What make/model laptop is this and how much are they asking?
A laptop with 8GB RAM doesnt take into account what it has for a CPU & GPU or APU with combined Processor & Video. You will want to make sure that the specs of whatever computer you get at least meet all minimum requirements of games you want to play, but its best to have a system that is to the recommended system specs or better.
If this is a high end laptop for 2012 it might be fine for today, but if it was a lower end laptop for 2012 then its likely the original owner got rid of it because its fallen behind the times and slower than they wanted.
I have a laptop from 2009 that has less than 1000 hours on it and is like new, but the GPU is too weak and so it was parked in my attic. I also have a laptop from 2013 and that one is starting to show struggling with games mainly again due to the GPU and I have about 1500 hours of use on that one. I have a laptop I bought in 2017 to replace that one, but running that older one from 2013 as long as I can to get the most of it before it too gets parked in storage. So I'm only getting about 4 years of use out of brand new laptops, but the laptops I buy are higher-low to mid-range GPU specs. So they meet the requirements of games I play when purchased, but fall behind the times as newer games need more and existing games are updated with better graphics making the GPU eventually struggle to keep frame rate at 25fps or faster. When the frame rate is in the 20s its a warning sign that the GPU is starting to lose the battle against evolution of games, and when it drops below 20 fps thats when I park them and get a suitable replacement for $500 or less which will give me 30 fps or better.
A friend of mine bought a high end Toshiba Qosmio for $2000 on sale from the $2400 regular price in 2007 and in 5 years it wasnt able to handle games because the Geforce 7300 GO was too weak. I dont put much money into laptops because they are a losing battle with GPU's as games evolve. Desktop computers at least you can add a video card and stretch the life out of them a little longer and sometimes even longer than that with a CPU upgrade as well. Laptops are meant to be throw aways pretty much when they fall behind software/game evolution. His laptop is this one:
https://www.cnet.com/products/toshiba-qosmio-g35-av600/review/ * Some laptops have ability to upgrade video cards, but the upgrade options arent the greatest with them and the cards come at a premium.
Knowing what laptop you have in mind and price tag we can help you to know if its a good purchase or to look for something better.
