Question Buying a system

[graywolfthegreat]

I am throwing this in the dark but is it better to buy a cheap gaming desktop around like $200 or more and upgrade it? Or go ahead and buy a laptop. I'm kinda leaning on the desktop, due to price. I can't afford a laptop because I don't want to pay $1000 dollar on one. I save about $100 a month and it would take a year or more to do this. So that is why I ask about this. Laptop or Desktop? BTW which one would be cheaper? Are desktops lower in price than laptops? And would it be cheaper to buy a desktop and upgrade it one component at a time?

 

[USAFRet]

Buying a cheap desktop and upgrading it means that you're buying every part twice.

Save up your pennies until you have enough to buy a good system, once.

 

[geofelt]

If you need portability, then buy a laptop.
Spend what you need; laptops are not very upgradeable for cpu or display.
You get more for your money as a rule with desktops.

Desktops have many upgrade options.
The most usual upgrade will be the graphics card.
Do not go cheap on the psu, buy one that will handle a gpu upgrade.

Consider carefully the monitor purchase.
Monitors are relevant for a long time.
Bust your budget for a good one..

Sounds to me like you need to save up a bit.

 

[graywolfthegreat]

Thank you for replying. I'm going to get a desktop and upgrade it. I just have to wait and get more money

 

[Lafong]

Be careful about just "buying a desktop".

Some of them are not very compatible with upgrading after the initial purchase because they often use parts that are proprietary rather than industry-standard. Particularly the motherboard and power supply.

If you would like to keep the same case and continually upgrade it over a period of several years (5, 10?), you are best advised to build your own using industry-standard parts.

If you can't build it yourself, you descend closer to "appliance land". Use it as you bought it until it breaks down, then buy another new one. Some people are OK with that.

You might be able to find a store that will assemble a PC from parts you choose.

 

[realpao]

Buy a used desktop PC. I think this solves your problem.

 

[USAFRet]

Buy a used desktop PC. I think this solves your problem.

Seeing as his aim is for a gaming system, how does a "used desktop PC" fit the bill?

 

[realpao]

Seeing as his aim is for a gaming system, how does a "used desktop PC" fit the bill?

His budget is $200 so he can't afford a new gaming PC.

 

[USAFRet]

His budget is $200 so he can't afford a new gaming PC.

As recommended, save up some money.

Almost every day, we see a question here about 'upgrading' a 'desktop PC'.
Like a Dell Optiplex or similar HP.
Only to find out that it isn't really upgradeable.

The PSU and motherboard are proprietary, and only work with each other.
A better GPU needs a new PSU. Which you can't do on its own.
A better CPU needs a new motherboard. And probably RAM. And the PSU.

Buying a low end 'desktop' puts him that much farther away from the actual goal.

 

[graywolfthegreat]

His budget is $200 so he can't afford a new gaming PC.

My budget was to buy a used for around 200 and upgrade it from there

 

[USAFRet]

My budget was to buy a used for around 200 and upgrade it from there

You will likely find you've spent $200 on a system that cannot be upgraded.

 

[graywolfthegreat]

Will a $500 desktop be upgradable? I am still saving but don't want to wait too long. Trying to sell the crapy desktop I have right now.

 

[USAFRet]

Will a $500 desktop be upgradable? I am still saving but don't want to wait too long. Trying to sell the crapy desktop I have right now.

This depends on the specific system.

 

[Lafong]

Will a $500 desktop be upgradable? I am still saving but don't want to wait too long. Trying to sell the crapy desktop I have right now.

You aren't likely to do well with a 500 dollar new pre-built desktop for gaming.

Better idea would be to spend that money (maybe 600) on new parts and build it yourself, using a CPU with integrated graphics.

It wouldn't be ideal for gaming due to the integrated graphics, but it would get you airborne on an upgradeable path.

You said you can save 100 a month. After you build the PC with integrated graphics, continue to stockpile 100 a month for as long as you can stand it and then buy a separate video card so you can improve the gaming capability.

You'd end up with an PC with standard parts that you could improve over the years as you saw fit.

The alternative would be a used PC or a new pre-built that both lead to regrets...

