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Buying a desktop capable of some gaming for $300 - $500.


Azalar Hex

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So my sister wants to help her boyfriend get his son a new desktop for gaming.  And they want to keep the price near $300.  And they don't have the technical know-how to put one together.  So it's got to be pre-made.

 

I told her that $300 might be a bit too low for anything viable for gaming these days.  But I decided to give looking for one a shot.

 

I decided to ask here to see if there are any PC-gamer types here that could recommend something since having more than one recommendation seems like a good idea.

 

I bought a new system for $2,000 towards the end of last year that sadly looks to be around the same as the one I am looking at for $500, save for the video card.  Which is where my brain goes kaput.  I know squat about video cards.

 

I appreciate any help/pictures of their ladyboobs anyone can offer.

 

EDIT:  Changing the topic to something more relevant to the current situation.

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I'm open to suggesting something as high as $800 so she'll have options if the guy is willing to pay it.  I'm just crap when it comes to knowing processor and video card specs.  They don't use a simple number like RAM or HDs.  Though I have been trying to look for stuff under $300 and found a couple of top of the line desktops, if that line was drawn in 1995.

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hmm well in that case they probably dont need as much...mmos are still big games though. itll only run well on something decent.

 

i dont know the specific prices for parts that are enough to get the job done for something like minecraft, but i sort of just suggest they get a halfway decent desktop..which will exceed the $800 mark..thing is, he probably wont need a new computer for a while, if ever, depending on how good it is.

 

idk..maybe DJ Sona[/member] knows something.

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Minecraft and mmos like Path of Exile/League don't require much at all, yeah, but you won't get a "gaming pc" for 300$ even if you wait for cyber monday and build it from scratch. If he's sticking to just those games though then a shitty dell would do the trick, so I wouldn't be too worried about looking up gaming rigs. Liiike I was able to play that shit from my hp netbook.

 

 

800 is def doable though, yeah. Just need to be patient for sales. I think mine cost around 1200 but it was through cyber monday sales so the pc itself was worth around 2k and I kinda went overboard. 800 was my aim originally, but 5 years later I can still run brand new games that even my monitor is too shit to optimize on. Only had to change the heatsink since then. You get what you pay for pretty much.

 

 

Buying used is great and all until one of your parts burn out just a month later and you're stuck needing to replace it, $$ so I'm not sure that's great either. Who knows what condition those were kept in. I generally don't trust refurbished anything either although that's me being stupid and paranoid BUT IDK MAN IDK

COULD HAVE CUM IN IT

IDK

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Minecraft and mmos like Path of Exile/League don't require much at all, yeah, but you won't get a "gaming pc" for 300$ even if you wait for cyber monday and build it from scratch. If he's sticking to just those games though then a shitty dell would do the trick, so I wouldn't be too worried about looking up gaming rigs. Liiike I was able to play that shit from my hp netbook.

 

 

800 is def doable though, yeah. Just need to be patient for sales. I think mine cost around 1200 but it was through cyber monday sales so the pc itself was worth around 2k and I kinda went overboard. 800 was my aim originally, but 5 years later I can still run brand new games that even my monitor is too shit to optimize on. Only had to change the heatsink since then. You get what you pay for pretty much.

 

 

Buying used is great and all until one of your parts burn out just a month later and you're stuck needing to replace it, $$ so I'm not sure that's great either. Who knows what condition those were kept in. I generally don't trust refurbished anything either although that's me being stupid and paranoid BUT IDK MAN IDK

COULD HAVE CUM IN IT

IDK

 

you only say that cuz you done it before  O0

 

but the rest i can agree with almost everything except for older motherboard and cpu, those things are built to last. everything else is a crapshoot and beware.

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Guest The Hound

Minecraft and mmos like Path of Exile/League don't require much at all, yeah, but you won't get a "gaming pc" for 300$ even if you wait for cyber monday and build it from scratch. If he's sticking to just those games though then a shitty dell would do the trick, so I wouldn't be too worried about looking up gaming rigs. Liiike I was able to play that shit from my hp netbook.

 

 

800 is def doable though, yeah. Just need to be patient for sales. I think mine cost around 1200 but it was through cyber monday sales so the pc itself was worth around 2k and I kinda went overboard. 800 was my aim originally, but 5 years later I can still run brand new games that even my monitor is too shit to optimize on. Only had to change the heatsink since then. You get what you pay for pretty much.

 

 

Buying used is great and all until one of your parts burn out just a month later and you're stuck needing to replace it, $$ so I'm not sure that's great either. Who knows what condition those were kept in. I generally don't trust refurbished anything either although that's me being stupid and paranoid BUT IDK MAN IDK

COULD HAVE CUM IN IT

IDK

 

 

I DONT WANT TO HEAR THIS FROM YOU MS I NEVER WILL UPGRADE MY COMPUTER EVER

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Guest The Hound

Yea, but no, In all seriousness, PTA is right. 300 won't get you shit.

At least not until PCI 4 comes out on boards and the entire thing changes again.

 

I'd say in about 1.5-3 years you will see a major price shift in old boards once PCI 4.0 becomes the norm.

