**A Budget Gaming System: A Generation Old CPU Meets a Low-End GPU**

We're taking a look at a budget gaming system that's got some... interesting choices. The brain of this operation is a 13th gen Intel Core i5 13400F, which is a perfectly reasonable gaming CPU for its price point. However, it's paired with 16 gigabytes of DDR4 RAM, which is RGB but appears to be a cheap kit. The storage solution is a 1 terabyte SSD, which is an interesting choice, especially considering the rest of the system.

**The Display: A 250Hz Monitor with Some Quirks**

We're also testing a monitor that's part of this build, and it's clear that quality isn't its strong suit. The display has a mid-range contrast ratio and refresh rate, but what's notable is the support for FreeSync and 240Hz. However, the only thing holding back its full potential is the on-screen display (OSD), which is extremely difficult to use.

**The Gaming Experience: Can This System Handle CS2?**

Despite some initial reservations about this build, we're actually going to test it out with a popular game like Counter-Strike 2. We've got a smooth gaming experience thanks to the monitor's high refresh rate and our CPU handling tasks relatively well, but there are moments where the GPU struggles.

**The Real Issue: Is This System Worth $900?**

One thing is clear: for $900, this system is not providing good value. The only potential solution might be to buy a refurbished system that's too expensive on Newegg and then upgrade it with some of the components from another source. In fact, we were told there was such an option available through Newegg.

**A Special Surprise: A Refurbished GPU Upgrade**

As for this build, the final piece of the puzzle is a special surprise in the box - a refurbished NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060. This card was originally designed for cryptocurrency mining and has since become less common due to the decline of that market. The good news is that it's being offered as part of a solution through Newegg. Let's take a closer look at what we've got here.

**What We Have in Front of Us**

Looking inside this box, we find our refurbished GPU - nicely padded and quite long. This is clearly designed to compensate for something. Taking out the graphics card reveals that it's an RTX 3060 Ti Big Chungus edition, which is a high-end model for its price point. The accompanying documentation confirms that Newegg was able to source this piece of hardware.

**A Quick Recap**

To recap, our budget gaming system features a 13th gen Intel Core i5 13400F CPU, 16GB DDR4 RAM with RGB, a 1 terabyte SSD, and an RTX 3060 Ti Big Chungus edition GPU. With the monitor's high refresh rate and smooth display, we were able to play CS2 without too much trouble. However, at $900, this system is hard to recommend due to its questionable value proposition.

**What's Next?**

We've explored our gaming system and found it capable of playing certain titles smoothly. But if you're in the market for a new build on a budget, there are definitely better options out there that offer more bang for your buck. The real challenge is finding components that balance performance with affordability, especially when dealing with used or refurbished parts.

**Newegg: The Solution to Our Refurbished GPU Upgrade Problem**

In an effort to address the potential issue of using older GPUs, Newegg has found a way to source refurbished models at a lower cost. This particular card was part of this solution and may be what saved our budget gaming system from being less desirable.

**The Price: Is it Worth It?**

Given its current price point and components, we can't say for sure that this build is the best value available in the market. With some tweaks or upgrades to individual parts, there's a chance we could improve upon the performance without breaking the bank.

**Our Verdict: A Solid Start with Room for Improvement**

Overall, our budget gaming system has shown promise, but it comes with its share of compromises and questionable design choices. While the monitor was smooth and enjoyable to use, other components were not quite as strong. Ultimately, we think there's room for improvement here - perhaps by replacing some parts or upgrading others.

**Conclusion: Is This Budget Gaming System Worth Trying Out?**

If you're in the market for a new gaming system on a budget, this build might be worth considering. It has its strengths and weaknesses, but overall, it provides an interesting combination of components that may appeal to those looking for value without sacrificing too much performance.

