Spec Question for Gaming PC

petrushka

petrushka

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Dec 2, 2014
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I was looking for a new desktop when a friend's cousin told me he wanted to sell his and he's asking if I'd buy it off him. I use my laptop for work and don't actually play much games on it so I never really researched what good gaming hardware is. I figure a gaming PC would be faster than the laptop I currently have and will be helpful in my work but can anybody clarify if these are actually specs for gaming? His asking price is $400~500 but I don't know if it's worth enough to buy or if I should buy it only if I ask a lower price. It's secondhand too. The specs are supposed to be:
  • H81 Micro ATX
  • 4GB DDR3 Memory
  • 1000GB HD capacity
  • 2GB Dedicated nVidia GT610 Video card
  • Intel Pentium Dual Core G3258 3.2GHz Anniversary Edition
Is it worth it? Should I ask for a lower price? Not buy it at all? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
 
Fuck no.

Sounds like a slim line (micro atx). The RAM is low, the HD isn't that impressive, and the GPU is "meh" at best. The CPU on the other hand... That was cutting edge... 7 years ago.

You can buy a cheaper, new, one off of newegg or tigerdirect for that price. They are probably better too.

The nVidia is probably the newest thing in there and it is 3 generations old and was the lowest end card for that series when it came out.

Standard RAM is 8 gigs, which you can also fucking find for about 30-50 dollars if you wait for a "end of the month" sale.
 
Yeah, definitely not. With those specs, it's literally worth around 100-200 dollars and even then, I wouldn't recommend buying it. With a budget of $400-$500, you can go on PCPartpicker and choose your own parts. It is noob-friendly and I recommend reading some resources between attempting to build a computer. It seems like a daunting task to build a computer, but it's actually quite simple and fun.
 
Wow, I'm glad I decided to ask before buying then. He's a friend's cousin so we're more acquaintances than friends, but I didn't want to seem mistrustful if I asked my friend point blank if it was worth it.

Thank you both for being clear about this! I'll decline and maybe just build it myself. Thanks again!


@Greenwelch - I don't actually know much about parts but my budget is $500 and below. If it's no trouble, can you recommend which parts would fit within that budget for the motherboard, video card and CPU? If you can't that's fine too. Thanks in advance!
 
For your first rig I would recommend a "barebones" kit from a site. They almost always come with everything you need (although not always windows) and all you have to do is put it together.
 
Thanks @gillman! I'm searching google for barebones build right now and also looking at some those best budget build reviews to see which will fit better with the amount I'm willing to spend. Windows isn't really a requirement because I just need a fast computer for work and my essentials are simple: a fast computer that has a Word-equivalent, a Spreadsheet-equivalent, a connection to dropbox, a Photoshop-equivalent, a good browser and with good graphics. If I can play games on it that would be a wonderful bonus but I do have consoles and handhelds that I play more on, so it's not really a problem.

Thanks again!
 
It is almost never a good idea to buy a used computer except if you are going to gut it for parts. More than likely there is so much gunk in his system that it will underperform it´s specs... which are really bad to begin with.
 
I would not buy it. The specs are not even that good, and you would be better off building one yourself (as I am). I am building a high-end PC with a GTX 980 for $1,600.
 
petrushka said:
I was looking for a new desktop when a friend's cousin told me he wanted to sell his and he's asking if I'd buy it off him. I use my laptop for work and don't actually play much games on it so I never really researched what good gaming hardware is. I figure a gaming PC would be faster than the laptop I currently have and will be helpful in my work but can anybody clarify if these are actually specs for gaming? His asking price is $400~500 but I don't know if it's worth enough to buy or if I should buy it only if I ask a lower price. It's secondhand too. The specs are supposed to be:
  • H81 Micro ATX
  • 4GB DDR3 Memory
  • 1000GB HD capacity
  • 2GB Dedicated nVidia GT610 Video card
  • Intel Pentium Dual Core G3258 3.2GHz Anniversary Edition
Is it worth it? Should I ask for a lower price? Not buy it at all? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Wait a minute a Dual Core man that is a kick in the crotch. I would not even go for it. It is better than my outdated Pentium 4 but it still is not up to par with the I series like the I3, I5, and I7 cpu's. You should do your research before buying a computer. If anything you are better off buying something from newgg or maybe bestbuy online. Avoid Craigslist I would just buy some computer parts and put it together yourself with some needed guidance. It is easy to just buy a computer from someone and get shammed so hold your money until you get all your info. Besides that your friend may not be so reliable and trustworthy either so that I would question too.
 
