Tests You Should Always Do Before Buying a Used Computer

We understand that a person who decides to buy a used computer because their budget is not particularly buoyant, and therefore they have to buy a device that has already been used.

It is at this point that we must stop and consider that any type of electronic element already in use can cause problems that cannot be detected by the naked eye.

To be more sure, we can talk to the seller and let us run certain checks on the device to make sure we bought the computer in good condition.

In any case, it must be clear that whether it is a sale from a professional or from a private individual, we will always be entitled to a guarantee, so even if we buy it, we can test it in the same way. , and if there are any problems, return it.

The tests we have to do with the computer are as follows:

• RAM check
• storage equipment
• CPU and GPU test
• CPU and GPU temperature
• battery charge

RAM check

RAM is what stores all current processes running on the computer, which are cleared when the device is turned off.

If you buy a computer with faulty RAM, you’re likely to experience hiccups in performance (not just slower, but even stuttering), garbled graphics, and an endless stream of bugs.

The best way to find out if your RAM is good is to use the Windows Memory Diagnostics program, although there are third-party apps that do the same thing.

This is how we are going to test the RAM using this tool that comes with the operating system:

• We are open Fulfill pressing a keyboard shortcut Win + P.
• We wrote mdsched.exe and press To come in.
• Now it’s time to push Reload Now and check if there are any problems.

At this point, Windows will reboot once, and when you boot up, the memory diagnostic tool will start running, rebooting one more time in the process.

When it turns on, if we do not see the results, we must follow the following steps to find out:

• We click on magnifying glass button next to the start and write Event Viewer.
• Once we see it, click on it.
• Now that we are in the viewer, let’s windows logs and then System.
• We click on Seek within Actions on the right panel.
• we have to write MemoryDiagnostics and click on Find next.

The viewer will now look for the data string we just requested.

As soon as he finds them, we will see on the screen all the results of the tests.

storage equipment

If we have a faulty drive, whether it be a hard drive or a solid state drive, it can cause problems such as poor overall performance of the computer, frequent system crashes, problems writing files or boot delays, among other things.

Yes, it’s true that these types of devices don’t fail, but the fact that they break can be a real challenge.

We must focus primarily on two things: that it is moving in normal temperatures and do not have bad sectors or blocks.

To make sure that everything is going well in this regard, the best thing to do is to use a tool called CrystalDiskInfo where we will see the health status and temperature of what we have to store information.

We must make sure that puts well in a state of health and that the temperature of each disk varies 30 to 50°C.

CPU and GPU test

To find out how the CPU and GPU are doing, we must perform a stress test by bringing the computer hardware to its maximum performance and checking if everything is going well.

If the result is good, we are undoubtedly waiting for a successful purchase, even if used.

If we want to run GPU stress test, we can download and use Furmark. Once completed, we’ll see a summary of your GPU’s highest temperature and an estimate of where it compares to others.

One of the best CPU stress tests we have Prime95.

There is three settings inside Prime95:

• small FFTs they provide a CPU stress test as well as small RAM tests.
• large FFTs instead, they provide a more stringent CPU stress test with the goal of maximizing usage and temporary reads.
• mixing which has more RAM tests than CPU stress tests.

CPU and GPU temperature

Another test we need to make is the test for heating of both CPU and GPUsomething to help us know if this computer will need an extra fan, a cooling kit, or something else to keep it warm.

It is best to use NZXT CAM because we have an easy to use interface and because it will clearly show us what temperature the component is in stress test.

battery charge

If the battery of a computer that we are about to buy has undergone significant wear, it is more than likely that it needs to be replaced, which we must arrange with the seller.

To perform a battery health check, follow these steps:

• We wrote team after pressing the button with a magnifying glass, which is located in the start menu.
• the moment i go out Command line on the screen, right-click it and select “Run as administrator”.
• Now we are writing powercfg/batteryreport and press Enter next.
• This will generate a battery report and store it in a specific folder, which in most cases will be C:\Windows\System32\battery-report.

We have to analyze this summary well to make sure that the estimated battery life after a full charge is adequate or we will have to replace it with a new one.

With all these checks, you will be completely sure that you will take home a good computer and that you will not have problems in the near or medium term.

This is a way of not giving us surprises after buying a used device of this type.