Planning on buying *CHEAP* used PCs. Need some advice.

[BitsNBolts]

Hi,

Here's the deal: A friend of mine offered me a pair of HP DC7900 PCs he was not using anymore (Core 2 Duo E8400 w/integrated graphics, 2GB RAM, 250 HDD and a 365W PSU), they are in a near perfect condition and he wants 300 bucks for both of them.

I've read the specs about this model and they look good for the price he's asking, specially because we need a pair budget PCs; one for kids' room (school stuff, web surfing and some basic gaming) and the other for our living room (a basic gaming/media center PC). The specs say there's a 2.0 PCIe x16 slot, so there's some room for a decent graphic card, provided that is, the PSU can handle it.

I know I couldn't build a brand new decent PC with 150 bucks and if I buy this pair of PCs I could spend some extra bucks (another 300) to buy a pair of decent video cards and maybe some RAM (or better: more powerful PSUs). That way I could have 2 (decent?) PCs for a grand total of 600 bucks (that's my spending cap) since I'm on a budget.

Here are my questions:
1. Is it advisable to buy these PCs for 150 bucks each?
2. If so, what video cards and PSUs will make a good match for the E8400 Core 2 Duo?
3. Is buying new RAM modules a budget-wise possibility for these systems?
4. Are there any better alternatives for my need of two decent PCs for 600 bucks?

Help me please, your wisdom is much appreciated.

 

[johnnyb105]

Something to consider 2 power supplys corsairs 500 watts 50 bucks each that about 100 ok 2 radeon 7750 or 7770 which would give you medium gaming power not high end like for battlefield 4 100 or less each that's 300 bucks.. total for the upgrades add ram say 2 gig each maybe another 50 or less 300 total for both pc,s is a good deal if basic web search and emails and such but to make them game it will cost a bit of money .. .2 x power supply 2 x vid card 2 x ram 2 gig each another 350 into your total investment.

 

[johnnyb105]

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2345378,00.asp

on these systems it would be advisable to see if you can install a standard power supply in them...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121633

Don't know for sure if your case would use standard cards it may require low profile cards.

 

[BitsNBolts]

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2345378,00.asp

on these systems it would be advisable to see if you can install a standard power supply in them...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121633

Don't know for sure if your case would use standard cards it may require low profile cards.

Thanks for your quick response johnnyb105. Luckily, the model my friend wants to sell me is the 'minitower', which unlike the ultra-slim and the small form factor models, uses a standard v2.3 PSU and has enough room for upgrades and full-sized PCIe x16 cards.

I'm currently checking your suggestions (BTW, they are great) and I think the 7750 card would be the best choice. Also, I see there are plenty of good PSUs within the 40-50 bucks range. Buying those 4 extra components will cost around 280 bucks; I suppose I could stretch my initial 300 bucks budget a little bit so I could buy those much needed extra RAM modules. I found a 4GB DDR2 800 RAM offer (2GB x 2) for 60 bucks.

It looks like that will be the way to go if I decide to buy those PCs, but it still sounds like a good deal right? I hope I'm not missing something 😛

 

[k1114]

A quick look at my local craigslist and I can find similar specs for $80-120. Ebay goes even cheaper down to $30. You can find core 2 quad or phenom x4 systems for $150. If you do get it and the 7750 you don't need a new psu. The stock 365w is plenty. You can also find 2gbx2 ddr2 800 for $20. Just for comparison, you don't want to spend more on older/slower stuff and ddr3 is $30 for 2x2 1333.

 

[BitsNBolts]

A quick look at my local craigslist and I can find similar specs for $80-120. Ebay goes even cheaper down to $30. You can find core 2 quad or phenom x4 systems for $150. If you do get it and the 7750 you don't need a new psu. The stock 365w is plenty. You can also find 2gbx2 ddr2 800 for $20. Just for comparison, you don't want to spend more on older/slower stuff and ddr3 is $30 for 2x2 1333.

Thanks for the info my friend. I performed a search for that model but I couldn't find any with the $120 price tag near my location, but I found good quad cores for 160 - 180 bucks. Using that, I'll try to make a deal with him (250 bucks for both PCs instead of the 300 he's asking) the main upside being that, since he is a friend of mine, I can easily reach him to complain if any of the PCs has a problem (hehe).
Here's hoping my friend accepts and the info you are giving about the PSU, the Video Card and the RAM is great! That's definitely something I didn't know about. Just one more question: If, for whatever reason I end up buying the DC7800 Quad Core model I found (Core2 Quad Q9450 with a 365W 80plus PSU), will the PSU be able to handle the 7750 or 7770 cards? I'm asking that since quad cores are more power hungry...

Thanks in advance!

 

[k1114]

The 7770 is kind of on the edge since the psu is aged a bit. The 7750 is fine.

 

[BitsNBolts]

Many, many thanks to johnnyb105 and k1114. All the info you both gave was really useful and helped me to a smarter decision on which (and why) system I should buy. Now that I did it, I can say I'm really happy with the results.

Cheers!

 

[johnnyb105]

Your welcome and enjoy!