The Gaming PC Refurbishing Experiment

[neurotix]

Yeah I know, it's just a side gig and you do it because you enjoy it.

 

Still, check out anidees, I love our two cases (Ai Crystal AR3 is mine, Ai Crystal Cube is the wife's).

[UltraMega]

I guess I should add, I was the manager of the assembly department at Digital Storm for a year back in the Intel 4th- 6th gen days. I've mentioned that before but I'm not sure if I mentioned it in this thread or not. It's definitely not a brag or anything, wasn't a great place to work, just a basic job I'm sure anyone here could do. I just mention it because I have literally built over 1000 computers and it's something I can do in my sleep, so the whole idea of building PCs to sell and making profit per PC rather than being paid 11 dollars an hour to build 6-8 PCs per day just feels like a no brainer to me. If I can have my own mini version of a Digital Storm like business and just sell a few PCs per month, I'd be very happy with that as an addition to the computer repair free lace stuff I already do. If this does work out well over time, I would probably expand my website to include direct PC sales, which I can already do with the website I have but for now it's easier to use Etsy. 

What is a company like Digital Storm anyway; not much more than a wearhouse with people building PCs and shipping them out. 

[waffl3ninja]

that's cool though. i sort of transitioned to more pc and gaming hardware when things got slow from that beerdemic we had.  Worked as a tuner for Fueltech.  went from inhaling exhaust fumes and adjusting fuel maps, power curves to somewhat the same except a lot quiet atmosphere lol 

[UltraMega]

So the PC I sold on Etsy reached the buyer yesterday. He is satisfied and gave praise to the cable management, but it wasn't a perfect landing.

 

A few cables came loose during shipping, and one of the feet for the case broke. The buyer is PC savy, and was easily able to fix these issues, but I'd hate for a less experienced user to end up with a situation like this. 

 

So lesson is, shipping needs to be better. I used the packaging the case came in but that was less than ideal on its own. In the future I'll have to find some appropriately sized boxes to do my own packaging with. 

 

 

Guy left a 5-star review, so far so good. 

Edited July 27, 2023 by UltraMega

[ENTERPRISE]

On 27/07/2023 at 04:16, UltraMega said:

So the PC I sold on Etsy reached the buyer yesterday. He is satisfied and gave praise to the cable management, but it wasn't a perfect landing.

 

A few cables came loose during shipping, and one of the feet for the case broke. The buyer is PC savy, and was easily able to fix these issues, but I'd hate for a less experienced user to end up with a situation like this. 

 

So lesson is, shipping needs to be better. I used the packaging the case came in but that was less than ideal on its own. In the future I'll have to find some appropriately sized boxes to do my own packaging with. 

 

 

Guy left a 5-star review, so far so good. 

Shipping PC's, definitely not my favourite thing as transit is always rough, couriers do not exactly put down packages the way you would like them to, plus you have the movement during transit. 

 

I always double box rigs. Between the rig box and outer box I will put foam spacers to keep a good air barrier between the two, this is all round and top/bottom. Just creates a good buffer zone. 

 

Did you use expanding foam packaging within the rig? I do regardless of the components, just keeps everything snug. 

 

Glad he was understanding and gave you a good rating. In a way, you got lucky that they were understanding and a dab hand at repairs. So your view on improvement is right on, not everyone will be that cool. 

 

Looks like a great start bud

[neurotix]

6 hours ago, ENTERPRISE said:

Shipping PC's, definitely not my favourite thing as transit is always rough, couriers do not exactly put down packages the way you would like them to, plus you have the movement during transit. 

 

I always double box rigs. Between the rig box and outer box I will put foam spacers to keep a good air barrier between the two, this is all round and top/bottom. Just creates a good buffer zone. 

 

Did you use expanding foam packaging within the rig? I do regardless of the components, just keeps everything snug. 

 

Glad he was understanding and gave you a good rating. In a way, you got lucky that they were understanding and a dab hand at repairs. So your view on improvement is right on, not everyone will be that cool. 

 

Looks like a great start bud

E do you build PCs and ship them as a side gig too then?

