What should I do with a high-end gaming PC I won in a competition?

Hey everyone,

If I’ve posted this in the wrong subforum, mods, please feel free to move it. This isn't an ad—I'm just looking for some advice because the situation is a bit unusual.

A buddy of mine won a beast of a rig at a Blizzard Entertainment tournament about two weeks ago. He honestly has zero use for it and wants to offload it.

Here are the specs:

CPU - AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
Cooler - Scythe Fuma 2
M/B - MSI MAG B550 Motherboard
RAM - Corsair Vengeance RAM 64 GB (2x32) DDR4 3200
VGA - ZOTAC GeForce RTX 3090 Trinity OC 24 GB GDDR6X
PS - EVGA 1000 GQ 80+ Gold 1000W
SSD - Kingston NV1 1000 GB M.2 2280
CASE - Eclipse 5400A

Craigslist? Is it actually realistic to expect someone to cough up $10000 for a pre-built PC like this? Or would it be smarter to sell it off piece by piece?

What would you guys do if you were in his shoes?

Thanks for any input.

I think $10 is overkill and honestly just a shop deal (the GPU and CPU are $4.75, but the rest isn't worth nearly that much—especially if you're actually looking to drop $4.75 on a 5900X and an RTX 3090)

Did he at least get a receipt or some kind of warranty for it?

Prices are only going down since new CPUs and GPUs are hitting the market, so keep that in mind—in a few months, this won't even be top-tier anymore, just mid-to-high end.

A new rig like that would probably run you about $20,000 in a store today. So, realistically, if they want to move it, they’d need to ask for something closer to $15,000. But honestly? That's going to be a tough sell when you consider they almost certainly don't have the original receipt or any kind of warranty left.

Respect, man,

Thanks for chiming in.

@wiredotter14/">@@wiredotter14 - He didn't get an invoice. Like I said, my buddy won this thing in an international online competition. It arrived about a week after he won, fully assembled, and even included all the original packaging for the individual components. Yeah, I get it—it’s a bit of a gray area since it was a prize and doesn't come with a standard warranty, but looking at the parts, everything is clearly brand new. They just powered it on to make sure it worked, then shut it right back down.

@Patrick Diaz49/">@@Patrick Diaz49 - I strongly disagree that a build like this would cost $20k in a retail store. Just look at this $20k rig from Best Buy. Let’s be real: the machine my friend won absolutely eats that thing for breakfast, and honestly, it could probably take on a Dell Precision and still have room for dessert.

Look, I’ll take the computer off your hands, but in exchange, you’re going to have to keep your colleague in check so I don't end up losing my temper and treating him like a stray cat.
Tell him not to expect anything better than that.😒

Terry Murphy76 said:Respect, man.

Thanks for the heads-up.

@wiredotter14/">@@wiredotter14 - He didn't get a receipt. Like I said, the guy won this in an international online contest. The rig arrived about a week after the win (fully built), and it came with all the original packaging for the components too. Yeah, it’s a bit of a gray area because it was a prize, so there's no warranty, but looking at the parts listed, everything is brand new. They just turned it on to make sure it booted... then shut it down.

@Patrick Diaz49/">@@Patrick Diaz49 - I wouldn't say a setup like that goes for $2,000 in a store. For instance, look at this $2,000 build from Best Buy. Let's be real: the machine this guy won eats that thing for breakfast and still asks a Dell Precision for a snack.

What you linked there is priced based on old shortage rates (or they're just hunting customers who aren't paying attention). Is that link a "worse" deal for $2k than yours is for $3k? Maybe. But that doesn't mean yours is actually worth $3k.
Plus, it doesn't exactly eat it for breakfast. A 3090 is maybe 10-15% faster than a 6800XT at 4K, where you won't even see much difference between a 5600X and a 5900X.


Bottom line: neither that rig is worth $3,000, nor is the one in the link worth $2,000. Before that—maybe $1,500 under normal prices—and even then, only if someone actually wants to buy at current retail prices, which are still way too high since the next gen of GPUs is going to demolish the current lineup. 🙂🙂

at the end of the day, it's pretty tricky because of the warranty situation. You might find someone who desperately wants a killer PC and cares more about saving a few hundred bucks than having a warranty. On the flip side, not many people drop that kind of cash on a computer unless they hit that specific sweet spot: wanting to save money, but not wanting to wait months to get something significantly better with a full warranty.

@bluecyclist64/">@@bluecyclist64, you doing okay?

Forget those comparisons involving the 6800XT and 5600X...

If you look at retail prices, the GPU is $3.25, the CPU is $1100, the motherboard is 1000, memory is 1500, the cooler is 300, SSD is 800, power supply is 1500, and the case is 500.
Take 30% off that total since there’s no warranty; it helps attract buyers because, let's face it, people are a little picky about buying pre-built rigs through online classifieds.

Personally, though, I wouldn't slash the price that much. This rig is a beast, and it’ll stay a beast for at least another five years. Think of it this way: an RTX 3090 today is basically what an RTX 4070 is now, or even what an RTX 5060 will be later. It's got enough muscle to handle everything for years to come.

bluecyclist64 said:Look, I’ll take the PC off your hands, and in exchange, I’ll make sure your buddy doesn't beat himself up trying to get aggressive.
Tell him not to expect a better deal than this.😒

Honestly, bluecyclist64, for what you do on a computer, a keyboard is more than enough. 😁

As for the other part... the guy is nearly half our age, he's 6'6" and holds a black belt, so... 😁

wiredotter14 said:At the end of the day, it's pretty tricky because of that warranty situation. I mean, maybe there’s someone who desperately wants a killer rig and saving a few thousand bucks is more important to them than a warranty. But then again, most people aren't dropping that kind of cash on a computer, so you have to find that specific buyer who wants to save money but also doesn't want to wait months for something significantly better that actually comes with a warranty.

Yeah, I'm with you there. 👍

That's why I even started this thread—to help out a buddy since the whole thing is such a headache... but based on the latest updates, it looks like the lucky winner is keeping the machine after all.

wiredotter14 said:@bluecyclist64/">@@bluecyclist64, you doing okay?

If he had written anything else, we'd know he wasn't fine. 😁

granitegardener said:But I wouldn't sell it that cheap. This PC is a beast, and it's going to stay a beast for at least another five years... just think about it: an RTX 3090 today is basically what an RTX 4070 is now, or an upcoming RTX 5060. It'll be running everything easily for years to come...

Looks like that's exactly how it's going to go.

---

Thanks to everyone for reaching out and sharing your thoughts.

He should try listing it on Craigslist for a few weeks and see if anyone actually bites.

If nobody shows interest, he might as well just keep it and enjoy it. Or, he could sell it for half what he paid; even then, he’d still be coming out ahead.

He should just sell off the components individually. It’d probably be a much easier sell that way. He could always hold onto a few things, like the RAM or the SSD... depending on what he actually needs.

Terry Murphy76 said:@Patrick Diaz49/">@@Patrick Diaz49 - I really don't think that setup would cost $20k in a retail store. Take a computer from Best Buy priced at $20k, for instance. Let’s be honest, the rig our buddy just won eats that thing for breakfast and still expects a couple of Dell Precision workstations to stay full.

Just head over to PCPartPicker, plug in all the components, and you'll see this build is actually way under $20k...

Just because someone doesn't know how to pick out individual parts and instead looks at pre-built systems at Best Buy, doesn't mean this build is worth $40k just because... well, that's how they price things there.

$1,500 is about the absolute limit for this. Nobody is going to lose their mind and drop more than $2k on it.