So I bought an HP ENVY at the goodwill electronics retailer. I paid $175, which is about what the processor goes for. I saw it live on the bench, so I know at the very least the bios is good.
They don't let you kick the tires much there, but I knew just from looking at the exterior that they had pulled the 750TI card that came with the machine, and that it likely didn't have a hard drive.
I bring it home and crack it open, and what do you know? My ROP training stood me in good stead. The machine is in flawless condition, but has two flaws - No HDD, no GPU.
Then I noticed another issue, the power supply is a 300w HP OEM, and it's only got SATA connectors. No 6 pin, and certainly no 8 Pin. I've read that using a SATA to 6-PIN adapter can lead to shorts and FIRES, and this deal is looking worse all the time.
What I think I'm going to do is swap the power supply for an older 600w PSU I've had sitting around a while. I'll be sure to spritz it with air first in case it's developed a sweater inside.
As to the GPU, I'll probably just pull the R7 out of my older computer for now. It's by no means a powerhouse, but it has served me well.
Worst case scenario, I'll buy a PSU, GPU, and SATA SSD.
I would not have minded paying a bit more to get the parts that came from the machine, but goodwill auctions nicer hardware online, and I despise auctions.
One funny thing, even my 7800 from 2005 has a six pin.
On the linus tech talk forums, they referred to power supplies that don't have 6 or 8 pin connectors as "PSU LIKE OBJECTS"
