[SOLVED] Good build for $650 gaming PC?

[Justin Marlowe]

My 12 yr old sold a bunch of his stuff to buy a gaming PC. He has $650 saved and a local on CL here in the USA just advertised this custom build for $625. I have no ideas about gaming computers and was hoping if this is a good deal or should I keep looking. All advice is appreciated.

Justin


CPU: AMD Ryzen5-1400, up to 3.4 GHz, 4 core 8 thread (Equal to an i7)
-CPU Cooler: DEEPCOOL ICE BLADE 2x L.E.D Fans *BRAND NEW*
-GPUGaming Card)Gigabyte RX 570 8GB (Preforms like a GTX1060 3GB)
-RAM: Crucial 8x2GB(16GB) 2400mhz (64GB MAX) *BRAND NEW*
-MotherBoard: MSI A320 ATX
-SolidState: 240gb SSD Inland(Runs Windows) *BRAND NEW*
-HardDrive: SeaGate 7200rpm 1000GB(1TB)
-PowerSupply: EVGA 600w 80+ *BRAND NEW*
-OS: Windows 10 Pro *BRAND NEW*
-Case: RoseWill SPECTRA C100 *BRAND NEW*
-CaseFans: 3-120mm Blue L.E.D.(Front) 1-120mm Blue L.E.D.(Rear) *BRAND NEW*
-Ports: LAN-x1, USB 2.0x6, USB 3.0x6
-5 Audio Jacks - High Definition Audio
-VideoOutput: 1xHDMI - 1xDVI - 2xDisplayPort

 

[feelinfroggy777]

No, that is really not a very good deal. You could build a new one that would perform better. If you dont know how to build one, it is really very easy. You dont need to know how it works to put it together. Everything just snaps together and you both may learn something in the process.

Here is a build for $600. It would need windows, but he could run an unregistered copy till he comes up with the $100 to activate it.

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/nZn2w6
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/nZn2w6/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($82.68 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor - Radeon RX 580 8 GB Video Card ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT - H500 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - S12II 620 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($42.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $608.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-30 09:26 EST-0500

 

[cookiemania66]

this configuration is not bad but i think that it could be better.
Thinga like the 600 Watt PSU are just useless because a decent 400 Watt PSU would also be more then enough.
The Stock AMD Cooler is good enough so there is no need for an aftermarket one. Just adds up cost that could be spend on parts that actually give you performance

I think that something like this here would be better:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($165.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($76.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston - A400 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($33.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire - Radeon RX 580 8 GB NITRO+ Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg Business)
Case: Rosewill - FBM-X1 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($26.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $673.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-30 09:28 EST-0500

The CPU is better; More Cores (6 Cores 12 Threads) and does have a slighty higher core Clock + the Cooler is actually good.
The GPU is also better; The RX 580 is on pair with a GTX 1060 6GB (a little bit better and worse depending on the game but overall i would say they both perform equaly good)

I upgraded the RAM to 3000 which is a benefit for the Ryzen architecture (not buch but hey its like free performance )

Yes i know its a little bit more then 650$ but if you dont need that much harddrive space you can go down to 120gb on the SSD and/or 500GB on the HDD. You can get a Windows Key for less then 20$.

And all of your parts will have warranty

 

[feelinfroggy777]

this configuration is not bad but i think that it could be better.
Thinga like the 600 Watt PSU are just useless because a decent 400 Watt PSU would also be more then enough.
The Stock AMD Cooler is good enough so there is no need for an aftermarket one. Just adds up cost that could be spend on parts that actually give you performance

I think that something like this here would be better:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($165.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($76.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston - A400 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($33.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire - Radeon RX 580 8 GB NITRO+ Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg Business)
Case: Rosewill - FBM-X1 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($26.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $673.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-30 09:28 EST-0500

The CPU is better; More Cores (6 Cores 12 Threads) and does have a slighty higher core Clock + the Cooler is actually good.
The GPU is also better; The RX 580 is on pair with a GTX 1060 6GB (a little bit better and worse depending on the game but overall i would say they both perform equaly good)

I upgraded the RAM to 3000 which is a benefit for the Ryzen architecture (not buch but hey its like free performance )

Yes i know its a little bit more then 650$ but if you dont need that much harddrive space you can go down to 120gb on the SSD and/or 500GB on the HDD. You can get a Windows Key for less then 20$.

And all of your parts will have warranty

I would not put a 450 watt PSU with a 580 and a 2600. The 580 is a very power hungry card. I would go with a 550 watt.

