I offer a Challenge!!!

[PC HEROES]

Budget (including currency): Unlimited

Country: USA USD

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: 

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): 

Any game available might be played.

 

I offer a challenge to build me a list of parts used or new and try to spend as little as possible and it can't be a Pre-Built or a Workstation PC with a GPU thrown in. Also needed is a 27" 1080p 175hz+ Monitor and a Keyboard ans Mouse.

 

The idea here is to spend as little as possible even though the budget is unlimited. Now that prices are coming down I'm excited to see different ideas and configurations.

 

This is also not a game either, out of all the different lists I get I will choose 2 of them at random and build it and then give 1 to Charity and 1 to family in need.

 

Good Luck and I hope you have fun trying!!!

 

___EDIT___

 

Please let me clarify, I would like only well known parts and not ones tat might or could catch on fire. Also they MUST actually be usable in today's world, remember these are for charity and needy families, I don't want to give them PCs that would not be more  useful than an big paper weight. Also I would like to see both Integrated and Dedicated Graphics.

[Dr. Will0hlep]

You asked for cheap, https://pcpartpicker.com/list/yphKwc, $210.30 of awful value for money (sorry for the spam but I couldn't resist trying to spec this).

 

Intel dual core CPU

Integrated Graphics

4GB of RAM

120 GB SATA SSD storage

500W PSU

 

"New Parts Only"

Edited: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/MCcYk9 I've added a mouse, keyboard and 27 inch monitor 1080p 144hz bring the price up to $364.27

I'll come up with a more serious build a bit later

[Dr. Will0hlep]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2YCbbK

Here is a new build that actually makes some sense

 

AMD Ryzen 5 5600 3.5 GHz 6-Core Processor

ASRock B550M Phantom Gaming 4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard

Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory

Kingston NV2 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive

ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card   

Thermaltake Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case
Corsair RM750e 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

 

$684.92

 

I don't really know enough about keyboards, monitors and mice to choose good ones.

[brob]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor  ($193.87 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: Deepcool AK400 66.47 CFM CPU Cooler  ($33.98 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: MSI MAG B660M BAZOOKA DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith Gaming 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($34.95 @ Amazon) 
Storage: TEAMGROUP MP34 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($48.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: MSI RX 6600 XT MECH 2X 8G OC Radeon RX 6600 XT 8 GB Video Card  ($259.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Asus Prime AP201 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($79.99 @ ASUS) 
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 PE 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($87.99 @ Newegg) 
Monitor: Samsung Odyssey G4 27.0" 1920 x 1080 240 Hz Monitor  ($279.99 @ Best Buy) 
Total: $1149.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-26 17:20 EDT-0400

[bezza...]

the parts that do not have links are from the british used tech shop cex

 

missing the periferals and monitor tho.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/krXZyK

[Queen Chrysalis]

For $1040:

• Compact, so easy for space restricted familiies.  No PSU shroud so air from lower intake fan hits the GPU easily and doesn't choke off GPU.  It also has a lot of extra cable space on the back.
• Includes fans in opportune locations (my dad has had this case for 6 years and the fans are still perfect and arent loud)
• The Gigabyte DS3H *UltraDurable) have constistently delivered reliability without any bells and whistels.  For the cost, having integrated BT and WiFi is a godsend, as most people will not want to use a hardline connection.  It also has heatsinks where it needs them, and any one that you buy in 2023 is gonna ship with a zen 3 BIOS
• The 670p is dirt cheap for a gen 3 NVMe with a DRAM cache.  b450 is limited to gen 3 NVMes, but having one with a dram cache is more than fast enough for any games to load extremely quickly, and $80 for 2TB is an incredible value (like 4 months ago a SATA 2TB cost more than that).
• The Thermaltake GX2 is a lot bettter than the older toughpower PSUs.  Not as good as the GF1, but good enough to never really be a problem with a 5600 and a 6700xt.  My friend used one for his computer with those chips and its fine.  It's still bnetter than the PSUs you'll find in a lot of prebuilts with this kind of TDP.  At $55, it's the best value you'll get.
• The 6700xt and 5600 pairing are optimal for price/performance.  Any more CPU is not gonna show up with a 6700xt, and any more GPU is gonna cost a lot more.
• 32GB of RAM may be excessive, but they'd never have to upgrade.  3200MHz CL16 is also as fast as the 5600 is gonna be able to benefit from.  Miniscule improvements from faster RAM won;t show up anyway with a 6700xt.
• Aftermarket cooler to provvide internal flow from the CPU to the exhaust fan and keep tmeps uip and noise down.  This uses a FD bearing so it will be quiet and last .
• 1440p monitor to really make it feel like it's worth something.  Staring at a 1080p screen just cheapens the experience on new PCs.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 3.5 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($134.98 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Assassin X 120 Refined SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  ($19.89 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M DS3H WIFI Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Silicon Power GAMING 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($59.97 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Intel 670p 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: ASRock Challenger D OC Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB Video Card  ($344.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: DIYPC F2 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($46.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GX2 600 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($54.99 @ Newegg) 
Monitor: Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQA1A 27.0" 2560 x 1440 170 Hz Monitor  ($219.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1041.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-26 18:07 EDT-0400

 

 

For $725

• Swap 5600 for 5500 (plenty fast for a 6650xt, still better than many CPUs that came before it and are currently being paired with faster GPUs)
• Swap 6700xt for 6650xt
• Swap 32GB of RAM for 16GB
• Swap 2TB 670p for 1TB 670p
• Swap TT GX2 for BitFenix Formula Bronze 600w (totally fine for a 6650xt / 5500)
• Omit aftermarket cooler
• 75Hz 1440p monitor (1080p just looks like dogshit for new PCs IMO).

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5500 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($98.00 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M DS3H WIFI Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Silicon Power XPOWER Turbine 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($35.97 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Intel 670p 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($45.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: MSI MECH 2X OC Radeon RX 6650 XT 8 GB Video Card  ($259.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: DIYPC F2 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($47.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: BitFenix Formula Bronze 600 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($44.90 @ Newegg Sellers) 
Monitor: Acer CB272U smiiprx 27.0" 2560 x 1440 75 Hz Monitor  ($108.64 @ Amazon) 
Total: $721.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-26 18:01 EDT-0400

 

 

For gaming systems, anything faster than these would cost quite a bit more, and anything cheaper would sacrifice a lot to barely save a nickel.

 

For non-gaming (home office, web browsing) systems, it'd be a waste of charity to custom build new systems.  Anything made in the last decade with an small SSD for the boot drive can do all that stuff at the speed of a click.  And that's usually gonna run you $50 at a surplus sale or the likes and $10-$20 for an SSD.

 

MKB whatever is cheapest and just works.  Even the really basic ones are super nice nowadays.  I had a coolermaster dominator MKB kit for a while ($35 on amazon) and if I didn;t badly want mechanical, I'd have been none the wiser.  They worked great and looked cool.

 

[SorryBella]

2 hours ago, PC HEROES said:

Also needed is a 27" 1080p 175hz+ Monitor and a Keyboard ans Mouse.

Peripherals are always good new, but everything else in this build would be me aiming for the ground and getting as many used computer parts back on the duty. Free Geek has shown it works as a business, and this is of course 2 fold with the fact that e-waste is a real trouble that we continues to reeling in on as rampant issue of consumerism in tech continues to torment us.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($130.00) 
Motherboard: MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($70.00) 
Memory: ADATA XPG Z1 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($36.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Mushkin Pilot-E 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($109.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Zotac Twin GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB Video Card  ($366.00) 
Case: Fractal Design Focus G ATX Mid Tower Case  ($35.00) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM750x (2021) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($75.00) 
Monitor: Dell G2722HS 27.0" 1920 x 1080 165 Hz Monitor  ($191.20 @ Amazon) 
Keyboard: Logitech G610 Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($73.19 @ Amazon) 
Mouse: Logitech G203 Lightsync Wired Optical Mouse  ($26.95 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1114.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-26 18:03 EDT-0400 