[ENTERPRISE]

3 minutes ago, neurotix said:

E do you build PCs and ship them as a side gig too then?

No, not as a standard thing. I have done builds for family and a select few others. 

[UltraMega]

6 hours ago, ENTERPRISE said:

Shipping PC's, definitely not my favourite thing as transit is always rough, couriers do not exactly put down packages the way you would like them to, plus you have the movement during transit. 

 

I always double box rigs. Between the rig box and outer box I will put foam spacers to keep a good air barrier between the two, this is all round and top/bottom. Just creates a good buffer zone. 

 

Did you use expanding foam packaging within the rig? I do regardless of the components, just keeps everything snug. 

 

Glad he was understanding and gave you a good rating. In a way, you got lucky that they were understanding and a dab hand at repairs. So your view on improvement is right on, not everyone will be that cool. 

 

Looks like a great start bud

Didn't use expandable foam, but I cut some custom foam pieces for the inside of the computer during shipping. Beyond that I re-used the box and material the case was shipped to me in, but I knew that could be problematic because the case was damaged in shipping when it was sent to me three times in a row (three separate cases, all the same order). I added some extra packaging outside the case too, but yea, should have gone further. This shipment didn't have too far to travel though, so I wasn't too worried... probably should have been. 

[UltraMega]

Another PC ready. Up on Etsy, Facebook, Craigslist now. 

 

Specs:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X 8 core/16 thread CPU

Ram: Mushkin Redline Lumina RGB 32GB DDR4 3600mhz

Storage: Silicon Power 2TB UD90 NVMe PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD up to 5,000MB/s

GPU: (Used) HP GeForce RTX 3070 

Other:
Motherboard: GIGABYTE B550M DS3H AC 

Power Supply: 750-Watt Thermaltake

 

Listed this one for $1100. On Etsy, the shipping fee is $100 on top. 

 

[neurotix]

Looks fantastic dude; nice job! Great, clean cable management too. Here's hoping it sells.

[UltraMega]

Sold already. That went a lot quicker than the first one. 

[neurotix]

Wonder if the RGB and picture of the rear cable management helped?

[UltraMega]

5 minutes ago, neurotix said:

Wonder if the RGB and picture of the rear cable management helped?

Yes maybe. I didn't include a pic of the cable management in the first listing but someone pointed out to me that the cable management quality of my builds is actually a good selling point, so I included it in this one. 

 

RGB is pretty standard now days tho. 

Edited August 7, 2023 by UltraMega

[neurotix]

Isn't this basically the first one you've done that has RGB though? The others may have had RGB fans on the cooler, etc. But not fully customizable RGB as the pictures of this one showed. Maybe I'm wrong though.

 

RGB is a good selling point.

[UltraMega]

10 minutes ago, neurotix said:

Isn't this basically the first one you've done that has RGB though? The others may have had RGB fans on the cooler, etc. But not fully customizable RGB as the pictures of this one showed. Maybe I'm wrong though.

 

RGB is a good selling point.

Nah they have all had RGB. I've used the same RGB ram kit in the last 6+ builds I've done. All the builds I've done lately have RGB case fans, ram, and CPU fan. 

 

Not all of these builds necessarily have RGB control from the OS though. The CPU fan has no RGB control at all in this last build. The case fans are controlled by a physical button on the case, and the ram should be controllable via OS but that depends on the motherboards RGB software, which I do not install. The only things I install before shipping are drivers/windows updates and Steam. 

 

What you see in the pics is just the default RGB settings which just cycle through colors. 

[neurotix]

Ah, I see. Gotcha, you're using a case controller button, and I'm sure the lower end boards you're using don't have a motherboard rgb header, but I could be wrong.

 

In mine I have a controller box that is compatible with ARGB headers on the motherboard. The box is powered by SATA and has enough hookups for 7 fans, you can also attach up to 4 light strips, which I also have, and theres a cable that gets plugged into the motherboard that allows for custom control in the OS using Asus Aura Sync.

 

It comes with a remote that has a power button, pressing it once will toggle it to do the patterns the controller box has built in and you can cycle through them with the remote. Pressing the power button again will switch to motherboard rgb control, and pressing the power button again will turn all the rgb on the fans and light strips off.

