Looking for advice

[howboutthat]

I'd appreciate any opinions regarding my transition towards PC gaming. About a month ago I've decided to build a gaming rig with a max budget of $1000 excluding peripherals. Recently though, I took an interest in searching for second-hand mid-high range setups on kijiji. I stumbled across one that contains the following:

Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster E2220 22.5 Inches 1920x1080
Processor: i5 2500k 3.3Ghz Quad Core
Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 570
Memory: 8GB DDR3 Ram
Hard Drive: 1TB Hard Drive
Case: Corsair 600T
Power Supply: Corsair TX750V2
MotherBoard: Asus P8Z68-V LE (has USB 3.0)
Mouse: Razer Abyssus
Mousepad: Razer Goliathus
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

I offered about $850, and he obviously declined given the loss he'd take from such a transaction. Fast forward a couple days, he contacts me and we agree on $875 for everything. Even though I don't need the peripherals, this seems like a really good deal.

Reason for why I registered on this forum is just to get opinions from an educated community. I've been lurking here for a while, and have been impressed with how constructive most threads turnout thanks to the regular members. Regarding the gpu (the gigabyte version) and mobo, I'm a bit worried after reading reviews from newegg. My thinking is that if he's had the system for nearly three months (says he build it in Jan), hardware issues worthy of an RMA would've surfaced by now. Everything is warranted anyway, but I'm just wondering what to look out for, or how to test for stability, etc.

If this deal doesn't fall through, I'll just go back to my original plan to order my own parts sans monitor and accessories, but I'll post a new thread about that when Ivy Bridge becomes available, and hopefully midrange kepler's will release shortly after.

Some additional info is that I'm looking to game in 1080p on high settings. I'm aware that the mobo doesn't have sufficient PCI lanes for multiple gpus, but I think that the 570 should be sufficient. I'm looking to keep this setup for 2-3 years without upgrading.

Any criticisms or opinions are welcome!

 

[lehtv]

$875 is a very good price for that. If you ordered all that new, you'd be paying $1300 or so.

Everything is warranted anyway, but I'm just wondering what to look out for, or how to test for stability, etc.

I don't think warranty is transferable to a second owner in most cases. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

What is it exactly that's making you worried regarding the newegg reviews?

 

[howboutthat]

What is it exactly that's making you worried regarding the newegg reviews?

I guess I was being overly cautious, thinking that anything lesser than a five star average would be prone to causing problems down the line. I wanted to bring that up here in case one of you had firsthand experience with these specific components.

Regarding the mobo, most 1 eggs seem to have been DOA and I've only spotted one review where the audio went bad after a month. I suppose I shouldn't worry since it's now 3 months old.

Thanks for mentioning the warranty, I was unaware about that. I'll be looking at manufacturer's websites later when I get home to make a decision then, but you're right in that the price is too good to pass up.

 

[lehtv]

Also, even if one of the components happened to be faulty or start to malfunction down the line, and you had no warranty to fall back on, it'd still be cheaper to buy this setup and replace the faulty item with a new one.

 

[howboutthat]

Yeah, that's one of my reasons for just picking it up. I'm just hoping it's not the mobo, I'm worried I may damage the cpu while trying to
remove the hsf. Doubt it'll come to that, although I do plan on replacing it with an aftermarket cooler for overclocking.
Thanks for your comments! Most likely I'll have it all setup by tonight.

 

[Topweasel]

Yeah, that's one of my reasons for just picking it up. I'm just hoping it's not the mobo, I'm worried I may damage the cpu while trying to
remove the hsf. Doubt it'll come to that, although I do plan on replacing it with an aftermarket cooler for overclocking.
Thanks for your comments! Most likely I'll have it all setup by tonight.

New CPU's from Intel have no pin's and an integrated heat spreader. That means the worse you could do outside putting epoxy on the bottom of the CPU, is ruin the Mobo that you wanted to replace anyways.

 

[howboutthat]

New CPU's from Intel have no pin's and an integrated heat spreader. That means the worse you could do outside putting epoxy on the bottom of the CPU, is ruin the Mobo that you wanted to replace anyways.

Oh, that's fortunate. Thanks for the info!

 

[DSF]

I guess I was being overly cautious, thinking that anything lesser than a five star average would be prone to causing problems down the line. I wanted to bring that up here in case one of you had firsthand experience with these specific components.

Regarding the mobo, most 1 eggs seem to have been DOA and I've only spotted one review where the audio went bad after a month. I suppose I shouldn't worry since it's now 3 months old.

Thanks for mentioning the warranty, I was unaware about that. I'll be looking at manufacturer's websites later when I get home to make a decision then, but you're right in that the price is too good to pass up.

Generally speaking, warranties don't transfer with ownership. It can't hurt to look the parts up, though.

My XFX 8800GT, which is still ticking, came with an extremely generous (they advertised it as "Gamer Friendly") warranty. Not only is it a lifetime warranty that includes the right for me to install aftermarket cooling and overclock the card under warranty, it also contains a one-time transfer clause. If I ever sell it, the buyer can register with XFX and still get full warranty coverage.

That machine is a great deal, and I wouldn't worry too terribly much about motherboard reviews that are in the 4-star range. Keep in mind that a person with a bad experience is much more likely to post than a person with an uneventful experience, skewing the results down. Also, those midrange motherboards sometimes fall victim to the whole "my board works fine, but I wish it were blue and had 9 SATA ports, so I'm giving it 3 stars" kind of posts. If you wanted 9 SATA ports, why didn't you buy a different motherboard instead of leaving a mediocre review on a part that does exactly what it claimed to do?

As long as you're careful you shouldn't hurt any parts in a motherboard and/or cooler swap. Is this your first time tinkering around inside a machine?

The one thing I would want to be careful about is the idea of buying a used computer anonymously over the internet. Is it being shipped, or are you picking it up in person? Do you have any kind of recourse if the whole thing is just in terrible shape when you get it? Do you know how the seller will be packing and shipping it?

 

[howboutthat]

The one thing I would want to be careful about is the idea of buying a used computer anonymously over the internet. Is it being shipped, or are you picking it up in person? Do you have any kind of recourse if the whole thing is just in terrible shape when you get it? Do you know how the seller will be packing and shipping it?

I'm picking it up in person, so I have the opportunity to test it out before taking it home.

No, it wouldn't be my first time tinkerin with the innards of a pc tower, but it's been a while. Regarding the less-than-perfect reviews, you're right in that those who are unsatisfied are the most vocal, so I'm not that worried about parts dying out.

I have all the assurance I need to make this deal. Thanks guys, I'll update this thread should I have any more questions.

 

[mfenn]

Yeah, that's one of my reasons for just picking it up. I'm just hoping it's not the mobo, I'm worried I may damage the cpu while trying to
remove the hsf. Doubt it'll come to that, although I do plan on replacing it with an aftermarket cooler for overclocking.
Thanks for your comments! Most likely I'll have it all setup by tonight.

Unless the original owner did something ridiculous like glue the HSF to the CPU, there is pretty much zero chance of damaging the CPU by removing and replacing the HSF. You won't even have to remove the CPU from its socket.