The World of Used PC Parts - A Guide to Making Informed Purchases

Building your own computer can be a cost-effective and rewarding experience, but it requires some knowledge and research to get the best value for your money. One common misconception is that you need to pay a premium price for a new product to get the latest and greatest technology. However, many used PC parts are available at significantly lower prices, often from reputable sellers who are looking to clear out inventory or upgrade their own systems.

When shopping for used PC parts, especially on resale sites like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, it's essential to be cautious of overpriced listings. A seller may use clever marketing tactics, such as claiming that a particular part is "hard to find" or that they've paid top dollar for it, in an attempt to justify an inflated price. This can be especially true for highly sought-after parts like NVMe drives, which are often in short supply and can command high prices.

For example, the author of this article recently came across a listing for a used Gigabyte NVMe drive that was priced at $200 for one terabyte of storage. However, when considering the cost of newer models with similar specs, such as ultra-fast Gen 4 drives from Gigabyte themselves, it's clear that this price is far too high. In fact, similar drives can be found for under $200 on reputable retailers like Newegg or Amazon.

This highlights the importance of doing your research and comparing prices before making a purchase. It's also essential to verify the authenticity of the part and ensure that it's not counterfeit or fake. This may involve checking the manufacturer's website or contacting their customer support directly to confirm the part's legitimacy.

Another common misconception is that certain brands, like Samsung, are automatically superior to others due to their reputation or marketing. However, this isn't necessarily the case. While Samsung does offer excellent migration software and high-quality products, there are many other reputable brands available at similar price points that can offer comparable performance.

For instance, VMI drives from companies like Crucial or Western Digital often provide similar specs and performance to more expensive Samsung or Seagate models, but at a fraction of the cost. This is especially true for newer models with fast NVMe interfaces, which have become increasingly popular in recent years.

The article also touches on the importance of building your own PC using used parts. When you buy from reputable sellers, you can often get significantly better deals on individual components than you would by purchasing a whole system outright. This allows you to build a custom system that meets your specific needs and budget, rather than settling for a pre-built system that may not be as efficient or powerful.

In addition, building your own PC gives you the flexibility to upgrade individual components over time, rather than having to replace the entire system when new technology becomes available. This can save you money in the long run and ensure that you're getting the most out of your investment.

The author also notes that some sellers may bundle used parts with older software or operating systems, which can be a red flag for potential buyers. When purchasing used PC parts, it's essential to ensure that the software is compatible with your existing system and meets your needs.

Finally, the article emphasizes the importance of being cautious when dealing with suspicious or aggressive sellers. Some individuals may use tactics like claiming that a part is hard to find or that they've paid top dollar for it in an attempt to scare buyers into making a hasty decision. This can be avoided by doing your research and verifying the authenticity of the part before making a purchase.

In terms of specifics, the author has seen used PC parts listed on eBay with prices ranging from $15 to $18 hundred dollars for similar systems. However, they believe that it's possible to build a comparable system using more affordable components, such as an Intel Core i5 processor and a Turing or Navi graphics card.

Overall, building your own computer using used PC parts can be a cost-effective and rewarding experience, but it requires some knowledge and research to get the best value for your money. By doing your research, verifying the authenticity of individual components, and being cautious when dealing with suspicious sellers, you can find great deals on high-quality used PC parts that meet your specific needs and budget.

One example of a system that could be built using used PC parts is one that uses an Intel Core i5 processor, a Turing or Navi graphics card, and 16 GB of RAM. This would provide excellent performance for most users, while still being within a budget of around $2,800. In contrast, purchasing a pre-built system with similar specs could cost upwards of $3,000.

The author also mentions that some sellers may try to get rid of high-end parts like Windows 10 Pro by claiming it's on a flash drive and sold for a lower price. However, this is often an attempt to justify an inflated price or make the product seem more desirable than it actually is. In reality, purchasing a genuine copy of Windows 10 Pro from Microsoft or other reputable retailers may be the better option.

