Newbie Building A Gaming PC for 13 y/o daughter

[cc_uncensored]

I’m pulling my hair out over what decisions to make as I try to save money modifying my daughter’s existing PC. I am on a super tight budget.
She has an Acer Aspire X1930 that I have already modified a bit b/c it crashed last year.

Current Specs:
Motherboard: Intel H61 Express Chipset
Processor: Pentium G620
500 GB HD
RAM: 4 GB
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GT 710

She mostly plays Overwatch. Not really sure about other games. I’m considering keeping the motherboard and video card but changing the processor to a Core i7 2600 and upgrading to 8 GB of RAM. Any opinions on if this will significantly improve her gaming experience? Or will I be shelling out money to buy these same parts all over again next year?

Ideally, I'd want to stay under $400. No monitor or other peripherals needed.

Thanks in advance!

 

[okcnaline]

You can't really add anything to the old computer because proprietary PSU. Also, GPU is just about as good as the HD 3000 your CPU includes. Keep the hard drive and get this instead:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - A320M-DGS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX - Radeon RX 460 4GB Video Card ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill - SRM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $419.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-08 16:28 EDT-0400

 

[scout_03]

first the g620 is a 65 watts cpu so check if your board could handle the i7 2600 it is a 95 watts cpu .

 

[velocityg4]

This will have good gaming performance. You can even do a modest overclock with this motherboard. I would as it isn't difficult. As long as voltages and temps are in the safe zone. The CPU will last longer than its useful life.

It's over budget. With a low budget setup. There is a big difference between a $400 and $450 computer.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI - B350M GAMING PRO Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot - Viper Elite 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($45.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Phoenix Video Card ($154.98 @ Newegg)
Case: DIYPC - MA01-R MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($28.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $444.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-08 16:37 EDT-0400

If you must stay under $400. This build is decent. But there is a substantial decrease in CPU performance and moderate decrease in GPU performance. So, you'll have to replace it sooner.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($78.89 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-B250M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot - Viper Elite 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($45.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire - Radeon RX 560 4GB PULSE Video Card ($133.98 @ Newegg)
Case: DIYPC - MA01-R MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($28.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $387.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-08 16:41 EDT-0400

 

[Anarkie13]

At $400 I would recommend going second hand on Craigslist. Also on the builds above, don't forget to add cost of Windows.

I've seen a few cheap computers that have good starting hardware that a GTX 1050Ti added in would top off pretty well.

 

[WildCard999]

I'd buy a used 2600 then go with these parts while reusing your case, MB & storage.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: Patriot - Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB OC Low Profile Video Card ($158.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Silverstone - Strider Gold 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($87.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $301.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-08 17:19 EDT-0400

@scout_03, Fixed, although the OP may want to measure out the space for the PSU.

 

[scout_03]

he need something for a low profile case http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1655492.pdf case here .

 

[why_wolf]

At that price range I'd suggest looking on Newegg for refurbs. This one looks nice and is a substantial upgrade over your current one. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAAYZ66F2213

 

[coozie7]

Reuse the HDD and graphics card, you can upgrade later to your wallets content:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($78.89 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-B250M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($50.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($66.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 2GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($113.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake - Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.75 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Rosewill - Capstone 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $475.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-08 17:34 EDT-0400

Yes, I know it's over the $400 budget so don't start selling body parts for it, 😉 but it DOES have considerable expansion potential, comes with a full Windows license and no potential compatibility issues.

 

[James Mason]

one of those prebuilt HPs/Dells with an i5 and a low profile GPU (and ram upgrade to 8gbs)

Buy one of these: https://www.amazon.com/HP-Quad-Core-Windows-10-Refurbished/dp/B01CV9G1BO
And put this in it: https://www.amazon.com/MSI-GTX-1050-TI-4GT/dp/B01N2W8MJ9
Total Cost $339.98
Huge solid upgrade over what she has currently.

Should be able to "run" any modern game, even the witcher 3.

 

[cc_uncensored]

Thanks for all of the suggestions!

 

[coozie7]

Yep, lots of ideas ( that's why you came here, right? 😉 ).

Amazon sell refurbished systems, they're usually fully functional and come pretty well ready to go, Dell sell refurbished systems directly through their own dedicated Dell Outlet as do HP and AFAIK both offer a fairly basic 1 year warranty.

Buying a refurbished prebuilt will almost certainly get you a higher overall spec than building a new system from scratch, will come as a ready to go system and will have at least some limited warranty and support, although making any hardware changes will, almost certainly invalidate the warranty.
Most prebuilts are inherently limited in expansion potential, sometimes due to their slim cases and low output power supplies some due to a deliberately limited set of motherboard features and some for all the above.
If you choose this option I'll strongly advise you leave the compact and slimline types alone, they just don't give the system much chance to grow or adapt to changing circumstances/uses.

Building a all new system yourself gives you more room to grow, upgrade and adapt it as time goes on because you'll be using industry standard parts throughout.
Also, don't forget that industry standard parts use widely available drivers and software, making updates fairly simple and, more importantly, possible while prebuilt systems all too often use locked drivers and a locked OS, at least with 'your' Windows license you can tie it to a Microsoft account and use it in pretty well any system you like, as long as it's only on one system you'll be fine with even the OEM ( builder ) versions.
All the parts will also carry full warranties, which are likely to be far longer, and less restrictive, than those offered for refurbished systems.

Finally, check your prices and specs carefully, a new Windows license can add <>$100 to the price if it's not included as can a graphics card ( like the GTX1050 ), adding <>$200 to the price between them.