A player ordered 40 broken motherboards and is surprised at how many models actually work in the end. For the test, he invests around 1,000 euros to check several models and make an attempt at repairs.
Used hardware on eBay and other sites is often sold with notes like “Untested” or “for parts only.” Usually, this means that you cannot use the hardware or whatever you can buy there meaningfully anymore, or that there is a risk of failure.
A user recently explained on Reddit that he ordered 40 motherboards for around 1,000 euros, all of which were sold with the note that they were not supposed to work anymore. In the end, he is not only surprised by how many models actually work, but he also has a warning for gamers who want to buy used hardware.
30 out of 40 motherboards work, 10 are truly broken
What was the most common problem? On most motherboards, the pins on the CPU socket were mainly bent. Bent pins usually prevent one from being able to install a CPU on the motherboard.
However, the user explained that in most cases he actually managed to straighten the bent pins using a razor blade. In total, he came to the following result:
- 25 motherboards worked after repairing the bent pins.
- 2 motherboards ran after repairing the pins and updating the BIOS.
- 3 models worked immediately after unpacking.
- 10 models were so severely damaged and the pins so badly bent that they would no longer function or could not be repaired. He then took these models to a recycling facility.
- He adds that several motherboards were missing the heatsink for M.2 SSDs. However, many M.2 SSDs already come with a heatsink in the package.
- Some models had faults with the RAM. Sometimes he could only install one RAM stick at a time into the motherboard before the model malfunctioned.
He states that he paid an average of about 35 euros for each functioning motherboard. And according to him, that is a good success rate with all the models that were officially considered broken or unusable.
He has the following tips for other gamers:
- Basically, with a used model, there may always be accessories missing from the motherboard: M.2 screws, M.2 coolers, IO shields, or Wi-Fi antennas were regularly missing in his case. However, you can quickly get very cheap replacements, for example on Amazon, eBay, or other sites.
- Another tip is to take your time to bend the pins back. He himself writes: “the pins are more sensitive at the top but surprisingly stable at the base, as the upper side slopes down towards the contact point.” With a lot of patience, you can then get the pins straight again.
- One should not invest more than 30 to 40 euros for a damaged motherboard. Even broken high-end models for 100 US dollars would not be worth it, as the risk would be too great.
- “If the pins look good and it still refuses to start, then I would also do RMA [return].”
The well-known tech YouTuber JayzTwoCents wanted to build a gaming PC only from used hardware from eBay. Because this way, ideally, one can save a lot of money. But just after 25 minutes, it becomes clear that it probably won’t work. You can find the entire article about his video on MeinMMO: Tech YouTuber buys used hardware for €600 – Builds a gaming PC out of it, which dies after 25 minutes