In conclusion, building your own computer using used PC parts can be a cost-effective and rewarding experience, but it requires some knowledge and research to get the best value for your money. By doing your research, verifying the authenticity of individual components, and being cautious when dealing with suspicious sellers, you can find great deals on high-quality used PC parts that meet your specific needs and budget.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: endo not message me if you're not a serious inquiry I spent over $4,500 on my PC and I'm only asking for 2800 to 3800 whichever one you feel more comfortable with for the whole PC message me if you're a serious inquiry otherwise keep on scrolling trust me this one gets better if you're upset about that inconsiderate Windows activation watermark plugging your screen snag an OEM license SCD key makes it simple you have one in a few seconds for a little over ten dollars then click here here here and then here paste your activation key and you can kiss that watermark goodbye and be sure to use my new offer code GSL for a 12 percent discount on your order so this ad is a doozy nearly $3,000 asking price older hardware and ridiculous price justifications so let's go ahead and break this stuff down custom-built gaming PC I will only accept cash I will not accept checks I will not accept cashier's checks okay that's cool I totally get that right I mean I can write a check for any amount of money but doesn't mean I have to actually have that money in my account worst case you can meet at a bank to ensure that check actually clears if you're comfortable with checks I would steer clear of them but anyway the remainder of the add list computer components and some pretty insane and frankly irrelevant prices starting from the top got a corsair carbide air 741 $49.99 yeah okay this is a four year old case by this point released way back in 2016 listing MSRP seems a bit ridiculous whatever I guess you're trying to tell us how much you paid for these things I don't know we'll see the msi z2 70 gaming m7 was a great board back in the day and keywords back in the day but that's just it right and let's put it this way I could buy an asus rog Maximus 9 extreme Z 270 board with an integrated waterblock brand-new mind you for 150 bucks so what's up with this so let's assume then that the sellers argument is we lose our current prices these were new prices is what I paid well tonight I say what the heck is the point why should it matter how much you paid for this especially if we're talking about a four year difference these products are old they're dated and the tech market moves fast it takes no prisoners soliciting new prices justify your inflated asking price and this ad is 100% futile although I'm sure you're expecting some naive person to fall for it but let's continue core i7 7700 K that's four cores eight threads cable a k---forty nanometers plus I guess architecture and a list price of 349 but sir may be new but you'll very soon be able to snag a rise in 331 hundred with the same number of cores and same number of threads and similar IPC for literally $100 in fact one of the only real advantages of the 7700 K is clock speed but you'll need a more expensive motherboard to even take advantage of addition to overclocking not the case with Zen - Thank You AMD and I guess another angle of approach here could be well for 350 bucks I could buy a killer 8 core 16 thread rise in 730 700 X or 1300 X like I could buy something that is considerably more powerful maybe not for games but it can do a lot more than a 4 quart ship from 2016 Hey look I'm using Rison to really prove the point that tech moves very fast right just a few years ago four cores right for what's the sweet spot and that isn't the case anymore prices are certainly reflecting it and and don't let inflate it asking prices on eBay convinced you otherwise right I get this quite a bit people point this out Intel chips on the used market have ridiculous resale values but it's less of an indication of power and more an indication of brand loyalty and optimization in certain segments so people will pay more for them for those use cases but I would strongly recommend you stay away from overpriced Intel listings on eBay now this next one's pretty great 64 gigs of course their vengeance ddr4 a ton of RAM right more than gamers will ever need and yet it's being advertised as a gaming PC content creation absolutely can take advantage of the extra memory but not games so what's the point anyway he says he paid nearly five $500 for 64 gigs but again who cares memory price-fixing plague builders a few years ago that's his problem not yours you aren't buying this PC four years ago and especially when seen in light of the fact that 64 gigs a pretty fast ddr4 today can be purchased for a few hundred dollars less this makes no sense heck even updated four by sixteen Vengeance memory kits are selling for under 400 bucks so why bother with this figure again is this supposed to guilt someone in a feeling obligated to meet your asking price and by the way if you add up each of these prices the sum is over $4,000 which I assume is consistent with the purchase price he mentioned higher up but again we have no proof apart from his word and I'm sorry but I have trust issues with people who insist on charging away over a market value for dated hardware that's Janice yeah just me not that there's anything wrong with this combination of hardware I don't want to you know give you guys that impression but at 2,800 bucks something is seriously wrong I could build something significantly better for twenty hundred dollars speaking of which what's with this SLI ad GT X 1080 bundle here I mean they look pretty cool that's one of