Want to try and buy my parents' old pc, want some price advice - Hardware & Software

Some of you who lurked the Steam give and get sales thread may be aware of my current situation regarding computers. For the uninformed, let me elaborate. A few months ago, I got a laptop, paid for by my parents, because I was going to study IT. This left my little brother the only one without a computer of sorts. Now, my brother had been upgrading enough parts to build a new one, save a case. Long story short, he got it for free (even though he wanted to pay for it) and he can play proper games on it while I can't, leaving me pissed off. But I digress. I recently noticed my mom's complaints that the family PC barely gets used anymore. Me wanting my own PC + family PC being decent + Family PC barely getting used = opportunity for me, right? Anyhoos, I'm considering telling them I'm interested in buying it and then saving for upgrades. Problem is, I don't really know what to offer. I can't list the entire specs by head, but I'll list what I can. Case: Some random Antec case, will have to check Mobo: Unknown Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4 Ghz RAM: 4 gigs DDR2, don't know about the speed. GPU: Nvidia Geforce 8800GT HDD: Something like 3 in various sizes, though I'll only need the 1 TB drive that's in there. OS: Windows 7 32-bit Now, I can already sense the 'don't bother, just save up for your own' comments but bear in mind, I don't really play any demanding games at the moment (most recent games would be Civ 5 and Mafia 2 perhaps, maybe Arma 2) so upgrading is something that doesn't necessarily need to happen right now. Hell, I'm fully aware of the fact I'll need to upgrade everything if I'm upgrading at all and I'm fine with that. At the moment, I just want a PC of my own that I can play some games on. Let's cut to the chase. I want to ask my parents if I can acquire it somehow off them, maybe pay them. What would be a respectable offer?

Trade your parents the laptop for the pc perhaps?

[QUOTE=ExplosiveCheese;26433137]Trade your parents the laptop for the pc perhaps?[/QUOTE] They got a Macbook Pro recently, so they won't need it. You missed something else. [quote]I got a laptop, paid for by my parents, because I was going to study IT.[/quote]

Well, if they have a mac book pro why would they still need an old pc?

[QUOTE=ExplosiveCheese;26433215]Well, if they have a mac book pro why would they still need an old pc?[/QUOTE] Mostly because it has a harddrive with all our photos on it. Besides, they bought this pc 2 years ago if I'm not mistaken. Then again, I could use your post as a viable argument.

Mayby you could back up all your photos and transfer them to the macbook pro. :buddy: How can that possibly fail?

I would say around 550 or so since it is your family or if they are feeling generous like 450-500.

[QUOTE=sbradford26;26433406]I would say around 550 or so since it is your family or if they are feeling generous like 450-500.[/QUOTE] Could be worth mentioning that these are euros we'd be talking about, I am a dutchfag after all. [QUOTE=ExplosiveCheese;26433283]Mayby you could back up all your photos and transfer them to the macbook pro. :buddy: How can that possibly fail?[/QUOTE] Eh, maybe I can persuade them to get an external HDD to put it on. Hmm, should I pull the argument 'my little brother got it free, so should I'?

It might work, combined with my other post. :buddy:

get an enclosure for the drive that's in there, turn it into an external one.

[QUOTE=ButtsexV3;26434930]get an enclosure for the drive that's in there, turn it into an external one.[/QUOTE] Will the enclosure allow it to be connected through USB? It would be a lot easier.

[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;26442810]Will the enclosure allow it to be connected through USB? It would be a lot easier.[/QUOTE] Yes. Though the fastest way would probably be to put the Mac in Target Disk Mode(hold T during bootup) and connect it via FireWire to the PC(needs a FireWire 800 to FireWire 400 cable if it's a unibody MacBook Pro since those lost the 400 port & the PC doesn't have an 800 port[I'd be stunned if it did]) then transfer the programs manually to your $2000 external hard drive. But this might not work, I'm not sure if Windows can ready Journal formatted drives. I think there are programs that allow it to do it, though, you'd have to check.

ermmm use speccy on the pc please and post specs

They're your family, just give em like 200 bucks or something. It's obviously worth more than that, but if it's not getting used and they weren't going to sell it anyway then just offer.

Said I would get better specs, so here they are: [img]http://filesmelt.com/dl/speccy.jpg[/img] [QUOTE=TheGuru;26443906]They're your family, just give em like 200 bucks or something. It's obviously worth more than that, but if it's not getting used and they weren't going to sell it anyway then just offer.[/QUOTE] My little brother's pc has an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400, 3 gigs of DDR2 RAM and an XFX 9800GT and my parents paid my brother roughly 80 euros for it, just an fyi.

Thats pretty much my rig but with more ram and worse GPU. Its not shit [editline]2nd December 2010[/editline] Also overclock that q6600

Why wouldn't they just give it to you? :colbert:

[QUOTE=Slithersoul;26451904]Why wouldn't they just give it to you? :colbert:[/QUOTE] To be frank, I don't have a clue. But if they want me to pay for it, fine. I'm getting paid in just over a week so that shouldn't be a problem. [editline]2nd December 2010[/editline] Whatever, my mom wants to discuss it with my dad first and his ass won't be here till Saturday.

Ask them what would they want if in order for you to get the computer.

[QUOTE=ExplosiveCheese;26452859]Ask them what would they want if in order for you to get the computer.[/QUOTE] I already pitched it to my mom and she said I'll have to wait till my dad gets home. Understandable since my mom is, to put it gently, not exactly well-informed on computers and shit.

[QUOTE=ButtsexV3;26434930]get an enclosure for the drive that's in there, turn it into an external one.[/QUOTE] This, just did it with a old WD enclosure with 80GB drive I had

3 hard drives? I suggest taking out the smaller drive, buying an enclosure off newegg for $20 and give her that.

I'd say about 800 dollars. [editline]3rd December 2010[/editline] better yet just print out a speccy page for us.

I just payed $650 for a rig with the same processor, 2gb more DDR2 RAM and 3 GTX 260's, with a 200gb HDD (Got my own 1tb so it's not an issue). So, for that, $400?

[QUOTE=Hookerbot9000;26460805]I just payed $650 for a rig with the same processor, 2gb more DDR2 RAM and 3 GTX 260's, with a 200gb HDD (Got my own 1tb so it's not an issue). So, for that, $400?[/QUOTE] Prices vary harshly from country to country, in Australia it's costs about 600-800.