Should I keep this PC? (iBuyPower refurbished)

[Dolotu]

Hello everyone. I'm a little behind the curve on this stuff and could use some advice. I'm an old guy at the very begging of the GenX curve and I just bought a new computer so I might be able to play some games with my 34 y.o. daughter who lives over 1,000 mil;es away. Searching for what I thought was the best deal I could find, I bought a refurbished PC from iBuyPower.

Specs:
Asrock z590 WiFi motherboard
Intel i9 11700KF
16 Gb DDR4 3000
Nvidia Geforce RTX 2080 Super
$1,299

The case looked cool but on getting it it was immediately apparent that all the glass on the front was chocking airflow, so I just took it off and left the dust screen (looks horrible). It has three 120 fans on the front (the two top fans blow thru an AIO radiator and then into the case) and one 140 on the back. The top of the case is mesh and completely open.

The first thing the computer did while trying to start up was to shut down after about 4 min. It finally got posted but shut down again trying to get Windows set up. Long story short, I finally got ahold of Tech Support and they had me install CPUID HWMonitor which showed that the cores are overheating and shutting the system down. One particularly bad time 5 of the 8 cores reached 115 deg C.

Tech said they are going to set up a return of the AIO and send me a new one, but it takes a week one-way to ship. So I have a 360mm AIO on the way. I planned on just taking the radiator and pump out and leaving all three original fans in the front of the case, and installing the new radiator and fans blowing out the top. But then I noticed that there are two fans on the GPU, and they have yet to spin a single revolution.

Now my confidence that this PC is going to continue to work has dropped to rock bottom. I am thinking I should just send it back - though that will leave me without a comput6er for probably weeks and be a total PITA. Would y'all send it back and start over, or would you install the new AIO for now and move it into a better flowing case in the future?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Hi and welcome to the site.

I would wait on the AIO and install it. The GPU fans are most likely set up in zero fan mode so that they dont spin until the GPU hits 50C thats pretty standard for a few years now.

Theres a chance you could have got something better for the money, but we all have to start somewhere, and the system you bought will play any game released today just fine. I say install the AIO when it arrives and as long as it works enjoy playing with your daughter.

If it doesnt work, come back here and ask again. Someone will be able to help you out with a system for your budget no problem.

 

[Dolotu]

Hi and welcome to the site.

I would wait on the AIO and install it. The GPU fans are most likely set up in zero fan mode so that they dont spin until the GPU hits 50C thats pretty standard for a few years now.

Theres a chance you could have got something better for the money, but we all have to start somewhere, and the system you bought will play any game released today just fine. I say install the AIO when it arrives and as long as it works enjoy playing with your daughter.

If it doesnt work, come back here and ask again. Someone will be able to help you out with a system for your budget no problem.

Thank you, Kaamos_Llama.

All the fans do come on as soon as it's powered up. But I am, not sure how the fan curve is set. The new AIO is a Corsair and comes with a fan and RGB controller, so hopefully that will allow a little better management.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Hope it all works for you, just play around with it and you'll get it all worked out to your taste I'm sure.

 

[Why_Me]

Hello everyone. I'm a little behind the curve on this stuff and could use some advice. I'm an old guy at the very begging of the GenX curve and I just bought a new computer so I might be able to play some games with my 34 y.o. daughter who lives over 1,000 mil;es away. Searching for what I thought was the best deal I could find, I bought a refurbished PC from iBuyPower.

Specs:
Asrock z590 WiFi motherboard
Intel i9 11700KF
16 Gb DDR4 3000
Nvidia Geforce RTX 2080 Super
$1,299

The case looked cool but on getting it it was immediately apparent that all the glass on the front was chocking airflow, so I just took it off and left the dust screen (looks horrible). It has three 120 fans on the front (the two top fans blow thru an AIO radiator and then into the case) and one 140 on the back. The top of the case is mesh and completely open.

The first thing the computer did while trying to start up was to shut down after about 4 min. It finally got posted but shut down again trying to get Windows set up. Long story short, I finally got ahold of Tech Support and they had me install CPUID HWMonitor which showed that the cores are overheating and shutting the system down. One particularly bad time 5 of the 8 cores reached 115 deg C.

Tech said they are going to set up a return of the AIO and send me a new one, but it takes a week one-way to ship. So I have a 360mm AIO on the way. I planned on just taking the radiator and pump out and leaving all three original fans in the front of the case, and installing the new radiator and fans blowing out the top. But then I noticed that there are two fans on the GPU, and they have yet to spin a single revolution.

Now my confidence that this PC is going to continue to work has dropped to rock bottom. I am thinking I should just send it back - though that will leave me without a comput6er for probably weeks and be a total PITA. Would y'all send it back and start over, or would you install the new AIO for now and move it into a better flowing case in the future?

Thanks for the advice.

You can do better imo with that budget. What resolution is your monitor?

 

[Why_Me]

If you game at 1080P then look at the RTX 4060 Ti and RX 7600 both due for release at the end of this month. Read the reviews and add whatever one of those cards you choose to this build.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor ($160.85 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: *Deepcool AG400 75.89 CFM CPU Cooler ($24.96 @ B&H)
Motherboard: *MSI MAG B660M BAZOOKA DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($104.00 @ Newegg)
Memory: *TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($55.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *Crucial P3 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Case: *Fractal Design Focus 2 ATX Mid Tower Case ($60.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: *Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Best Buy)
Operating System: *Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: *ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan ($9.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $721.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-05-11 15:49 EDT-0400

 

[mjs warlord]

Just a few pointers for you ..... anything running at 115 degrees is not a good idea , also .. you should not have to take front glass or any other parts of the case off to improve airflow .... that will allow more dust to enter the pc.

You mention you got a refurbished machine ...

This could actually work in your favour to force the company to give you a full refund , over here in England any pc that is refurbished MUST be fault free simply because unlike new machines that might develop a fault a refurbished machine must be fault free ..... its a strange thing but you have more consumer rights with a refurbished machine.

You can use the phrase " not fit for purpose " to force a total refund.
List all the problems it has such as.....

1. Had to remove glass front to try and lower temps.
2. Temp of 115 not good .... show proof with a print out.
3. Continually shuts down after booting up

Footnotes

Dont take it to bits but temps that high might indicate they forgot thermal paste.
Take side off so you can see your cards fans then start the pc up , they should spin for a few seconds at boot up then start again at a certain temp , use task manager to look at card temp , if temp hits 70 and fans dont kick in i would say the card is faulty

 

[Dolotu]

The new 360mm AIO is already out for delivery, so I think I am just going to install it and see how it does. If the temps go down where they are supposed to be then I will be happy and can move it to a better case later. If they don't then first thing Monday I will be seeking a return and refund. (a hassle in itself).

I looked up all the parts on that PC Picker and came up with around $1600 for what I got. But that's just parts. While I can probably assemble it myself, I have no idea how to set up the bios (for now) and paying someone to do it just adds to the cost. So I'm happy with the deal if it will work when I change out the AIO.

Thank you, everyone, for the replies!