HP Pre-built, custom build, or wait?

[Alexios]

Hello!

 

I have a doubt about which PC, of those that I have been offered, I should buy.

 

To put me in background: I have always had PCs (laptops; now I have a i3 8130U - UHD 630 with 8GB RAM and 1TB SSD) but for "basic" uses such as browsing, office, watching videos and little else, but recently I've got the "bug" to have a more powerful PC with which to play games from time to time without major claims (1080P - 60FPS seems ideal, I do not ask "4K" or "120+ FPS"). As long as it can play current games and those of the next 2-3 years I'd be happy.

 

The thing is that I was going to start buying components, and when I got to the prices I was frozen. Graphics that as I see their launch price was 160 € (200$) approx. selling at 400 € (+500$) (if they have them in stock).

So, I have gone to the option of pre-assembled PCs, and I have at my disposal:

 

1) HP M01. (400€ - 500$) It has:

AMD Ryzen 5 4600G (Shocket AM4, Vega Graphics - ZEN 2), 16GB RAM 3200Mhz (2x8, Dual), 512GB SSD, 2 USB ports to 10Gb, 4 USB 3.1 Ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports.

 

2) HP TG01. (540€ - 660$) Has:

Intel i5 10400F (10th Gen, Shocket LGA 1200), Nvidia GTX 1650 Super 4GB DDR5, 8GB RAM 2666Mhz (1x8; another free bay; but I see the board doesn't support more than 2666Mhz, I don't know if it's a problem); 512GB SSD, 4 USB 3.1 ports, 1 USB-C port, 4 USB 2.0 ports.

 

I omit common "basic" features like gigaethernet ports, etc.

 

My question is, which one would you go with? I see that I get cheaper with what they bring than to mount similar things (besides that I get it "done"), but I do not know which one is the best value for money, which one I will not regret to buy.

 

On the one hand I like the AMD, since the APU that brings seems to be able to pull things from the last years even in low (Control (2019) goes in low at 1080P at 30FPS, Just Cause 4 in low at 50FPS, etc., as I have seen in tests), so I think that I could go with what gives for now and, if in the future the market improves, add a graphics card when possible.

 

But on the other hand, I like the Intel since for 140€ more it brings me a graphics card that I think is decent and will pull with things much better and I would not have to upgrade it, I could pull with it the next 2-3 years (I think?). The only thing that does not convince me is that I would have to add a module of 8GB of RAM to "match" the usual requirements of games and some applications I understand (50€ on Amazon) and that only supports up to 2666Mz, I do not know if this is a bad thing.

 

I don't know what to do... I'm discouraged to see how the market is right now. Then I think that maybe it would be a better idea to buy an XBOX Series S (and optionally add a Nintendo Switch, both are in stock where I live and would cost me about 500€, 600$ both) and I would be covered for my gaming needs (even “better” than with a PC? But I would lose things like games-modding or great deals that are usually in the Epic Store, Steam...). I also think that I wouldn't get too much out of a powerful PC if all the use, apart from gaming “casually” (6-7h per week), is surfing, office, watching movies, and at most run 1 virtual machine, right? Would be worth it?

 

In this case, I would go for the console gaming option (or even cloud gaming?!) and wait 2-3 years to consider switching back to PC gaming. This could be OK because I could benefit from a better graphics card market and the new AM5 shocket from AMD, maybe? But I don’t know, I don’t like to make decissions based on “maybe tomorrow...” about thinks I don’t well, like the computers markets.

 

So, any advice or suggestions? What do you think or would do in my case? I’m feeling a bit lost and overwhelm.

 

A thousand thanks to al!

 

(sorry for possible mistakes, english is not my first language)