**What's Next for This System?**

Our journey with this system is far from over - we'll continue to monitor its performance as more components are integrated or upgraded.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Newegg now sellsrefurbished PC components,Apple products, and a whole lot more.Is it any good?So, if you go on the Newegg site,it is under the Like-New category.And the idea here is that either Neweggor their certified third partiesare refurbishing this tech,and then selling it directly on Newegg.Let's start out with graphics cards.3070 Ti for 350.3080 for 490. 2070 for 180.Wait, look at all thesethings that are out of stock.All of it is out of stock. Oh my god.So, let's just look at this 3070 TI.So, this is a ZOTAC card.It is Newegg Refreshedand it is sold and shipped by Newegg.So, this is theoretically a graphics carddirectly from Newegg.So, it does look like Newegg's $350is actually not crazy far offof what these are selling for on eBaybetween 300 and 350 bucks.Okay, that's actually not a terrible deal.Let's go to desktop PCs.There's a bunch of ABS systems.Wait, what? Wait, wait.They're all ABS systems? What is ABS?This is actually the cheapest gaming PC.And it is for $900,a Core i5 13400F and a 3060.What? Wait, hold on, hold on.So, they say this is $900,it's $100 off because it is refreshed.The fact that this is a$900 system is wild to me,because in all of sevenseconds of searching,I found a brand new desktopwhich has similar specsexcept a whole generationnewer graphics cardfor the exact same money,and it is brand new.Boy, I don't even need to buy one of theseto tell you that youshould not do this at all.Still gonna probably buy one to show you,but boy, that is just awful.Add to cart.The best selling itemon Newegg Refreshed overall is a Mac Mini?What? And it's an oldMac Mini too for $140.This is the number one best selling itemfrom Newegg Refreshed?Oh, wait here, hold on, hold on.Here's an actually decent price.A Surface Laptop 4 withRyzen 4000 series for $350.And it is a limited-timeoffer where it is $100 off.So, with that, myfriends, I have a plethoraof Newegg Refresheditems to take a look at.So, I'll see you on the other sidewhen our bountiful harvesthas come to allow us toreap what we have sown.And we have sown a lot ofquestionable decisions.There's a mix of items thatare directly from Neweggversus from their certified resellers,but all of the itemsthat we're looking at heredo qualify for this program.They're all going to havethat 90-day return policy,which is unique.That's something that, as far as I know,no one besides Newegg does.So, you could buy one of these thingsand a couple monthslater, change your mind,and they would stillallow you to return it.I would like itthey also had longwarranties along with that.But a very, very solid returnpolicy never hurt anybody.Inside, we have a Surface.Okay, well, so here'ssomething interesting.My vibes here, is this actuallyrefurbished by Microsoft?This packaging was designedwith the planet in mind,like it's actually got a bag over it,which has the Surface logo.Oh, yeah, yeah, you can see exactly.Microsoft Surface Laptop4, certified refurbished.Interesting.Let's open it up, let's see.But the outside looks phenomenal.Oh, they even got a littlepaper for the screen.This looks really impressive.I will tell you that as of this second,without actually making sure it works,but just everything I'm seeing here,the goldest of gold stars.What's the color code for gold?Give it more saturation,no even more than that.Yeah, right there, that'show gold the star is.(scorching sound effect)So far, this is very, very promising.And if I remember right,this is actually a prettygood deal on the Surface.- It costs just a mere $350.