Computer Components

Processor sockets and the memory each board takes:

settle these first, because every other part hangs off them. AMD’s AM4 boards run Ryzen chips on DDR4 memory, while AM5 takes DDR5 only and is the platform AMD keeps releasing processors for. Intel’s LGA1700 boards, home to the Core chips sold before Core Ultra, are each built for DDR4 or for DDR5, never both, and only the board’s exact model name tells you which. An older AM4 board often needs a BIOS update before it will start with a Ryzen newer than the board itself, so ask which version it carries. A graphics card then needs length in the case and the right plugs from the power supply, and a tall tower cooler has to let the side panel close. Drives have their own place in storage and hard drives, and if what you really want is a finished machine, price your parts list against a built tower in desktops before buying the first piece.

CPU coolers from Totonicapán to the Pacific coast:

the same cooler behaves differently in each. The fan in a processor’s box keeps a mid-range chip quiet in a cool highland room, and can run loud and slow the chip down on a hot afternoon in Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, where a tower air cooler earns its price. All-in-one liquid coolers have a pump that wears and coolant that slowly escapes, so one with several years behind it is closer to the end than its looks suggest. Listen for grinding or gurgling when it starts up.

Power supplies and the wattage on the box:

the big number on the front is where budget builds go wrong. A branded 650 W supply with 80 Plus Bronze certification, a sensible floor under an entry gaming card, costs around Q600 to Q700 new. Generic units selling for a fraction of that print a large wattage on the box and a much smaller real one in the small print, enough for an office PC on integrated graphics and nothing more. Count the supply into the sums: a new entry-level gaming card runs around Q3,500 to Q5,000, and a cheap used card stops being cheap the moment the old supply cannot feed it.

Where used processors, boards and graphics cards get damaged:

mostly in places a quick look on the table misses. AM4 Ryzen chips carry their pins underneath, while AM5 and Intel put them in the board’s socket, so shine a torch on whichever side has them and be wary of a board sold without its plastic socket cover. Intel’s Raptor Lake Core i7 and i9 chips, the two generations sold just before Core Ultra, can degrade until they crash, and the BIOS fix stops the damage without reversing it, so ask when the board was updated and whether the PC ever froze in games. On top-end NVIDIA cards with the slim high-power plug, look for browned or melted plastic on the plug and its cable. Modular power-supply cables do not swap between brands, and a mismatched one can kill a drive, so a supply missing its own cables is worth much less than a complete one.

A processor, board and memory sold as one bundle:

moves more easily than the same parts one by one, because a loose processor cannot be shown working without a board to put it in. Give the board’s full model name with its chipset and BIOS version, and photograph the pins or socket close up, the power supply’s label where its real output is printed and every modular cable in its bag. Keep the socket cover and the rear I/O shield with the board, since buyers notice when either is missing. Leave the bundle assembled and running until the sale, so whoever comes to collect it can watch it reach the BIOS screen and see the processor temperature settle before any money changes hands.