the only reasons in my opinion to buy two cards kind of fills up the extra space but you'll be extracting only about 50% of that second cards potential in most games I mean some games won't even use the second card at all but it'd be too easy to convince a naive shopper that two cards equals twice the power right that's just not the case though I assume sellers like this person are probably banking on that logic though and what the heck's up with the $1,300 list price okay you saying each GT X 1080 was six hundred and fifty dollars to GT X 1080 AIB or not expect to pay around three to 350 each and 350 s on the high end especially for like the more expensive AI bees now there are mating items in this list are rather boring not gonna spend too much time here he's got an H 115 I for 140 bucks and RM 1000 X for what is that same price about 140 it's a PSU custom sleeve cables a Samsung nvme for what 480 dollars okay yeah these are definitely dated prices 350 currently for a one terabyte pro but there are significantly cheaper options than that I mean if you're willing to look elsewhere other than Samsung I mean you can get them for under 200 bucks like this one here from Silicon Power still one terabyte blazing fast and packed with great user feedback now obviously it would be unfair to quote a different component than the one listed in the ad but it goes to show that there are often smarter bias out there than the ones that happen to be in the PC that you're looking at in a used site I don't know a resale slightly Craigslist or Facebook a marketplace any marketplace resale site what do you call them I don't know and so you shouldn't feel compelled to pay a premium price for a premium product that performs nearly the same as another at half the cost it's one of the perks of building yourself you get to make those decisions with your budget some swear by brands like Samsung and that's totally fine they have great migration software as well but if you ask me these cheaper and VMI's will do just fine and I certainly wouldn't pay anywhere near $500 for one terabyte of nvme storage in 2020 heck even ultra fast Gen 4 in VMI's are around 200 bucks for one terabyte this is a heck of a deal from gigabyte by the way so this guy's living in an alternate universe if he thinks he's getting anywhere near this for an older Samsung Drive lastly I want to skip down here to the bottom where he's got two odd listings the first is Windows 10 Pro I guess this is very odd it's actually pretty prevalent and ads like these he says it's on a flash drive so I'm assuming it's a bootable USB and he says he paid $200 for it and like I've said before resellers love to throw this number out there in an attempt to grab more cash or justify a higher asking price look if he's got proof that he bought a key from nuoc or whatever fine but still I'd recommend you buy an ultra cheap key and OEM or a volume key from a site like our sponsor or even eBay if you trust random listings I prefer not to promote those just because you never really know who you're gonna deal with and look if you can handle a watermark you don't need to activate at all to enjoy the full potential of Windows 10 performance doesn't change either way so you have options that's my point right and you shouldn't feel as though paying over a hundred bucks for a freaking retail key is the only viable option especially in the used market and this 130 dollar freaking Microsoft Office mention it's it's just come on do you really like you got a pump you're listening with crap like this to prop up the list price people should be paying for the hardware right how do we even know you haven't already activated this key and you mentioned one PC right but does that mean that the keys a linked to this systems hardware there's you activating it on your account now render it useless too many questions too many variables just stick to hardware on this one it's much simpler and you can usually verify that the thing works right away don't try and bundle it with overvalued and frankly old software what would I pay for this listening well used parts values on eBay suggests somewhere in the fifteen to eighteen hundred dollar ballpark but I can build a very similar performing system for quite a bit less than that and and that's the nature of technology again switching to Rison would save several hundred bucks at little to no expense heck you could even build like an eight core Intel system and probably squeeze in something like an RT X 20 60 or 70 in this 15 18 or our price range I haven't done it but I'm sure it's possible we've put together systems very similar to this in the past with similar budgets and also choosing to forgo two older Pascal cards which I still think are great in their own right to a single Turing or Navi card for four to five hundred bucks would also benefit the end-user and maximize utilization so at the end of the day I've got no problem with this computers presentation I mean it's a very clean build right color-coordinated cable managed it's pretty sexy anything the back is pretty clean but I don't I have no problem with the pictures right he's got plenty of pictures this is how I would recommend you take them but the seller comes across a bit standoffish up front right with the all-caps stuff don't do that okay okay just ignore the the people fishing for like crazy deals if they pitch you an insanely low offer just don't bother just block them you know leave him alone and and twenty hundred dollars I mean that's completely unwarranted the individual who sent this ad said it was previously listed for much higher than that like three hundred dollars I'm good I'm glad the prices come down no one should buy this for thirty 100 bucks let alone twenty hundred dollars I mean that's