Looking for a computer that I can upgrade.

Son David

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Jun 6, 2014
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Based on the specs, can I use this computer for gaming and school? What you guys think? What if I upgrade the graphics card and ram? What graphics card I need?

HP DC5800
 
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Hey,
for under $300 you won't be gaming. Period. Solitaire and hearts maybe :p .

I also would not try the "buy a cheap desktop and upgrade it" it is almost NEVER worth it. I've investigated it a lot in my earlier years and you are much better off just building a new computer vs trying to buy a very bad prebuilt and upgrade it.

If you were considering buying a $230 computer and then adding on $120-150 for the new GPU/RAM, you are getting close to an acceptable budge to build a new PC. For a prebuilt to come into the low/medium level for gaming you'd need a $600-700 budget, for a custom build $450-500.

What is your budget for a desktop?

Son David

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I have a laptop already but the screen is torn off and I can not factory reset (Win 8.1 sucks). Plus, the school is giving me a free laptop but its not mine until the fourth quarter. I don't even know the specs for that one. I also noticed that it doesn't have a disc drive. I just need a desktop at home that can run all of my software. Right now, I have my laptop plug to my TV with a VGA adapter and its running slow. Intel Celeron 1.10 Ghz
 

Norman Abuata

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Well, that desktop you have i use at school and believe me, it sucks. It'll do what you want to do but don't even imagine gaming on that kind of desktop, school work sure, gaming, in your dreams. As for your broken laptop if you knew what kind of screen it had you could buy it and replace that part ( I ran over my laptop with a truck and only broke the screen somehow, got a replacement)
 

jaraldo

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Hey,
for under $300 you won't be gaming. Period. Solitaire and hearts maybe :p .

I also would not try the "buy a cheap desktop and upgrade it" it is almost NEVER worth it. I've investigated it a lot in my earlier years and you are much better off just building a new computer vs trying to buy a very bad prebuilt and upgrade it.

If you were considering buying a $230 computer and then adding on $120-150 for the new GPU/RAM, you are getting close to an acceptable budge to build a new PC. For a prebuilt to come into the low/medium level for gaming you'd need a $600-700 budget, for a custom build $450-500.

What is your budget for a desktop?
 
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Son David

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I totally agree! If I do decided to buy this PC, most of the software on there will not be what I wanted. I just wanted some advice before I make my decision. It will be my first time doing this but I gotta learn anyway. Thanks for your help, guys! I will build my own computer. That's my decision since electrical engineering is my major!
 

jaraldo

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Always nice to hear when people will try new things and get their hands dirty :) (so to speak)

I used this site for learning the basics of building and then got most of my info from TomsHardware.
http://www.build-gaming-computers.com/

Just a heads up, if you don't have more than $400-500 right now, you will be wanting an AMD build. (CPU)
In general AMD are for under $600 and as you start to get to $800+ intel becomes a better option. Just what I tend to see being recommended.

Good luck! Feel free to ask any questions :)
 

jaraldo

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That is probably the cheapest build possible. Remember, if you don't have an operating system it's going to be more like $400. One thing I'd do is buy the 1TB version Hard drive for $10 more. If you are really on a tight budget and can't do anymore, then it would have to do. Just know this computer is not upgradable and won't ever be able to play anything on more than low settings. Depends what you play, but that's just in general.

2 questions:
What is your budget?
What games do you want to play?
You'd be surprised at how much better a $500 pc is compared to a $400 one. If you want to try building on your own without guidance though I totally respect that :)
 

Son David

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My budget is within 300-400. If I need something, I'm going to get it. That's my motto but I can be cheap at times. I want to play games on steam and I'm doing some programming and making video games.

You mention that a computer is not upgradable! Do you mean DIY computers in general?
 

jaraldo

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no no no! :lol:

I mean your computer is not upgradeable. Computers can start to be upgradable around the $550 mark.

There was some guy who wanted a $300 computer a week ago. But he was trying to be picky...as you know, when you have limited resources (funds), beggars can't be choosers :p

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2156976/300-dollar.html
It may give you some good insight into what your computer is capable of and what $100 more will get you.
 

jaraldo

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Hey, thought I'd just share these with you since someone was asking for help on a build and we came up with these 2.


1st Build

This one will be better than the EliteGaming sites one. You get a 1TB hard drive instead of 500gb. The graphics card is much better than that one also. This computer you can also upgrade the processor later to a $200 one if you wanted, while the other one you can't.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($54.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R7 260X 1GB Video Card ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS/I Snow Edition (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $418.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-07 03:34 EDT-0400)

2nd Build

This one can probably do some recent intensive games at medium settings. At high settings, it may bottleneck the CPU. Either way, you will have a very nice graphics card for a "budget build".
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

This build is also just as upgradeable and has the "perfect" amount of ram in it. Games don't use more than 8gb efficiently right now.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($54.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Micro Center)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS/I Snow Edition (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $496.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-07 03:58 EDT-0400)

Anyways, just some ideas for you :)
 

Son David

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Jun 6, 2014
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Java:
Can I change any case for either builds?
I see this case that I like:
NZXT Guardian 921 RB ATX Mid Tower Case, Black 921RB-001-BL
Also, can I use the recovery disc from my windows 8 laptop for this build as well?
 

jaraldo

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Yeah, as long as the cases are a mid atx they should work

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($54.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Micro Center)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 265 2GB Video Card ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Guardian 921 RB ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $523.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-08 14:12 EDT-0400)

I edited the Graphics card also by the way. The r7 265 is quite a bit more powerful than the 750ti.

Just for your knowledge incase you know anyone, the 750/750ti is recommended for upgrading old computers because they can run off very low watt power supplies. (like 300 watt ones)