 

If you're curious and haven't seen it, check the video in my build log for a demo of what it can do.

[UltraMega]

58 minutes ago, neurotix said:

Ah, I see. Gotcha, you're using a case controller button, and I'm sure the lower end boards you're using don't have a motherboard rgb header, but I could be wrong.

 

In mine I have a controller box that is compatible with ARGB headers on the motherboard. The box is powered by SATA and has enough hookups for 7 fans, you can also attach up to 4 light strips, which I also have, and theres a cable that gets plugged into the motherboard that allows for custom control in the OS using Asus Aura Sync.

 

It comes with a remote that has a power button, pressing it once will toggle it to do the patterns the controller box has built in and you can cycle through them with the remote. Pressing the power button again will switch to motherboard rgb control, and pressing the power button again will turn all the rgb on the fans and light strips off.

 

If you're curious and haven't seen it, check the video in my build log for a demo of what it can do.

These motherboards do have RGB headers, that's a very common feature now. The fan controller that comes with the case does have an RGB header that plugs into the motherboard. I simply don't install any extra software nor do I attempt to ensure the RGB can be controlled via software, but likely it can be. 

 

I don't think I'd call these motherboards low end either. Low end for AM4 would be something like an A320 board, and you can be sure a lot of prebuild sites are selling AM4 boards right now with A320 boards. I never use the low quality brands like ASrock and the lowest tier board I have used on anything in the last several months is an A520, but it's been a mix of A520 and B550 boards, usually asus or gigabyte. 

 

I simply don't see any logic in buying a high-end board for AM4 CPUs in general because there is so little room for overclocking, and because I don't expect people who would buy these to be into overclocking anyway. 

Edited August 7, 2023 by UltraMega

[neurotix]

That works too. The memory RGB can probably be controlled with a program, and assuming you connected the motherboard header, the fans as well. In this particular case, you'd need Gigabytes software.

 

Perhaps you should consider shipping them with the software preinstalled? This would allow you to mess with it before you sell it for photo ops, i.e. do a synthwave Cyan/Magenta pattern like I run on mine.

 

Perhaps you should consider some light strips too, though you may need an ARGB splitter and connect the strips by the motherboard header. I highly recommend these light strips:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Phanteks-PH-DRGBLED_Combo_01-Digital-Adapter-Compatible/dp/B07C1ZFRWW/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?crid=27GGN9Y5YEZUW&keywords=phanteks+digital+5050+light+strips&qid=1691427823&sprefix=phanteks+digital+5050+light+strips+%2Caps%2C182&sr=8-6

 

[UltraMega]

2 minutes ago, neurotix said:

That works too. The memory RGB can probably be controlled with a program, and assuming you connected the motherboard header, the fans as well. In this particular case, you'd need Gigabytes software.

 

Perhaps you should consider shipping them with the software preinstalled? This would allow you to mess with it before you sell it for photo ops, i.e. do a synthwave Cyan/Magenta pattern like I run on mine.

 

Perhaps you should consider some light strips too, though you may need an ARGB splitter and connect the strips by the motherboard header. I highly recommend these light strips:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Phanteks-PH-DRGBLED_Combo_01-Digital-Adapter-Compatible/dp/B07C1ZFRWW/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?crid=27GGN9Y5YEZUW&keywords=phanteks+digital+5050+light+strips&qid=1691427823&sprefix=phanteks+digital+5050+light+strips+%2Caps%2C182&sr=8-6

 

I am familiar with RGB software, but I intentionally don't install it on pre-builds. If the user wants to use it, they can install it themselves. I consider that kind of thing to be bloatware and IMO one of the big reasons people buy PCs like this is because they don't come with any extra bloat pre-installed. 

 

We could debate whether or not RGB software would be considered bloat to most users or not, but I consider it bloat when the case already has a button to control most of the RGB in the PC, and software control for ram RBG is unreliable. 

[neurotix]

Fair enough. Just saying, adding some light strips or looking into a controller box and fans for it like I have would cost little, and possibly allow you to charge a lot more if you advertise it with the RGB and have the software ready for the end user.

