I physically damaged the CPU for the new desktop computer I have been building , so I needed a new one. I was unemployed just then, and needed to maintain fiscal discipline, so I decided to risk buying a used refurbished copy of that CPU model. (I didn't even try fixing the new CPU--it looked mutilated. Didn't think I could possibly bend that many pins back into place.) Saved a huge amount of money, so much that I am considering buying more than one replacement CPU, in case this one I bought fails anytime soon.

The thing I actually want to ask is: am I right that I should never consider a used motherboard? It just looks like motherboards have far more parts that could fail.

(If you want to know, the reason the used replacement cost almost nothing is not for being used. It's because the brand-new CPU was old technology, an AMD Athlon II. Fully cognizant of its limitations, I bought it because, having used old Thinkpad T4xx laptops for the last five years, I know I don't need the latest technology or even close thereto. If I get away with running a used CPU--I mean if it doesn't fail soon--I'll get the same satisfaction I get from buying my shirts at Goodwill. )

As with anything, sometimes you benefit and sometimes you end up with a lemon.

Some things which may aid mitigating risk would be any information available on the supplier, such as if they deliver on their claims, or if there's nearly zero feedback about them. Also whether or not they actually provide any claims, such as "tested", or (the opposite) "dredged out of a PC found buried in a riverbed ... I dried it off tho!"

The only difference from a yard sale is that you are not in person and able to handle the item, you have to get it shipped to you. (assuming you've ordered online that is)

Then there's the amount of money. If I sold MBs for ten cents a piece, claimed "state unknown, but last known to be working", would you buy six of them and be happy if two of them worked? Decide your pain threshold.

Also there's whether or not a vendor accepts returns.

I bought a battery and charger for a 30 year old Milwaukee driver drill, because I like it a lot and the charger finally died. I order from two different people who claimed it worked and the battery was tested.

$19 and $20 respectively, and the both work. I'm good.

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It is a hit and miss, I've replaced 4 boards in the last few years due to my clumsiness, two worked as advertised, one the touchpad wouldn't work, the last wouldn't charge the battery.

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I've played with all sorts of mechanical and electronic stuff for many decades.

I can't say yet what is better. Sometimes I'm broke and just have to buy the cheapest and luck out. Other times buy new and get burned.

However I did work with some guys who sold on that auction site. They'd buy a board, play with it, realize it was junk and turned around and sold it. Soooooo.... buyer beware.

With electronic stuff, don't buy a spare would be my suggestion especially if you don't have free cash. It will all be cheaper tomorrow.

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I'd think, if someone is selling a pre used laptop m/b, either there's something wrong with it, otherwise why are they selling it, (to fund a replacement!), or they may have physically damaged the laptop, ie, broken the screen, that one is likely OK.

With desktops, people often upgrade when a new/better one comes out, so they try to recoup some of their money, usually in good working order.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in <Linux - Hardware> and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

If you have them where you live, you might want to consider approaching local repair shops to see if they are willing you sell you something that works, especially if they do upgrades.

Also, there are some people who make use of freecycle.org that are willing to give away tech. items.

You're always gambling secondhand. Overall you win, but on any particular roll of the dice you may lose.

I kept obsolete pcs going cheap during the 1990s with this approach: I'd walk into a computer shop, and say:

"Hello, do you do upgrades?" The sales spiel would start, which I would interrupt
"Do you have any DOWNGRADES?"

I would then explain that I would give them beer money for a downgrade that would boot. It saved me a lot of hassle and expense I'd take video cards, hard disks, & motherboards. Things were changing loads (ISA out - PCI in, floppies out etc). There were some very good ones.

[shrug] No problem. I thought it wouldn't belong there, because my question doesn't mention Linux.

Clever...

If you are able to examine the motherboard before purchase, look closely at the capacitors. If any of the little elecrolytic caps -- they'll look like little aluminum cans -- show any sign of bulging, walk away. Those capacitors, when they exhibit this bulging, won't be working as they are intended to and will cause the system to behave flakily and, eventually, it won't boot at all. Sure system LEDs may light up and fans may spin up but the CPU won't bootstrap. I've had this happen more than once over the years.

