Thoughts On This Laptop?

[Downkey]

So i've had my Ryzen 5 1400 and GTX 1050 desktop for 3 years now, and it's really bad. I had a budget of $500 to buy a new PC/Laptop, and I found this for the Best Buy black friday sales. 
I only play Valorant, CS, Minecraft, Among Us, and Citra. (I'm targeting a constant 144fps in all these games) I also do some light video editing.
Any thoughts on this? Any thermal problems with this? (I will upgrade the RAM and storage btw)
NOTE: This is going to be on sale for $450 on the 21st.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pavilion-15-6-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1650-256gb-ssd-shadow-black/6427566.p?skuId=6427566

[DoctorNick]

If I know HP, then there's thermal problems.. But still very good value for this machine! I would keep looking and see if any other brands come on sale with same specs

[Enzo1001]

5 minutes ago, Downkey said:

So i've had my Ryzen 5 1400 and GTX 1050 desktop for 3 years now, and it's really bad. I had a budget of $500 to buy a new PC/Laptop, and I found this for the Best Buy black friday sales. 
I only play Valorant, CS, Minecraft, Among Us, and Citra. I also do some light video editing.
Any thoughts on this? Any thermal problems with this? (I will upgrade the RAM and storage btw)
NOTE: This is going to be on sale for $450 on the 21st.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pavilion-15-6-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1650-256gb-ssd-shadow-black/6427566.p?skuId=6427566

8gb of ram sound week, i would go for 16 if possible

[jaslion]

Link doesn't work for me because eu. You sure that laptop is gonna go for half it's price? It's gonna be better but it's not a great laptop.

 

You could also upgrade the pc you have now and that would get you decently far too.

[Downkey]

Just now, Enzo1001 said:

8gb of ram sound week, i would go for 16 if possible

I know, that's why I already have a 2nd stick of 3200 on hand

[boggy77]

won't be much better than your current desktop. yo'll be better off upgrading the desktop you have with those $500

[Downkey]

5 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Link doesn't work for me because eu. You sure that laptop is gonna go for half it's price? It's gonna be better but it's not a great laptop.

 

You could also upgrade the pc you have now and that would get you decently far too.

You see, I bought a crappy Acer Prebuilt 3 years ago before I knew anything about PCS (Feel free to bully me)
I could upgrade, but there's so many problems
-Bad Airflow (So high temps)
-Garbage PSU
-Crappy OEM Mobo that caps RAM Speed at 2133mhz
-No extra sata or m.2 port so I can't upgrade to an SSD (I have a 5400RPM 1TB HDD)
Constant problems with my PC just dying on me 
So I don't think upgrading my PC is a good idea.

Also here's a picture of the Laptop that's about to go on sale 
(The second one)

[Aereldor]

Unless you need a laptop, you know, for laptop things, then just put that $500 towards upgrades. I don't know what kind of chipset your Acer Aspire desktop motherboard uses, but it should at least support a Ryzen 5 3600, or a 3300x if you can find one. Get a 5700/5700xt to go with it and you're gold. 

 

 

[Downkey]

Just now, Aereldor said:

Unless you need a laptop, you know, for laptop things, then just put that $500 towards upgrades. I don't know what kind of chipset your Acer Aspire desktop motherboard uses, but it should at least support a Ryzen 5 3600, or a 3300x if you can find one. Get a 5700/5700xt to go with it and you're gold. 

 

 

Nope, apparently my MOBO only supports up to a 1700X. Also my GPU hits over 75 when playing Valorant, so wouldn't the 5700XT get too hot?

I still cant get an SSD anyway

[Dedayog]

2 minutes ago, Downkey said:

Nope, apparently my MOBO only supports up to a 1700X. Also my GPU hits over 75 when playing Valorant, so wouldn't the 5700XT get too hot?

I still cant get an SSD anyway

Laptop is a good deal for $450.  For $699 it's standard.

 

It'll be better than what you have, but it will also put you in the exact same spot in a few years.... not being able to upgrade.

 

If you want to run that path, go for it.  Just know you're trading a problem now for one in the future if you do. Your call, enjoy the laptop if you get it.

 

 

[Aereldor]

1 minute ago, Downkey said:

Nope, apparently my MOBO only supports up to a 1700X. Also my GPU hits over 75 when playing Valorant, so wouldn't the 5700XT get too hot?

