How Much is My PC Worth? Find Out Your PC’s Actual Value

Gamers tend to leave no stone unturned when it comes to choosing the best parts for their PC. Many a time, enthusiasts are more than willing to dish out a couple hundred extra dollars for added RGB, which contrary to popular belief, does not increase your framerate.

So how much does your PC cost? Whether you’re upgrading your current rig or saving money for something else, it always helps to know how much cash you can expect after selling your system. In this guide, we will focus on what aspects make your PC more expensive and which tools you can use to get an estimated figure.

Nominal Price vs Real Price

A PC comprises many different parts, and within those parts, you have many models. The Nominal Price of your system can be determined by a tool such as PCPartPicker; which does not account for regional pricing and other factors. This can give you a quick estimated figure but can vary wildly based on where you live or the condition of your parts.

↪ Nominal Price

The Nominal Price is the retail price of your PC right now, globally. When calculating the Nominal Price, we’ll assume the parts to be brand new since if your build is 2-3 years old, chances are there isn’t a huge price gap between used and old components, if they are still being produced that is.

As an example, the i5-11400 had an MSRP of $182 at launch. After a few generations, its price has gone down to as low as $119.99, brand new. This is the Nominal Price.

• The nominal Price is the current MSRP of your components.
• It reflects the price you’d pay right now for your components, brand new.
• If your build is newly built, the Nominal Price and MSRP could be similar.

↪ Real Price

The Real Price is the Nominal Price adjusted for your regional market. This is basically what you can expect to get if you sell your system right now.

Sticking with the i5-11400 example, in Pakistan, the Real Price of that processor (Used) is approximately $106 as per our research. While the difference isn’t huge in this example, parts with limited availability can see a significant bump or fall in the Real Price.

• The Real Price is the Nominal Price but is based on the regional market and how much the product has been used.
• This quotation represents the resale value of your PC in the local market.

Likewise, using the principle of supply and demand, your Real Price could be significantly lower than the Nominal Price since the current global retail value (Nominal Price) of a product will not always reflect the price in your local shops. For example, while the Vega 64 can beat the GTX 1080 in some cases, it is always cheaper given the low demand.

Enough talking, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of how you can determine your PC’s Nominal and Real price.

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How to Determine the Price of My PC?

Before we go in-depth, our guide focuses on two aspects; the Real Price and the Nominal Price. The former will be discussed later on, with a more hands-on approach. Meanwhile, the latter is rather simple to calculate.

1) PCPartPicker — Nominal Price

PCPartPicker is a website that allows users to compare and check the compatibility of various PC components. It works by scraping data from a large number of retailers online to give you the best prices. Consider it the go-to place for “Drafting a PC“, literally. Here’s how you can use this tool:

1. Search the term “PC Part Picker” on Google. Make sure you double-check the URL; “https://pcpartpicker.com“
   
2. Click on the “Start Your Build” button as shown in the image.
   
3. Once you’re presented with the interface, select all the parts inside your PC in the respective fields. Be mindful to add the correct models, as they have a substantial impact on the price.
   
4. Keep in mind, you might not find the prices for every single part here, especially if it is restricted to a few regions only. The final estimate for our build comes out to be $570. On purchase, this PC cost around $720. We’ll share a detailed chart below.
   
   

While you can set an asking price of $570 for this build, this is around $70 more expensive than our estimated Real Price. Again, $570 does not account for the fact that our PC has been “used” and the local market’s variance.

Using the previous Vega 64 vs GTX 1080 example, users in our local community were willing to pay a maximum of 45000 PKR ($161) for a top-of-the-line Asus ROG Strix Vega 64 8GB. Meanwhile, Dual-Fan GTX 1080s go for around 50000 PKR – 60000 PKR ($180–$215).

While we’re at it, based on eBay’s data, the GTX 1080 has a Nominal Price of $100–$120 in the US, much lower than in Pakistan. This is why it is important to not only rely on the Nominal Price but also research your local market as well.

2) Manually Searching — Real Price

There are two ways to go this route; scour the physical market or search local online marketplaces. We’ll opt for the latter as it is simply more convenient. There are several websites and services you can use such as:

1. Facebook Marketplace
2. Subreddits
3. eBay
4. OLX (if available in your country)

Every country has that one specific online marketplace that everyone loves, so finding buyers and a community to get quotes from should not be that difficult. Anyhow, using the same PC we used in PCPartPicker to get a Nominal Price, let’s try and find the Real Price.

We’ll use the PPG Facebook group from Pakistan in our case to get the required data. As can be seen, the Real Price is 10% lower than the Nominal Price using PCPartPicker. Moreover, after 2 years of use, our parts have devalued by almost 30%, without taking into account inflation.

