How much is my old rig worth?

[Sprinx]

I bought myself a Core i5 build back in 2009, and i moved my old gaming rig build to serve as my HTPC. Of course, a gaming rig is not the best HTPC, mainly due to all the heat and the noise from the fans required to manage that heat. I am now building an AMD Llano Micro-ATX system to have an official HTPC.

Anyway, I have a current group of friends that all get together for a LAN party, and one of those (who doesn't have a system) is interested in buying it. What should a fair price be for this setup? I have listed what I paid less than 3 years ago, along with the going price on ebay

Intel Q6600 quad-core processor (G0 stepping; SLACR) overclocked to 3.6 w/o a problem for me. Could have gone higher if I had a better cooler.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017
$125 (new off Craiglist)
~$75 currently on ebay

EVGA 790i FTW motherboard (one of the two LAN ports has not worked for years now; otherwise perfect)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188040
$179 (Tigerdirect)
~$100 currently on ebay

EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130339
~$125
~$50 currently on ebay

OCZ Gold 1600 MHz DDR3 2 x 2 GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227316
bought for $100 on newegg
~$40 on ebay. probably not worth that much - i was not happy with the RAM

BFG Tech BFGR650PSU 650W ATX12V V2.0 / EPS 12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702003
Got for free from my brother when his old system's motherboard died. I replaced both fans recently, preventative maintenance. Everest reports good voltage readings.

Samsung 200 GB 7200 RPM hard drive - is probably 5 years old, but still runs. I'm keeping all my other ones.

I got the case for free - it's black and looks nice, except for the fact that the right side panel is missing. Also, the hard drive cage in the box is not original, and is held in place by zip ties. It has decent airflow, and if you put the right side up against a desk, no one will know.

So, I realize it's not top of the line, but it is a working system and will get him started. I was thinking $250, or maybe just $200 to be nice. Any thoughts?

 

[Deleted member 217926]

That is a tough one to price since it's obsolete but no so bad as to be an "internet" computer. I would say $200 is a decent price for it.

 

[Jim_L9]

$200-250 seems reasonable. How good of a friend is he?

 

[aqe040466]

Do some marketing strategy specially if your friend don't know much about computers. If your PC is 100% in running condition with a mint physical attributes(how does it looks outside?) then maybe $300.00?

 

[Sprinx]

$200-250 seems reasonable. How good of a friend is he?

I haven't known him that long. He moved to my company when we had a merger back in November, and I worked with him to get him trained. He's pretty cool - he immediately recognized the "Wheel of Time" book that I was reading. That had never happened before in my life
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time

Anyway, my main point is that I don't want to charge too much for my old rig simply due to my personal investment (i.e. 2009 era prices that I paid, and my time), but I don't want to give it away either, as I'd like to recoup some of my investment from my new HTPC purchase.

Also, I've received plenty of free components from friends/family through the years (such as this case, PSU, and hard drive), and I'd like to pay it forward some. I've also got an old samsung 19" LCD (1280x1024) that I could add on, as well. I have it hooked up to my gaming rig right now, but I rarely use two monitors anymore. Especially since my other monitor is a 24" Dell 1920x1080.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Thank god "A Memory of Light" will FINALLY be released this year. I started the series before the first book was released in paperback so I have like 20 years invested in it.

Now if George R R Martin will just get off his fat butt and finish ASOIAF before he does a Robert Jordan.....

I do really like Sanderson though. The new epic he is working on is off to a great start with "Way of Kings". I also enjoyed the "Mistborn" series.

 

[willard]

I wouldn't sell that rig to a friend at all. It's just too old and obsolete. To play modern games, he's going to want to replace that video card, and an additional hard drive is damn near mandatory given that you're only leaving 200GB of space.

So your friend is already looking at needing to invest $200-$400 to turn that into a viable gaming rig, depending on what kind of gaming experience he expects. If you charged him $200 for it, he's now at $400-$600. I know I can build a WAY better computer for $600, and would feel like I was ripping him off expecting him to settle for my leavings at nearly the same price point.