 

(all of the links on this PCPP have been altered to have its ebay listing listed instead)

13 minutes ago, Queen Chrysalis said:

For non-gaming (home office, web browsing) systems, it'd be a waste of charity to custom build new systems.  Anything made in the last decade with an small SSD for the boot drive can do all that stuff at the speed of a click.  And that's usually gonna run you $50 at a surplus sale or the likes and $10-$20 for an SSD.

Also p much +1. If you wanna make a bunch of charity PCs, getting a lot of dell optiplex of off government or bankrupt company liquidation auctions and then throw in SSDs inside of them would be amazing deal.

[Queen Chrysalis]

7 minutes ago, SorryClaire said:

 

(all of the links on this PCPP have been altered to have its ebay listing listed instead)

I was about to ask where TF a 5600x was lesss than the 5600.  But if the ebay route is being taken, then a lot oof this could look more like a 3600 or 1600 and a 5700xt.  A lot of the zen 1 and 2 chips are beings sold with thier motherboards for under $100. The 5700xt is easily the best fps/$$$ on the used market rn (~$170).  The 6700xt is close too (~$300).

 

7 minutes ago, SorryClaire said:

Dell G2722HS 27.0" 1920 x 1080 165 Hz Monitor  ($191.20 @ Amazon) 

1440p monitors are only a little more and really sell the 'quility experience' way better, especially at that screen size.

 

There are also way cheaperkeyboards that would still do fine for this application, but that's a deccent choice.  Personally, I'd stick to a budget MKB combo for like $40.  A lot of them are actually pretty good.

 

People are also gonna want wifi.  For $10 more you can get a wifi board, and no decent adapter is gonna be that cheap.  An adapter also either eats up a usb port or blocks a GPU fan.

[Queen Chrysalis]

Though frankly, I’d hardly consider a gaming PC something that afamily in need would care about.  If $1000 could really help someone, that would be behind A LOT of other things.  Car payments, food, clothes, rent, basic cell phone would all be way more important.  Even if it’s something to make the kids smile, a last gen console can be had for ~$125 and that’ll do 90% of the job.  If they gave a PS4 or something like that, a gaming PC is not what a family in need needs.

 

Any charity would much rather just have some money or a palette of refurbish laptops.

[PC HEROES]

46 minutes ago, Queen Chrysalis said:

Though frankly, I’d hardly consider a gaming PC something that afamily in need would care about.  If $1000 could really help someone, that would be behind A LOT of other things.  Car payments, food, clothes, rent, basic cell phone would all be way more important.  Even if it’s something to make the kids smile, a last gen console can be had for ~$125 and that’ll do 90% of the job.  If they gave a PS4 or something like that, a gaming PC is not what a family in need needs.

 

Any charity would much rather just have some money or a palette of refurbish laptops.

This is why I said try and make a decent system as cheap as possible. Not only was this to give to others but a chance to think and be challenged. I wanted people to have fun with this but at the same time to think about what we have and what we can give. All I asked was for some ideas that actually had some thought to it and not some cop out lame excuse (Oh... Just get some Dell Optiplex's and call it a day.). This is not what I want. People anymore take everything for granted. I've been doing charity work for most of my adult life, I myself grew up with next to nothing. I know what it's like to not have things. So I figured why not get people out of their own comfort zones and actually think of someone else and people in need for a change. Do you know how easily I could do this myself?

 

I want people to THINK! Think about something other than themselves for a change. I;m not asking people to give anything but ideas, ideas that will help people in a small way. Do you know what it would mean to a parent that their child has a computer to do school work on, or a parent who needs a home internet job because they can't afford daycare but doesn't have a computer?

 

Just please... Take some time and make a PC list worth while for someone who actually needs it.

 

Thank-you