Good luck...

Not for me, I always buy used computers off craigslist for dirt cheap because most people aren't tech savvy. They think newer is better. I bought a Dell for $25 because the screen was black, all I had to do was replace the cmos battery and sold it for $125 for a $3 battery at Walmart. I sold it to a computer tech who worked in a shop. He would have charged about a $100 to fix it. Thank God I'm a little computer savvy.

Used mobos, I don't have experience of. Used CPUs.....

My regular box is an elderly Compaq Presario desktop PC, from around the time of the HP buyout, circa 2004/5. From the factory, Socket 939 MSI motherboard, and a single-core, first-gen Athlon64. The board supported upgrading to the dual-core X2 models - AMD always tried to keep backward compatibility in those days, and re-used the same CPU socket for as long as possible.

I fancied an upgrade to an X2, so had a look round on eBay/Amazon about 4 years ago, and snagged a mint-condition X2 3800+ (this one having the same clock speed/cache per core as the previous single-core 3200+). The price? It 'broke the bank' (*lol*). An eye-watering GBP £6.79p!

Best investment I ever made......it's run like a dream ever since. Unlike many 'used' CPUs, this one wasn't still festooned with lumps of dried TIM, and had been meticulously cleaned prior to sale. Which, as it turned out, was an indication of the way it had been treated, too; it's never given a moment's trouble.....and, unlike the traditional fallacy that 'AMDs always run hot', this one has always run remarkably cool. Even during a UK summer, if it tops 50°C, I start getting concerned; 30-40 is 'the norm', as a rule.

Which I put down to careful re-assembly during installation, and every 12 months since, regular as clockwork, the TIM gets replaced, whether I think it needs it or not.

During that same period, I also obtained a very good condition 2.6 GHz non-HT Pentium 4, to replace a 2.2 GHz 400FSB NetBurst 'Celly' in an even older Dell laptop. It, too, is still going strong with Puppy.....maxed out to 2 GB DDR1, and a 64GB TRanscend IDE/PATA SSD. That set me back all of £4.73.....

There are good bargains to be had out there. You've just got to prepared to trawl the 'net for as long as it takes to find 'em.

---------------------------------------------

Obviously, there's 'dodgy' tech items out there of every stripe.....but in all the years I've been playing around with these boxes of 'black magic', I can't say as I've ever actually heard of a CPU failing.....they have multiple fail-safes built into them to forestall OTT abuse for any length of time, under 'normal' usage conditions.

O/C-ing, though.....whole 'nother ball-game..! (If you get even an inkling that a CPU has been used for that kind of thing, walk away.) Northwood-cored P4s were known to suffer from SNDS - Sudden Northwood Death Syndrome - after extended periods of such abuse, even if returned to 'stock' conditions. Extended O/C-ing would cause the following:-

"Overclocking early stepping Northwood cores yielded a startling phenomenon. While core voltage approaching 1.7 V and above would often allow substantial additional gains in overclocking headroom, the processor would slowly (over several months or even weeks) become more unstable over time with a degradation in maximum stable clock speed before dying and becoming totally unusable. This became known as Sudden Northwood Death Syndrome (SNDS), which was caused by electromigration."

....from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_4#Northwood


Mike.

All my systems are built from used parts bought off ebay. Yes, of course there's a risk. I things to look for with a vendor before I feel comfortable. Knowing it's used, and "supposedly" working, I'm only going to spend so much.

As mentioned, some think they need the newest - their windows computer is slowing down. Older adequate pieces and parts are affordable, depending on your needs. How fast do they think windows needs to be to "do the internet"? An, if you're not installing windows - you already have a faster system.

It's a personal choice, I haven't had serious issues, but it may not be your choice.

rigor has a possible solution too. Many times local shops get this stuff from places like Dell in truckloads. They sell and warranty the stuff.