I still cant get an SSD anyway

Put in some fans, undervolt, check your air flow, clean the damn thing... Beyond that, just because your current GPU runs hot doesn't mean all GPUs will run hot. Also, what chipset is that motherboard using? B350, X370, and A320 all support Ryzen 3000... Unless Acer never rolled out a BIOS update, that is.

 

Why on earth can't you get an SSD on a $500 budget... 

[jaslion]

5 minutes ago, Downkey said:

Nope, apparently my MOBO only supports up to a 1700X. Also my GPU hits over 75 when playing Valorant, so wouldn't the 5700XT get too hot?

I still cant get an SSD anyway

Might as well just sell the acer and use the money + the 500 you have now to get the best system out of all of them.

[Downkey]

Just now, jaslion said:

Might as well just sell the acer and use the money + the 500 you have now to get the best system out of all of them.

I was thinking of giving the PC to my sister (She only plays MC and GTA)

[jaslion]

1 minute ago, Downkey said:

I was thinking of giving the PC to my sister (She only plays MC and GTA)

You can then just ditch the hdd and just go ssd only with it. Again getting the laptop is gonna put you in this situation again in a year or 2 at most as nothing is upgrade able but the ram and that isn't gonna help with performance.

[Downkey]

The

4 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

Put in some fans, undervolt, check your air flow, clean the damn thing... Beyond that, just because your current GPU runs hot doesn't mean all GPUs will run hot. Also, what chipset is that motherboard using? B350, X370, and A320 all support Ryzen 3000... Unless Acer never rolled out a BIOS update, that is.

 

Why on earth can't you get an SSD on a $500 budget... 

The last BIOS update was in March of 2018. (https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support-product/7242?b=1) Also I think the chipset is a B350, as I can OC my CPU. Heres the actual product page for the PC https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Desktop-Processor-GeForce-GX-281-UR11/dp/B0722GKVTK

Also I can't get an SSD because there is no extra SATA port, and I tried adding an M.2 SSD 4 times over tthe summer, and it didn't work. I couldn't check anything about it in the BIOS because it's so bad and limited.

[Downkey]

Any thoughts on this desktop? I know it has an A320 (but I don't care about OC'ING)
Although i'm not sure about the PSU.

(This is going on sale for $500 on the 21st) https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gamer-master-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-3-3100-8gb-memory-amd-radeon-rx-570-1tb-hdd-240gb-ssd/6430866.p?skuId=6430866

[Aereldor]

Just now, Downkey said:

there is no extra SATA port, and I tried adding an M.2 SSD 4 times over tthe summer, and it didn't work. I couldn't check anything about it in the BIOS because it's so bad and limited.

You could probably just replace your HDD with a 1tb SSD. This one is $70 for 1TB and it's actually pretty fast

https://pcpartpicker.com/mr/newegg/4CzFf7

 

Shame about that, looks like you're stuck with 1st gen Ryzen after all. A 1600X is theoretically the best, gives you that 4ghz boost, but it's also a 95w chip that I wouldn't trust some random Acer board with. Which is why I'd recommend trying to find a used 1700, which is the fastest 65w chip in that generation.

 

As for a GPU, I would still try to get a 5700xt, used if you must. If you do a lot of streaming, a used 2070/super might be worth it.

[Aereldor]

Keep in mind you may need a power supply upgrade for a 5700xt, so shopping around for a used 2060 or 1660 super may be a better bet

[Downkey]

3 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

Keep in mind you may need a power supply upgrade for a 5700xt, so shopping around for a used 2060 or 1660 super may be a better bet

 

5 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

You could probably just replace your HDD with a 1tb SSD. This one is $70 for 1TB and it's actually pretty fast

https://pcpartpicker.com/mr/newegg/4CzFf7

 

Shame about that, looks like you're stuck with 1st gen Ryzen after all. A 1600X is theoretically the best, gives you that 4ghz boost, but it's also a 95w chip that I wouldn't trust some random Acer board with. Which is why I'd recommend trying to find a used 1700, which is the fastest 65w chip in that generation.

 

As for a GPU, I would still try to get a 5700xt, used if you must. If you do a lot of streaming, a used 2070/super might be worth it.

Problem is that since my dad is paying for 1/2 of it, he's in control of what I buy. About 10 months ago I asked him about buying a used 1070, and he said no (I think he said that the GPU may be infected with malware or some dumb shit like that) So basically I can't buy used

And my I have some horrible basement tier 400W "Liteon" PSU, so yeah that would need an upgrade.