- Which is not cheap, butthis a couple of years agowhen it came out, three yearsago, I think, three, four,actually, when did the Surface 4 come out?Oh, 2021.So, this system's only a few years old.When this first came out,this was probably like a12 or $1,300 configuration.Look, the Surface ecosystem is quite nice,but I'll tell you,they don't update theirdesigns very often.The difference between thisand a brand new SurfaceLaptop is, I will tell you,quite minimal, especiallyconsidering that this is what,a third the price of what it was new?Like that's actuallyvery, very strong value.I do see a little bitof backlight bleed along the bottom edge.It's uniform though, whichalmost makes me thinkthat it might have just been like that.Oh. Oh, yeah, you can see that.So, just as I suspected,with the Windows taskbar up,it almost looks like there's a gradient.It's actually quite subtle.Here's the thing, I feel likeI'm giving this a little bitmore of a pass than I should,because it's not great tohave some LCD backlight bleed.But because it's souniform, it's on the bottom,and the taskbar will coverit up 99.9% of the time,kinda willing to give ita little bit of a pass,especially because the restof the screen does look great.And importantly,the touchscreen still seemsto be fully functional,unlike the last Surface thatwe looked at. (clears throat)Yep.So, this is running the Ryzen7 Microsoft Surface Edition,which is essentially the 4th gen Ryzen,which is pretty solid, honestly.It's an eight-core chip,tons of performance.Eight gigs of RAM, which is unfortunate.That is probably gonna beone of the limiting factors.And then, it should have the256 gig, yes, 256 gig SSD,Radeon graphics, all ofwhich seems totally fine.Now, the Surface hardware is nice.Let me do a little bit ofan evaluation to make surethat stuff like the cameraworks and everything,but if we can give it a softpass for the backlight bleedon the very bottom of the display,I'm seeing a lot of good stuff here.Speakers sound good,everything looks fine.Okay, I'm gonna do a quick typing test,just to make sure.I really like these keyboards.So, if I wanna buy essentiallythe same system today,I would be paying $1,300 for it.Mind you, it's with a 12th gen Core i7,so it's slightly upgraded,but honestly, not by a lot.And considering that this isalmost the exact same thing,it's one generation behind,and we're getting it fornot $1,300, but 350 bucks,the slight bit of backlightbleed on the bottomof the display aside,everything else hereis two huge thumbs up.And at this kind of price,that is a flaw that I'mabsolutely willing to put up with.Newegg, you might be onto something.So, this is what I am veryinterested in checking out.Now, when you look at gaming PCsthat are refurbished from Newegg,what you see are pages and pagesof stuff from ABS, ABS.com.I have a suspicion thatthis is not refurbished,but instead, it's actuallyjust new old stockthat they just weren't able to get rid of,and they put it in therefurbished section of the site.Okay, well, it justships in a Rosewill case,which that's the other thingthat's a little bit suspicious.Rosewill, I believe, isstill Newegg's house brand.So, that's why I feel like thisis not a third party thing,but, in fact, actually justNewegg's in-house PC company.I don't know that for sure,but that's my expectation.So, what have we got for our $900buying a refurbished Newegg PC?A little scratch on the back.Actually, no, you know what?That's not a little scratch.That's quite a lot ofscratching on this side.So, I guess that means it's refurbished.Great, I'm glad to knowthat it's worse than I expected it to be.What are we working with here?Well, I'll say, at firstglance, okay, cable management.They're certainly usinga cheapie power supply,because it's got the mustard cable showingas well as the very cheap heat shrink.So, I'm assumingthat they're using quitelow end components.No USB-C on this case. That's not great.If you watch our PC tutorial,I talk a little bit about how,when you plug in a motherboardand you plug in all your power connectors,that you don't have topopulate all of your CPU power,but I generally recommend it.Well take a look up here.They did not populate theextra CPU four pin right here,which like I said inthe tutorial, is fine.All right. Did they do cable management?Yeah, they did.I can't run a computer by itself.So, of course I did what any sane,rational person would do,buy a refurbished monitor from Newegg.(metal clinking)They shipped me a box thatnot only sounds like this.There's no tape on it.Look, look, I'm just gonna pull this out.So, they shipped it to me ready to open.What is making the noise?Oh, it's just hanging outin the bottom of the box.So, there's no screw to mount this.- Sounds like you got screwed.