[SOLVED] Is an intel 3rd/4th gen in 2020 worth it?

NightShade_7

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Nov 11, 2019
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My laptop has finally given out and I am in need of a desktop for gaming on the cheap. (been a laptop user mostly and have owned a couple prebuilts). And I'd prefer having to buy a used prebuilt over getting a new PC with low end parts given my tight budget of $650. So I was looking for a good deal and came across several business prebuilts from 2013-14.

Dell Optiplex 9010 (i5-3470)- $112
Dell Optiplex 9020 (i7-4790) - $250
Dell Optiplex 9010 (i7-3770+720p Monitor) -$250
HP ProDesk 600 G1 (i7-4790+Radeon HD 8490) -$250

All these listings come with an 8GB of DDR3 RAM. Is the i7 4790 worth double the price of the i5 3470? I intend to use this PC mainly for gaming.


I plan to get an RX 580 8GB, a Crucial MX500 SATA SSD (1TB) and an EVGA G3 80+ Gold 650W PSU which perfectly maxes out my available budget.

I am looking at these prebuilts because I only want to spend on decent hardware but theres budget constraints, and the processor i want, the Ryzen 3600 is $180 in my region and then you have the RAM and B450 mobo costs which bring the total to well beyond the $250 offered above for a working system with a decent processor.

Edit: I forgot to add in the one thing i wanted to have in my desktop. the AOC 24G2 monitor. I have an ancient Samsung 1280x768 monitor and wanted to switch to the AOC. But thats almost 1/3rd of my budget so I have to consider serious compromise for good hardware like an a320 board, cheap psu and case, basically stuff I don't want to do. But would such compromise be better than getting these 6 year old machines?
 
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Solution
My laptop has finally given out and I am in need of a desktop for gaming on the cheap. (been a laptop user mostly and have owned a couple prebuilts). And I'd prefer having to buy a used prebuilt over getting a new PC with low end parts given my tight budget of $650. So I was looking for a good deal and came across several business prebuilts from 2013-14.

Dell Optiplex 9010 (i5-3470)- $112
Dell Optiplex 9020 (i7-4790) - $250
Dell Optiplex 9010 (i7-3770+720p Monitor) -$250
HP ProDesk 600 G1 (i7-4790+Radeon HD 8490) -$250

All these listings come with an 8GB of DDR3 RAM. Is the i7 4790 worth double the price of the i5 3470? I intend to use this PC mainly for gaming.


I plan to get an RX 5500XT, a Crucial MX500 SATA SSD (1TB) and an...
My laptop has finally given out and I am in need of a desktop for gaming on the cheap. (been a laptop user mostly and have owned a couple prebuilts). And I'd prefer having to buy a used prebuilt over getting a new PC with low end parts given my tight budget of $650. So I was looking for a good deal and came across several business prebuilts from 2013-14.

Dell Optiplex 9010 (i5-3470)- $112
Dell Optiplex 9020 (i7-4790) - $250
Dell Optiplex 9010 (i7-3770+720p Monitor) -$250
HP ProDesk 600 G1 (i7-4790+Radeon HD 8490) -$250

All these listings come with an 8GB of DDR3 RAM. Is the i7 4790 worth double the price of the i5 3470? I intend to use this PC mainly for gaming.


I plan to get an RX 5500XT, a Crucial MX500 SATA SSD (1TB) and an EVGA G3 80+ Gold 650W PSU which perfectly maxes out my available budget.

I am looking at these prebuilts because I only want to spend on decent hardware but theres budget constraints, and the processor i want, the Ryzen 3600 is $180 in my region and then you have the RAM and B450 mobo costs which bring the total to well beyond the $250 offered above for a working system with a decent processor.
Going with the 4th Gen wouldn't be that bad. The CPU should still be good for gaming for another 2 years. I'm running a 4770K that I built almost 7 years ago and it is still doing good. Right now in the USA it is absolutely crazy how expensive all computer parts are. Almost everything is out of stock or jacked up 2-3x what it should cost. Normally you could get a decent budget gaming computer for $650, right now you cannot.
 
Solution

kanewolf

Titan
Moderator
My laptop has finally given out and I am in need of a desktop for gaming on the cheap. (been a laptop user mostly and have owned a couple prebuilts). And I'd prefer having to buy a used prebuilt over getting a new PC with low end parts given my tight budget of $650. So I was looking for a good deal and came across several business prebuilts from 2013-14.

Dell Optiplex 9010 (i5-3470)- $112
Dell Optiplex 9020 (i7-4790) - $250
Dell Optiplex 9010 (i7-3770+720p Monitor) -$250
HP ProDesk 600 G1 (i7-4790+Radeon HD 8490) -$250

All these listings come with an 8GB of DDR3 RAM. Is the i7 4790 worth double the price of the i5 3470? I intend to use this PC mainly for gaming.


