budget (poor mans) build

[e5911]

Working on a replacement for a desktop non win 11 compatible.  Thought I would get some parts (CPU, Video Card ) from Ebay

Opinions ?

Im looking for a barebones set up for web browsing, bill pay etc 

Saw a I3-10100F CPU for $35 

Opinions? Suggestions for a Video card I really don't need much..

I guess im looking for opinions on buying used and if Ebay is a bad source or not, and if so where to go.

Id like to keep it under $500.

 

[An0maly_76]

Biggest thing is, what are you looking to do with it? You say web browsing, bill pay, etc., but sooner or later, most everybody gets bitten by the gaming bug. If it's strictly online shopping, bill-paying, online videos and only that, you can get refurbished office workstations dirt-cheap that will do just fine. Plenty of refurbished ones on Amazon, eBay and the like. With hardware prices rising again, you may or may not get more for your money building your own.

 

Third-gen and later Intels support PCIe M.2 boot, and some even have OEM slots integrated in the motherboard. This is much more common with newer Intels. AMD AM4s support this also, though I'm not sure exactly which generations, if any, do not. A SATA SSD is a good upgrade, a PCIe M.2 is even better.

 

Office / productivity / work from home with casual gaming? Even for non-gaming basics, though a 2-core / 4-thread is okay for some people, I would insist on a 4-core / 8-thread minimum. One with integrated graphics is fine for even basic / light gaming, so if you're not planning on gaming use, you may not even need a video card. If you're interested in gaming, I would look at 6, 8, or 10 core processors with at least 12 threads, and while opinions will vary here, AMD RX GPUs do tend to be cheaper, certain Nvidia cards can be a better bang for the buck. For basic light gaming, an RX 5500 or GTX1650 would likely do fine, I wouldn't bother with a GT7xxx or GT10xx card, iGPU chips are just as good, and possibly faster. And some iGPUs are better than others, so be aware of that too.

 

As for eBay, it depends on who you buy from. I got a 3600X processor for half the retail price, and to game with it, you'd never know I didn't buy it new. Ditto for an i7-2600 processor ($30), two Intel DH77EB boards ($41 each) and 16GB DDR3-1333 RAM kits ($28 each, shipped) for a couple LGA1155 builds I did recently for resale. For those LGA1155 builds, I also scored a GTX750ti for $65 shipped and a GTX1050 for $95 including what I spent on gas to pick up. Both from Craigslist. But used always carries a risk of buying bad or damaged hardware. I got lucky, everything I've bought used works perfectly. But I've been careful too.

 

eBay has good sellers and bad sellers. Pay attention to feedback percentages, but also look at specific feedback (if negative) and see if the buyer actually was in the right or not. Sometimes they aren't. On eBay, you can sometimes find a motherboard / CPU combo, and some include the cooler and / or RAM. These can be quite a good buy for those on a budget. The cherry on top is that you know it should work as long as the seller doesn't state condition as "For Parts / Not Working". Ryzen and their supporting boards in particular can be funny about RAM.

 

Hardware prices have increased again, though so a $500 build might be trickier these days. But it depends entirely on what your plans are.

Edited January 12, 2023 by An0maly_76
Revised, more info

[Dukesilver27-]

If you're not going to play games, don't go with F CPUs, or Ryzen non-G.

A decent dedicated GPU would always cost more than a CPU with integrated GPU, unless it is used and under $15.

Ebay is a good source for finding used stuff.

 

[e5911]

Thanks