Used PC builds: What are they worth?

Kenneth Harris3 said:I don't buy that logic because not all models or brands are created equal. It's just like an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070—you could pick one up for $500 or shell out $700 for another. They're both an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, but are they identical? Of course not...
So you're basically arguing that if I bought one for $500 and another for $700, I should be able to sell them both for the exact same price? That's just absurd.

Market laws aren't absurd. If someone hands you $2,500, quit complaining and start celebrating.😁

Kenneth Harris3 said:That doesn't sit right with me because you can't just lump all models and brands together. It’s the same deal with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070—you might find one for $500, but then see another for $700. They're all technically an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, but are they actually the same? No, they aren't...
Look, if you're telling me I bought this one for $500 or the more expensive version for $700, how am I supposed to sell them both for the same price? It's absurd.

They aren't identical when you look at things like cooling, factory overclocking, or warranty coverage, but performance-wise, the gap between the top-tier and bottom-tier models is only a few percent. Honestly, it’s probably smarter to go with the cheaper models that offer a 3-year warranty—just make sure to check the reviews first to ensure you aren't picking up a dud with terrible thermal performance. That happens more often than you'd think.

So, you're basically saying it doesn't matter if it's a Corsair RGB model or just a standard EVGA. You're definitely going to want that warranty, and honestly, nobody is going to pay a premium price just for some flashy LEDs, a fancy cooler, or an extra 0.6 FPS on average.
Especially given the current circumstances, especially since a new generation is hitting the market with a whole different level of performance, just like Adam Moore3 mentioned earlier.

Honestly, that’s exactly why you never see people in this community dropping cash on those overpriced high-end cards. They just aren't worth the extra money.

Kenneth Harris3 said:I don't buy that logic because not every model or brand is the same. It's just like an RTX 3070—you can find one for $500 or as high as $700. They're all technically an RTX 3070, but are they identical? No...
So you're basically implying that if I bought my card for $500 or a premium version for $700, I should be able to sell them both for the same amount. That's absurd.

That's like trying to sell a used car and demanding full price for the sunroof, the custom rims, or the premium upholstery. Sure, maybe it helps move the car, but buyers look at the make, model, and mileage first. You can't expect to sell used gear for the same price—or more—than a brand-new, boxed unit.

P.S.

Anyone dropping $700 on an RTX 3070 is a fool when they could get a much better deal on an RX6800 or an RTX3080 once things settle down—right now, prices are a complete circus.

wiredotter14 said:P.S.

Anyone buying an RTX 3070 for $700 is a fool. For that kind of money, you could get a much more powerful RX 6800 or even an RTX 3080—assuming either card actually becomes available. Right now, all these prices are just ridiculous.

It will probably take six months before prices stabilize at all.
The situation with the RTX 3000 series is a preview of what's coming for Intel; high demand paired with low supply always leads to inflated pricing.

Fortunately, I did fine with my RTX 2070 SUPER, so I should be set for a while. I didn't pay much for it, luckily.

Look, 3070s are sitting at around $700 now (over in Germany), which isn't quite as insane compared to the MSRP as the 3080 was. I'm thinking things might stabilize a bit early next year. But honestly, that doesn't change much when you're trying to offload a used card for the price of a brand-new one. Buying an RTX 2000 series at its original MSRP right now is just madness—just like how it was total insanity to grab an i7 7700 k for $833 back when Coffee lak first dropped, regardless of whether you could actually find the latest tech on the shelves.

Obviously, buying an RTX 2000 series at these current prices isn't a smart move. However, if there were a solid sale—say, a 30-40% discount off the current MSRP—then I suppose it would definitely be worth it.
Looking at the pricing for AMD 3000 series CPUs, prices haven't really dropped much. I expect they might fall further once the new series officially hits the market.

I guess the reason 3000 series prices aren't dropping is because AMD raised the price on their newest lineup. Plus, retail prices have spiked lately. Right now, even the entry-level chip in the 5000 series is sitting around $400, so not everyone can justify dropping that kind of cash just for a 15-20% boost over the 3000 series. It’ll be a relief if this current generation doesn't get more expensive too.

As for an alternative, this Intel processor serves as a decent replacement for the I7-7700, priced at just over $200 and it's a pretty great chip.

Edward Thompson86 said:Obviously, you shouldn't be picking up an RTX 2000 series card at these current prices, but if there was a solid sale—say, 30-40% off what they're sitting at now—then I think it'd definitely be worth it.
Looking at the AMD 3000 series CPU prices, they haven't really dropped yet, even though we expect them to dip once the new series hits the market.