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So my digging around for something that won't burst into flames and isn't $3000 came to this:

 

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2471924,00.asp?tab=Specs

 

I'm still digging but this seems like a realistic option for a kid who wants to play a few older games and parents who don't want to spend a thousands bucks for him to do it.  It doesn't look like a total dumpster fire.  What do you guys think?

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dude you can stick to your $300 dollar range so easy.

intergrated graphics are more than strong enough to run older games very well and shouldnt cost you all that much.

you can even get him a laptop at that price range and it would probably be more than enough for him.

 

just a quick amazon search you get this

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-E5-575-33BM-15-6-Inch-Processor-Generation/dp/B01K1IO3QW/ref=sr_1_6?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1486469282&sr=1-6&keywords=computer&refinements=p_36%3A25000-35000

 

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Ah.  I forgot to mention that he told them he didn't want a laptop because "desktops are better for gaming".  Which is true I guess if you want a beefy knock it out of the park hellbeast that can run everything at max.  But I'll pass along the suggestion nonetheless.  Thanks much.

 

She downgraded her request from a "gaming computer" to a "decent computer that can run games".

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Guest The Hound

So my digging around for something that won't burst into flames and isn't $3000 came to this:

 

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2471924,00.asp?tab=Specs

 

I'm still digging but this seems like a realistic option for a kid who wants to play a few older games and parents who don't want to spend a thousands bucks for him to do it.  It doesn't look like a total dumpster fire.  What do you guys think?

No

 

No

 

No

for that price i can build you shopping cart on newegg that will destroy that PoS

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Guest The Hound

you consider building your own computer ill continue this convo

 

 

but i can't recommend doing anything besides building your own and srsly fuck laptops they're all garbage besides like... 2 laptops ever, and they just came out.

 

 

 

I will get you newegg wishlist/shopping cart with a build on it for below 500 if u want

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No

 

No

 

No

for that price i can build you shopping cart on newegg that will destroy that PoS

 

Well you gotta remember these folks don't know jack diddly squat about building computers.  They want something they can take out of the box and forget about in his room.

 

In fact when this all started they were asking me if Wal-Mart was a good place to get a gaming desktop.

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you consider building your own computer ill continue this convo

 

 

but i can't recommend doing anything besides building your own and srsly fuck laptops they're all garbage besides like... 2 laptops ever, and they just came out.

 

 

 

I will get you newegg wishlist/shopping cart with a build on it for below 500 if u want

 

I wish.  But there's no way in hell they'd buy the parts and trust me to build it for them.  Or anyone else for that matter.  They had to be convinced to even trust the internet enough to buy stuff online.

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Guest The Hound

I wish.  But there's no way in hell they'd buy the parts and trust me to build it for them.  Or anyone else for that matter.  They had to be convinced to even trust the internet enough to buy stuff online.

 

See.

You literally have no idea how easy it is.

:D

Like.

If you can sit through class for 12 years of your life minimum, you can build a fucking computer.

Newegg is probably the best electronics retailer in the world btw, over stores 100%. A simple google search can find that out for you.

I'd recommend talking them into it, and learning a new skill bud.

I hate people wasting money on prebuilts.

 

 

Btw the warranties are all better on a computer made of individual parts.

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Nah, I'm not saying I couldn't actually do it.  Putting computers together isn't nearly as complicated as people think, I agree.  I took my old one apart and swapped in new parts from slightly newer systems for years.  I've never built one from scratch, but I'm sure I could do it.

 

The problem is that they wouldn't trust me to do it right.  While I am the go-to "tech guy", my sister assumes anything I put together will absolutely burst into flames within a week, so ...

 

Why I'm choosing to help her out is a mystery.  That's why I'm trying to dump the legwork on you guys.

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Guest The Hound

Nah, I'm not saying I couldn't actually do it.  Putting computers together isn't nearly as complicated as people think, I agree.  I took my old one apart and swapped in new parts from slightly newer systems for years.  I've never built one from scratch, but I'm sure I could do it.

 

The problem is that they wouldn't trust me to do it right.  While I am the go-to "tech guy", my sister assumes anything I put together will absolutely burst into flames within a week, so ...

 

Why I'm choosing to help her out is a mystery.  That's why I'm trying to dump the legwork on you guys.

 

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883795100

 

 

This is about as good as you're going to get for that pricerange and prebuilt.

 

 

 

 

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Guest The Hound

It's pretty quick because it's got a dedicated SSHD for speed, 1TB of space, a CPU that has a gpu built into it - which ACTUALLY works together as best as it can with the dedicated gpu it has too. So... that's a rare find for that price tbh.

 

 

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Guest The Hound

oh shit and it's a 6 core  :D

 

 

alright ACTUALLY, right now the value of that last link is $620 for all the parts if you picked them out 1 by 1

 

 

you're saving mad money on that one

 

 

no idea how long this deal is for but if she gonna get one

 

 

 

 

 

thats the one

thats actually a really good computer

 

 

 

 

comes with a mouse and keyboard too

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Guest The Hound

I like these.  Thanks much for the suggestions.

 

It makes me sad that the second one has a better processor than the system I paid about $1,200 for last year ...

 

 

No.

The first one is utter complete shit compared to that second one.

Lol.

 

 

Such a sale on that one,

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