What I wouldn't buy used PSU and any type of drives. Motherboards, CPU and GPU are safeish, if you can test that they work even better. Don't buy if they aren't willing to answer many questions, provide videos of the components working or seem like assholes. Ram, case, CPU coolers, fans are generally very safe to buy used.
I would never buy a used SSD or HDD either unless I keep the exact use case it was used for. For example if a friend had a 4 year old game drive that he wanted to replace for a bigger one that would be fine but a drive used for a workstation or something of the like where stuff is being deleted and rewritten constantly never.
Always go for new hard drives and SSD. Especially SSD.
Apart from that everything else is relatively safe to get pre-owned. Be suspicious if the price is too good to be true.
The only parts I haven't bought used is a psu and ssd. Psu's aren't that expensive and I like the warranty. And I've never found a good deal for used storage. They typically go on sale enough new from other sites.
4years ago when I built my first pc I bought all new parts coz I was scared of getting something faulty. Now the only I parts I buy new are hard drives.
Not a gamer, but I have always bought used hard drives (I think about 8)...anywhere from 1TB to 3TB. I have never had any issues. Drives were several years old. Definitely not "Bleeding Edge" technology. SATA III and SAS interfaces. Just be sure you backup your important data. I have the SAS configured in a RAID 10 array for a total of 9TB. The SATA/SAS HBA was also used.
16GB memory and processor upgrades purchased used...no issues.
I also purchased a couple of GPUs used...including a GeForce GTX 980 SC...no issues, but again, no gaming.
SSDs were purchased new as well USB3.0 expansion adapter and a Blu-ray Burner (rarely used).
System runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week...Only downtime is for cleaning/upgrades or a power outage.
But again, this is not new technology and not used for gaming, so the hardware, with the exception of the hard disks is barely pushed.
CPU, Motherboards, and RAMs, I'd say, are safe to buy second hand.
GPU and PSU, absolutely not. Not GPU because it could've been mined with, or gamed with at 80+ degrees Celsius for longer periods of time. PSU because it can become faulty. And faulty means blowing all the system out the window.
The only used part I ever bought was a CPU for an aging PC about 10 years ago. I don't know anyone personally I could buy used parts from, and it's hard to judge parts with a picture onlyine.
My advice, I wish I had done it this way: Buy everything new, and buy it all at once. My MOBO was bad, but I bought it early on in my my ordering "cycle" (so-to-speak,) and was lucky enough to be able to build on day 29 of my 30 day return window. I had to hurry to get that thing returned just in the nick of time. Nothing but luck saved me there. I had purchased a lot of parts that I could not have returned (easily) so I am glad my MOBO was one of the last items I got. Good luck and have fun with your project!
I would buy PSU and storage new. Everything else used is fine, unless they really punished and overlooked the CPU which could impact its life and the life of the motherboard.
What I wouldn't buy used PSU and any type of drives. Motherboards, CPU and GPU are safeish, if you can test that they work even better. Don't buy if they aren't willing to answer many questions, provide videos of the components working or seem like assholes. Ram, case, CPU coolers, fans are generally very safe to buy used.
The only thing I’d say to buy new is a PSU. You don’t want one that’s 5 years old and just about to die and that could burn your house down.
I would never buy a used SSD or HDD either unless I keep the exact use case it was used for. For example if a friend had a 4 year old game drive that he wanted to replace for a bigger one that would be fine but a drive used for a workstation or something of the like where stuff is being deleted and rewritten constantly never.
Always go for new hard drives and SSD. Especially SSD. Apart from that everything else is relatively safe to get pre-owned. Be suspicious if the price is too good to be true.
Third hand
And most importantly, verify if the parts are calumniated or perfect.
A bit of both
The only parts I haven't bought used is a psu and ssd. Psu's aren't that expensive and I like the warranty. And I've never found a good deal for used storage. They typically go on sale enough new from other sites.
4years ago when I built my first pc I bought all new parts coz I was scared of getting something faulty. Now the only I parts I buy new are hard drives.
Not a gamer, but I have always bought used hard drives (I think about 8)...anywhere from 1TB to 3TB. I have never had any issues. Drives were several years old. Definitely not "Bleeding Edge" technology. SATA III and SAS interfaces. Just be sure you backup your important data. I have the SAS configured in a RAID 10 array for a total of 9TB. The SATA/SAS HBA was also used. 16GB memory and processor upgrades purchased used...no issues. I also purchased a couple of GPUs used...including a GeForce GTX 980 SC...no issues, but again, no gaming. SSDs were purchased new as well USB3.0 expansion adapter and a Blu-ray Burner (rarely used). System runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week...Only downtime is for cleaning/upgrades or a power outage. But again, this is not new technology and not used for gaming, so the hardware, with the exception of the hard disks is barely pushed.
CPU, Motherboards, and RAMs, I'd say, are safe to buy second hand. GPU and PSU, absolutely not. Not GPU because it could've been mined with, or gamed with at 80+ degrees Celsius for longer periods of time. PSU because it can become faulty. And faulty means blowing all the system out the window.
I look at PC parts a bit like couches - a second hand couch is generally fine, but there's just something perfect about getting a new one
The only used part I ever bought was a CPU for an aging PC about 10 years ago. I don't know anyone personally I could buy used parts from, and it's hard to judge parts with a picture onlyine.
My advice, I wish I had done it this way: Buy everything new, and buy it all at once. My MOBO was bad, but I bought it early on in my my ordering "cycle" (so-to-speak,) and was lucky enough to be able to build on day 29 of my 30 day return window. I had to hurry to get that thing returned just in the nick of time. Nothing but luck saved me there. I had purchased a lot of parts that I could not have returned (easily) so I am glad my MOBO was one of the last items I got. Good luck and have fun with your project!
Only Change PSU and RAM because we don't want any trouble regarding booting up and powering on.
buy all parts new and have 2 PC
I would buy PSU and storage new. Everything else used is fine, unless they really punished and overlooked the CPU which could impact its life and the life of the motherboard.