I plan to get an RX 5500XT, a Crucial MX500 SATA SSD (1TB) and an EVGA G3 80+ Gold 650W PSU which perfectly maxes out my available budget.

I am looking at these prebuilts because I only want to spend on decent hardware but theres budget constraints, and the processor i want, the Ryzen 3600 is $180 in my region and then you have the RAM and B450 mobo costs which bring the total to well beyond the $250 offered above for a working system with a decent processor.
You will need to be careful with any of these prebuilts. Your PSU upgrade may not fit or be compatible.
 

King_V

Illustrious
Ambassador
Form factors are important, as well.

A Mini-Tower form factor will probably be the easiest to deal with.

Desktop or Small Desktop types of form factors may limit you in terms of needing low-profile cards, or cards with limited cooler height, possibly limited length, etc.

EDIT: and some of the small form factor PCs have weird/proprietary PSU form factors, which make upgrading the PSU, should you need to, nearly impossible.
 
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My laptop has finally given out and I am in need of a desktop for gaming on the cheap. (been a laptop user mostly and have owned a couple prebuilts). And I'd prefer having to buy a used prebuilt over getting a new PC with low end parts given my tight budget of $650. So I was looking for a good deal and came across several business prebuilts from 2013-14.

Dell Optiplex 9010 (i5-3470)- $112
Dell Optiplex 9020 (i7-4790) - $250
Dell Optiplex 9010 (i7-3770+720p Monitor) -$250
HP ProDesk 600 G1 (i7-4790+Radeon HD 8490) -$250

All these listings come with an 8GB of DDR3 RAM. Is the i7 4790 worth double the price of the i5 3470? I intend to use this PC mainly for gaming.


I plan to get an RX 5500XT, a Crucial MX500 SATA SSD (1TB) and an EVGA G3 80+ Gold 650W PSU which perfectly maxes out my available budget.

I am looking at these prebuilts because I only want to spend on decent hardware but theres budget constraints, and the processor i want, the Ryzen 3600 is $180 in my region and then you have the RAM and B450 mobo costs which bring the total to well beyond the $250 offered above for a working system with a decent processor.
Depends if the PC's you've listed have a standard power layout (no proprietary 24 pins etc) and have a standardish PSU mount.

I wouldn't get an i5 now. 4 cores is quickly become undesirable.
 
And I'd prefer having to buy a used prebuilt over getting a new PC with low end parts given my tight budget of $650.
For that kind of budget, I'm not sure I would bother with this older used hardware. If you are replacing the PSU, storage and graphics card, it shouldn't cost too much more to get a new CPU, motherboard and RAM as well, though as was mentioned, supplies and pricing of components might be a bit iffy at the moment.

As another option, have you tried looking at any used gaming systems within your price range, that might not need any significant amount of upgrading to make them usable for gaming?
 

NightShade_7

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Nov 11, 2019
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What would a ryzen 3 3300x based setup cost you? Avoid any slim tower design, on an OEM.
A ryzen 3 3300x with the cheapest B450 board available (MSI B450M-A Max, cheaper than the ASRock HDV for some reason), 16GB of DDR4 RAM and an RX580 selling at $140 would fit into my $650 ambitions provided I skimp out on secondary storage, power supply, and the case. But thats just the system.

I somehow forgot the most important detail regarding my decision to go for those Dells. The monitor. I have a 1280x768 Samsung MagicEco monitor from the latter half of yester-decade and wanted to upgrade that as well(Apologies for not including such a major price hog) . And going for these prebuilts allows me to cram in an AOC 24G2 1080p 144Hz freesync monitor ive been eyeing for a while, and also get the gold PSU while their included hard drive keeps me up and running until i can afford the 1 TB SATA SSD which is $132 more than my budget allows (Crucial MX500)
 

NightShade_7

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Nov 11, 2019
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For that kind of budget, I'm not sure I would bother with this older used hardware. If you are replacing the PSU, storage and graphics card, it shouldn't cost too much more to get a new CPU, motherboard and RAM as well, though as was mentioned, supplies and pricing of components might be a bit iffy at the moment.

As another option, have you tried looking at any used gaming systems within your price range, that might not need any significant amount of upgrading to make them usable for gaming?
I had forgotten to include the main decision my budget revolves around. The AOC 24G2 monitor. It costs $185 and takes up a huge chunk of my budget. I could get myself a 1080p competent Ryzen3300X+RX580 8GB but ill need to go with a cheap PSU, case and an A320M motherboard.

I'd prefer getting a first hand to a used too but is the compromise worth it? Interestingly enough the question of worth applies to both the secondhand and the new options im able to dig up at the moment so some buying advice would be helpful.