PC for GF

[Beef Boss]

Hello all,

I'm looking to get my gf a entry level PC for her birthday. It's around four months away, but I'd like to ask some questions from those who know.

 

So the budget is a max of $400 USD, I'll sort out the peripherals on a different budget.

But I'm looking at used computers, older Gen hardware but something that can play 1080p games like the Sims, minecraft and let her draw.

 

What hardware is good for this? I'm familiar with newer GPU's but all the older models I'm sort of confused on. I've seen some computers in my area with the amd fx 6300 which I know is older, but still has six cores at 3.50ghz these sometimes come with a amd Radeon 550 also or even a 1650. I have a 1660 super and it's pretty good so I imagine the series is alright for lower resolution gaming.

 

Are these PC's usually good to run after some clean up and new installation of windows? I plan on swapping out the PSU before I even use it because I really don't trust unknown PSU's but what should I really look for other than this?

 

TLDR: What should I look for in an older budget PC around $400?

[Dedayog]

I'd build something along the lines of a 3200G or 3400G, depending on pricing.  The older FX chips are weak by todays standards and the economy of the AMD APU's are hard to argue at your price range.

 

Also, an old office machine renovated with a GPU and SSD may work but I would personally rather build a new machine for someone, keep the used stuff for myself.  Giving used stuff to a GF... not the best idea ever

 

[jaslion]

3 minutes ago, Beef Boss said:

Hello all,

I'm looking to get my gf a entry level PC for her birthday. It's around four months away, but I'd like to ask some questions from those who know.

 

So the budget is a max of $400 USD, I'll sort out the peripherals on a different budget.

But I'm looking at used computers, older Gen hardware but something that can play 1080p games like the Sims, minecraft and let her draw.

 

What hardware is good for this? I'm familiar with newer GPU's but all the older models I'm sort of confused on. I've seen some computers in my area with the amd fx 6300 which I know is older, but still has six cores at 3.50ghz these sometimes come with a amd Radeon 550 also or even a 1650. I have a 1660 super and it's pretty good so I imagine the series is alright for lower resolution gaming.

 

Are these PC's usually good to run after some clean up and new installation of windows? I plan on swapping out the PSU before I even use it because I really don't trust unknown PSU's but what should I really look for other than this?

 

TLDR: What should I look for in an older budget PC around $400?

The fx series is pretty much horrible. Ghz doesn't matter you have too look at it on a benchmark vs benchmark basis as there is a lot more that goes into the cpu that gives it it's eventual performance.

 

Either way 400$ is plenty to work with. If you don't mind going used a second to 4th gen i7 system (a dell or something) is totally within range. Then get a decent psu and plop in something like a older r9 290 or something. It's far more powerful than needed. Often something like a hd 7970 or 7950 can be found for 60$ and is plenty powerful.

Then spend whatever money you have left on a ssd and ram if needed.

 

Do make sure there is at least 8gb and a ssd in it. You can also just buy a older gaming system for 400$ that is decent.

[AndreiArgeanu]

The 6 core FX 6300 is more like a 3 core hyperthreaded cpu and does worse than CPU's like the i5 3570S. If you're looking at used, you can pick up something like a 4th gen core i7, motherboard and ram for around 200$. You can get something like an rx 580/480. For around 100$, and the rest 100$ you will have to spend on a case and power supply. Power supply must be new. You can go cheaper if you want to. For example you can pick up an optiplex 7010 MT with an i5, and some ram for around 100$, 60$ for a gtx 770 and 50$ or so for a new PSU.

[VeganJoy]

lots of corners to be cut, you can squeeze in a dgpu with a 3100 for ~550 total

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3400G 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$144.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard	MSI A320M-A PRO MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$58.98 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$52.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Team GX1 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$44.99 @ Amazon
Case	Deepcool MATREXX 30 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$39.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	EVGA BR 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$49.99 @ Walmart
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$391.93
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-25 11:32 EDT-0400

ideally youd spend a few bucks on a b450 as a good platform for future upgrades, and maybe a better psu. case doesnt really matter, atx would be nice for future mobos but not a big deal. you want tempered glass if she wants a window, acrylic will look like shit in a year. other than that, whatever she likes the looks of. maybe toss in an rgb fan or two if thats her thing, there are tons of cheap rgb fans on amazon. 3200c16 memory is a must though, especially for an igpu system.