 

[Dedayog]

Just now, Downkey said:

 

Problem is that since my dad is paying for 1/2 of it, he's in control of what I buy. About 10 months ago I asked him about buying a used 1070, and he said no (I think he said that the GPU may be infected with malware or some dumb shit like that) So basically I can't buy used

And my I have some horrible basement tier 400W "Liteon" PSU, so yeah that would need an upgrade.

 

Well that clarifies a lot, which I suspected.

 

Be happy he's paying half, or doubling your contribution.  More than a lot get.

 

Work with him, be NICE and not condescending if you research more than he does.   Take your time to get him comfortable with spending $500 on something he doesn't really understand.

 

You got this.

[Aereldor]

2 hours ago, Downkey said:

 

Problem is that since my dad is paying for 1/2 of it, he's in control of what I buy. About 10 months ago I asked him about buying a used 1070, and he said no (I think he said that the GPU may be infected with malware or some dumb shit like that) So basically I can't buy used

And my I have some horrible basement tier 400W "Liteon" PSU, so yeah that would need an upgrade.

Be grateful that he's paying for any of it. 

 

Well, since you're buying a new CPU, GPU, PSU, and SSD, might as well just build a new PC and reuse your RAM, HDD, and case.

 

This build is $500 on the dot, contains no used hardware, and the Ryzen 3 3100 is faster than the Ryzen 7 1700 for games.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 3 3100 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$118.99 @ B&H
Motherboard	Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$62.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Kingston A400 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$25.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	MSI Radeon RX 5600 XT 6 GB GAMING MX Video Card	$259.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	SeaSonic S12III 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$39.99 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$542.95
	Mail-in rebates	-$35.00
	Total	$507.95
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-17 11:10 EST-0500

 

[Downkey]

5 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

Be grateful that he's paying for any of it. 

 

Well, since you're buying a new CPU, GPU, PSU, and SSD, might as well just build a new PC and reuse your RAM, HDD, and case.

 

This build is $500 on the dot, contains no used hardware, and the Ryzen 3 3100 is faster than the Ryzen 7 1700 for games.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 3 3100 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$118.99 @ B&H
Motherboard	Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$62.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Kingston A400 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$25.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	MSI Radeon RX 5600 XT 6 GB GAMING MX Video Card	$259.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	SeaSonic S12III 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$39.99 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$542.95
	Mail-in rebates	-$35.00
	Total	$507.95
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-17 11:10 EST-0500

 

Doubt he's going to let me do it, as he wants me to give my current pc to my sister.

Also he's against the idea of building, even tho he built a PC in the 90's and i've helped my friend build one before 

Also that SSD has no DRAM Cache, and my current RAM is capped at 2400 ;/

[Z3R0 CHANC3]

Buying a $500 PC is going to really give you a marginal upgrade.

 

HOWEVER, since that's the course it looks like you're stuck on....

Make sure a machine with 8GB of RAM is in single channel, so you can upgrade to 16GB dual channel when you save up money for that.

Try to find one with an NVME drive, so you can use a cheaper SATA drive for mass storage and keep the NVME drive for your boot drive. Or even if it has a SATA SSD, there should be more SATA ports to add a bigger drive regardless.

And make sure it's a standard ATX case, so you have a standard PSU that can be swapped out, etc. It would be MUCH better to have a marginal upgrade now with room to upgrade components later than to have something that's all proprietary.

[ahuckphin]

I understand that your current Acer pre built desktop is causing you much frustrations and that you're ready to try something new. However a Ryzen 5 1400 and GTX 1050 are still very reasonable specifications. 

 

Personally I would repaste the CPU and GPU, add a fan/mod the case for better airflow and definitely replace the hard disk drive with a solid state drive. 

 

The power supply may be nothing spectacular but as long as it works, it should be fine. 

 

Acer pre built machines are known to use little if any proprietary connectors. 

[Downkey]

Just now, bindydad123 said:

I understand that your current Acer pre built desktop is causing you much frustrations and that you're ready to try something new. However a Ryzen 5 1400 and GTX 1050 are still very reasonable specifications. 

 

Personally I would repaste the CPU and GPU, add a fan/mod the case for better airflow and definitely replace the hard disk drive with a solid state drive. 

 

The power supply may be nothing spectacular but as long as it works, it should be fine. 

 

Acer pre built machines are known to use little if any proprietary connectors. 

Yes, but it's not doing the things I want to do. It can't run Val at 144ps, it's bad for video editing, and it just doesn't perform well in most games I play