Advice on pricing a gaming pc

ladymarmalade222

I am looking at getting my son a gaming pc for Xmas and have been doing a bit of research on companies that build them and deals on hot deals.

I have found somebody selling one which is only 4 months old. Could anybody tell what is a fair price for the spec below on a 4 month old pc.

Asus Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 (4GB)
Intel Core i5-4690K CPU (QUAD CORE 3.5GHz)
Asus B85-PRO Gamer Motherboard
Kingston HyperX FURY Black 8GB RAM
Samsung 120gb SSD
1TB of main storage
Master Hyper212 EVO CPU fan
600 Watt Corsair PSU
Samsung DVD writer
TP-LINK 450Mbps wireless adapter
Vantage Midi ATX PC Gaming Tower

I would have liked 16gb Ram but can add this cheaply.

Many thanks for any advice received.

xx

forgotmyname

I would be wondering why they built a gaming rig and selling only 4 months later.

What games will he be playing on what screen res? Compared similar brand new machines on ebay and other places?

ladymarmalade222

The story was he built it for a friend who then let him down. Says he has used it as a second PC for past few months.

The main game for my son is ARK which I know is still in development but I also need something that can be upgraded.

I have seen similar specced machines but the components in this rig look OK quality wise. Do you have an idea of value?

Thanks for your help

Xx

GunJack

second-hand, no knowledge of who's used it for what, I'd not touch it personally. With a spec like that I would suspect he's probably having some issues with it hence wanting to offload it, you can build/buy a perfectly reasonable gaming rig for around £450-ish these days, and it'll be new rather than used of unknown pedigree....

Cisco001

GTX 970 £250
i5 4690K £180
B85 mobo £85
CPU cooler £25
RAM £35
SSD £50
HDD £35
DVD £10
Wireless £10
PSU £55
case £20

It would cost about £700 - £750 if new. Any OS included? if yes, add another £70

However, I personally won't have B85 motherboard with i5 4690K. what a waste.
Case is crap.

If it is 2nd handed, I will say £500 - 550. But it is in condition that you know how to fix it if something go wrong as there is no warranty.

gonzo127

https://www.dinopc.com/shop/pc/configurePrd.asp?idproduct=2361

new build with extra configuration, a good motherboard with acceptable overclock, and bundled other bits (gaming peripherals and monitor)

if looking to budget, the GTX960 is a better bang per buck card than the 970 being £100 ish cheaper, but only a few FPS slower on most games, and not dropping below the 30fps mark on any current game at 1080p resolutions (that i have seen)

Cycrow

gonzo127 wrote: »

if looking to budget, the GTX960 is a better bang per buck card than the 970 being £100 ish cheaper, but only a few FPS slower on most games, and not dropping below the 30fps mark on any current game at 1080p resolutions (that i have seen)

No its not, the 2 cards are not even close, the GTX970 is currently considered to be one of the best price/performance card.

In battlefield 4, GTX970 83.6 FPS, compared to 56.1 of the GTX960
in FarCry 4, GTX980 86.1 FPS, compared to 58.7 of the GTX960

Thats not a few FPS slower, thats quite a big gap.
And thats a assuming you are only going to 1080, when you start going higher res, the extra memory and speed of the 970 gives it an even bigger gap

GunJack

Cycrow wrote: »

No its not, the 2 cards are not even close, the GTX970 is currently considered to be one of the best price/performance card.

In battlefield 4, GTX970 83.6 FPS, compared to 56.1 of the GTX960
in FarCry 4, GTX980 86.1 FPS, compared to 58.7 of the GTX960

Thats not a few FPS slower, thats quite a big gap.
And thats a assuming you are only going to 1080, when you start going higher res, the extra memory and speed of the 970 gives it an even bigger gap

and yet in side-by-side tests of lower-spec/budget vs higher spec/budget, a lot of people just can't tell the difference when playing games.... can't find the link OTTOMH, but one of the big gaming mags/websites tried it, and they were the results.


found it...
http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/pc/can-a-300-gaming-pc-compare-to-a-3-000-one-1071338/1

Cycrow

Not sure i would trust that article when the guy cant even do basic maths.

Its not really surprising they couldn't tel much difference when you get a pc capable of running those games at a decent rate compared to a pc that is completely overkill where most of the power is simply wasted

ladymarmalade222

Thanks everyone for your advice.

The guy selling it wanted £700 for what I listed.

My son has specifically asked for GTX 970 (or above:rotfl:) I cannot afford to be going any higher than the 970 though unless we compromise on other things.

I think it has made my mind up to buy new as I will then have the peace of mind of a warranty, it's a lot of money to pay if something goes wrong after a week. We normally would not spoil him with something so expensive but he has had a difficult year and been through so much for a 13yr old, he spent the first 5 years of his life in hospital having chemotherapy and all it entails, he is now dealing with the side effects of everything years down the line:(

Thanks once again and if anyone spots any great deals with the specs I have mentioned would you be kind enough to let me know?

xx

GunJack

ladymarmalade222 wrote: »

My son has specifically asked for GTX 970 (or above:rotfl:) I cannot afford to be going any higher than the 970 though unless we compromise on other things.

DO NOT skimp on the power supply if you're going for a card like the 970...you'll need a MINIMUM 500W PSU to run one of them, bigger would be better (600W plus)...