$400 gaming PC guide

[iLostMyXbox21]

 

 

so i was browsing the internet and i found an “Optiplex 990” which can be found here “https://www.amazon.com/DELL-OptiPlex-Desktop-Intel-3-40GHz/dp/B004WMPWH8” for around $203 after shipping.. this PC has an intel Core i7 2600 CPU that has 4 cores, 8 threads, a core clock of 3.4ghz, and a max turbo of 3.8ghz.. the CPU has a max memory supported size of 32gb.. and supports (sadly) only DDR3 1066/1333

 

now from what i could find, the i7 2600 uses the LGA 1155 socket, which the best CPU i can upgrade to would be the i7 3770.. but enough of the CPU 

 

the PC itself comes with a 500gb HDD, which due to the use of DDR3 RAM i can only imagine is 5400RPM, however i have a Western Digital Caviar Blue 1tb 7200RPM HDD i took out of a prebuilt which has windows 10 and a few games on it, so the HDD that comes with the PC will simply be an expansion to my 1tb HDD

 

now i am happy to admit, the PC (which as stated supports DDR3 1066/1333mhz RAM, actually uses the higher of the two, meaning i will not have to upgrade the speed, just simply the size. (i.e. upgrading from the 1x4 to 2x4 or 2x8)

 

the operating system is (sadly) not windows 10, but on the plus side it is windows 7 pro.. so at least it is the pro version

 

graphics for this price is out of the question.. however until i look into actual cards, this PC uses Intel HD 2000 graphics which you can find a list of playable games on the integrated graphics here: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005565/graphics-drivers/graphics-for-2nd-generation-intel-processors.html

 

now while typing this i decided the budget would be $400 so here is the part list: 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
Video Card	EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB ACX 2.0 Video Card	$149.99 @ Newegg Business
Other	DELL OptiPlex 990 SFF Desktop PC Intel Core i7 2600(3.40GHz)	$203.00
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$352.99
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-17 21:17 EST-0500

 

now sue me, i decided to go with a GTX 1050ti, as this build is a $400 budget build and i am happy the price came out to only $353 including shipping and with 4gb VRAM, it should hold its own in 2018 medium-high gaming 1080p resoluton.. considering i want this PC for small games (gmod, csgo, minecraft, TF2, etc) while recording this should do perfect for my needs

 

 

what do you guys think? anything i can change to make it better? if you read this far thanks i put about 4 hours researching and typing this (about 30 minutes typing and the rest was researching while listening to Oversimplified.. so i learned stuff today)

 

pre post edit: i just realised right before posting this that the PSU that comes with it will not be able to support the GPU so here is an updated part list with a 520w fully modular PSU for around $50

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
Video Card	EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB ACX 2.0 Video Card	$149.99 @ Newegg Business
Power Supply	SeaSonic - 520 W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$54.90 @ Walmart
Other	DELL OptiPlex 990 SFF Desktop PC Intel Core i7 2600(3.40GHz)	$203.00
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$407.89
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-17 21:26 EST-0500

 

 

thanks for reading this and please give me suggestions on how to make it better, have a good day

[Herman Mcpootis]

the ACX 1050ti and M12 isn't gonna fit in the SFF optiplex case.

[ATFink]

Get an rx 570, way faster and cheaper than a 1050ti.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/video-card/#c=380,392&sort=price&page=1

 

Yes, I know the nVidia card in this video is a 1060 3gb, this further proves my point since the rx 570 trades blows with a 1060 which is a lot faster than a 1050 ti.

[iLostMyXbox21]

5 minutes ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

the ACX 1050ti and M12 isn't gonna fit in the SFF optiplex case.

as @ATFink says would an RX 570 

 

also i just realised that i need a Small form factor GPU for this build thanks for pointing that out, and what do you mean by the M12?

2 minutes ago, ATFink said:

Get an rx 570, way faster and cheaper than a 1050ti.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/video-card/#c=380,392&sort=price&page=1

 

Yes, I know the nVidia card in this video is a 1060 3gb, this further proves my point since the rx 570 trades blows with a 1060 which is a lot faster than a 1050 ti.

could i have the URL please? embedded videos dont show up for me

[Herman Mcpootis]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-7010-i7-3770-3-40Ghz-12GB-Memory-50GB-Hard-Drive-Windows-7/163378059584?hash=item260a175940:g:rsgAAOSwG25b7x4Q:rk:3:pf:0&LH_BIN=1 $192

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: ASRock - Radeon RX 570 4 GB Phantom Gaming X Video Card  ($174.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Rosewill - Capstone 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $214.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-17 21:49 EST-0500

it's abit over but the optiplex won't fit most of the other 570s.

[Herman Mcpootis]

8 minutes ago, iLostMyXbox21 said:

also i just realised that i need a Small form factor GPU for this build thanks for pointing that out, and what do you mean by the M12?

i meant the PSU. it's also not a good unit btw, get the corsair CX or a rosewill capstone instead.

[iLostMyXbox21]

3 minutes ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-7010-i7-3770-3-40Ghz-12GB-Memory-50GB-Hard-Drive-Windows-7/163378059584?hash=item260a175940:g:rsgAAOSwG25b7x4Q:rk:3:pf:0&LH_BIN=1 $192

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: ASRock - Radeon RX 570 4 GB Phantom Gaming X Video Card  ($174.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Rosewill - Capstone 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $214.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-17 21:49 EST-0500

it's abit over but the optiplex won't fit most of the other 570s.

daaammmmmnnnnnn im gonna have to type this again

 

maybe some other day

[grss1982]

3 hours ago, iLostMyXbox21 said:

Snip..

 

the operating system is (sadly) not windows 10, but on the plus side it is windows 7 pro.. so at least it is the pro version

 

Snip...

 

If you can extract the Windows 7 product key, you can basically re-install Windows 10 using a Windows 7 products key as of Windows 7 1709 I could still do this.