Good computer for sister?

[Danielh90]

My sister usually does browser stuff and plays minecraft will this computer be a good fit for her?  http://arrowdirect.com/hp-compaq-elite-8300-3-2ghz-intel-core-i5-gen3-small-form-factor-500gb-4096mb-1.html

[stconquest]

It will struggle with vanilla Minecraft, probably around 20-25 FPS.

[Danielh90]

4 minutes ago, stconquest said:

It will struggle with vanilla Minecraft, probably around 20-25 FPS.

Ok do you have a suggestion? 

[Wiflare]

3 minutes ago, stconquest said:

It will struggle with vanilla Minecraft, probably around 20-25 FPS.

It will not struggle with minecraft, it has an i5-3470.

 

Probably should go with craigslist first though, get a better deal there.

[stconquest]

25 minutes ago, Danielh90 said:

Ok do you have a suggestion? 

Sure, this is about $80 more expensive and will do better on MC.  It has room for a GPU upgrade.  I am thinking a $100 RX 460.  That will wow your sis.

 

Note:  This cost a lot more as Windows is not included.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($45.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($29.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Patriot Torch LE 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($56.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Xion XON-310_BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($21.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case Fan: Fractal Design FD-FAN-SSR3-92-WT 24.4 CFM  92mm Fan  ($6.99 @ NCIX US)  <<Rear exhaust
Total: $311.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-25 01:22 EDT-0400

 

 

 

[stconquest]

17 minutes ago, Wiflare said:

It will not struggle with minecraft, it has an i5-3470.

 

Probably should go with craigslist first though, get a better deal there.

The HD 2500 seems to actually be worse than the older Sandy Bridge iGPUs (HD 4000):

 

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Processors/Intel-Core-i5-3470-Ivy-Bridge-Processor-and-HD-2500-Graphics-Review/HD-4000-Proce

[Wiflare]

1 minute ago, stconquest said:

The 2500 seems to actually be worse than the older Sandy Bridge iGPUs:

 

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Processors/Intel-Core-i5-3470-Ivy-Bridge-Processor-and-HD-2500-Graphics-Review/HD-4000-Proce

I have a 3470 system, no dedicated gpu, it runs minecraft at around 100 fps.

[stconquest]

3 minutes ago, Wiflare said:

I have a 3470 system, no dedicated gpu, it runs minecraft at around 100 fps.

IDK... I have recently seen a lot worse from an i5 running a similar GPU doing around 25 FPS.  That was a Mac though.

[Wiflare]

3 minutes ago, stconquest said:

IDK... I have recently seen a lot worse from an i5 running a similar GPU doing around 25 FPS.  That was a Mac though.

Macs are infamous for thermal throttling.

also, some imacs have mobile i5 chips that are clocked lower and have only 2 cores.

 

A 3470 can hold its own, up to even handling a gtx 980 without bottlenecking.

[stconquest]

18 minutes ago, Wiflare said:

Macs are infamous for thermal throttling.

also, some imacs have mobile i5 chips that are clocked lower and have only 2 cores.

 

A 3470 can hold its own, up to even handling a gtx 980 without bottlenecking.

Hold on.  I am not talking about the CPU performance.  I am talking about the iGPU.

 

The i5 2500K has a slightly better iGPU.  This benchmark shows a different story, although not as bad as I predicted:  53 average with 30 minimums

 

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2011/01/27/intel-hd-graphics-3000-performance-review/7

 

..and here:  http://www.anandtech.com/show/5871/intel-core-i5-3470-review-hd-2500-graphics-tested/3

 

[Wiflare]

2 minutes ago, stconquest said:

Hold on.  I am not talking about the CPU performance.  I am talking about the iGPU.

 

The i5 2500K has a slightly better iGPU.  This benchmark shows a different story, although not as bad as I predicted:  59 average with 30 minimums

 

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2011/01/27/intel-hd-graphics-3000-performance-review/7

That was all the way back in 2011, the game was not very well optimized.

 

Anyway, we're looking for something cheap but has decent performance for @Danielh90

I'd wager to say you can find a $170 computer on craigslist that has a 2nd/3rd gen i5, and at that point you can slot in a gtx 750 and have something under $300 that performs well.

[stconquest]

@Danielh90

 

This gives you a better iGPU and stronger CPU single core performance, but the CPU will lose to the i5 if a program can use more than two cores.

 

Once again, this does have an upgrade path (CPU/GPU) and I included Windows this time:

 

$80 more:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4400 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($45.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($29.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($25.49 @ Amazon)
Case: Xion XON-310_BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($21.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($85.95 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Fractal Design FD-FAN-SSR3-92-WT 24.4 CFM  92mm Fan  ($6.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $314.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-25 02:42 EDT-0400