I suspect the reason those 3000 series prices aren't budging is because AMD hiked the price on the new lineup, and retail prices have spiked too. Right now, even the entry-level chip in the 5000 series is hovering around $400, so not everyone can just drop that kind of cash for a mere 15-20% boost over the 3000 series—unless this new generation stays affordable.

As for an alternative to the I7-7700, this Intel processor priced slightly above $200 is actually a great choice.

The main issue here is that you bought a 2070S and paired it with a 700W low-end power supply, and then you have the nerve to claim that PSU has some sort of review when there isn't a single one out there!!!

Alexander Moore67 said:It matters that you bought a 2070S and paired it with a 700W low-end power supply, yet you're still lecturing me about reviews when there isn't a single one out there!!!

I wasn't talking about an external review. I was reading their official product page for that specific model. They were bragging about how high-quality it is, or so I gathered.

Timothy Kim60 said:NESHO95 - just grab a new i3 10100f (it's basically an i7 7700) for $210 and an H410 board for $150—you'll get 3 years of warranty out of it too 😁

If you're holding onto old i7 or i5 chips—even the ones that used to be flagships—just accept that they aren't worth much anymore. Not that there isn't always some guy lost in time and space willing to overpay for them.

By the way, regarding this i3—is there anything specific I should look for in terms of the motherboard or RAM to actually get decent performance? I know Ryzen builds thrive on high-quality PCBs and fast RAM speeds, but does this chip have similar requirements?

Anthony Jackson2 said:Regarding this i3—anything specific I should look for when picking a motherboard and RAM to get the most out of it? I know Ryzen chips love boards with solid power delivery and fast RAM speeds; does this Intel setup have similar demands?

Not really. If you're looking at an i3, you're likely sticking to an H410 board to keep costs down anyway (buying a high-end Z490 makes zero sense here), so your RAM speed is basically capped at 2667MHz. Not that Intel is overly sensitive to that. Just grab a cheap 2x8GB kit and call it a day. Capacity matters way more than frequency in this bracket.
Maybe hunt for a board with decent VRM heatsinks if you actually care about longevity.

Anthony Jackson2 said:Regarding this i3, is there anything specific I should look for when picking out the motherboard and RAM to really squeeze the most performance out of it? I know Ryzen builds usually benefit from motherboards with solid PCB quality and high-speed RAM, does this chip have similar requirements?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/products/asus-prime-h410m-e
This board features 4 RAM slots and decent cooling.

He’s telling me to just grab a basic H410—yet here you are, sending me links to a $100 motherboard 🤣

wiredotter14 said:It isn't necessary. Honestly, if you're sticking to a budget and going with an H410 motherboard (since grabbing an overclocking Z490 makes zero sense here), your memory speed is capped at 2667MHz anyway, but that isn't a huge deal for Intel.

That’s a misconception. Intel scales just as well with faster RAM—maybe for different reasons than Ryzen does, but the scaling is definitely there. Somehow, the media has just made it seem like Ryzen is the only one that benefits from it.

Take this i7 7700 k as an example; it's the closest thing to that i3.



Or look at this i9 setup using RAM up to 4000mhz.



You can see the same trend in older socket 1155 and 1150 i5 systems running DDR3. It's just that back then, we didn't realize it. Either the testing wasn't thorough, or games simply weren't demanding enough and GPUs weren't nearly as powerful.

Here is how four sticks of RAM compare to two (meaning four ranks of chips, which would be the same result if you used two dual-rank sticks).



In fact, it might even turn out that Intel scales slightly more.

So, even with Intel, especially if you're aiming for high-end performance and trying to squeeze out every last drop of power, you really need fast RAM and four memory ranks. It's all about maximizing that potential.

@Tijs budući

Since the CPU is $217 and the motherboard is $150, there's really no point in trying to push for extreme performance. You won't lose any noticeable FPS when pairing it with mainstream graphics cards (and nowadays, mainstream GPUs start around $1000). This combo (CPU + mobo) actually costs less than a decent mid-range motherboard for any other socket. You can run it for 2, 3, or 5 years depending on how intensive your usage is, and once you're done, you haven't lost much. Even then, you still get some value back; the loss is measured in a few dozen dollars, which is peanuts for technology. Plus, it’s upgradeable to a CPU with more cores and threads, though whether those will even be available or worth it by then is anyone's guess. You might upgrade, or it might make more sense to sell it and grab whatever the best deal is at that time. Either way, don't overthink it—whatever path you take, this is a solid, cost-effective move.

