Which computer should I go with?

[StutterAndLag]

Hey guys! My buddy has the choice between these two computers. Which one would you say is better? And if so, how much better? Thanks! 
 

pc 1:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06456516

The only thing this has added is it has 16gb ram.

 

pc 2: 

check picture for pc 2. This is the one he is really thinking about getting. He’s asking $650 for it. 

 

[Chris Pratt]

That's a tough one. The first system is vastly better than the second in every respect except the additional RAM and the dedicated GPU. The RAM is easily fixed. The GPU, not so much in this climate.

 

I'd probably have to say the second system just for the GPU, which is certainly not high end by any measure but is still far better than integrated graphics.

[SorryBella]

18 minutes ago, Chris Pratt said:

That's a tough one. The first system is vastly better than the second in every respect except the additional RAM and the dedicated GPU.

Well...

imo you can kiss that GPU upgrades goodbye from power limit alone.

Ill pick the 2nd system up for 600 or lower if possible, and then slap in a used 6700k on ebay (selling the 6500 will net that upgrade at around 50$). And when used markets goes back to normal, go get a 1070 or 1660Ti for the system.

[YoungBlade]

My biggest complaint about the 1st system is that it has no headroom to install a dedicated GPU later - the PSU is just 180 Watts!

 

My biggest complaint about the 2nd system is that $650 seems overpriced, but only in a normal market. In today's market, that's reasonable. The R9 380 is going for around $160-200 on eBay right now. If you think you could part out a better system for less than the $450 difference, then that would be the way to go, but I don't know if it can be done.

 

Unfortunately, my best efforts in PC Part Picker to do exactly that fell short - with just an i5 10400, Z490 mobo, 16GB of RAM, a better cooler, and 250GB SATA SSD, it was already over $450. Throw in a cheap case and PSU and it's around $550. That doesn't even include the extra hard drive or the monitor.

 

Which would mean you could be better off buying that computer, then replacing the CPU and mobo for around $300, while selling off the old ones for around $150, giving you a full system for about $800 net.

[BahnStormer]

Really tough call.

 

TLDR is that I'd go with the Intel as you can build from there really nicely. This is a carefully considered choice though.

 

My thought process followed this pattern....

 

Head-to-Head: 

CPU: almost nothing in it... Ryzen just edges it for most stuff though: https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-6500-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-3400G/3513vsm825156

 

Graphics: the R9 380 would beat the onboard Vega11 iGPU/APU:https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-R9-380-vs-AMD-RX-Vega-11-Ryzen-iGPU/3482vsm401440

 

But it is a very old card now and even in "this market", you could match that with a $150 GTX 1050 Ti

https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-R9-380-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1050-Ti/3482vs3649

 

...or get a decent upgrade with $250 GTX 1060.

https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-R9-380-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1060-6GB/3482vs3639

 

I was about to recommend the Ryzen as it theoretically has an upgrade path the latest Ryzen 5000 CPU's, but with the HP motherboard, I would NOT count on it.... then I looked a but more into what you could take onto the next build, and noticed that although the HP has a WAY better NVME M.2 drive, the rest of the hardware has NO future... it is most likely a custom case and the PSU is nearly useless (180W!) and will be impossible to upgrade - you'd struggle to put more than a GTX1050Ti with that PSU.

 

The Intel box can be upgraded in stages and a standard case, 600W PSU and you could probably put a RTX2070 or GTX1080Ti in there without a problem.... maybe a B450 and a Ryzen too

 

[Cheburek]

21 hours ago, BahnStormer said:

Really tough call.

 

TLDR is that I'd go with the Intel as you can build from there really nicely. This is a carefully considered choice though.

 

My thought process followed this pattern....

