This $69 Gaming PC is INCREDIBLE

[Sveeno]

A portion of this video was sponsored by IBM. Want to learn more? Check out IBM’s YouTube channel or New Creators homepage: https://ibm.co/3QtW6wD

 

Our last $69 gaming PC from 2018 was a pretty good machine for the budget. Will we be able to beat it in 2022? Watch to find out!

 

Buy an AData SU635: https://geni.us/JQ5f

Buy an AData SU760: https://geni.us/wvJHE

[OddOod]

nice

[Dedayog]

So if I sell my PC to my kid for $1, I can claim This $1 PC is INCREDIBLE?!

 

 

[Senzelian]

So the midroll ads are now the new standard? 

[creesch]

Quote

The sponsor of this portion of the video

I guess mid roll ads are needed? Besides that being a shame, it is the wording itself rubs me the wrong way even more. Not sure why but it seems to dray even more attention to the fact that there are now ads where there weren't any...

 

As far as mid roll ads themselves go, I am generally a proponent of YouTube premium as I don't like ads but also don't want to take revenue away from creators by blocking them. But that sort of is predicated on the idea that there aren't double sponsor blocks from creators themselves in their videos. 

 

[benjamin1971]

Hah, I've been running a z420 for my gaming PC for the last 2 years.  I upgraded to an Nvidia 1070 and 24GB of memory.  Works really well for general gaming. 

[Lil Grand]

Been trying to find a good option for a second pc for my siblings ended up finding a good z440 for about $100 cant wait to see how yall upgrade it i already have a few ideas in the works for mine

[aisle9]

Didn't test Crysis. 1/10 video. Remaining point stripped because you're trying to normalize a $70 screwdriver, so 0/10.

[DaveMath]

So Linus thinks a screwdriver should cost as much as a whole gaming PC.

[ashlin4010]

I have two HPZ420 systems, I have found them to be very reliable.
However things get a little more complicated when you try to move them into a new case.

Disconnecting the internal FireWire cable will produce a warning on system start up that requires you to push F1 to continue
Disconnecting the internal USB cables will also produce F1 to continue
Disconnected fans will also produce F1 to continue
With a high TDP cpu (E5-2687W V1) installed in the system will warn that you require a HP water cooler and F1 to continue
Different power supply will require an adaptor (easily obtainable and cheap)

Fortunately all of these problems can be solved without much difficulty if you have the original case, a little bit more tricky if you don't.
I don't remember enough of the details to describe it, but I can certainly walk someone through it. Ideally it would be good to make a separate guide for it

[the_gremlinn]

would a system like this with decent HD's be a decent home nas/plex server?

[ashlin4010]

18 minutes ago, the_gremlinn said:

would a system like this with decent HD's be a decent home nas/plex server?

I have a Z420, running proxmox (virtualisation OS), running Plex and several other services. But using it as a nas/plex server does have some complications.
     1. Z420 systems will almost always come with a xeon processor so they won't have Intel quick sync. So you will probably want to pre transcode any content.
     2. The systems builtin SATA controller would be ok for just regular desktop use but I woud get a separate HBA card if you're going to has many drives.

[xnamkcor]

Did you say DDR3 and PCI-e 3.x?

[the_gremlinn]

So would it be better to get a core series chip then?

[Needfuldoer]

4 hours ago, the_gremlinn said:

So would it be better to get a core series chip then?

Add a relatively inexpensive Nvidia GPU with NVENC and it's a moot point.

 

Processors and registered ECC DDR3 for the Z420 are cheap, so they're great for tinkering with. Just keep in mind it's a decade old, set your expectations accordingly. It's not going to blow the doors off of a Zen 3 build in single-threaded performance.

[silentdragon95]

Ah yes, good old LGA-2011, once again refusing to be obsolete - it really is the new LGA 775 There is technically even a CPU upgrade path for this machine, which would be one of the Xeon 16XXv2 Ivy-Bridge chips with up to 8 cores. Although the elusive 1680v2 is probably still outside of the budget for a $69 PC shopper.

 

4 hours ago, xnamkcor said:

Did you say DDR3 and PCI-e 3.x?

Why yes, while the consumer platform was stuck on PCIe Gen 2, HEDT and server got PCIe Gen 3.

3 hours ago, the_gremlinn said:

So would it be better to get a core series chip then?

The thing is that these workstations were usually shipped with Xeons. The Xeon also has the advantage of supporting Registered ECC memory, which tends to be cheaper. Besides, the E5 16XX Xeons are pretty much identical to their Core i7 counterparts, they would even support overclocking, although I'm pretty certain that the chipset in these workstations doesn't.