it's insane again I could build you a significantly better system for $2,800 and that's really all I have for this one I hope you guys enjoyed it consider subscribing leave feedback down below my name is Greg thanks for cringing with medo not message me if you're not a serious inquiry I spent over $4,500 on my PC and I'm only asking for 2800 to 3800 whichever one you feel more comfortable with for the whole PC message me if you're a serious inquiry otherwise keep on scrolling trust me this one gets better if you're upset about that inconsiderate Windows activation watermark plugging your screen snag an OEM license SCD key makes it simple you have one in a few seconds for a little over ten dollars then click here here here and then here paste your activation key and you can kiss that watermark goodbye and be sure to use my new offer code GSL for a 12 percent discount on your order so this ad is a doozy nearly $3,000 asking price older hardware and ridiculous price justifications so let's go ahead and break this stuff down custom-built gaming PC I will only accept cash I will not accept checks I will not accept cashier's checks okay that's cool I totally get that right I mean I can write a check for any amount of money but doesn't mean I have to actually have that money in my account worst case you can meet at a bank to ensure that check actually clears if you're comfortable with checks I would steer clear of them but anyway the remainder of the add list computer components and some pretty insane and frankly irrelevant prices starting from the top got a corsair carbide air 741 $49.99 yeah okay this is a four year old case by this point released way back in 2016 listing MSRP seems a bit ridiculous whatever I guess you're trying to tell us how much you paid for these things I don't know we'll see the msi z2 70 gaming m7 was a great board back in the day and keywords back in the day but that's just it right and let's put it this way I could buy an asus rog Maximus 9 extreme Z 270 board with an integrated waterblock brand-new mind you for 150 bucks so what's up with this so let's assume then that the sellers argument is we lose our current prices these were new prices is what I paid well tonight I say what the heck is the point why should it matter how much you paid for this especially if we're talking about a four year difference these products are old they're dated and the tech market moves fast it takes no prisoners soliciting new prices justify your inflated asking price and this ad is 100% futile although I'm sure you're expecting some naive person to fall for it but let's continue core i7 7700 K that's four cores eight threads cable a k---forty nanometers plus I guess architecture and a list price of 349 but sir may be new but you'll very soon be able to snag a rise in 331 hundred with the same number of cores and same number of threads and similar IPC for literally $100 in fact one of the only real advantages of the 7700 K is clock speed but you'll need a more expensive motherboard to even take advantage of addition to overclocking not the case with Zen - Thank You AMD and I guess another angle of approach here could be well for 350 bucks I could buy a killer 8 core 16 thread rise in 730 700 X or 1300 X like I could buy something that is considerably more powerful maybe not for games but it can do a lot more than a 4 quart ship from 2016 Hey look I'm using Rison to really prove the point that tech moves very fast right just a few years ago four cores right for what's the sweet spot and that isn't the case anymore prices are certainly reflecting it and and don't let inflate it asking prices on eBay convinced you otherwise right I get this quite a bit people point this out Intel chips on the used market have ridiculous resale values but it's less of an indication of power and more an indication of brand loyalty and optimization in certain segments so people will pay more for them for those use cases but I would strongly recommend you stay away from overpriced Intel listings on eBay now this next one's pretty great 64 gigs of course their vengeance ddr4 a ton of RAM right more than gamers will ever need and yet it's being advertised as a gaming PC content creation absolutely can take advantage of the extra memory but not games so what's the point anyway he says he paid nearly five $500 for 64 gigs but again who cares memory price-fixing plague builders a few years ago that's his problem not yours you aren't buying this PC four years ago and especially when seen in light of the fact that 64 gigs a pretty fast ddr4 today can be purchased for a few hundred dollars less this makes no sense heck even updated four by sixteen Vengeance memory kits are selling for under 400 bucks so why bother with this figure again is this supposed to guilt someone in a feeling obligated to meet your asking price and by the way if you add up each of these prices the sum is over $4,000 which I assume is consistent with the purchase price he mentioned higher up but again we have no proof apart from his word and I'm sorry but I have trust issues with people who insist on charging away over a market value for dated hardware that's Janice yeah just me not that there's anything wrong with this combination of hardware I don't want to you know give you guys that impression but at 2,800 bucks something is seriously wrong I could build something significantly better for twenty hundred dollars speaking of which what's with this SLI ad GT X 1080 bundle here I mean they look pretty cool that's one of the only reasons in my opinion to buy two cards kind of fills up the extra space but you'll be extracting only about 50% of that second cards potential in most games I mean some games won't even use the second card at all but it'd be too easy