Used PC,Does it pays off to buy used components

[laze]

Does it pays off to buy used components monitor,psu,cpu,mb,ram,ssd/nvme/hdd,gpu,

[sam_sam_sam]

It really depends on how much money you are having to spend on them to weather or not it is worth it or not from time to time I buy certain computer series [ if I can find the recovery disk and can restore it to way it was new ] ( This is a high prerequisite to weather or not I will buy one or not ) but I only pay no more than $30.00 for one unless it has a decent hard drive and decent amount of memory then I might be willing to spend more on it than $30.00 but if it does not have a hard drive or memory then $40.00 tops

But you are taking a chance that either it works correctly and has no obvious issues or you might have some issues that could possibly overlook it just depends on how honest the seller is to weather or not it is worth or not

Here is a computer that I bought from this seller

https://www.ebay.com/itm/363858961817

[dmill89]

Allot depends on what you're buying and what your expectations are. After the better part of a decade of stagnation in the 2010s there have been some pretty big jumps in performance over the last 3-4 years often making used components not as much of a value as they once were. Alos note that anything prior to 8th gen intel "I" series (aside from a couple supported 7th gen chips) and 3xxx series Ryzen CPUs are not officially supported by windows 11 (there are workarounds but there is no guarantee that Microsoft will continue to provide updates for these systems) if that is a concern for you. As sam_sam_sam mentioned there is always some risk when buying uses systems/components as well. But assuming you're not planning on building a "high-end" gaming machine or workstation with them used parts can offer decent value.

For specific categories:
-CPUs are pretty safe to buy used (though be wary of bent pins on CPUs that have them).
-RAM is also pretty safe.
-Used SSDs are almost never worthwhile (they usually cost nearly as much as a new one).
-Used HDDs may be ok if the seller provides a SMART report indicating the drive is in good condition and low-hours, but only if you're getting the for substantially less than a new drive (and anytime you get used storage plan on wiping it before use, you never know what might be on a used drive, and you don't want to go plugging a drive full of malware into a system you care about).
-Used PSUs generally only make sense for higher-end models and only if they can be had at a significant discount.
-Used motherboards and GPUs are fairly high-risk parts (lots of things that can go wrong with these), but may make sense at the right price, and/or the seller offers a good warranty.
-Monitors are generally large and fragile making them expensive to ship on platforms like ebay, which often negates most of the savings of buying used, though if you can find one for sale locally for a good price it make ban an option (though monitors are also higher-risk parts for failures).

For complete PCs, be aware that most somewhat recent "commodity" (Dell, Lenovo, HP, etc.) pre-built PCs have proprietary power supplies and motherboards limiting upgrade options (and making repairs more difficult and costly). If you plan to add a GPU be sure the included PSU can handle it (generally look for workstations or "gaming" oriented systems for decent PSUs) as upgrading it is often difficult and expensive, and in some cases not possible (at least without some serious hacks).

[sam_sam_sam]

Allot depends on what you're buying and what your expectations are..

Very well said and very good advice for buying used computers hardware

i would also add this for you to be cautious about is CPU that have the pins on the socket on the motherboard that they are not bent I have not found a way to fix this issue

Laptops I tend to stay away from unless they business type laptops with the feature that you are looking for and can see the bios screen and if the operating system is load ask for the device manager screen to be shown so you can see if there are any issues with drivers not installing also be prepared to buy a new battery for it because 9 times out of ten the battery will have issues

[pickledegg]

I've bought used everything aside from hard drives and SSDs. I'm npt entirely sure why exactly but it's probably because I know these are essentially wear items with a finite life, I'd rather just spend more to get the maximum amount of time from them.

I also buy used laptops because I like high specifications and can rarely afford these new, used is pretty much my only option but I like to think I know what I'm looking at. I'm sure I'll get burned one day but it hasn't happened yet, every 4-5 years I'll buy a new high spec laptop that is a couple of years old at most and it has always been fine but these are often fragile devices with a lot of potential points of failure so buyer beware, then again we fix things around here don't we?

[ChaosLegionnaire]

for hard drives, newer is not always better. according to research from backblaze and google, hard drives often fail either before their first year (infant mortality) or after 3-5 years of running (old age failure). therefore, it is okay to buy hard drives aged between 1-3 years old as it has reached its stable age phase. just look at the smart screenshots provided by the seller.

for ssds, look at the smart screenshots provided by the seller if any, like the hard drives. in particular, look at the wear leveling count smart attribute. i scored some cheap ssds with only a few drive writes or none at all on them, so it was a good steal.