Scam? Gpu?

[George294]

Hello everyone, you’ve all helped me so much in my journey to getting my first pc and I’ve learned a lot. In a YouTube video I watched, a man made a Leveno ThinkCentre m91p into a gaming rig. After a lot of Amazon and eBay search I found one by leveno that’s been refurbished and it’s only $200. The specs are here Lenovo ThinkCentre M91p - SFF - Core i5 2400 3.1 GH. It has 8gb of ram but it’s ddr3 and I can upgrade to 16gb for $100. Anyways I was wondering if I should get this rig instead of making a ryzen 3 rig for $300. I’ve done a ton of research and this looks like my best option. The system works with intel 2nd gen core processors and I was wondering if a bios update would let it run newer processors. If I said that wrong I’m sorry I only know a little about computers. In conclusion can anyone tell me what gpus I can get so I don’t get the wrong one. I’ve read that nvidia GeForce 750 ti’s work but I was wondering if someone could give a link to the right one, also I want to know what cpu upgrades are available along with if I could get a new case because the 2011 style is a little too retro lol. Thanks.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

2 minutes ago, George294 said:

Hello everyone, you’ve all helped me so much in my journey to getting my first pc and I’ve learned a lot. In a YouTube video I watched, am man made a Leveno ThinkCentre m91p into a gaming rig. After a lot of Amazon and eBay search I found one by leveno that’s been refurbished and it’s only $200. The specs are here Lenovo ThinkCentre M91p - SFF - Core i5 2400 3.1 GH. It has 8gb of ram but it’s ddr3 and I can upgrade to 16gb for $100. Anyways I was wondering if I should get this rig instead of making a ryzen 3 rig for $300. I’ve done a ton of research and this looks like my best option. The system works with intel 2nd gen core processors and I was wondering if a bios update would let it run newer processors. If I said that wrong I’m sorry I only know a little about computers. In conclusion can anyone tell me what gpus I can get so I don’t get the wrong one. I’ve read that nvidia GeForce 750 ti’s work but I was wondering if someone could give a link to the right one, also I want to know what cpu upgrades are available along with if I could get a new case because the 2011 style is a little too retro lol. Thanks.

 

As nice of a system that is, it's a small form factor system (SFF), so you're not going to be able to put in any sort of GPU higher than maybe a GT 1030 in that. 

[George294]

What if I took a part of the case off? What’s the best gpu downwards from $100 (that would be compatible)

Would this game without a gpu for now?

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

4 minutes ago, George294 said:

What if I took a part of the case off? What’s the best gpu downwards from $100 (that would be compatible)

It's still not going to work as the actual space for the card I/O is practically halved. You could chop the case so the rear I/O pokes through, but then you'll have no screw holes to secure the GPU which is no good. Not to mention they use SFF PSUs that are hard to find upgrades and replacements for and they might not include PCI-e power. 

[Spotty]

12 minutes ago, George294 said:

After a lot of Amazon and eBay search I found one by leveno that’s been refurbished and it’s only $200. The specs are here Lenovo ThinkCentre M91p - SFF - Core i5 2400 3.1 GH.

You're looking at a 7+ year old 2nd hand/refurbished computer that had poor performance when it was new back in 2011. This machine was designed more for light office use like writing word documents, browsing the internet, etc. It wouldn't have been suitable for gaming back in 2011, and it won't be suitable now.
 

18 minutes ago, George294 said:

Anyways I was wondering if I should get this rig instead of making a ryzen 3 rig for $300.

Go with the Ryzen build instead.

[Herman Mcpootis]

you can get a better deal on eBay, you can fit up to a 1050ti on the SFF prebuilts.

https://m.ebay.com/itm/HP-Compaq-6200-Pro-Intel-Core-i5-2400-3-1-GHz-8-GB-RAM-1-5-TB-HDD-SFF/173037079522?epid=1124633658&hash=item2849d04be2%3Ag%3AfowAAOSweZJaNiCt&_sop=15&_pgn=2&_sacat=171957&_nkw=i5+8gb&LH_BIN=1&_from=R40&rt=nc

[George294]

Why couldn’t it game as long as it has a gpu and ram?

[George294]

Would this work?

[Spotty]

18 minutes ago, George294 said:

Why couldn’t it game as long as it has a gpu and ram?

You'd be buying the system for $180, then buying a GPU (1050ti) for another $180-$200, and you mentioned you wanted to replace the case as well with a new one so that's another $50, plus another $50 to replace the garbage OEM PSU in it.
You're looking at around $500 in total, and you'll still be left with last gen (or multiple generations old) components without any proper upgrade potential from the CPU/motherboard.

For $500 you could buy a brand new Ryzen 2200G system instead. The CPU will be much faster than the i5 2400, and it will have a much stronger upgrade path as it is a recent (AM4) socket motherboard and using modern RAM (DDR4). The 2200G has built in graphics that are fine for 1080p/low gaming in stuff like Fortnite. If you wanted to upgrade later you could add in a 1050ti.
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($94.99 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($98.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($64.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM (2015) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $488.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-24 01:36 EDT-0400

(You will need to add a copy of windows 10 if you don't already have a key, as well as stuff like the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and so on)

[Herman Mcpootis]

3 hours ago, George294 said:

Would this work?

 

look at ebay, criagslist, etc. instead of amazon for older used rigs, they're cheaper there.

[Opiumicide]

49 minutes ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

look at ebay, criagslist, etc. instead of amazon for older used rigs, they're cheaper there.

I second this idea. My first PC build was made with a 1060 6GB I got on sale for $190 (was like Amazon or something) and some guy's used PC that wasn't gaming ready, but had fairly new parts, that I had gotten from Craigslist. SO, definitely check out Craigslist, especially if you have transportation. Driving 40 minutes for a deal that'll save a couple hundred dollars is worth it in my opinion.

 

Keep your eyes peeled for deals and sales as well (mostly for a GPU or more RAM). They come and go super quickly on all the sites from New Egg to Amazon.