Mine was yesterday, I bought a papa john’s pizza of medium size and some garlic knots. I was feeling like shit because my job and store is very good at that, so I stress ate. I contemplated in the car which would’ve been more valuable for my buck to dine with. I picked pizza.
$20 (more like $27 but I took away the price of the knots) was what it cost for a meats-based medium sized pizza from there. The problem I had with the pizza was that it didn’t look like a medium, it looked like the smaller-end of a medium. Secondly, the person cutting the slices did a shit job, because I had two smaller slices than the rest. And I felt there wasn’t enough meats spread evenly.
I honestly should’ve picked a chinese buffet because at least I would have variety and I could eat as much as I wanted. Plus saving a few dollars.
This is the first and last time I’m ordering something out of my comfort budget.
>$1500 on an all new parts DIY PC complete with a Windows license. Nowadays everything’s outdated and these same parts would be like $800 max. Even back then I could have saved at least a couple hundred just by swallowing my pride and buying used.
I haven’t bought brand new tech since, and I have not regretted it yet.
Buying computer parts is one of those areas when buying high end is usually cheaper in the long run. My 5800X3D / 3090 build is still extremely relevant despite being two generations behind the latest hardware. I have no desire to upgrade and I’ll probably be able to push it for another 2-4 years easily.
Never bought a Windows license though, and I’ve been building PCs since 1998.
Buying just slightly below highest end (so 5700X3D/3080) is the best bang-for-the-buck of all, IMO.
I just upgraded my seven-year-old 1700X/Vega 56 system to 5700X3D/9070 XT, and I expect it to be good for probably another seven years at least, give or take failure of the original motherboard I’m still using.
I used to do the same, and for stationary PCs, that’s still my recommendation. Sure, some might actually need bleeding edge stuff for for some specific niche high performance thing, but for most people that’s a waste of money.
The only exception is for laptops. I rely on laptops as I’m often on the go, and I’ve generally had better results when going high end (within reason) than going mid-tier.
I’m not saying I won’t buy high end. Just not new. There are so many used parts in circulation, and some of them in pristine condition. They’re cheaper, work almost as well (if not just as well), and keep e-waste out of landfills/being stripped for precious metals. I get to pat myself on the back and save some money, what could be better?
I’m thinking of buying my next set of PC parts used, but i’m scared of the reliability. Which is weird because i buy absolutely everything else scond hand
My workplace has an e-waste bin we can rummage through and I’ve scavenged many an upgrade for my machines. If it weren’t for that, I’m not sure I would have the same confidence troubleshooting used parts. Making a couple of assumptions here, but upgrading with used parts one by one would be a good starting point. I’ve had good luck returning eBay items that were described as working but were in fact defective.
Yeah i don’t have that kind of experience, so me troubleshooting parts would drag on forever. And then they could break months down the line.
In my experience, when buying second hand you trade time and effort for the price; being able to fix things means more time and more effort for even more savings. That’s what this really is.
I guess there’s something to how little i understand computer hardware making me imagine it as more fragile than it is
Of all the e-waste components I’ve tried out, the one used part that should not give you any trouble is the CPU. Except in the case of 13/14th gen Intel CPUs degrading, the CPU should be either dead or alive with no surprises.
It’s a crap shoot, but as long as you can verify the supplier (or at least ensure return/refunds) it’s been okay.
I’ve gotten 2 GPUs and 4 CPUs through eBay, and only one of the GPUs was a scam—still got my money back within the day when it didn’t arrive on schedule (the lister had already deactivated their account)—the RX 6600 is working great so far, and the CPUs have held up in some office workstations and server for a few years now.
I’ve also gotten tons of used ram and used ssds and hdds. I’ve had a few times in my workplace where a few sticks of OEM ram and HDD failed, but haven’t had that issue with any of the used stuff (work or home).
I may be really lucky, or I may be the right amount of cautious (or both), so YMMV—definitely check with others for their experience before you decide to take the risk. Just keep in mind that if you go looking for scams and horror stories, it’s gonna seem like that’s all that happens, and the reverse holds if all you look for is success stories.
It is actually a good filter to have. There are some things you can get second hand and no problem. But you don’t know how much wear and tear something has gone through like PC parts.