purchasing a gpu

[ethancollis45]

Budget (including currency): $200-$300 AUD (give or take)

Country: Australia

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: BeamNG.drive, Assetto Corsa, Minecraft, Euro/American Truck Sim, Race Room Racing Experience, NASCAR Heat 5, Tony Stewarts Sprintcar Racing/All American Racing, World of Outlaws 2002, Dirt track racing 2, screen recording, video editing (although i manage to cope on my school laptop, 4gb of ram, intel celeron and integrated graphics).

Other details I am going to buy and $80 AUD pc from the tip shop (all working). It is a HP office computer with and Intel Core i5 4670 at 3.4 GHZ , 8 GB of ram (I'm guessing DDR3 but I don't know), 500 GB HDD (I will upgrade this too) and it has Windows 10 pro pre-installed. I will upgrade this eventually but I need a graphics card first and my birthday is coming up and my parents don't know what to get me. I am looking at an RTX 3050 but I reckon I'll be CPU bottle-necked. I do want to get a good one that is cheap as I will upgrade the CPU eventually. I don't have a lot of money so please don't suggest I just buy brand new parts and build one myself, I just can't afford it. There are a few computers here but this one is the best, the CPU is more advanced. 

The one on the far right on the top is the one I'm looking at. 

 

[DreamCat04]

18 minutes ago, ethancollis45 said:

(I'm guessing DDR3 but I don't know)

Yes, 4th gen Intel uses DDR3 still, I don't know exactly when they switched to DDR4, but 4th gen was still DDR3 based

 

19 minutes ago, ethancollis45 said:

I am looking at an RTX 3050 but I reckon I'll be CPU bottle-necked.

I don't think you can bottleneck a 3050 that much as it in itself it quite weak. You can also get used 3060s or 2060s, maybe even 2070s for that price. But your limiting factor is gonna be the PSU in that PC. Because usually these prebuilts only come with the absolutely necessary cables, so it might not include a PCIe power connector, and I honestly don't know whether the 3050 requires one or not, but I think it does. But you can also go full sketch mode and get a sata or molex to PCIe adapter. Is it possible for you to look into the PC before buying it? Also, are there maybe any cheap prebuilts in your area that already have a GPU in them? That might be easier than trying to get a GPU into a PC that might not even have the power connectors for it..

[ethancollis45]

49 minutes ago, DreamCat04 said:

Yes, 4th gen Intel uses DDR3 still, I don't know exactly when they switched to DDR4, but 4th gen was still DDR3 based

 

I don't think you can bottleneck a 3050 that much as it in itself it quite weak. You can also get used 3060s or 2060s, maybe even 2070s for that price. But your limiting factor is gonna be the PSU in that PC. Because usually these prebuilts only come with the absolutely necessary cables, so it might not include a PCIe power connector, and I honestly don't know whether the 3050 requires one or not, but I think it does. But you can also go full sketch mode and get a sata or molex to PCIe adapter. Is it possible for you to look into the PC before buying it? Also, are there maybe any cheap prebuilts in your area that already have a GPU in them? That might be easier than trying to get a GPU into a PC that might not even have the power connectors for it..

ok thanks for the info. there arent many prebuilds or computer shops near me and the delivery price goes through the roof as i live in a regional area. i wasnt sure if i could open the computer and get a better look but i can fit a psu into my budget. also, if was gonna buy an actual gaming pc, i would buy parts and build it myself but i cant afford much but i am getting a job soon. anyway i will go back to the tip shop and have a closer look but they dont have much online so i will have to go on a weekend or something. i will try to contact them. thanks for the help.

[planetary problem]

1 hour ago, ethancollis45 said:

Core i5 4670 at 3.4 GHZ , 8 GB of ram (I'm guessing DDR3 but I don't know), 500 GB HDD (I will upgrade this too) and it has Windows 10 pro pre-installed. I will upgrade this eventually

sounds good, get the pc and eventually upgrade the HHD and the CPU(to a i7 4770 ?) but the limiting factor is going to be the power supply but i think you will probably be safe with a rx6600 or a 2070 or a 3060 and it wont be cpu bottlenecked, i assure u

[ethancollis45]

2 minutes ago, shreshta said:

sounds good, get the pc and eventually upgrade the HHD and the CPU(to a i7 4770 ?) but the limiting factor is going to be the power supply but i think you will probably be safe with a rx6600 or a 2070 or a 3060 and it wont be cpu bottlenecked, i assure u

I have just messaged the shop on Facebook and I have asked about the power supply. When I do upgrade, I will likely get a newer generation of CPU, as our family computer right now has an 8th gen core i3, and i want to match this or do better. once i get some money, i will build a brand new pc. this one i am looking at is just something that is playable. i will likely give it to my brother when i am done

[ethancollis45]

23 hours ago, ethancollis45 said:

Budget (including currency): $200-$300 AUD (give or take)

Country: Australia

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: BeamNG.drive, Assetto Corsa, Minecraft, Euro/American Truck Sim, Race Room Racing Experience, NASCAR Heat 5, Tony Stewarts Sprintcar Racing/All American Racing, World of Outlaws 2002, Dirt track racing 2, screen recording, video editing (although i manage to cope on my school laptop, 4gb of ram, intel celeron and integrated graphics).

Other details I am going to buy and $80 AUD pc from the tip shop (all working). It is a HP office computer with and Intel Core i5 4670 at 3.4 GHZ , 8 GB of ram (I'm guessing DDR3 but I don't know), 500 GB HDD (I will upgrade this too) and it has Windows 10 pro pre-installed. I will upgrade this eventually but I need a graphics card first and my birthday is coming up and my parents don't know what to get me. I am looking at an RTX 3050 but I reckon I'll be CPU bottle-necked. I do want to get a good one that is cheap as I will upgrade the CPU eventually. I don't have a lot of money so please don't suggest I just buy brand new parts and build one myself, I just can't afford it. There are a few computers here but this one is the best, the CPU is more advanced. 

The one on the far right on the top is the one I'm looking at. 

 

Update: I've talked to the shop and the PSU does have a PCIe connecter and it is 400 watts. The pc uses about 129 watts so a 3050 should go fine