Profit5500 said:
You should do your research before buying a computer.
Click to expand...
Yep, that's why I started this topic about it. I looked it up on google but when you have such limited knowledge in the first place, the comparisons and reviews were just going past my head, you know? My google skills probably failed me but it's also probably I just lack the basics to understand it, haha!

Besides that your friend may not be so reliable and trustworthy either so that I would question too.
Click to expand...
Well, I don't know about being reliable but since this guy's family, I opted not to ask, haha. I'm glad I posted here though yeah? Since the specs are apparently so outdate and the price so high.
 
petrushka said:
Yep, that's why I started this topic about it. I looked it up on google but when you have such limited knowledge in the first place, the comparisons and reviews were just going past my head, you know? My google skills probably failed me but it's also probably I just lack the basics to understand it, haha!


Well, I don't know about being reliable but since this guy's family, I opted not to ask, haha. I'm glad I posted here though yeah? Since the specs are apparently so outdate and the price so high.
Click to expand...
That is why it is good to keep yourself aware of what your friends do when they tell you that they have a computer to sell. Research is the best bet in finding out if something worth its price. Just make sure the info is actually legit first.
 
You should only buy the computer if you want to. Your cousin’s friend will get over it when you tell him that you cannot buy the PC. Computers are very sensitive and an unseen problem may pop up when you start using the desktop. Why not buy a new one like you first intended to? Why is your cousin’s friend so eager to sell off his PC?
 
Hello! What you have is something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($52.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: A-Data Premier Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($45.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint M8 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($63.49 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GT 610 2GB Video Card ($39.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 342 (Black) MicroATX Mini Tower Case w/400W Power Supply ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq 350W ATX Power Supply ($22.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $334.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-07 10:01 EST-0500

As you can see. You can easily get something like this for $334 brand new. Second hand should be way cheaper.
 
Here's my recommended build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($61.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda ES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($194.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($28.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $514.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-07 10:11 EST-0500

This CPU will allow you to multitask with 6 cores. You will have 8GB of RAM, which you can upgrade when you have the budget for it. The GTX 960 will allow you to play most games at medium settings. The 500W PSU by EVGA is a reliable one that will allow you to overclock slightly or upgrade your graphics card if you choose to do so. You can remove the 1TB HDD and replace it with an SSD if you already have a HDD. An SSD will significantly boost your OS boot time and loading times in games.
 
Do not get that. Most games run optimal on 8gb ram. That rig is outdated and for the price he is asking you, you could build your own 100 times better.
 
RonaldG said:
Here's my recommended build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($61.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda ES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($194.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($28.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $514.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-07 10:11 EST-0500

This CPU will allow you to multitask with 6 cores. You will have 8GB of RAM, which you can upgrade when you have the budget for it. The GTX 960 will allow you to play most games at medium settings. The 500W PSU by EVGA is a reliable one that will allow you to overclock slightly or upgrade your graphics card if you choose to do so. You can remove the 1TB HDD and replace it with an SSD if you already have a HDD. An SSD will significantly boost your OS boot time and loading times in games.
Click to expand...

I question your Seagate choice, but everything else seems decent. The GTX960 should be able to handle more than medium settings. I have a GTX760 and I run everything on max, with a relatively high fps still (>100, usually >200). Although the fact I have an AMD FX-8350 (8x4.0GHz) probably helps with that.
 
Seagate because it's cheap and this guy is on a budget. You can always swap it out for a Western Digital or Hitachi one for a longer life span. But if you want reliable, I would just recommend you get an SSD.
 
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