I say put the thing on eBay and see what you get.

 

[daship]

Sadly its not worth much because newer parts today are cheaper then what you paid for those in 2009, and for the money why not go new.

 

[Sprinx]

I wouldn't sell that rig to a friend at all. It's just too old and obsolete. To play modern games, he's going to want to replace that video card, and an additional hard drive is damn near mandatory given that you're only leaving 200GB of space.

So your friend is already looking at needing to invest $200-$400 to turn that into a viable gaming rig, depending on what kind of gaming experience he expects. If you charged him $200 for it, he's now at $400-$600. I know I can build a WAY better computer for $600, and would feel like I was ripping him off expecting him to settle for my leavings at nearly the same price point.

I say put the thing on eBay and see what you get.

Hm...but to be fair, the new components could be re-used in a later build. He could put a GTX 580 in that motherboard, and any additional hard drives bought new could be re-used later, too.

All he has currently is a 4-year old low-end laptop with Intel GMA $#!+ graphics. And to be honest, my old rig beats half of the people's systems at our LAN party. The newest game that we play is COD 4. I think that $200 is worth the price of admission into PC gaming.

Sure, a brand new i3 beats my quad core in some benchmarks, but that processor alone eats up almost 75% of my asking price for a complete working system.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/53?vs=118&i=2.5.3.4.6.25.26.27.28.29.30.31.32.33.34.35.36.37.38.39.40.41.42.43.45.46.50.49.48.47.44

Considering the fact that his wife just had a baby, I doubt that he'll get approval to drop $600-$700 on a new system.

But of course, it would be easier just to post it on ebay/craigslist.

 

[tsnor]

You've done the research to sell it at $250 knowing your friend is getting a fair to good deal. Some people (or their spouse w/ new baby) would be freaked by paying $250 for "except for the fact that the right side panel is missing." Other people would total up the parts and see that they are $100 ahead of the game. IF you don't mind getting calls like "Your old system sometimes bluescreens, did it do that for you too" then offering your old system to your friend before ebay is a nice thing. He's seen the system at lan parties, his laptop is not workable and he may not want to spend $500.

When I got rid of an x800XL card to a friend I swapped it for a six-pack rather than the $50 it was probably worth at the time. Didn't want the call if it failed. But your system is worth a lot more than that card.

p.s. Sagara, Modesitt, Hodgell, Kate Griffin, Sharon Lee, Eddings, ...

 

[Sprinx]

Best answer selected by Sprinx.

 

[Sprinx]

I wouldn't sell that rig to a friend at all. It's just too old and obsolete. To play modern games, he's going to want to replace that video card, and an additional hard drive is damn near mandatory given that you're only leaving 200GB of space.

So your friend is already looking at needing to invest $200-$400 to turn that into a viable gaming rig, depending on what kind of gaming experience he expects. If you charged him $200 for it, he's now at $400-$600. I know I can build a WAY better computer for $600, and would feel like I was ripping him off expecting him to settle for my leavings at nearly the same price point.

I say put the thing on eBay and see what you get.

We had a LAN party this past weekend, and I let him use it. It ran all of our LAN games well enough - the most taxing game we play is COD4. He was excited about the $200 price point, and said he would talk to his wife about it.

However, I think I'll suggest to him to buy a new system. I've priced out a decent AMD FX-4170 system with MB, case, and DVD drive for just over $300. I can let him have an old 7800 GTX from my closet to hold him over until he can buy a real video card, if necessary. He's got a pretty nice HP 1920x1200 IPS panel that was given to him (was in old office prior to merger). I'll let him have a spare hard drive or two until prices come down.

I may part the old system on ebay, or I might keep it as a spare for future lan parties. This last time, one guy couldn't run COD4 on his i5 w/ intel HD 3000 graphics. The screen kept blinking off every 20 seconds. If someone's PC can't play it, they can use the backup rig so they're not left out.

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions.