Girlfriend's new PC!

[WhiteHarlequin]

Budget (including currency): 350€ or 400 USD

Country: Italy

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Mainy Minecraft, especially version 1.17 onward.

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): She already has a very old PC with an Intel i5 2400 and integrated graphics which works still decently for everyday activities. The problem, however, is that the Intel HD Integrated Graphics 2000 won't support OpenGL 4.4, which is a new requirement for Minecraft. So she wants a new PC that will let her play the new versions, while also being able to experience some indies at 720p@60Hz. The budget doesn't include the GPU because I will buy her one, once the prices will drop to a reasonable price. But still, let me know which GPU would be the best option.

 

Here's a list that I thought of, I understand that it may not be perfect, that's why I'm asking for help. Thanks in advance!

- MBD: MSI H410M Pro - 73.98€

- CPU: Intel i3 10100F - 85.00€

- RAM: Patriot Viper Elite 1x8GB 2666MHz (or any cheaper option - I decided to go single-channel because the motherboard I chose is micro ATX, so it only has 2 slots for memory. With a single stick of 8 GB, she will be able to upgrade to 16 GB in the future, if that will be needed.) - 39.90€

- GPU: AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB - ???€

- PSU: EVGA BR 450W 80+ Bronze - 42.00€

- SSD: Crucial BX500 480GB 2.5" - 50.99€

- Case: Fractal Design Focus G Mini - 56.31€

 

Total (without GPU): 348.18€

 

Peripherals and monitor are not needed. Thanks for reading!

[RONOTHAN##]

Honestly, just buy a GPU for that machine. The system you spec'd out doesn't have an iGPU, so it wouldn't function until you get a GPU anyway. If the system works fine for everything but the iGPU, a new GPU probably makes the most sense. Even something like a GT 1030 (preferably something else, but for arguments sake) should make this computer more than great for Minecraft.

[WhiteHarlequin]

5 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Honestly, just buy a GPU for that machine. The system you spec'd out doesn't have an iGPU, so it wouldn't function until you get a GPU anyway. If the system works fine for everything but the iGPU, a new GPU probably makes the most sense. Even something like a GT 1030 (preferably something else, but for arguments sake) should make this computer more than great for Minecraft.

Yeah, I thought about this solution, but the thing is that her current PC is about to end its lifespan. It was already bought used, and she used it for other 4 years. The PSU is probably one of the cheapest hardware out there, so that isn't very safe. Also, she is about to begin computer science university, so she will need a better performing PC to do scripts and such.

[RONOTHAN##]

Just now, WhiteHarlequin said:

Yeah, I thought about this solution, but the thing is that her current PC is about to end its lifespan. It was already bought used, and she used it for other 4 years. The PSU is probably one of the cheapest hardware out there, so that isn't very safe. Also, she is about to begin computer science university, so she will need a better performing PC to do scripts and such.

Fair enough, but my point still stands. Buy a GPU that will last a few years (RX 580 or GTX 1060) and carry it through once you upgrade. If you don't trust the PSU, buy a new one and carry it forward to the next upgrade. Also, from someone in comp sci, you really don't need much for the first year or two of classes in terms of hardware. By the time she needs it, then upgrade. Plus, while that i3 would be a performance increase, I wouldn't say it's enough of an increase to justify upgrading. Sandy Bridge is still enough for a lot of users, and until you start seeing slowdowns, I wouldn't bother trying to upgrade. Right now isn't the best time to upgrade because of how messed up prices on the new and used market are, so while you would overspend on your GPU, you at least won't overspend on everything else, and by the time you do upgrade, you'll spend roughly the same amount that you would've if you just bought everything but the GPU now.

[Fasauceome]

37 minutes ago, WhiteHarlequin said:

Here's a list that I thought of, I understand that it may not be perfect, that's why I'm asking for help. Thanks in advance!