(metal clinks)(Alex chuckles)- Now, this is a 240Hz gaming monitor.Now, it's relatively low endand it was actually quite affordable.But what you're getting here is somethingthat theoretically will give you 1080pat a very high frame rate for a low price.Screen looks all right.It's slightly scuffed,but not really anythingthat I'd be concerned about.All right, let's see here.So, is our monitor on?Okay.Ah, okay, well, monitor works.That's a big 1080p display.Let's fire up our PC and see what happens.- Oh, hey.- That was a weirdly longtime to make me worried. Okay.Wow. That is some of the RG and B.So, we have an RGB CPU cooler, rear fan,these little side panel thingson the front, which is only,it's weird, so it's like onthe side and it's on the front.It is booting though, which is nice.So, with Windows set up,let's investigate, shall we?So, this is a 13th genIntel Core i5 13400F,which I will say is a perfectlyreasonable gaming CPU.It's nothing super high-end.It's paired with 16 gigabytesof DDR4 RAM, which is,as you can see, RGB, buta very cheap kit of RAM.We do have a 1 terabyte MSIhard, sorry, SSD, apologies,which is an interesting choice.And the piece deresistance is an RTX 3060.Now, if that sounds likea strange configuration,because it is.This is a generation old GPU.This is a relatively modern,but still somewhat low end CPU.It's just fine.The board is really quite cheap.The case is cheap.I'm not seeing a lot ofvalue with this system.They have a link to abs.com.I'm curious, what is ABS?I do not know anything about this brand.About. Tell me more.The gaming label Advanced Battlestations.Oh my god, is that what ABS stands for?Is that Advanced Battlestations?Ain't buying (object slaps)(Austin chuckles)Let's actually try to game on the system.See what we can do.'Cause we also want to test this monitorbefore we move on to thenext phase of our evaluation,which I will say, I'm very excited for.All right, let's just play some CS2.I feel like CS2 isactually quite a good gamefor a system like this,because we are pushing a 250Hz monitor.I'm actually curious tosee how this monitor is.So, it's certainly not avery high quality panel.I would say the contrast is not good.Obviously, I'm in the beginning here,but the contrast ispretty, it's mid at best.The refresh rate is very smooth.So, we are getting currently260 frames per second.So, we are fully saturating the monitor.It is smooth.The thing is, so this is $130 monitor.Now, the fact that it shippedwith the stand jangling aroundin the box is notreassuring, I will say that.But what you're gonna hearis support for FreeSync and 240Hz.250 technically, I thinkwould be overclocked,but I'm running at 240.The only thing I'll say about the monitorthat's less than ideal,besides the image quality,is the OSD is awful.It is so, so hard to use.But outside of that, it's pretty,it's a nice setup fora more budget system.You should turn around, my dude.Oh my god. This guy's as dumb as I am.Okay, that's enough.Here's the thing.- Hey, are you all right?- Well, it's fine.So, it's pretty clear to methat for $900, this is a terrible value.But what if I told youthat there was a solution?What if I told you that Newegghas exactly what the doctor ordered?Buy a refurbished systemthat's too expensive,spend more money on Newegg,and fix it with this.(box slams)What you might ask is this.Well, I would be more thanoverjoyed to show you.This is probably the thingI'm most excited for in thisvideo, I'm not gonna lie.Inside this boxshould be our Neweggrefurbished graphics card.(bubble wrap crinkles)Harry's?Did they send me ads with my...Whoa, hold on a second.I've got a HelloFresh ad, a Harry's ad.Is this a YouTube subscriptionbox that threw up my box?Let's see what we got here.Now, if I remember right,this was an okay value.And the idea of buying aused GPU is, well, (sighs)it's getting better, because crypto mininghas been out of fashionfor a little while.So, odds are most of the mining cardsare being flushed out of the market.They still exist,but they're becoming alittle bit more rare.You still have to be careful.And I would hope that if someone triesto trade in a thrashed mining GPU,that Newegg would probably not take that.But let's see what we got.Let's see what we got.So, nicely padded, and wow.Okay.Actually very nicely padded.That is a very long card.What the hell?I'm not sure what we'recompensating for here,but there's some compensation going on.Look at how...This is the end of the GPU.This is how long the cooler is.And then, the shroud iseven longer than that.What the?This is a ridiculously long card.With our RTX 3070 Ti BigChungus edition installed,it is showing up fine.So, 3070 Ti, 8 gigs ofRAM, yada, yada, yada.I will hop into "Counter-Strike" again,just to make sure the GPU functions.I'm sure it will be totally fine.Now, I'll be honest,no one should actually upgradefrom a 3060 to a 3070 Ti.But how much did I pay for this card?