{"id":108349,"date":"2016-10-18T09:05:08","date_gmt":"2016-10-18T07:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=108349"},"modified":"2016-10-18T09:06:20","modified_gmt":"2016-10-18T07:06:20","slug":"5-tips-for-buying-second-hand-pc-components","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/hardware\/108349-5-tips-for-buying-second-hand-pc-components","title":{"rendered":"5 tips for buying second-hand PC components"},"content":{"rendered":"

Upgrading your\u00a0gaming hardware can be expensive, and many South Africans have turned to second-hand PC components as the Rand\u00a0becomes steadily weaker.<\/p>\n

Buying second-hand PC components can save you a ton of cash and deliver the same results as a store-brought gaming PC, but there are some risks as well.<\/p>\n

To help you avoid the potential dangers the\u00a0second-hand PC component market, here are five tips for buying second-hand hardware:<\/p>\n

\n

Inspect\u00a0physical condition<\/h3>\n

It is important to inspect the condition of second-hand components in order to identify possible problems.<\/p>\n

While a little bit of dust is not a problem, damaged PCBs, signs of water damage, and badly-fitted coolers could create problems\u00a0for you in the future.<\/p>\n

Make sure that the seller’s description of the part’s condition holds up to a physical inspection.<\/p>\n

\"broken-graphics-card\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Check history<\/h3>\n

Ask the buyer whether they have been using the component for any strenous tasks.<\/p>\n

The lifespan of graphics cards and processors can be notably shortened by regular overclocking.<\/p>\n

If you are buying a\u00a0processor with a history of heavy overclocking or a graphics card that has been used for bitcoin mining, make sure this a factor in your buying price.<\/p>\n

\"gpu-fire\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Verify specifications<\/h3>\n

Ensure that the component you are purchasing is exactly the same as advertised.<\/p>\n

Many sellers don’t have much hardware knowledge and may omit or incorrectly state important specifications, such as GPU VRAM or CPU base clock speed.<\/p>\n

Check model numbers and item packaging to ensure you are getting what you pay for.<\/p>\n

\"Entire<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Test performance<\/h3>\n

Do not buy any second-hand PC component without ensuring that it works.<\/p>\n

There is a wide selection of software available which can help you measure the performance of important components.<\/p>\n

This is especially important with graphics cards and processors, as they may be purposefully under-clocked\u00a0or have cooling problems.<\/p>\n

\"4k-02\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Beware of scammers<\/h3>\n

Scammers are common in any second-hand market.<\/p>\n

Luckily, there are a number of services\u00a0which facilitate second-hand sales and implement a reputation system based on user feedback.<\/p>\n

Using forums\u00a0like\u00a0Carbonite <\/a><\/strong>and always asking for\u00a0a face-to-face\u00a0transaction\u00a0will lower your chances of getting scammed.<\/p>\n

\"scam\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Now read:\u00a0This is what happens when building a gaming PC goes terribly wrong<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you’re thinking of buying second-hand PC parts, here’s what you need to know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":232,"featured_media":105309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_enabled":true,"_sma_x_custom_text":"","_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[21833,22853,1085,17670,22769,7012],"class_list":["post-108349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hardware","tag-components","tag-hand","tag-hardware-2","tag-parts","tag-second","tag-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/232"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}