Wise to buy microcenter open box motherboard?

[hardgrove]

I'm looking at a gigabyte ga-z77-udh5 and their in store price is $179.99 ($139.99 with i5 3750K processor), while open box is $116. I am gathering these items piece by piece, so it would be $179.00 if I just buy it new. With the open box see that they have a 30 day in store return and full manufacturers warranty. Is it wise to just pay more for the new item or is gigabyte good on their return process if the board turns out to be a dud?

Guess I can try to save enough to buy the processor and board in one swoop if buying an open box board is a bad idea.

 

[ReallyFantastic]

You're talking about the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H, right?

If so, I think open-box is a great deal.

 

[hardgrove]

Yes, that's what I'm talking about, sorry. I need to go to microcenter next week, I will go over the open box items and see what exactly the boards look like. If its as simple as microcenter taking the item back without it looking as if was installed it will indeed be a good deal.

 

[DBP]

Can't find the post now but I remember someone recently talking about the refurb bits they'd bought as shop-specials, but the system wouldn't power on. When they added up the time they'd spent on trips back to the store to sort out possible PSU problems, and eventually replaced the mobo with a new one (which worked first time) they decided that buying new was much better value.

Obviously it's a lottery, but I don't know what your odds are.