[leadeater]

12 hours ago, ashlin4010 said:

Z420 systems will almost always come with a xeon processor so they won't have Intel quick sync. So you will probably want to pre transcode any content.

There are two overall main product lines of Xeons, ones that come in the same socket as consumer desktop with a Xeon series chipset and the other using the larger dedicated high end socket typically (not always) shared with HEDT.

 

Xeons in the consumer socket type do have iGPU and have Quicksync, Xeons and HEDT CPUs that come in the larger socket do not have iGPU and therefore no Quicksync support. So be careful, an i7 in a socket LGA2011 motherboard system will not have Quicksync, just looking at if it's a Xeon or not will not lead to the correct distinction here sadly.

 

Long story short no CPUs that go in to a Z420 will support Quicksync, Xeon or Core i/X series.

[Yayap7]

Alright this has me thinking.. I've been wanting to build another PC for a few years now but haven't had the opportunity.  I still kind of don't, but this super budget way of going is more of an option.

 

I'm researching all the workstations listed in the video and I'm willing to go for such devices, although I'm finding I'm wanting for a little "current proofing" using DDR4.

 

Question::  Does anyone know of very similar workstations that are just a little bit more current that come with DDR4 memory, or at least is compatible?

Thanks!

[Needfuldoer]

1 hour ago, Yayap7 said:

Does anyone know of very similar workstations that are just a little bit more current that come with DDR4 memory, or at least is compatible?

Yes, the next generation of those workstation product lines will use DDR4 and LGA2011-3 sockets, supporting Haswell and Broadwell based Xeons.

 

HP Z440, Z640, Z840

Dell Precision 5810, 7810, and 7910

Supermicro X10

[EasyGoing1]

On 9/13/2022 at 10:18 AM, Senzelian said:

So the midroll ads are now the new standard? 

As is the shuffle slider ...

[Hiiammichaelbye]

On 9/13/2022 at 4:41 PM, ashlin4010 said:

I have two HPZ420 systems, I have found them to be very reliable.
However things get a little more complicated when you try to move them into a new case.

Disconnecting the internal FireWire cable will produce a warning on system start up that requires you to push F1 to continue
Disconnecting the internal USB cables will also produce F1 to continue
Disconnected fans will also produce F1 to continue
With a high TDP cpu (E5-2687W V1) installed in the system will warn that you require a HP water cooler and F1 to continue
Different power supply will require an adaptor (easily obtainable and cheap)

Fortunately all of these problems can be solved without much difficulty if you have the original case, a little bit more tricky if you don't.
I don't remember enough of the details to describe it, but I can certainly walk someone through it. Ideally it would be good to make a separate guide for it

Would you be willing to make a guide for this? Or do you know of a written guide? I just bought this HP and I'm trying to put it into a new case. 

[ashlin4010]

On 9/29/2022 at 7:20 PM, Hiiammichaelbye said:

Would you be willing to make a guide for this? Or do you know of a written guide? I just bought this HP and I'm trying to put it into a new case. 

Definitely willing but its not something I can perfectly recall, at least not well enough to write instructions. But with your or some one elses help we can do a case swap and document the process.

[JustIce12]

At my work... there was an upgrade to all office computers so one of their optiplex were handed to me dirt cheap.

Now I wait when they will start upgrading their workstation...

BTW that optiplex is now my truenas server for media

[Th3Phoenix3968]

Hi, I'm just starting to get into pc gaming and i am on the budget for this pc and was wondering if anyone could make a step by step or list of all the stuff i would need as im somewhat nervous to start taking stuff apart and risk breaking anything, Much Thanks!

[Middcore]

2 minutes ago, Th3Phoenix3968 said:

Hi, I'm just starting to get into pc gaming and i am on the budget for this pc and was wondering if anyone could make a step by step or list of all the stuff i would need as im somewhat nervous to start taking stuff apart and risk breaking anything, Much Thanks!

 

Welcome to the forums.

 

Are you asking for a list of all of the "essential" components to make a functioning PC?

 

That would be:

 

• Motherboard
• CPU (and something to cool it, which can range from a cheap air cooler included in the box that just barely gets the job done to custom waterblocks)
• Memory (also known as RAM)
• Some kind of display adapter (a way of getting a video signal from the system - could be "integrated graphics" built into the CPU or it could be a dedicated graphics card)
• Storage (a hard drive or solid state drive to install the operating system and programs on)
• A power supply

You could also add a case to put all of it in but technically one isn't required to make the system work.