Budget pc

[MMoumen]

Hey guys! Am new to pc so I don’t know that much but I wanted to ask if anyone recommends any like budget build? Like 400? $500 maybe. Also about the gpu, how do I know how to compare them? Is it by how much vram it has or what? Same thing with a cpu, is t just by clock speed? And also when do you think computer prices will go down? Thanks

[RONOTHAN##]

1 hour ago, MMoumen said:

Like 400? $500 maybe.

Right now, in the current market that price range is next to impossible to build a system in, at least new. Used, it's possible, though it still might be a little bit of a challenge depending on where you live.

 

1 hour ago, MMoumen said:

Also about the gpu, how do I know how to compare them? Is it by how much vram it has or what?

VRAM is one of those things that more doesn't help performance until it does. Since your budget is $400-500, you're probably going to only be able to afford GPUs with between 4-6GB of VRAM. That being said, it you just go off of VRAM, a Quadro RTX 6000 would outperform a 3080 or even a 3090, but that is not the case and the Quadro would only outperform the 3080/3090 in compute workloads that use all of that card's VRAM. 

 

In order to actually compare them, you just need to find the benchmark scores for the cards. Gamers nexus has a huge back catalog of GPU benchmarks, so if you need to compare anything from relatively recently, they should have the scores for those cards. 

 

That being said, for your budget, the three cards you're probably going to have to look at are the GTX 1050 Ti, the GTX 1060, and the GTX 1650. Start looking at benchmarks of them and see what prices you would be able to get them for

1 hour ago, MMoumen said:

Same thing with a cpu, is t just by clock speed

You can use clock speed to compare CPUs, but only in very specific scenarios. They would need to be from the same CPU generation, have the same core count and layout, and have the same amount of cache. If any one of those are different, the comparison wouldn't be useful. 

 

In order to actually compare them, it's the same thing as before: benchmarks. There are a lot of places where you'll be able to find benchmarks of a lot of different CPUs, Gamers Nexus is one. Just be sure to avoid Userbenchmark, their numbers and comparisons are extremely biased and not useful 

 

In terms what you should be looking at, if you really want to go new you'll be looking in the new i3 range. Something like the i3 10100F would probably have to be your first pick. That being said, you could save some money and get something used. What I would probably do if I were you would be to buy a used optiplex or some other type of prebuilt and throw a GPU in it. You can find Optiplexes with 4th Gen Intel CPUs for about $100-200, depending on which CPU you find and how much RAM is in it. I'd try to get one with at least a 4th Gen i5 inside, but preferably with a 3rd or 4th gen i7 installed. Then, as long as you get one of the full sized towers, you can easily throw in one of those GPUs mentioned above, and be up and running with a very competent first gaming PC, though the system might also need a PSU upgrade.

[MMoumen]

Hey! thanks for taking your time to reply to this it was very useful.

3 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

GTX 1050 Ti, the GTX 1060, and the GTX 1650. \

Do you think I can add a 1660 ti if I add a better PSU? or an rx 580, 590?

 

3 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

 

I'd try to get one with at least a 4th Gen i5 inside, but preferably with a 3rd or 4th gen i7 installed. Then, as long as you get one of the full sized towers, you can easily throw in one of those GPUs mentioned above, and be up and running with a very competent first gaming PC, though the system might also need a PSU upgrade.

About the cpu here, Which would be better? the i3 or the i7? and also how much do you think I SHOULD pay cuz there are lots of scams. Thanks!

[brob]

How do you plan to use your new PC?

[Dr0idGh0sT]

You can build 5600G system for that price, That's only available option in new market. 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/VWr7mk

[MMoumen]

1 hour ago, brob said:

How do you plan to use your new PC?

For gaming and game development really. That’s it

[MMoumen]

59 minutes ago, Dr0idGh0sT said:

You can build 5600G system for that price, That's only available option in new market. 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/VWr7mk

Whoa that looks like a good build but I don’t know about the integrated graphics. They would just use up system memory and it’s not really what am looking for. Thanks tho! I will just go with an optiplex and add a gpu I guess

[Dr0idGh0sT]

1 hour ago, MMoumen said:

Whoa that looks like a good build but I don’t know about the integrated graphics. They would just use up system memory and it’s not really what am looking for. Thanks tho! I will just go with an optiplex and add a gpu I guess

Dell computers are the worst you can possibly buy. If you have more money than this, You can get 10400F and B460 and add GPU in it. 

[RONOTHAN##]

4 hours ago, MMoumen said:

Hey! thanks for taking your time to reply to this it was very useful.

Do you think I can add a 1660 ti if I add a better PSU? or an rx 580, 590?

 

About the cpu here, Which would be better? the i3 or the i7? and also how much do you think I SHOULD pay cuz there are lots of scams. Thanks!

You could step up to a 1660Ti/RX 580 and a better PSU, but be careful. Those Dell prebuilts can have proprietary PSUs, and you can have trouble with it..

 

As for CPU, if they're the same price, get the new i3 over the old i7, since then you'll have an upgrade path. Otherwise get whatever is cheaper. For a 4th gen i5 Optiplex, you should be spending anywhere from $100-150 US. If you were to buy a 4th gen i5 CPU/Mobo/RAM combo, you should probably spend closer to $50-100 depending on which i5 and how much memory it comes with. 

 

31 minutes ago, Dr0idGh0sT said:

Dell computers are the worst you can possibly buy.

Yes but actually no. They are a really good value, especially for a beginner gaming rig. They're very cheap for the parts you get since there are a ton of them out there thanks to bulk sales to schools and offices. For the sub-$400 computers out there, they are almost always your best option. 

[MMoumen]

7 hours ago, Dr0idGh0sT said:

Dell computers are the worst you can possibly buy. If you have more money than this, You can get 10400F and B460 and add GPU in it. 

Yeah well I can’t do that now can I? The prices are booming and I don’t think I’ll find any 

[MMoumen]

6 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

You could step up to a 1660Ti/RX 580 and a better PSU, but be careful. Those Dell prebuilts can have proprietary PSUs, and you can have trouble with it..

Uhm what’s a proprietary psu?

[MMoumen]

6 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Yes but actually no. They are a really good value, especially for a beginner gaming rig. They're very cheap for the parts you get since there are a ton of them out there thanks to bulk sales to schools and offices. For the sub-$400 computers out there, they are almost always your best option. 

I found ones with 6th gen i7 and 16 gb ram for around 350. Should I go for this? Also do you recommend getting them from eBay or what? And how long do you think a computer like this will last for? Thanks

[brob]

14 minutes ago, MMoumen said:

Uhm what’s a proprietary psu?

 

A PSU that has been designed for a specific model or model line. Generally does not use standard dimensions or mounting schemes. May not use standard power connectors for motherboard.

 

[RONOTHAN##]

36 minutes ago, MMoumen said:

I found ones with 6th gen i7 and 16 gb ram for around 350. Should I go for this? Also do you recommend getting them from eBay or what? And how long do you think a computer like this will last for? Thanks

That's a bit high for what I would pay for it, especially since the 4th gen ones aren't that much slower and you can find them for half the price. I personally wouldn't buy it, but if you can't find anything else it should work.

 

As for where to get them, ebay is a good option, but usually locally (Craigslist, FB Marketplace, Offer Up, etc.)you can find much better prices. Near me there's a guy offloading what looks like over 100 different Lenovo Thinkstations, basically the same thing but Lenovo branded with 4th gen i5s and 8GB of RAM for $70 a piece, and if you offer you can probably get them for closer to $50 for a system. 

 

Just make sure you get a full sized system. The SFF ones usually can't hold a full sized GPU and have much weaker PSUs. It's worth the extra $10-20 for it.

 

As for how long it will last, it depends on what you're going to be doing. If you want to start editing 4k video in a few months, it will probably start struggling in a few months. If you play last gen AAA games or newer Indie titles, it'll probably last at least 2-3 years, probably more if you're willing to turn down some eye candy. 

[MMoumen]

2 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Just make sure you get a full sized system. The SFF ones usually can't hold a full sized GPU and have much weaker PSUs. It's worth the extra $10-20 for it.

Can you give me an example of a full sized gpu? Also should I get the GPU used too? 

2 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

As for how long it will last, it depends on what you're going to be doing. If you want to start editing 4k video in a few months, it will probably start struggling in a few months. If you play last gen AAA games or newer Indie titles, it'll probably last at least 2-3 years, probably more if you're willing to turn down some eye candy. 

Also by last, do you mean it will break after that or what?

