[SOLVED] Should i buy hardly used prebuilt? How do component warranties work?

[themushroomtipp]

I have been offered a used (just built in august 2019) Louqe Ghost S1 ITX build for £1350; I was initially looking to build a pc for around £1000. It has Aorus x570 pro WiFi motherboard, 3700x (noctua cooler), RTX 2070 super, 32gb ram (3000mhz), x2 1tb m.2 NVMe SSDs and 550W 80+ gold PSU. Is this worth it and should I try to get the price down? Also if any of the components were to break or something, would they still be covered under warranty even though I haven't bought them personally? Do I need to ask for receipts or anything like that to be able to used the warranties? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Barty1884]

To be clear, this isn't a "prebuilt" from a system integrator, but just a system someone else has configured?

The 550W PSU is a bit on the low side, IMO. I run an 8086K and 2070S from a quality 550W unit, but only because I upgraded the GPU with the 550W in place - I wouldn't purposely put something together with those components and only 550W.

For the actual components included, I think it's a fairly reasonable price.
The specific components would set you back ~ £1500, approx and being relatively new, probably commands more than ~75% of the retail price in most markets (so £1200ish)

That only matters if you wanted those specific component though.
If this was a gaming system (for example), you'd net comparable performance from a 3600 with the stock cooler, B450 board, 16GB and a 2070Super.
Example:
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£151.50 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard (£103.99 @ AWD-IT)
Memory: Team T-FORCE VULCAN TUF Gaming Allian 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory (£81.67 @ More Computers)
Storage: Crucial BX500 960 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£90.42 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£50.99 @ Box Limited)
Video Card: Inno3D GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB Twin X2 OC Video Card (£462.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: EVGA DG-75 ATX Mid Tower Case (£48.78 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: Corsair TXM Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (£79.98 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1070.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-18 19:29 GMT+0000


As far as warranties are concerned, your mileage will vary component to component. Most manufacturers will require proof of purchase... others you can register components on their website & don't (strictly) need proof of purchase, although still recommended. For the most part, if a CPU or RAM "works", it's not going to fail on you. Biggest concern would be the GPU.


If you wanted the exact configuration offered, I'd think £1200 +/- would be a fair price for it - the lower the better, of course.
If you just want something of similar performance, I don't think it's a particularly good buy.

 

[USAFRet]

Ask for....demand...all receipts and paperwork.
See this thread: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/msi-second-hand-warranty.3582799/

If it comes with Windows, determine from where, and get the actual license key.

If you do get it, a full wipe and reinstall of the OS before you do anything else.

 

[themushroomtipp]

To be clear, this isn't a "prebuilt" from a system integrator, but just a system someone else has configured?

The 550W PSU is a bit on the low side, IMO. I run an 8086K and 2070S from a quality 550W unit, but only because I upgraded the GPU with the 550W in place - I wouldn't purposely put something together with those components and only 550W.

For the actual components included, I think it's a fairly reasonable price.
The specific components would set you back ~ £1500, approx and being relatively new, probably commands more than ~75% of the retail price in most markets (so £1200ish)

That only matters if you wanted those specific component though.
If this was a gaming system (for example), you'd net comparable performance from a 3600 with the stock cooler, B450 board, 16GB and a 2070Super.
Example:
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£151.50 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard (£103.99 @ AWD-IT)
Memory: Team T-FORCE VULCAN TUF Gaming Allian 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory (£81.67 @ More Computers)
Storage: Crucial BX500 960 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£90.42 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£50.99 @ Box Limited)
Video Card: Inno3D GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB Twin X2 OC Video Card (£462.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: EVGA DG-75 ATX Mid Tower Case (£48.78 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: Corsair TXM Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (£79.98 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1070.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-18 19:29 GMT+0000


As far as warranties are concerned, your mileage will vary component to component. Most manufacturers will require proof of purchase... others you can register components on their website & don't (strictly) need proof of purchase, although still recommended. For the most part, if a CPU or RAM "works", it's not going to fail on you. Biggest concern would be the GPU.


If you wanted the exact configuration offered, I'd think £1200 +/- would be a fair price for it - the lower the better, of course.
If you just want something of similar performance, I don't think it's a particularly good buy.

Sorry, my bad. This is a system someone else has configured. I also was concerned the Power supply was a bit on the low side.
Thanks Barty!

 

[themushroomtipp]

Ask for....demand...all receipts and paperwork.
See this thread: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/msi-second-hand-warranty.3582799/

If it comes with Windows, determine from where, and get the actual license key.

If you do get it, a full wipe and reinstall of the OS before you do anything else.

Okay, will do! Thanks for the heads up.

 

[punkncat]

Private individual selling you their used computer.

In a very general sense used equipment tends to be worth about half of retail, based in demand of course. This equipment is new(er) and certainly still within that "in demand" window. I would probably go about this like a cost of the equipment minus 25-30% and according to a couple of factors. If this is someone you know who you trust to attest to what conditions under which this system was operated as well as an ability to produce ALL receipts, I would err to the lower of depreciation.
If they cannot produce receipts I would stick to 50%.

As to the Windows license, USAF has very valid points. If the seller can produce purchase receipts for official Windows license then you can further get official support for it upon purchase and transference of (for instance) the Microsoft account associated with it. If it's an eBay key and so forth completely wipe it's value from the build.

 

[King_V]

Also, it's not just a matter of the wattage and of the efficiency (indicated with Bronze, Gold, etc) of the PSU, but the brand and model. There are great PSUs out there, and there are lots of terrible PSUs out there, that may tout high wattage, and high efficiency.

The first link in my signature takes you to a write up of good vs bad PSUs, and has recommendations.

 

[themushroomtipp]

Also, it's not just a matter of the wattage and of the efficiency (indicated with Bronze, Gold, etc) of the PSU, but the brand and model. There are great PSUs out there, and there are lots of terrible PSUs out there, that may tout high wattage, and high efficiency.

The first link in my signature takes you to a write up of good vs bad PSUs, and has recommendations.

It is a EVGA SuperNOVA GM 550W 80+ gold fully modular SF

 

[King_V]

SuperNova GM? @Darkbreeze , @jonnyguru - are you guys familar with that one?