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A Reddit post described a father buying his son a supposedly custom-built gaming PC for £1,000—often rounded to about €1,200 in later coverage—only for the system’s processor to be identified as an Intel Core i5-2500 from 2011. The reported graphics card, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, was released in 2019, so the whole PC was not more than a decade old. Still, the combination of an obsolete CPU platform and a relatively old midrange GPU makes the reported price look severely disproportionate. The post does not establish the seller’s intent or provide a complete parts list, so “scam” is a conclusion commenters reached, not a proven fact.
What the Reddit post actually says
The story began with a user-submitted post on Reddit’s r/pcmasterrace. The poster said a friend had bought his son a computer online for £1,000 and described it as custom-built. The reported headline components were an Intel Core i5-2500, specifically the non-K version, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti.
Later articles rendered the amount as roughly €1,200 or about $1,300. Those are conversions and rounded descriptions; the original post gives the price as £1,000. The Reddit account is the primary available evidence, not an independently verified invoice, original product listing, or response from the seller. The exact configuration and what was included with the purchase remain unclear.
The CPU was from 2011; the graphics card was not
| Part | Reported model | Era | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i5-2500 (non-K) | Launched Q1 2011 | A very old four-core CPU and platform; the strongest red flag. |
| Graphics card | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | Released 2019 | An older midrange card, but not a 10-plus-year-old component. |
| Motherboard, RAM, storage, PSU | Not established in the post | Unknown | Essential details for judging reliability, upgrade options, and value. |
Intel’s specification page dates the i5-2500 to Q1 2011. It belongs to the Sandy Bridge era and an older motherboard ecosystem associated with DDR3 memory. The GTX 1660 Ti arrived in 2019, as reported in coverage of the incident. The precise criticism, then, is an obsolete CPU and platform paired with an older graphics card—not a computer made entirely of decade-old parts.
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Why the old platform matters
A graphics card does much of the visual rendering, but a processor still has to prepare work and keep frames moving. The i5-2500’s age and four-core design can limit frame rates or cause uneven frame delivery in CPU-heavy games. The effect is most likely to matter in competitive games where a player wants high frame rates, large open-world games, simulations and strategy titles, and workloads involving many characters, physics, streaming, recording, or other programs running at once.
That does not mean the machine cannot run any modern game. A game that leans more heavily on the GPU, played at 1080p with moderate settings and a modest frame-rate target, may still be usable with a GTX 1660 Ti. But the CPU can hold the graphics card back in some situations, and no independent benchmark results for this exact PC were reported. It would be misleading to claim a particular frame rate or that every current game is unplayable.
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The platform is also an upgrade trap. A buyer cannot assume that installing a newer graphics card will solve the problem: the processor may limit it, while the old motherboard and memory constrain CPU and RAM upgrades. The system may need a new motherboard, processor, and memory together to make a substantial platform jump. That can turn a seemingly simple upgrade into a major rebuild.
Was €1,200 a rip-off?
On the reported core specifications, the price looks extraordinarily high for a system built around a 2011 CPU and a 2019 midrange graphics card. Contemporary coverage argued that newer configurations could be found for less, but those were market snapshots from the time of that coverage, not reliable price guidance for 2026. Prices vary by country, date, condition, and warranty; a current comparison would require checking local listings for the complete configuration.
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There is also no complete bill of materials. The available account does not establish the RAM capacity and speed, motherboard model, storage type and capacity, power-supply make and wattage, case, cooling, Windows license, assembly charge, warranty, or whether peripherals were included. Those details affect value. Their absence does not make the reported price look reasonable, but it prevents a precise component-by-component valuation.
Reddit commenters called the purchase a scam. The post supports a narrower conclusion: the reported price appears badly out of proportion to the headline hardware, and the buyer should check the listing and seek a remedy if it does not match what was promised. It does not identify the seller or establish what the listing said, whether the parts were new or used, or whether the seller knowingly misrepresented anything. An expensive, poor-value PC is not by itself proof of legal fraud.
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How a buyer can miss an old PC
A fresh-looking case, RGB lighting, a large storage figure, or a recognizable graphics-card name can make a system look modern without revealing the age of its processor or motherboard. “Custom-built” only describes assembly; it does not mean the parts are new-generation. Likewise, the phrase “Core i5” is not enough to judge a processor: the exact model number and generation matter.
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A seller may describe a computer as powerful or ready for gaming without publishing enough detail to assess those claims. That is a reason to ask for a complete written specification, not evidence by itself that the seller deliberately hid the hardware’s age. Treat vague marketing as a prompt to verify, especially when the listing omits the CPU, motherboard, or power supply.
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Checklist: verify the whole PC before paying
- Get the exact CPU model. “Core i5” or “Ryzen 5” is not a specification. Look up the full model on Intel’s product database or the relevant manufacturer’s site, and note its generation and platform age.
- Confirm the exact GPU. Check the model and memory capacity, and make sure it is the desktop part you expect rather than a similarly named laptop variant. Do not infer its age from the case or processor.
- Identify the motherboard and chipset. Ask for the model and socket, then check which processor upgrades it supports. An old socket can sharply limit future options.
- Check RAM details. Record capacity, memory generation, speed, and channel configuration. DDR3 is a warning sign in a PC presented as a modern gaming system, though capacity and condition also matter.
- Ask what storage is installed. Confirm the drive type and capacity. For used hardware, ask about drive health; a large mechanical hard drive is not equivalent to a solid-state drive in responsiveness.
- Require the power-supply model. Get its make, model, wattage, and safety certification, not just a claim that it has “enough power.” An unknown or poor-quality PSU is a reliability concern, particularly when paired with a discrete GPU.
- Check operating-system support. Microsoft’s official supported Intel processor list for Windows 11 does not include the i5-2500. An unofficial installation may be technically possible, but that is not the same as official support. OS compatibility alone also does not establish gaming performance.
- Compare the complete configuration. Compare like with like, including condition, assembly, license, warranty, and support—not only the GPU. A component-price tool such as PCPartPicker can help plan or compare parts, but it does not certify a seller, build quality, or warranty.
- Read the return and warranty terms before checkout. Save the listing, specification, seller identity, and written answers. Confirm what happens if the delivered parts differ from the advertised configuration.
If you already bought a similar PC
- Document what arrived. Photograph the case and labels, record the CPU, GPU, motherboard, RAM, storage, and PSU models, and save the listing, invoice, and seller messages.
- Compare the delivered parts with the promise. If the computer differs from the written specification, contact the seller in writing and state what does not match.
- Use the available return or dispute process promptly. Check the marketplace’s return window, buyer-protection procedure, and the seller’s warranty. Request a refund before spending money on upgrades if the machine was misdescribed or is unsuitable for the reason you bought it.
- If you keep it, check its condition before relying on it. Verify temperatures under load, memory stability, SSD health, PSU identity, and performance in the games you actually intend to play. A vague or aging power supply deserves particular caution.
- Do not sink much money into the old platform without comparing alternatives. The i5-2500 motherboard ecosystem leaves limited upgrade headroom. If a major CPU-platform replacement is needed, compare the total cost with replacing the system rather than treating each upgrade as a small fix.
The useful lesson
Old hardware is not automatically worthless. At a suitably low used price, a computer with an i5-2500 and GTX 1660 Ti might suit older games, modest 1080p use, or a temporary secondary PC—provided its other parts are sound and the buyer understands its limits. The problem here is the reported mismatch between an obsolete platform, modern gaming-PC expectations, and a £1,000 price. Before paying a premium, verify the exact CPU, GPU, motherboard, RAM, PSU, storage, support, and return terms—not the lighting or the word “gaming.”
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