User gets $8,000 surprise after buying $23 computer case at auction

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A Redditor was astonished when they managed to acquire an expensive top-tier workstation, valued at approximately $8,000, for just $23.

Initially, the item was advertised on Capital City Online Auctions as a Fractal Design Define 7 XL case, showcasing just the frame in the provided photos. However, when Reddit user LlamadeusGame purchased it, they found that it actually contained a complete system, packed with a 24-core Threadripper 3960X, 256GB of memory, and an RTX 3080 Ti, which was quite unexpected.

Regardless of the price paid, it would have been considered a good deal due to the model’s current retail value around $250. However, the lucky bidder at the auction received a fully-equipped workstation from Puget Systems, which was probably sold in 2021 for approximately $8,000. A Puget employee, who claimed to be part of their staff, made this statement.

As a heads-up, it appears that system was likely sold between late 2021 and early 2022, and at the time, it would have cost around $8,000. Since many of those systems came equipped with 2-4 NVMe drives, you might find yourself with storage capacity of about 4-8TB that offers fast performance.

Complete system hidden inside computer case

Upon closer inspection by fellow Reddit users, signs pointed towards the computer originating from Puget Systems. A unique graphics card support bracket was among the evident clues. It seemed to be a professional photo editor’s workstation, as the new owner discovered that the system still held remnants of the previous owner’s files upon receipt.

I bought a “Case” for $32 at auction
byu/LlamadeusGame inpcmasterrace

Despite being not the latest technology, it still packs a punch. The RTX 3080 Ti holds its ground against a more recent RTX 5070 in terms of gaming performance, and the Threadripper 3960X is among the fastest processors AMD has ever produced.

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2025-09-11 17:19