- MBD: MSI H410M Pro - 73.98€

- CPU: Intel i3 10100F - 85.00€

- RAM: Patriot Viper Elite 1x8GB 2666MHz (or any cheaper option - I decided to go single-channel because the motherboard I chose is micro ATX, so it only has 2 slots for memory. With a single stick of 8 GB, she will be able to upgrade to 16 GB in the future, if that will be needed.) - 39.90€

- GPU: AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB - ???€

- PSU: EVGA BR 450W 80+ Bronze - 42.00€

- SSD: Crucial BX500 480GB 2.5" - 50.99€

- Case: Fractal Design Focus G Mini - 56.31€

You could make some tweaks to improve the experience

Option 1:

Get a proper PSU in her current PC and add a graphics card, then upgrade to a whole system later. The RX 570 certainly is a good call. If more CPU performance is critical for some comp sci stuff, an i7-2600 is viable, and depending on the motherboard, some old xeons are quite alright. 4 cores 8 threads and decent clock speeds for reasonable performance.

 

Option 2:

https://it.pcpartpicker.com/list/MDLj68

Trim some cost on the ram and case. Put a bit of extra spending into the PSU and SSD, and then opt for integrated graphics instead of a graphics card. It's got room to grow but will be fine for Minecraft.

 

Option 3:

I would recommend Ryzen but honestly, pcpartpicker availability in Italy does not look so good. However, a used Ryzen 3 2200G and B450 motherboard would be the best path. Better upgrade options, more flexibility.

[Mark Kaine]

34 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

Ryzen 3 2200G

Honestly? Its only 4 cores, no hyperthreading and it was kinda shit when new... the problem is its ok with the iGPU but as soon you add something  like a 1060 it sux, bottleneck  galore  ... 

[Fasauceome]

1 hour ago, Mark Kaine said:

Honestly? Its only 4 cores, no hyperthreading and it was kinda shit when new... the problem is its ok with the iGPU but as soon you add something  like a 1060 it sux, bottleneck  galore  ... 

whether or not a CPU is shit is subjective, it's my girlfriend's current CPU and it's quite suitable for her needs. The AM4 socket is what really matters anyway, I think a cheap B450 motherboard with a VRM heat sink is a lot more valuable than a super cheapo H410 motherboard that will gimp a 6 core CPU and limit memory speed.

[Mark Kaine]

23 hours ago, Fasauceome said:

whether or not a CPU is shit is subjective, it's my girlfriend's current CPU and it's quite suitable for her needs. The AM4 socket is what really matters anyway, I think a cheap B450 motherboard with a VRM heat sink is a lot more valuable than a super cheapo H410 motherboard that will gimp a 6 core CPU and limit memory speed.

Ok, yeah, of course it is, I'm just saying for me it was a huge disappointment and waste of money because I was told its good enough for a 1060 which turned out to be not true at all , depends on the games but even low requirement games brought the cpu to its knees rather easily,  especially ones that used just 1 or 2 cores. So for me it was just not worth it. (and im stuck with a trash b350 board lol, next time I go intel, tyvm ... -_-)

 

 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

On 8/26/2021 at 1:11 AM, WhiteHarlequin said:

Budget (including currency): 350€ or 400 USD

Country: Italy

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Mainy Minecraft, especially version 1.17 onward.

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): She already has a very old PC with an Intel i5 2400 and integrated graphics which works still decently for everyday activities. The problem, however, is that the Intel HD Integrated Graphics 2000 won't support OpenGL 4.4, which is a new requirement for Minecraft. So she wants a new PC that will let her play the new versions, while also being able to experience some indies at 720p@60Hz. The budget doesn't include the GPU because I will buy her one, once the prices will drop to a reasonable price. But still, let me know which GPU would be the best option.

 

Here's a list that I thought of, I understand that it may not be perfect, that's why I'm asking for help. Thanks in advance!

- MBD: MSI H410M Pro - 73.98€

- CPU: Intel i3 10100F - 85.00€

- RAM: Patriot Viper Elite 1x8GB 2666MHz (or any cheaper option - I decided to go single-channel because the motherboard I chose is micro ATX, so it only has 2 slots for memory. With a single stick of 8 GB, she will be able to upgrade to 16 GB in the future, if that will be needed.) - 39.90€

- GPU: AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB - ???€

- PSU: EVGA BR 450W 80+ Bronze - 42.00€

- SSD: Crucial BX500 480GB 2.5" - 50.99€

- Case: Fractal Design Focus G Mini - 56.31€

 

Total (without GPU): 348.18€

 

Peripherals and monitor are not needed. Thanks for reading!

Just swap the cpu for a 2500k or 2600k, overclock it (~4.5ghz, 5ghz+ if youd like max performance and have a good board + cooling)

 

And then just shove a gpu in that old machine