[Dedayog]

1 minute ago, VeganJoy said:

lots of corners to be cut, you can squeeze in a dgpu with a 3100 for ~550 total

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3400G 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$144.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard	MSI A320M-A PRO MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$58.98 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$52.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Team GX1 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$44.99 @ Amazon
Case	Deepcool MATREXX 30 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$39.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	EVGA BR 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$49.99 @ Walmart
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$391.93
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-25 11:32 EDT-0400

ideally youd spend a few bucks on a b450 as a good platform for future upgrades, and maybe a better psu. case doesnt really matter, atx would be nice for future mobos but not a big deal. you want tempered glass if she wants a window, acrylic will look like shit in a year. other than that, whatever she likes the looks of. maybe toss in an rgb fan or two if thats her thing, there are tons of cheap rgb fans on amazon. 3200c16 memory is a must though, especially for an igpu system.

That;s what I'm talking about.  Can also start with 8GB RAM to bump to B450 and then give another 8GB for Christmas or something. *shrug*

[Beef Boss]

17 minutes ago, VeganJoy said:

lots of corners to be cut, you can squeeze in a dgpu with a 3100 for ~550 total

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3400G 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$144.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard	MSI A320M-A PRO MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$58.98 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$52.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Team GX1 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$44.99 @ Amazon
Case	Deepcool MATREXX 30 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$39.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	EVGA BR 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$49.99 @ Walmart
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$391.93
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-25 11:32 EDT-0400

ideally youd spend a few bucks on a b450 as a good platform for future upgrades, and maybe a better psu. case doesnt really matter, atx would be nice for future mobos but not a big deal. you want tempered glass if she wants a window, acrylic will look like shit in a year. other than that, whatever she likes the looks of. maybe toss in an rgb fan or two if thats her thing, there are tons of cheap rgb fans on amazon. 3200c16 memory is a must though, especially for an igpu system.

Thank you all very much, I'll definitely be using this!

[VeganJoy]

2 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

That;s what I'm talking about.  Can also start with 8GB RAM to bump to B450 and then give another 8GB for Christmas or something. *shrug*

yeah thatd work. gskill aegis dimms are almost always the cheapest so youd be able to get one 8gb stick for ~25 bucks now and another 8gb later, and match them such that theyd almost certainly work nicely. maybe splurge a bit and get crucial ballistix, now that crucial uses the same ICs across every kit they sell i hear theyre perfectly compatible across kits. plus e die overclocks well, if yall ever get into that

[Beef Boss]

1 minute ago, VeganJoy said:

yeah thatd work. gskill aegis dimms are almost always the cheapest so youd be able to get one 8gb stick for ~25 bucks now and another 8gb later, and match them such that theyd almost certainly work nicely. maybe splurge a bit and get crucial ballistix, now that crucial uses the same ICs across every kit they sell i hear theyre perfectly compatible across kits. plus e die overclocks well, if yall ever get into that

Are these CPU's good for that? I have a 3700x and the PBO is better than manual OC's lol

[VeganJoy]

Just now, Beef Boss said:

Are these CPU's good for that? I have a 3700x and the PBO is better than manual OC's lol

ryzen isnt great for overclocking in general, i wouldnt run pbo on my chips as the voltages seem too high for comfort and my 3600 runs hot enough stock. i believe theres a bit of overclocking to be done with ryzen apus but im not super experienced there. mostly just memory overclocking, many crucial/micron e-die dimms are capable of 3600c16 or better with a reasonable amount of voltage, which would be the ideal memory speed within reasonable costs. a ballistix kit runs you ~70 bucks though they go on sale and you can save a few bucks with the lower binned 3200c16 kit rather than the 3600c16 kit as both overclock pretty closely. no point in doing so on any board under 100 bucks nor with a 3400g as a320s and cheaper b450s dont support higher clock speeds than 3200mhz and i dont think the "3rd gen" apus actually support over 3200mhz either since theyre zen+ arch instead of zen 2.

[Herman Mcpootis]

for a used rig:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Workstation-Z420-1TB-Intel-Xeon-3-6GHz-E5-1620-16GB-PC-NO-OS/353204084263?hash=item523c9a9e27%3Ag%3At9IAAOSwH21fYUGs&LH_BIN=1 $180

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PNY-NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-1070-8GB-GDDR5-SDRAM-PCI-Express-3-0-Video-Graphics-Card/174451392962?hash=item289e1d01c2%3Ag%3AqroAAOSwbVNfa1iV&LH_BIN=1 $180, you may need a 6-pin to 8-pin adapter for this.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-E5-2670-2-60GHz-LGA2011-8-Core-CPU-Processor-SR0KX/274506160726?epid=2202303011&hash=item3fe9d79a56%3Ag%3AO8sAAOSwrg1fa5Ix&LH_BIN=1 $30