Take your pick.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Trying to sell the crapy desktop I have right now.

Please list specs of your current system.
For $200 you may not be able to get anything significantly better.

 

[Eximo]

Not impossible to pick up something workable, you just have to shop around.

Not amazing, and a little dated at this point, but better than a used office PC. As others have said, when you sit down to upgrade something in this price range you are ending up having to replace almost everything.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/387335869220

You would be better starting with used components to assemble something decent for the money. Zen 3 based hardware should be pretty easy to come by.

Also a combo of new and used:

Just add $100 GPU from ebay and you are off and running for $500.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i3-12100F 3.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($84.75 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B760M-H/M.2 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: Lexar THOR OC 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL32 Memory ($87.49 @ Amazon)
Storage: TEAMGROUP MP33 512 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($35.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Montech AIR 100 LITE MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($45.01 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GX2 600 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($61.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $395.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-09-03 11:03 EDT-0400

 

[graywolfthegreat]

This is the answer that I have been looking for thanks man. I'm going to do it this way.

 

[graywolfthegreat]

Not impossible to pick up something workable, you just have to shop around.

Not amazing, and a little dated at this point, but better than a used office PC. As others have said, when you sit down to upgrade something in this price range you are ending up having to replace almost everything.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/387335869220

You would be better starting with used components to assemble something decent for the money. Zen 3 based hardware should be pretty easy to come by.

Also a combo of new and used:

Just add $100 GPU from ebay and you are off and running for $500.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i3-12100F 3.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($84.75 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B760M-H/M.2 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: Lexar THOR OC 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL32 Memory ($87.49 @ Amazon)
Storage: TEAMGROUP MP33 512 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($35.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Montech AIR 100 LITE MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($45.01 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GX2 600 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($61.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $395.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-09-03 11:03 EDT-0400

Thank you good answer to my question. And thank you all for taking time to help me. I got all I needed to help me.

 

[SkyNetRising]

This is the answer that I have been looking for thanks man. I'm going to do it this way.

Note - that setup listed in @Eximo post - is not usable without a discrete graphics card.

 

[graywolfthegreat]

Cam I keep the desktop that you shared a link to and upgrade that with the parts you gave me? If not, what would be a good GPU be for that desktop?

 

[Eximo]

That system has sold for $189.

$100 GPUs right now would be GTX1070/1070Ti/1080. I saw a few RTX 2070 starting around $125. AMD 5700XT also seemed to be around $100. Just depends on what you can find really.

Prices have changed somewhat on my recommendation, this is more complete with a GPU:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 4500 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($68.58 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Prime B450M-A II Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($69.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: Silicon Power GAMING 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($48.97 @ Amazon)
Storage: TEAMGROUP MP33 512 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($35.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card ($189.97 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GX2 600 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($61.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $515.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-09-04 15:57 EDT-0400

Another interesting option: FreeGeek too.

Doesn't come with a disk drive, but does come with a GTX1080.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/226331822621

 

[helper800]

In my opinion, the following would be the minimum viable product to save for if new modern parts are the aim. It has an APU that can actually run some lighter games until you get a decent graphics card without getting stuck on a dead end platform.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 8600G 4.3 GHz 6-Core Processor ($149.00 @ Best Buy)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($35.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650M GAMING PLUS WF Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($93.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN580 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Western Digital)
Case: Fractal Design Focus 2 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF A3 - TT Premium Edition 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $608.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-09-04 16:47 EDT-0400

 

[graywolfthegreat]

Can I upgrade the system that cost 189?

 

[helper800]

Can I upgrade the system that cost 189?

Not in a way that would meaningfully impact performance compared to the amount you would have to spend to do it. You really need to save about 500-700 dollars to have decent options to go forward with.

 

[helper800]

I like this one also, I have a 1TB SSD So I think this one really meets my needs, and I will continue to save money or whatever for the future.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/226331822621

Assuming that it works, that might be a decent buy, however, you will be buying into a completely dead platform that is as expensive to upgrade as modern hardware. a 1080 is really showing its age these days...

Answer me this, what games are you expecting to play on this PC?