1. The nominal Price has been calculated using PCPartPicker. ↩︎
2. The Real Price has been gathered from various sources; PPG, OLX, and Facebook Marketplace. We have taken upwards of 5 samples for each part and calculated the average. ↩︎
3. Appropriate USD to PKR rates have been used for calculation; 1 USD = 215 PKR (July 2022) / 178 PKR (December 2021). ↩︎

Now, you might say that 10% isn’t large enough to warrant this level of research. And you’re partially correct. However, what if your Real Price was actually 10% higher, instead of lower like in our case?

The next step is to visit local markets and get an estimate for your build. It is best you not only stick to 1 shop but try at least 5-6 different ones to get multiple opinions. We’ve seen time and time again that users end up getting ripped off because of this mistake.

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What Factors Increase Your PC’s Value?

Now what exactly can you do to increase your PC’s worth? Aside from the typical; don’t break it, don’t damage it… There is a chance you may be able to get a higher asking price based on your components and a few important quirks.

1. CPU — Tray vs Boxed

Be it tray or boxed, the physical chip (CPU) is the same. The only difference is the warranty (and the cool packaging). If your CPU is boxed, you can directly contact Intel or AMD for a replacement in case of any issues. If you bought a tray CPU, however, you’re reliant on your distributor since tray CPUs are supplied in bulk to OEMs.

If you’ve been up to speed with the recent Intel 13th / 14th Generation fiasco, Intel initially only extended warranties for Boxed CPUs. However, after some backlash, Tray CPUs were later included in the list as well. The caveat is that you’d still need to contact your distributor and not Intel.

2. GPU — The AIB Tax

Is it really worth spending extra money on a supposedly “better” GPU model, even though the chip inside is physically the same? Take this example, the ZOTAC Trinity RTX 4090 costs 574,999 PKR ($2068). The same shop sells the ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 4090 for 764,999 PKR ($2751).

Now we won’t question your purchasing habits, but generally, high-end models can sustain this “AIB Tax” for a few generations even. But again, it will be a hassle finding someone who’d be willing to pay 35% more for the same GPU.

3. RAM — RGB & Better Timings

It will be blasphemous not to mention RGB if we’re talking about PC gaming. Users are willing to pay more for RAM with RGB, simply due to their aesthetics. Likewise, we strongly advise you to not overlook your RAM’s specifications as speeds and timings really matter.

Two similar kits of Corsair Vengeance 2x16GB DDR5 memory have a 22% price difference only because the more expensive one is faster (5600MT/s vs 6200MT/s). So, faster RAM (with RGB of course) not only impacts your PC’s performance but also increases its overall value.

4. Motherboard — Expensive is Better?

Getting a high-end motherboard is almost always better than sticking with the budget or entry-level options. The answer is pretty much self-explanatory, you get better VRMs, memory overclocking, CPU overclocking, extra ports, more NVMe slots, and memory channels.

There is a caveat, however. Intel is infamous for its short platform support, meaning that every 2 years you will need to upgrade the motherboard to use your shiny new processor. An expensive Z790 might be tempting but note that in just 1-2 years you’d be selling a motherboard based on an outdated platform, which is easier said than done.

5. Peripherals — The More the Merrier

Your chosen accessories can contribute quite a bit to your PC’s cost. Used keyboards and mice don’t usually sell for that much cheaper, typically losing 15-20% of their value at best, based on the condition.

What we do recommend is replacing the foam pads on your headphones since they generally get worn out pretty quickly. Gaming monitors are actually better if purchased used since the end-user has a sure way of knowing whether the display has dead pixels or scratches; you don’t get that luxury with new box-packed monitors.

6. Miscellaneous

To sum it all up, here is a list of things that could potentially lower or increase your system’s value:

• There should be no visible cracks or damage to the exterior.
• The hardware should not be faulty, for example, malfunctioning motherboard ports.
• GPUs opened for maintenance such as repasting are cheaper than sealed GPUs.
• Modded peripherals, especially with optical switches may fetch a higher price than brand-new ones.
• Any product in warranty will automatically increase its value.
• The more RGB, the more your PC will stand out.

READ MORE: PC Gaming Peripherals – Are Racing Wheels Really Worth the Money? ➜

Conclusion

Selling your PC is often not an easy thing to do, even if you plan on upgrading. Many people mistakenly sell their PCs at 10-15% lower than their Real Price, because they didn’t do ample research.

If you want to increase your PC’s value, try focusing on the small things such as RGB SSD heatsinks (Yes that’s a real term), a GPU bracket, and whatnot. Try undervolting or even overclocking your CPU/GPU to the max. This will make your listing more enticing and save the end user the hassle of finding these values from scratch.