Bargain of the century? Lucky Goodwill shopper pays $30 for a PC, finds $1,200 RTX 3080 Ti and $400 Ryzen 7 inside
"This is like the most haphazardly built pc I’ve ever seen in my life."

A Reddit user has struck PC hardware gold after spending just $30 on a PC at Goodwill that came with a sensational haul of internal parts, including an RTX 3080 Ti that would have once cost over $1,000, and a plucky Ryzen 7 processor.
u/No-Investment9793 took to the r/PcBuild subreddit to reveal a PC they found at Goodwill for the meager sum of $30. As you can see from the images, the PC looks a little worse for wear and has had the RAM removed at some point. Some stray power cables protrude from the graphics cards, and the OP remarks that "This is like the most haphazardly built pc I’ve ever seen in my life," with wiring in the back that "looks like a spider's nest."
Despite the aesthetics and missing RAM, however, the buyer will be feeling pretty pleased with themselves. Turns out the PC houses an MSI RTX 3080 Ti and a Ryzen 7 3800X, not to mention the liquid cooler and motherboard, the details of which they didn't share.
Found this PC at goodwill for $30 from r/PcBuild
The thrifty investor reveals that their Dad, a regular customer at the store, picked up the PC for the aforementioned $30 after it was donated by someone's Mom, who had cleaned it out of her kid's room. As such, their Dad is selling the 3080Ti, presumably for a tidy profit, while the Ryzen 7 3800X is replacing their Ryzen 5 2600X, which currently accompanies a GTX 1660.
Sadly, then, the RTX 3080 Ti is off-limits as an upgrade, so there won't be a significant gaming boost coming their way. However, they admit their current case is too small anyway, and they "don't run super crazy games."
The RTX 3080Ti delivered monstrous performance in its day, and the Founders Edition had a cool $1,199 price tag. It's hard to determine exactly which MSI variant of the 3080 Ti this is, but the 12GB Suprim X version we reviewed had an official MSRP of $1,249 and a street price of $1,576 in Early 2022. There was also a Gaming X Trio and Ventus 3X version. Either way, the card was expensive and would have cost orders of magnitude more than the $30 paid here.
That's before you get to the AMD Ryzen 7 3800X, an older processor from 2019 that would have set you back $399 when it was launched.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
It just goes to show that you never know what you can find in your local Goodwill or thrift store, and sometimes, exceptional PC hardware can turn up in the most unlikely places.
Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.

Stephen is Tom's Hardware's News Editor with almost a decade of industry experience covering technology, having worked at TechRadar, iMore, and even Apple over the years. He has covered the world of consumer tech from nearly every angle, including supply chain rumors, patents, and litigation, and more. When he's not at work, he loves reading about history and playing video games.
-
phxrider Assuming the MB is good, drop in a used 5600X and some RAM and for ~$200 you're pretty good to go.Reply -
punkncat This wouldn't happen around here. The Goodwill locations here keep a staff of people to assess what comes in and anything of significant value (and paintball markers) go to the online portal to be bid on. The only thing you find PC wise here are all very old and obsolete.Reply
A buddy of mine down in Panama City Beach says they have a "PC pile" and he goes over every week to check. He says it could be anything (much like this article) and had found some pretty sweet deals in the pile. -
stonecarver I agree with punkncat for the last few years all the sellable "good" stuff that used to be great finds never hits the sales floor anymore and are on there Goodwill's auction site.Reply
It's a mixed bag now you can find stuff from all the stores on line but if it's a good item and you see it posted on day one some people bid it up higher than if they just went to ebay and hit a buy it now for cheaper.
If the PC in the story was actually from the Salvation Army than yes there are still hit and miss treasures one can find.