[SOLVED] Need opinion on build

[tcprix]

Hello my gf's trying to find a PC for her friend. She asked me if this was ok: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07H9FXQ3H/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_2N2E5B1XE77DAH2WZW2W

She first suggested this but a dual core I said should get at least 4 cores nowadays.

All she said she's doing is playing the game 'Sims' and checking email and probably surfing the web with it.

Is this PC a piece of garbage (sounds too good to be true for price) or is it suffice for the job?

Any suggestions is welcomed thanks!
PS should probably add she doesn't have a lot of money

 

[tennis2]

As far as it being a "steal" at 400CAD.....no, it's not.

https://www.amazon.ca/Dell-Optiplex-7020-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B07JHV6MHX
i7-4770 and a SSD.

A 4c/8t i7 will definitely have more legs in today's games compared to 4c/4t i5

One limitation of these SFF OEM machines is that you'll be limited to "low-profile" GPUs. If her interests are purely the Sims for the foreseeable future, a GDDR5-based GT1030 (common installment in these systems) would likely suffice. Check the location of the PCIe x16 slot also. Most SFF machines will have 2 expansion slots in the back, but if the x16 slot is in the lower position, you'll need a single-slot low-profile GPU.

Aside from that, SFF OEM machines commonly use TFX PSUs, or custom jobbers, which the max you can get is around 300W. Not a big deal since low-profile GPUs are almost always capped at 75W TDP

Some SFF OEM machines cannot supply the "standard" 75W from the PCIe x16 slot to drive a GTX1650/GTX1050Ti. They are limited to 30W (again, fitting a GT1030) Always good to dig for that.

 

[tcprix]

As far as it being a "steal" at 400CAD.....no, it's not.

https://www.amazon.ca/Dell-Optiplex-7020-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B07JHV6MHX
i7-4770 and a SSD.

A 4c/8t i7 will definitely have more legs in today's games compared to 4c/4t i5

One limitation of these SFF OEM machines is that you'll be limited to "low-profile" GPUs. If her interests are purely the Sims for the foreseeable future, a GDDR5-based GT1030 (common installment in these systems) would likely suffice.

Aside from that, SFF OEM machines commonly use TFX PSUs, or custom jobbers, which the max you can get is around 300W. Not a big deal since low-profile GPUs are almost always capped at 75W TDP

Some SFF OEM machines cannot supply the "standard" 75W from the PCIe x16 slot to drive a GTX1650/GTX1050Ti. They are limited to 30W (again, fitting a GT1030) Always good to dig for that.

Thanks for reply. I don't think she'll be updating it with any gpu. I'm trying to even see what GPU is being used on this machine which I don't even see, is it just iGPU? I see the Intel® HD Graphics 4000. Hard to know if this is good enough for Sims 4 to run it.

Sims 4 says this:

• Graphics: 128 MB of Video RAM and support for Pixel Shader 3.0. Supported Video Cards: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or better, ATI Radeon X1300 or better, Intel GMA X4500 or better

Does it even support this Pixel Shader 3.0?

 

[Remeca]

There's people on YT playing sims 4 decently it looks like on an HD 4000. I really like my Optiplex, I would just avoid the sff to make upgrading down the line easier if Sims 5 is more demanding.

 

[Bazzy 505]

Hello my gf's trying to find a PC for her friend. She asked me if this was ok: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07H9FXQ3H/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_2N2E5B1XE77DAH2WZW2W

She first suggested this but a dual core I said should get at least 4 cores nowadays.

All she said she's doing is playing the game 'Sims' and checking email and probably surfing the web with it.

Is this PC a piece of garbage (sounds too good to be true for price) or is it suffice for the job?

Any suggestions is welcomed thanks!
PS should probably add she doesn't have a lot of money

it's actually a terrible deal considering what hardware it is. Another thing to keep in mind is that these refurbs are a typical office pc's that have been running 8 hours a day, 6 days a week in some office prior to being "refurbished'. Even the refurbished is kinda a misnomer, all those refurb sellers do is give a whiff of compressed air, swap HDD or restore os from a batch installation (depending on whether it had sensitive info stored on it).

For that kind of money and for that particular purpose, you would be better served by something like
https://www.amazon.ca/Intel-BOXNUC8...words=nuc&qid=1627383245&s=electronics&sr=1-3

 

[Remeca]

it's actually a terrible deal considering what hardware it is. Another thing to keep in mind is that these refurbs are a typical office pc's that have been running 8 hours a day, 6 days a week in some office prior to being "refurbished'. Even the refurbished is kinda a misnomer, all those refurb sellers do is give a whiff of compressed air, swap HDD or restore os from a batch installation (depending on whether it had sensitive info stored on it).

For that kind of money and for that particular purpose, you would be better served by something like
https://www.amazon.ca/Intel-BOXNUC8...words=nuc&qid=1627383245&s=electronics&sr=1-3

No it isn't. That is a terrible idea.

You also told someone that a GTX 960 "missing VRAM" was a 'harvesting card' worth $10-15 even though every GTX 960 looks that way. Excuse my skepticism.

 

[tennis2]

I'm trying to even see what GPU is being used on this machine which I don't even see, is it just iGPU? I see the Intel® HD Graphics 4000

Correct, these OEM refurbs almost never come with a dGPU.

 

[Bazzy 505]

No it isn't. That is a terrible idea.

You also told someone that a GTX 960 "missing VRAM" was a 'harvesting card' worth $10-15 even though every GTX 960 looks that way. Excuse my skepticism.

yes i did, and while not all 960 GTX have all memory populated, none of them come with smeared solder tips where BGA chips are soldered. When it's not supposed to populated, there's no smeared solder, it's either evenly covered with melted balls or no solder at all , and second GDDR ram chip on that board wasn't even lined up correctly. Please take time look at images OP has included in th first post in that thread.