- $350.- That seems like a decent value.At first glance, buying a used, or sorry,refreshed graphics card from Neweggactually seems to be a pretty decent deal,because you're getting somethingwhich has presumablybeen tested and checked.It was well-packed.It showed up quickly,directly from Newegg, shortof a bunch of ads in the box.That part's actually fine.But what I actually want to see hereis because there's another part of this.Newegg also accepts returns,or really, they accepttrade-ins for graphics cards.So, I actually want to see what happens.How much money are theygonna give me if I tryto trade this graphicscard right back into them?Oh, they'll just tellyou the trade in value.Okay, cool.So, we need to find a 3070 Ti. $261.Interesting.So, it's like GameStop in away where they just tell you,like, oh, how much theywould take your card for.It feels like Newegg hasfluffed up their gaming PC listby just a bunch of generic ABSsystems, which are just like,I just think that they justadded a bunch of random stuffin there just to make it seemlike they have a bunch ofrefurbished gaming PCs.I would not buy arefurbished Newegg gaming PC.It's in totally decent condition,but none of these are remotelyclose to being a good value.So, this next item is the beginningof Newegg Refreshed as we know it.So, we have purchased a MacMini directly from Newegg,which has been lovinglyrefreshed and restored.And as far as I can tell, isthe number one selling itemfrom Newegg Refreshed, whichis incredibly weird to me.But let's take a look,because this was, Ithink, quite a good value.Inside, we have, well, that's a Mac Mini.And what the...This is a, okay,that's a very cheapy lookingpower cable, but that's fine.So, a 2014 Mac Mini,which I will say looked exactlythe same as new Mac Minis.This is a very affordable system.We paid less than $200 for this, right?- Yeah,we paid just under 150.- Now, looking at this system,short of a little bit ofdirt, it's quite clean.There's one decent little scuff here,but it's on the back, noone's ever gonna see that.Ports all look to be fine.This is in pretty good shape.And I forget, I think this is the Mac Miniyou could still take off or no?Didn't this open?- Also, it's 4th gen Intel.- Oh, 4th gen, oh. Eh.Okay, that's not great.Now, if you want a basic system,assuming that this was fully functional,this is not terriblefor less than 200 bucks.If it would turn on, thatwould be really great.I heard it.This is a hard drive. I hearthe hard drive clicking.I don't like the factthis is a hard drive.This has a hard drive?- Yeah, one terabyte.- Oh my god.- 5400 rpm.- Ah!I hate it.(Alex laughing)Why is this the number one bestseller?To put a lid on this,you can buy a brand new M2Mac Mini today for $600.So, every older Mac Minihas to essentially be below that price.Let's take a look to seewhat we're working with here.Okay, so here's somethingthat I am happy about.It does have 16 gigs of RAM.If I remember right, this onewas a little bit ambiguousas far as what the actual spec of it was.So, at least it does havea 16 gigabyte update,which is nice.It does have the Irisgraphics display, yep.And it does have theone terabyte hard drive,which is just disgusting.The problem is, is that youcan't really update thisto modern Mac OS.And honestly, you've got,you've got to tear this thingapart and put an SSD in it.It's time to redeem ourselves.Because, Newegg, it'sbeen a roller coaster.We've seen some great deals,3we've seen some terrible ones.But we've got two itemsto close this video out,which I think are gonnasingle-handedly save everything.First of all, we haveourselves a fully refreshed,I'm waiting for the dramaticreveal, of the iPhone S, ew.This is like Excalibur?Look how hard this thing is in here.Okay, come try it. Tryto get the iPhone out.