 

[doolittle]

My 12 yr old sold a bunch of his stuff to buy a gaming PC. He has $650 saved and a local on CL here in the USA just advertised this custom build for $625. I have no ideas about gaming computers and was hoping if this is a good deal or should I keep looking. All advice is appreciated.

Justin


CPU: AMD Ryzen5-1400, up to 3.4 GHz, 4 core 8 thread (Equal to an i7)
-CPU Cooler: DEEPCOOL ICE BLADE 2x L.E.D Fans *BRAND NEW*
-GPUGaming Card)Gigabyte RX 570 8GB (Preforms like a GTX1060 3GB)
-RAM: Crucial 8x2GB(16GB) 2400mhz (64GB MAX) *BRAND NEW*
-MotherBoard: MSI A320 ATX
-SolidState: 240gb SSD Inland(Runs Windows) *BRAND NEW*
-HardDrive: SeaGate 7200rpm 1000GB(1TB)
-PowerSupply: EVGA 600w 80+ *BRAND NEW*
-OS: Windows 10 Pro *BRAND NEW*
-Case: RoseWill SPECTRA C100 *BRAND NEW*
-CaseFans: 3-120mm Blue L.E.D.(Front) 1-120mm Blue L.E.D.(Rear) *BRAND NEW*
-Ports: LAN-x1, USB 2.0x6, USB 3.0x6
-5 Audio Jacks - High Definition Audio
-VideoOutput: 1xHDMI - 1xDVI - 2xDisplayPort

Agree this is not a bad price for a pre-built gaming pc. As mentioned, you can get better parts if you build yourself however you will have to sacrifice the Windows license and run it unregistered to do so (which is painful IMO), and not to mention the time it takes.

The good: price

The bad: To get the good price, the older generation Ryzen was used with an older chipset (the A320) which has some limitations when you put them next to the B350 and B450 chipset boards. The SSD is also a budget brand "inland" which has seen some problems with the 120gb model but the 240gb model does not appear too bad.

There are worse pre-built PCs out there that are also more expensive, and all-in-all it's a pretty balanced for a budget gaming pc.

 

[Justin Marlowe]

Ok, thanks all for your suggestions. So if the seller goes down $100 bucks to $550 does that make it it worth it? It puts my son under budget which is a big deal to me.

 

[doolittle]

$550 would be a very good deal, but maybe not very realistic to the seller $600 would also be good and he does not take that big of a hit, and even at the full $625 it is still not too bad considering it does come with a valid windows license.

Compare closely to the other builds, the first one is $665 with $60 in rebates, and the second is just over $700 with $30 in rebates. In both cases you are ditching the windows license (~$100) to get the better / upgraded parts - nothing is really free lol...

 

[genthug]

I'd agree with the fact that it's not bad for a ready built machine. If you factor in costs and include your own time ( I don't know if you know how to build a PC by yourself, for example ), you're looking at $80-100 if you go with a non-OEM Windows 10 key. I don't particularly suggest you go with the $80-100 version as there are OEM keys for sale that are significantly cheaper... but let's say it's that $80. That puts the rest of those builds to $700-750, out of budget range. Un-activated windows can be run but once again not ideal. There's also the added time to learn and subsequently build said machine--might be a good bonding experience but that's up to you to know.

On the other hand. If you choose to go with some of the above builds (which I agree are a better dollar for dollar value), you also get warranties. All of those parts are brand new. There is often no lengthy warranty on something you pick up off eBay, craigslist, Facebook marketplace, etc. The warranties on parts in and of themselves would be worth the extra ~$50-75 that the above builds go for. Warranties can be a lifesaver.

Shuffled some of the parts around from the first build to squeeze a little bit more in for the CPU.

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/wy977W
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/wy977W/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2400G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME B450M-A/CSM Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($77.85 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill - Sniper X 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor - Radeon RX 580 8 GB Video Card ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case ($43.41 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA - 600B 600 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($29.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $614.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-30 15:57 EST-0500

Whether you go with new or with a prebuilt, both of them will be a decent value as a gaming machine. It really depends on what weighs more on the scale; the extra money for Windows 10, the time to put in the rebate cards, and the time to build the system, or the lack of warranty, slightly downgraded parts, but hassle free purchase.

 

[Justin Marlowe]

I didn't even consider warranty of parts. I won't be building a machine myself.and windows on it is a nice addition. I think my biggest issue is that while this system will allow him to play his games now, it may be underpowered for future prorgams and then I'm spending more $$ to upgrade something in the next year etc which I would rather not do. I do like the fact though at say under $600 he could have a turn key computer without much hassle