 

2 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

 

 

[RONOTHAN##]

1 minute ago, MMoumen said:

Can you give me an example of a full sized gpu? Also should I get the GPU used too? 

Basically every GPU you see is full sized. there is just two different standards for PCIe expansion slots, half height and full height. The SFF prebuilts have half height expansion slots while the full sized towers have full height expansion slots. There are only a couple examples of half height GPUs, and they usually hold a price premium because of that. 

 

As for if you should get a GPU used, if it's cheaper to get it used, then yes. If it's cheaper to get it new, which very well might be possible in this current market, get it new.

5 minutes ago, MMoumen said:

Also by last, do you mean it will break after that or what?

 

By last, I meant provide enough performance to do everything you'll want to do. In your definition, it would be more like 5 years, and the first thing that is likely to go would be the PSU in the system. You can always get a new one and keep using it if you want.

[MMoumen]

4 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

 

Hey, Ive searched on fb marketplace and honestly the prices arent good. Am only finding systems with like i5 and 4gb ram and they cost like 200$

[RONOTHAN##]

14 minutes ago, MMoumen said:

Hey, Ive searched on fb marketplace and honestly the prices arent good. Am only finding systems with like i5 and 4gb ram and they cost like 200$

Occasionally that happens. I'd keep a look out, there are occasionally stuff that will come up. 

[MMoumen]

1 minute ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Occasionally that happens. I'd keep a look out, there are occasionally stuff that will come up. 

Okay so just to make this final, I should look for a used dell optiplex with an I7 4th gen and get a used (or new) rx 580. Right?

 

[RONOTHAN##]

33 minutes ago, MMoumen said:

Okay so just to make this final, I should look for a used dell optiplex with an I7 4th gen and get a used (or new) rx 580. Right?

 

Basically. I'd throw an "or newer" after the "4th gen" for the optiplex, as well as looking at GTX 1060s, since you might get one for cheaper. 

[MMoumen]

 

52 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Basically. I'd throw an "or newer" after the "4th gen" for the optiplex, as well as looking at GTX 1060s, since you might get one for cheaper. 

Okay thanks for your help. Do you think a system like this could run games like rdr2 and AC valhalla on high 60 fps?

[RONOTHAN##]

2 minutes ago, MMoumen said:

 

Okay thanks for your help. Do you think a system like this could run games like rdr2 and AC valhalla on high 60 fps?

At 1080P, maybe. You might need to drop down to medium to maintain 60FPS. I haven't looked into AC in a while, so I can't really comment on the performance of it, but I don't see why it wouldn't.

[MMoumen]

12 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

At 1080P, maybe. You might need to drop down to medium to maintain 60FPS. I haven't looked into AC in a while, so I can't really comment on the performance of it, but I don't see why it wouldn't.

ok. Also is there any upgrade path to this? Like the mobo or anything?

[RONOTHAN##]

Just now, MMoumen said:

ok. Also is there any upgrade path to this? Like the mobo or anything?

Not really. That being said, to get an upgrade path would cost a lot more. You'd either have to go with something like a 3400G system or an i3 Optiplex from 8th gen, the first would cost about the same but with worse performance, and the second would cost more and have similar performance.

 

Personally, I don't believe in buying into an upgrade path, because usually when you have to upgrade anyway technology has moved on far enough that what you have to upgrade still wouldn't get you to where you want to be. If it's the same price, get the upgrade path so you can maybe upgrade in a year instead of three, but otherwise it's really not that worth it IMO to spend extra for something that won't give you more performance now.

[MMoumen]

18 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Not really. That being said, to get an upgrade path would cost a lot more. You'd either have to go with something like a 3400G system or an i3 Optiplex from 8th gen, the first would cost about the same but with worse performance, and the second would cost more and have similar performance.

 

Personally, I don't believe in buying into an upgrade path, because usually when you have to upgrade anyway technology has moved on far enough that what you have to upgrade still wouldn't get you to where you want to be. If it's the same price, get the upgrade path so you can maybe upgrade in a year instead of three, but otherwise it's really not that worth it IMO to spend extra for something that won't give you more performance now.

oh ok I see. Am just going to hunt for deals like you said. One last thing. should I go for a used 580 or a 1060?

Also I found this awesome deal! https://www.ebay.com/itm/174942449420?hash=item28bb61ef0c:g:WU0AAOSw9MthMP3o