Getting into PC hardware and building can be daunting. There’s a ton of jargon, spools of technical details, and the thorny topic of compatibility to consider, just to avoid the simplest errors. However, Redditor JoeBiden-mytime (JB) has got off to a grand start thanks to a generous neighbor. They are now the owner of a potent PC packing an RTX 3090 FE and liquid-cooled i9-10850K, which said neighbor passed on to them – for free.
Being a newcomer to the PC DIY scene, JB posted details of their neighbor’s kind donation onto the PCBuild subreddit. Under the heading of ‘Got a free PC,’ they asked “are these components any good or are they outdated?” JB admitted they were a PC building greenhorn, but were attracted to the platform.
Of course, some wise crackers said the system was junk and offered to take it out of JB’s hands to recycle, for free. The first two pictures shared by JB showed that the system was a little dusty, which may have made the poster wonder how old the PC was. However, they’ve followed up with more specs, so we have a good overview of this great neighborly gift.
Out of interest, we have tabulated the key components in this free PC next to their prices at launch:
Component | Launch price |
|---|---|
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 FE | $1,499 |
Intel Core i9-10850K (unlocked 10C/20T) | $453 |
Asus ROG Maximus XIII Hero Z590 | $499 |
To get a modern GPU to replace or rival the RTX 3090 in 2026, you would probably be pondering an RTX 5070 Ti from the green team or an AMD RX 9070/XT. Both of those have less VRAM (16GB vs 24GB) but not dreadfully so, and are more modern and efficient. Replacing this single component would set you back around $1,000 right now, if you wanted to stay with Nvidia.
The freebie PC’s supporting components are suitably premium, and appear to include an NZXT Kraken X63 AiO and an NZXT H510i case. The Task Manager screenshot also shows that the system came with 16GB of RAM and a pair of SSDs. In the same screenshot, we see this new member of the PC community is busy browsing the Steam sales for the unbeatable breadth and depth of titles available on the platform.
Later on, we see some pictures of the system powered up by JB, with RGB lighting across the fans, cooler, RAM sticks, etc. It still looks a little dusty, though, and perhaps the new owner of this older-but-gold system should do a bit of dust busting to keep the system ticking over smoothly. Free doesn't mean junk.
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