My plan is just to grab this as a temporary fix—I'll pair it with my 1660S, which might actually stick around for a while anyway. Honestly, I don't really care about 4K resolution or ultra-high settings when I'm gaming.

Knowing myself, "temporary" usually means five or six years—but down the road, I can always swap in an i5 or i7 on the motherboard and get a decent boost by doubling the RAM.

Anthony Jackson2 As specified by:
He tells me to just grab a basic H410, yet you're sending me links for a board that costs $100. 🤣

What's so funny, old man?

Anthony Jackson2 said:The whole idea is to grab this as a temporary fix and pair it with a 1660S, which might end up staying in the build anyway. Honestly, I don't really care about 4K resolution or ultra-high detail settings when gaming.

Knowing how I operate, "temporary" usually turns into five or six years. But down the road, I can always swap in an i5 or an i7 on this motherboard and squeeze out more performance by doubling my RAM.

I’ve added a bit more detail to my previous post, so take a look. That’s basically the plan.

@Alexander Moore67/">@@Alexander Moore67

Hey Gogo, why are you so on edge? You’re constantly reacting so defensively. I’m not looking to debate fake hardware here, and nobody is trying to provoke you...
You've been right on the verge of losing it several times before; let's not make this a situation where we have to start managing your temper.

@Timothy Kim60/">@@Timothy Kim60

I remember that video about using four sticks—you know, the whole dual rank memory thing.
I didn't quite wrap my head around the full story back then. The general rule was always that faster RAM might squeeze out maybe 5% more performance, though on Ryzen you get a bit more since it bumps up the Infinity Fabric clock. Now it turns out that in plenty of scenarios, you're actually looking at 10%+

What did I miss? Is it just the testing methodology or what? Like you said, it's similar to the i7 7700 k situation where everything is measured on basically the same CPUs, and the "common wisdom" has always been that the performance gain is just a few percent.

I’m not entirely sure why, but I think the idea that performance gains are exclusive to Ryzen because of the Infinity Fabric is total nonsense. Generally speaking, across all processors, gaming performance scales with RAM speed when you're pairing them with a high-end GPU—whether it’s an Intel or a Ryzen, or whether you're running an old Intel Haswell or a "modern" Comet Lake setup. As we know, Intel doesn't use CCX designs, chiplets, or Infinity Fabric. A friend of mine actually saw this firsthand using an older i5 and i7 (Devil's Canyon) setup; switching from 1600MHz RAM to 2133/2400MHz while running a GTX 1070 made a very noticeable difference...

The tech media only really caught on to this and started focusing on it once Ryzen hit the scene. If I recall, Digital Foundry was the only one making these claims regarding Haswell or Devil's Canyon architectures back in the day, but since their testing results didn't align with everyone else's, nobody took them seriously—myself included.

As for this whole business with four RAM sticks—or having four memory ranks—that's also news to me, though I've been hearing more about it lately with the Ryzen 5000 series. Steve from Hardware Unboxed actually tested the specific part I linked quite a while ago, but I wasn't aware of it at the time. It turns out that if you want a true high-end gaming rig, you basically have to load up on 32GB of RAM using four sticks. It's hard to find decent 8GB dual-rank modules to just use two of them, and there's no point in using four 4GB sticks, so the reality is you end up needing four 8GB sticks...

It likely comes down to how the CPU accesses the memory. AMD released their "SAM" feature based on a similar concept, which I believe NVIDIA is planning to roll out as well.



It’s been confirmed that it doesn't make a difference when you switch from PCIe 4.0 to 3.0. Furthermore, NVIDIA is announcing a similar feature that will be open to all platforms, meaning it won't be restricted to just the Ryzen 5000 series or the 500 chipset.

I'm basically asking for some help figuring out a fair price here.

Just for all those self-proclaimed experts—you know, the ones who are notoriously bad at actually valuing used parts—here’s a little reality check.

I listed my AORUS GeForce® RTX 2060 SUPER™ 8G, and within 24 hours, I had four people calling me. I ended up selling it for $400—though I easily could have held out for $450, which was my original asking price on eBay. Honestly, I didn't feel like dealing with endless back-and-forth messages and wasn't exactly hurting for the cash, so I knocked $30 off for the guy since he could pick it up the same day. ☕

Enough said. Now I can't stop thinking about what I was told earlier: "Good luck, buddy—you'll be lucky if you even get $350 for that card." 🤦

Fair enough.
And hats off to the guys buying used GPUs for a few hundred bucks less than retail.