Can this decade-old PC still game?

Cleaning, restoring and benchmarking a vintage 2012 gaming PC in a series of games from 2011 to 2015, plus some modern eSports titles.

Anyone buying a 2012-era PC should expect to have to put in at least a little time cleaning and refurbishing, but some are better than others. This £220 unit from UK-based used PC seller CEX (pronounced, er, “secks”) was a solid upper-midrange offering when it was new, and even in 2022 its X79 platform still has a lot of promise. That is, if I can find the socket under all this dust…

Music by Backing Track http://www.backingtrack.gg

S P E C S
Intel i7-3820 4 core 8 thread CPU
Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3 Socket 2011 motherboard
24GB DDR3-1333 (2x4GB Corsair Vengeance, 2x8GB Patriot)
120GB SATA SSD
1TB WD Black HDD
EVGA GTX 670 2GB SSC Graphics Card
Corsair TX650 80 Plus Bronze PSU
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Cooler
Cooler Master HAF 912 Case

00:00 The £220 Dirty CEX Machine
00:53 Buying used gaming PCs from CEX
01:37 Analysing the specs
02:05 Red flags when buying a used PC
03:03 Inspecting the PC
06:10 Restoration montage
08:53 The finished build
09:47 Work done & still to do
10:25 Gaming Benchmarks
10:29 Benchmarks: The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (2011)
10:56 Benchmarks: Batman: Arkham City (2012)
11:28 Benchmarks: Tomb Raider (2013)
11:53 Benchmarks: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014)
12:24 Benchmarks: The Witcher III (2015)
13:01 Benchmarks: GTA V (2015)
13:28 Modern game fails
13:55 Benchmarks: Cyberpunk 2077
14:45 Benchmarks: Apex Legends
15:19 Benchmarks: Fortnite
16:06 Benchmarks: Valorant
16:55 Benchmarks: CS:GO
17:28 Benchmarks: Time Spy & Cinebench R23
17:30 Conclusion: How is a £1100 gaming PC from 2012 holding up in 2022?

T H E M P G P C S Y S T E M S P E C S
(Affiliate links)
MSI B450 Tomahawk Max II Motherboard https://amzn.to/3ILs2Jl
Vetroo V5 CPU Cooler https://amzn.to/34pk6if
V-Color 2x2GB DDR4-4000 RGB RAM https://amzn.to/3s7zmb4
Liteon OEM 256GB SATA M.2 SSD https://amzn.to/3u9P34B (alternative)
WD Blue 2TB 3.5" HDD https://amzn.to/3CIcK5R
Antec NX410 Case https://amzn.to/3rjTCaA
EVGA 600W 80 Plus White PSU https://amzn.to/3fVfPFT

P A T R E O N
Support Iceberg: http://bit.ly/3c8nNuz

O T H E R V I D E O S
2022 Personal Rig :    • £2000 Ryzen / RTX Gaming PC 2021 | 10...  

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Check out my other channel at    / @iceberggamingtop10s  

A D S
The following links are affiliated. Everything costs the same to you, but I get a commission. Please only click these links if you want to help me out!

Get cheap game keys @ CDKeys: https://bit.ly/3c0Tu6j

G E A R
Audio:
Behringer UM2 https://amzn.to/3aV17wq
Behringer XM8500 https://amzn.to/3nCt2WY
Generic microphone arm https://amzn.to/339yZRC

Video:
Fujifilm X-T3 https://amzn.to/3nGapRY
Camera & 18-55mm lens kit:    • Trading a PS4 for a PC | £150 Budget ...  
Fujifilm 23mm f2 https://amzn.to/3udXvgn
FeiyuTech G6 Max Gimbal https://amzn.to/3nHndYs
Interfit LM8 Video LED https://amzn.to/2SkESJL
Neewer 120cm Softbox https://amzn.to/2RjlMDm
Raleno Rechargeable Bicolour Video LED Panel https://amzn.to/3f2l7hV

C O N T A C T
Twitter/Insta @IcebergTop10s
Email [email protected]

#GamingPC #i7 #2012