 

Head-to-Head: 

CPU: almost nothing in it... Ryzen just edges it for most stuff though: https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-6500-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-3400G/3513vsm825156

 

Graphics: the R9 380 would beat the onboard Vega11 iGPU/APU:https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-R9-380-vs-AMD-RX-Vega-11-Ryzen-iGPU/3482vsm401440

 

But it is a very old card now and even in "this market", you could match that with a $150 GTX 1050 Ti

https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-R9-380-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1050-Ti/3482vs3649

 

...or get a decent upgrade with $250 GTX 1060.

https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-R9-380-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1060-6GB/3482vs3639

 

I was about to recommend the Ryzen as it theoretically has an upgrade path the latest Ryzen 5000 CPU's, but with the HP motherboard, I would NOT count on it.... then I looked a but more into what you could take onto the next build, and noticed that although the HP has a WAY better NVME M.2 drive, the rest of the hardware has NO future... it is most likely a custom case and the PSU is nearly useless (180W!) and will be impossible to upgrade - you'd struggle to put more than a GTX1050Ti with that PSU.

 

The Intel box can be upgraded in stages and a standard case, 600W PSU and you could probably put a RTX2070 or GTX1080Ti in there without a problem.... maybe a B450 and a Ryzen too

 

Userbenchmark is a joke,never ever use it,I saw mods right in this forum warn people for using it 

 

 

The 3400G is much faster than the i5 6500, userbenchmark is wrong in this case.

The 1060 is not worth 250$ and its better keep the 380 and upgrade when this shortage ends.Its good enough,also good luck finding it for 250$.

 

[Downkey]

On 5/8/2021 at 5:57 PM, BahnStormer said:

Really tough call.

 

TLDR is that I'd go with the Intel as you can build from there really nicely. This is a carefully considered choice though.

 

My thought process followed this pattern....

 

Head-to-Head: 

CPU: almost nothing in it... Ryzen just edges it for most stuff though: https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-6500-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-3400G/3513vsm825156

 

Graphics: the R9 380 would beat the onboard Vega11 iGPU/APU:https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-R9-380-vs-AMD-RX-Vega-11-Ryzen-iGPU/3482vsm401440

 

But it is a very old card now and even in "this market", you could match that with a $150 GTX 1050 Ti

https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-R9-380-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1050-Ti/3482vs3649

 

...or get a decent upgrade with $250 GTX 1060.

https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-R9-380-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1060-6GB/3482vs3639

 

I was about to recommend the Ryzen as it theoretically has an upgrade path the latest Ryzen 5000 CPU's, but with the HP motherboard, I would NOT count on it.... then I looked a but more into what you could take onto the next build, and noticed that although the HP has a WAY better NVME M.2 drive, the rest of the hardware has NO future... it is most likely a custom case and the PSU is nearly useless (180W!) and will be impossible to upgrade - you'd struggle to put more than a GTX1050Ti with that PSU.

 

The Intel box can be upgraded in stages and a standard case, 600W PSU and you could probably put a RTX2070 or GTX1080Ti in there without a problem.... maybe a B450 and a Ryzen too

 

Don’t use userbenchmark. It’s completely biased and complete BS.

[BahnStormer]

On 5/10/2021 at 3:26 AM, Downkey said:

Don’t use userbenchmark. It’s completely biased and complete BS.

 

Fair point - TBH, I never read the Userbenchmark reviews - they're written by utter idiots... and the overall weighting prioritises an outdated low-core performance and you need to watch out for AMD CPU's being hamstrung by not enabling XMP - see my score from when I was experimenting with memory timings.

 

I wasn't aware of their completely backward de-prioritisation of multicore performance and increasing the weighting of single core... I just use it as an an easy way to post links to show some comparison between between two different CPU's or GPU's, but I'll try to find an alternative site that allows quick look-ups. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

Funny that I use such an Intel-biased site for evidence, but still come out in favour of AMD about 90% of the time (upgrade path and overall system cost* in particular).

 

*cheaper motherboards, included coolers, etc

 

Here's the HUB review (they also slate the way multicore was de-prioritised at the time Ryzen 3000 took off.... and when multicore was becoming increasingly more relevant). 

 

 

[BahnStormer]

Ha ha.... watching the HUB video.... 

 

Turns out I should have gone with an i3-8350K, not my 2700X 

 

 

But scroll down...