[UltraMega]

45 minutes ago, neurotix said:

Fair enough. Just saying, adding some light strips or looking into a controller box and fans for it like I have would cost little, and possibly allow you to charge a lot more if you advertise it with the RGB and have the software ready for the end user.

Something to consider down the road. For now I'm just letting the specs and built quality be the main selling points, but Etsy would be the kind of place where extra RGB could make a difference. 

[UltraMega]

This time around I had actually lined up a local buyer thinking it would be a while before the one on Etsy sold, so I have already reordered parts for that sale. In a sense I am now behind by two PCs, because the local buyer has to wait for me to get parts and build that PC, and I don't have anything up on Etsy right now. 

[neurotix]

https://www.newegg.com/p/2BJ-00HK-00001

 

Check that out, the fans have proprietary connectors unfortunately but come with 3 fans, the controller box, a remote, and a cable to connect to the motherboard rgb header. Essentially what I have in mine. Throw in two of the Phanteks light strips I previously linked, and for a $50 investment maybe you could charge $100 more or possibly even more than that. You could include pics of the rgb remote. You can also connect a PWM fan cable to that box and connect it to the motherboard for PWM fan control, or if you leave it unconnected there are fan speed control settings on the remote as well.

 

Back when I rebuilt my rig into the anidees case, I knew it had rgb fans with it but had no idea of the remote, the PWM cable, the box or any of it. So even if you don't connect an rgb cable to the motherboard, there are like 100 different patterns the box itself can do, in practically any color (or two colors) you want. Something for everyone.

 

Also, are you overclocking the systems or not? Even if just using PBO and a small overclock on the GPU. If you overclock the CPU + install Afterburner and set up a fan profile and moderately overclock the GPU, you should be able to charge a little extra for that, as well.

 

 

[UltraMega]

1 hour ago, neurotix said:

https://www.newegg.com/p/2BJ-00HK-00001

 

Check that out, the fans have proprietary connectors unfortunately but come with 3 fans, the controller box, a remote, and a cable to connect to the motherboard rgb header. Essentially what I have in mine. Throw in two of the Phanteks light strips I previously linked, and for a $50 investment maybe you could charge $100 more or possibly even more than that. You could include pics of the rgb remote. You can also connect a PWM fan cable to that box and connect it to the motherboard for PWM fan control, or if you leave it unconnected there are fan speed control settings on the remote as well.

 

Back when I rebuilt my rig into the anidees case, I knew it had rgb fans with it but had no idea of the remote, the PWM cable, the box or any of it. So even if you don't connect an rgb cable to the motherboard, there are like 100 different patterns the box itself can do, in practically any color (or two colors) you want. Something for everyone.

 

Also, are you overclocking the systems or not? Even if just using PBO and a small overclock on the GPU. If you overclock the CPU + install Afterburner and set up a fan profile and moderately overclock the GPU, you should be able to charge a little extra for that, as well.

 

 

I would never sell a prebuilt PC to a non-local customer that was overclocked. It would be a major risk factor as far as issues cropping up after the sale. In the past it might have made sense when intel had more headroom, but it would be somewhat non-sensical now unless it was a very high end PC where overclocking was the only way left to gain performance. 

 

I don't see what these fans would do that the included fans do not other than having remote control. I appreciate the suggestion, but I don't see any logic replacing the case fans that are already RGB. The customers that would appreciate brand name fans are probably not buying PCs on Etsy. The fans that come with the case are quiet and work just fine. If I did add any RGB, it would just be a cheap light strip. 

[UltraMega]

Second Etsy PC sale went well. No issues with shipping this time. The customer did reach out to me because he had some questions about setting it up, but there were no issues. He let me know this is his first real gaming PC. 

 

Next PC will actually be slightly lower spec. Basically, the same as the last PC except it will be a GeForce 3060 12GB and probably a 5600X CPU and a 700w PSU instead of a 750w. Will probably aim to sell it for $1000 on Etsy (plus $100 shipping fee).

 

If this one sells for $1000, it will give me a slightly higher margin than the last one.