to convince a naive shopper that two cards equals twice the power right that's just not the case though I assume sellers like this person are probably banking on that logic though and what the heck's up with the $1,300 list price okay you saying each GT X 1080 was six hundred and fifty dollars to GT X 1080 AIB or not expect to pay around three to 350 each and 350 s on the high end especially for like the more expensive AI bees now there are mating items in this list are rather boring not gonna spend too much time here he's got an H 115 I for 140 bucks and RM 1000 X for what is that same price about 140 it's a PSU custom sleeve cables a Samsung nvme for what 480 dollars okay yeah these are definitely dated prices 350 currently for a one terabyte pro but there are significantly cheaper options than that I mean if you're willing to look elsewhere other than Samsung I mean you can get them for under 200 bucks like this one here from Silicon Power still one terabyte blazing fast and packed with great user feedback now obviously it would be unfair to quote a different component than the one listed in the ad but it goes to show that there are often smarter bias out there than the ones that happen to be in the PC that you're looking at in a used site I don't know a resale slightly Craigslist or Facebook a marketplace any marketplace resale site what do you call them I don't know and so you shouldn't feel compelled to pay a premium price for a premium product that performs nearly the same as another at half the cost it's one of the perks of building yourself you get to make those decisions with your budget some swear by brands like Samsung and that's totally fine they have great migration software as well but if you ask me these cheaper and VMI's will do just fine and I certainly wouldn't pay anywhere near $500 for one terabyte of nvme storage in 2020 heck even ultra fast Gen 4 in VMI's are around 200 bucks for one terabyte this is a heck of a deal from gigabyte by the way so this guy's living in an alternate universe if he thinks he's getting anywhere near this for an older Samsung Drive lastly I want to skip down here to the bottom where he's got two odd listings the first is Windows 10 Pro I guess this is very odd it's actually pretty prevalent and ads like these he says it's on a flash drive so I'm assuming it's a bootable USB and he says he paid $200 for it and like I've said before resellers love to throw this number out there in an attempt to grab more cash or justify a higher asking price look if he's got proof that he bought a key from nuoc or whatever fine but still I'd recommend you buy an ultra cheap key and OEM or a volume key from a site like our sponsor or even eBay if you trust random listings I prefer not to promote those just because you never really know who you're gonna deal with and look if you can handle a watermark you don't need to activate at all to enjoy the full potential of Windows 10 performance doesn't change either way so you have options that's my point right and you shouldn't feel as though paying over a hundred bucks for a freaking retail key is the only viable option especially in the used market and this 130 dollar freaking Microsoft Office mention it's it's just come on do you really like you got a pump you're listening with crap like this to prop up the list price people should be paying for the hardware right how do we even know you haven't already activated this key and you mentioned one PC right but does that mean that the keys a linked to this systems hardware there's you activating it on your account now render it useless too many questions too many variables just stick to hardware on this one it's much simpler and you can usually verify that the thing works right away don't try and bundle it with overvalued and frankly old software what would I pay for this listening well used parts values on eBay suggests somewhere in the fifteen to eighteen hundred dollar ballpark but I can build a very similar performing system for quite a bit less than that and and that's the nature of technology again switching to Rison would save several hundred bucks at little to no expense heck you could even build like an eight core Intel system and probably squeeze in something like an RT X 20 60 or 70 in this 15 18 or our price range I haven't done it but I'm sure it's possible we've put together systems very similar to this in the past with similar budgets and also choosing to forgo two older Pascal cards which I still think are great in their own right to a single Turing or Navi card for four to five hundred bucks would also benefit the end-user and maximize utilization so at the end of the day I've got no problem with this computers presentation I mean it's a very clean build right color-coordinated cable managed it's pretty sexy anything the back is pretty clean but I don't I have no problem with the pictures right he's got plenty of pictures this is how I would recommend you take them but the seller comes across a bit standoffish up front right with the all-caps stuff don't do that okay okay just ignore the the people fishing for like crazy deals if they pitch you an insanely low offer just don't bother just block them you know leave him alone and and twenty hundred dollars I mean that's completely unwarranted the individual who sent this ad said it was previously listed for much higher than that like three hundred dollars I'm good I'm glad the prices come down no one should buy this for thirty 100 bucks let alone twenty hundred dollars I mean that's it's insane again I could build you a significantly better system for $2,800 and that's really all I have for this one I hope you guys enjoyed it consider subscribing leave feedback down below my name is Greg thanks for cringing with me\n"