(both laughing)(phone thuds)Ah, he got it! You brokeyour finger. (airy laughs)- Oh, man-- Well, it wassecurely packaged.We'll give them that.So, this is a second generationProduct RED iPhone SE.So, we're gonna fire this thing upand see what's up with this.I will give them that this is incredibly,incredibly clean-looking.So, we have set up the device.One of the questions I haveis on the battery though,because I think they saidthat every device would haveat least 80% battery life.Battery health is 100%.- Ooh.- Yo, this is a new iPhone.No one has used this iPhone.The fact that it is perfectly clean.I don't understand thebackstory of this thing,but this is 100% charge on iPhone SE.I'll tell you that whilethis is like a decent phone,its battery is probably oneof the biggest downsides.So, essentially, the iPhone SE,and they actually still sell this,they sell a third generation,which is a slight update from this,but essentially, this islike an old like iPhone 6or iPhone 8 style design,just with slightly more modern specs.And this is a little testof the iPhone SE camera.So, it's certainly gonna be alittle bit on the older side.There's only one lens, butwhat we're getting hereis a pretty decent phonefor the low, low price of...- $174.- I'm glad it's new.'Cause $174 is a lot for this iPhone SE,especially because I thinkyou can find iPhone SEs,admittedly, you have to getthem out of prepaid carriers,so they're gonna be locked,but for like 15 bucks.There's one very conspicuous package herethat I have been waitingto open this entire video.It is one of the items (chuckles)that you could purchase on Newegg.And I'll be real with you.This is the entire reasonwhy I wanted to do this video.Behold, my friends, the goat of all goats,the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip.- Oh my gosh, I'm so shocked.- You might be shocked.You'll also be shockedto learn that this is oneof the cheapest itemsfrom the entire video.I actually think the cheapestfolding phone anywhereon the internet, and it's dirty,as all good value should be,because if you can lookpast the filthy exterior,what you'll find is aheart of gold inside.This one has a serialnumber etched on the glass.What the (object slaps)Do you see this?That's like a serial number.Actually, I don't even know what that is,but something's etched on the glass.This was probably like acorporate phone or something.Yes, it's etched on the bottom glass too.Oh, that screen's good.Wait, the screen's good.Yes, the screen's good.This phone that cost $1,450a mere few years ago,I purchased from Newegg for $119.You heard me right.Not $1,019.Not $919.No, no, no, no, no. $119.Now, you may ask yourself,Austin, why is your voice getting high?It's almost like there'sa reason why this is $119.And to that, I would say,no, (laughs) no reason.- Are you sure?- Yeah, look, there's one slight issue,which I knew going into it,which is why I got itfor such a good deal.It might be locked.- Uh-huh. To?- It's locked to a carrierthat everyone loves.(Alex laughs)- Okay.- It's locked to Sprint.- Oh my god.- You know, Sprint ispart of T-Mobile now.I'm sure I can takethis to a T-Mobile storeand get it to activate.- They'll belike, what the hell is Sprint?- Look, it was $119. That's like 93% off.Oh no.- Is it screaming at you?- The Sprinting is beginning.Sprint network unavailable.We're sorry, we're unable toconnect to the Sprint network.But look, it says T-Mobile too.I bet you, I could takeit down to the storeand it'd be totally fine.Maybe this works, I'm not sure.(staff laughing)What the hell happened here?(staff laughing)Wait, what happened to the Mac Mini?I'd like to thank you sincerelyfor watching this video.Hopefully, you've learned something.I've learned that Newegghas a lot of stuff,and apparently, no one's bought any of it,because we're just finishing up the video,and we're looking around and realizingthat there are no reviewson any of these items.And I think I know why,because no one knowsthat this even exists.It's actually not thatbad. (clears throat)I don't know why my voiceis cracking like that.I'll see you next time.Subscribe to the channelfor Austin's Z Flip Corner,where I review stuff thatno one wants that's broken.But I got a great deal.