Is it ok to buy a used CPU? | Ask a PC expert

Gordon gives his thoughts on whether or not buying used CPUs are a good idea, and if so, what kind of deals are best.

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[johndoe-gwtj]

Save everyone 8min; the answer is yes the 1 thing that never fails is a CPU

[derekgalbraith]

CPU has got to be one of the safest parts to buy used. I wouldn't have any hesitation buying a used CPU if there was a decent saving to be made. Possibly the only safer to buy used part would be memory sticks from a brand that offers a lifetime warranty. If they turn out to be dead or defective then you just RMA them and get brand new ones. They pretty much never care whether you are the original purchaser or not.

[eocoe]

Yep got a pair of matched x5677 quad core xeons for $70 a couple years back off eBay. Never had a single issue with them.

[Superior]

Never had any issues buying used CPUs personally. It's a great option when the price is right...

[zijie-he]

The only thing with "wear out" in a computer is SSD and HDD. So I have no idea what's the difference between a used cpu and a new one. Though if you happen to receive a defect one, it will be a different store.

[WutipongWongsakuldej]

I bought an used core i7 4790 last year. The reason is I've got my gen 4 core i5 and I was looking for an upgrade. If I go to gen 8 or gen 9, I'd have to replace half of the machine, which will be costly. With this, I don't have to buy new mainboard and rams.

[MrMassivemanmeat]

Found a i7 2600 in a dell that someone trashed on curb side pickup, , went on ebay and got a ASUS P8B75-M mobo for 45 bucks.. and then put in my 16gb of ram from my old amd system..

[itpugil]

I bought a 2nd hand i7-4790 2 years ago for roughly 165 dollars, still use it, still a beast to this day.:)

[JaxDagger]

As someone that has bought 99.9% used parts and items on ebay for the past 10+ years let me tell you, i've never been scammed or even gotten a faulty item, ofcourse faulty items happen and you simply have to open a complaint and ebay are on your side (even if its not broken or faulty because ebay will not check) as I have sold an item that was returned, wasn't faulty, still had to fully refund including postage at my cost and then sold to someone who knew what they where doing and had the GPU working instantly, i think it was just buyer regret more than anything, but that is a seller thing to worry about anyway not for a buyer.

My last 2 PC gaming builds where ALL used parts, minus the motherboards only because motherboards are often comparable price wise everywhere, and the big issue with motherboards is bent pins, if it is used and a seller hasn't checked it is REAL easy to find people clean the motherboard and bend the pins without realising it and if you don't know how to fix them or don't want to, you're returning it.

Things i've bought that where absolutely fine that where used
R9-280x / 1060 / 1070 / two 1080s / 2070 / 3060 / multiple sticks of ram just make sure you buy known brands not cheap chinese non brands / monitors just make sure the person selling it either has sold them before or ask that they package it well / i5-4670k overclocked great to 4.2 for 5 years until i wanted a new build / ryzen 2700 overclocked to 4.1 for 3 years (still have it but getting a 5900x soon) / keyboards (hardest part is knowing what you want personally that suits you which means research before hand) / mice / audio equipment

Honestly it isn't that ebay don't have scare stories, but the majority of them are a very small percentage, don't let the idea of 'used' put you off getting upto 30% or more off of an item, just consider warrantys for some stuff, but most the time manufacturer warranties last quite some time and aslong as you have the box and details it can be started in your name when needed alot of the time (samsung can be a pain in the ass though without a receipt lol)

[DerektheMenace]

It’s awesome that Gordon isn’t just rocking an Apple logo on his Windows laptop but that he’s still got the red mustache from the 100th episode! I was actually very surprised at how funny but also cool he looked when he was wearing it on his face. There was no doubt a resemblance to the Monopoly Man!

[rklrkl]

CPUs are probably one of the least risky used electronics parts to buy online because they're tough to "wear out" (no moving parts helps!) - they'll usually either not work immediately or be fine for years.

What I've given up with on eBay - and surprisingly wasn't mentioned here - is auctions. Quite often a seller will put an item on auction at a stupidly low price and you get all excited when you're the only bidder for days. Every single time though, people flood on in the final hours, get into a bidding war and the winning bid isn't much of a deal. Don't get sucked into it - make just one bid at your maximum budget and look elsewhere as soon as you lose. Or just stick to Buy It Now deals like I do now (don't forget to add postage if it's charged for - annoying that's not included in the headline price).

[benjaminargus]

Got an x5670 for my x58 build and it works a treat and have had success buying second hand parts to build a pc for my brother in law, it’s about being patient for the right deal

[bryantallen]

I found a open box 8700K for $280 that does 5.3GHz. A couple months later i was lucky enough to find a 9900K for $400.
Micro Center has 8700K's for $250, 9700K's for $270 and 9900K's for $420 when buying a motherboard. That's a good deal.
There are some open box Gigabyte OC RTX 2070's for $370.
I'm on my way there right now to go clean up...

[ClupptyFN]

I have an amd ryzen 7 in a prebuilt and I was wondering if I can use it again in a new build. How do I completely wipe the cpu so it’s like new?

[dohnuts]

Ebay does have excellent buyer protection that covers new and used parts. Additionally PayPal does offer buyer protection as well.

[mateuscampello]

I had a 2500k and switched to a 2600k for really cheap and it's pushing my 1070 Ti just fine with a 4.4GHz, this CPU is a legend.

[camm]

Buying used is good when you have an old Mac Pro, or T5500 and you want to upgrade them. 1 set of x5690, and 2 sets of x5687's off of ebay for pretty cheap. No issues.

[majinroot]

Just curious...I am building my first PC and I ran across an Asus crosshair vi hero for $150. I bought it because it was a good deal as opposed to other motherboards I had seen and also was am4. After I bought it. It looked like new and had everything included the only issue I noticed over it was on one of the mounting screw hole one of the grounds was almost rubbed into the others. I seen that it cost roughly $600 for this motherboard.

[sNNNNNable]

How do I sell a used CPU? Like how would you even package that

[enghussam]

"its abinary system and it work for ever "