 low medium barely,
but I'm mostly interested in its value and life expectancy.

 

[Aeacus]

but I'm mostly interested in its value

Essentially 0.

CPU came out Q2 2014. MoBo is as old as CPU. DDR3 RAM it runs, is even older. Since next gen from that, Skylake architecture, introduced DDR4. GTX 970 is decent, but at current time, way too weak. PSU is a MUST replacement.

and life expectancy.

Unless you switch out the PSU, you can kill entire PC when you try to power it on. For one, PSU is at least 10 years old. And without knowing it's make and model (or part number), i can't say if it was good quality or complete junk to begin with.

But bigger issue is this:

and a little bit of rust on outside components like places to plug in peripherals.

Rust on metal parts show high humidity. Since oxygen + water + metal (e.g iron) = rust.
Due to that, PSU must be replaced before trying any power on. Also, i don't think the build would even power on, since high humidity most likely has killed the MoBo and probably GPU too.

Maybe stuff like age of empires 2 def or any modern game on 1920x1080 low medium barely,

IF the CPU-MoBo-RAM combo would work, plop in GTX 1660 and you're looking high/ultra on 1080p.

E.g my 2nd build (missus'es PC), Haswell (full specs with pics in my sig), is the same gen PC as yours is. But her PC has been kept in running order and used daily. I have GTX 1060 in there and easy medium quality on 1080p. A bit better GPU into that and even better quality on 1080p.
But actual resale value of the old components, is 0.

Or let me ask you this;
Look at the build you have and look at my Haswell build. Then, tell me, how much would you pay for my Haswell build at current date?
Do note that every component in my 2nd build is better than what you have (well, maybe except the CPU cooler).

Now, i can tell you how much it costed me to build it and bring it to the aesthetic look as it currently stands. But answer my question first.

 

[geofelt]

Try it and see if it works.
If it does the job you need it for, then OK.
It might fail, but if it runs for a week, it will probably last a long time.

As to value, look on ebay for a similar pc.
Filter on completed auctions and you will see what one actually sold for.

Since pc cases are heavy, and shipping costs would eat you up,
you would do best by selling locally.
Probably not worth it.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Now the thing is this gaming pc was a monster at that time and it cost around 2400 dollars.
it has gathered dust and a little bit of rust on outside components

intel i5-4460 CPU and an​

MSI H97 Gaming 7918 motherboard.​

label on the graphics card that says 970​

It never was a monster. Midrange at best.
And it didn't cost $2400. Max ~$1000 new
(Unless it has some crazy custom liquid cooling installed, then it could cost more. Still not $2400.)

am wondering will this computer survive for long?
and what is it worth today assuming also it is mostly needed for work and not gaming a top tier AAA games on 16K resolution with ultra graphics

Depends on amount of ram.
It might be a decent office pc. Could even play some 10 years old games.

Rust is concerning.
It would require a thorough cleaning first.

If in perfect working conditions - it could be worth some $200 - $300.