Low end PC to upgrade

[john925]

I wouldn't do that. Core 2 Duo is pretty slow and the platform is ancient. Better to just get something modern, pay a little bit more now, but get a more reliable, less problematic, and frankly better system.

How about something like this? Its a Core 2 Quad. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precis...hash=item1c4b84648e:m:mCEGWKWC7HVtVv2YXyqcllQ

 

[john925]

Sadly, no.

Even the top end 775 chips today are starting to get a bit slow for anything but casual use. Plus, power supplies don't last forever, nor do motherboards or hard drives, so you'd probably be looking at needing to replace almost everything before long.

If I were on a really tight budget, I'd grab a used workstation or small business server with a Haswell i3, or perhaps build from scratch with a Celeron or Pentium.

So Celerons and Pentiums are older than the Core 2 Duos but they're still better? I remember having an old Celeron powered eMachines and a Pentium 3 Dell back in the 90s. So i need to find something with an 1150 socket?

 

[Arachnotronic]

So Celerons and Pentiums are older than the Core 2 Duos but they're still better? I remember having an old Celeron powered eMachines and a Pentium 3 Dell back in the 90s. So i need to find something with an 1150 socket?

The Celeron/Pentium that I recommended are much newer, with newer platforms, faster CPU cores, etc.

 

[Yuriman]

So Celerons and Pentiums are older than the Core 2 Duos but they're still better? I remember having an old Celeron powered eMachines and a Pentium 3 Dell back in the 90s. So i need to find something with an 1150 socket?

Those Celerons and Pentiums are not the same as the ones for sale today - it's just a brand name that Intel is still using. The Pentium G3258, for instance, is about 1 year old and is for socket 1150. It has the same cores as an i7, just with a few features disabled and there are only 2 of them.

EDIT: A few years back I replaced the overclocked Core2Quad in my wife's PC with a Haswell i3. The i3, despite being only a dual core, was faster in programs that could use all 4 of the C2Q's cores and was in an entirely different league in programs / games that weren't as well threaded. It did this while drawing a fraction of the electricity and producing a fraction of the heat.

You could get by with a C2Q, but there's a reason they're so cheap - no upgrade path, noisy, hot, use a lot of electricity, and are at best as fast as the low end CPUs available on current sockets.

 

[john925]

The Celeron/Pentium that I recommended are much newer, with newer platforms, faster CPU cores, etc.

Oh ok i get it. Hell i didn't think they made those anymore. I'm looking at a g1820 right now for $40. I mean some video lag isn't going to kill me. I've been playing on my laptop that has an i7 2.4GHz with an AMD 6770M and it can run most games. It's more of the current gen games i've been having issues with. Most PS3/X360 games i can run pretty smoothly. Most. I just want something that can handle this next wave fairly smoothly.

 

[cbaclawski]

first post here, but been putting together computers since 386sx-25...

I've had some success buying cowboom auctions, take a look at this one. I'd bet it ends up selling ~$200, and there is usually something similar up there...
I5-4440 8gb ram, windows 8 installed.

http://www.cowboom.com/auction/1692462/

Sure the motherboard and PSU are pretty low end, but do the free upgrade to Win 10, spend ~100 on a 750ti and you'll have a pretty decent system for +/- $300.

Spend a few bucks more to upgrade the PSU and you can add a more powerful gpu...

No reason you couldn't install an SSD to when budget allows...

 

[john925]

Those Celerons and Pentiums are not the same as the ones for sale today - it's just a brand name that Intel is still using. The Pentium G3258, for instance, is about 1 year old and is for socket 1150. It has the same cores as an i7, just with a few features disabled and there are only 2 of them.

EDIT: A few years back I replaced the overclocked Core2Quad in my wife's PC with a Haswell i3. The i3, despite being only a dual core, was faster in programs that could use all 4 of the C2Q's cores and was in an entirely different league in programs / games that weren't as well threaded. It did this while drawing a fraction of the electricity and producing a fraction of the heat.

You could get by with a C2Q, but there's a reason they're so cheap - no upgrade path, noisy, hot, use a lot of electricity, and are at best as fast as the low end CPUs available on current sockets.

So i'd be better off with an i3 or some type of Celeron/Pentium? Like i said, the 1150 socket?

 

[john925]

first post here, but been putting together computers since 386sx-25...

I've had some success buying cowboom auctions, take a look at this one. I'd bet it ends up selling ~$200, and there is usually something similar up there...
I5-4440 8gb ram, windows 8 installed.

http://www.cowboom.com/auction/1692462/

Sure the motherboard and PSU are pretty low end, but do the free upgrade to Win 10, spend ~100 on a 750ti and you'll have a pretty decent system for +/- $300.

Spend a few bucks more to upgrade the PSU and you can add a more powerful gpu...

No reason you couldn't install an SSD to when budget allows...

Yeah an i5 with 8gb would be a pretty good deal for $150-$200. I'm thinking i could just upgrade an older pc for less.

 

[Arachnotronic]

Oh ok i get it. Hell i didn't think they made those anymore. I'm looking at a g1820 right now for $40. I mean some video lag isn't going to kill me. I've been playing on my laptop that has an i7 2.4GHz with an AMD 6770M and it can run most games. It's more of the current gen games i've been having issues with. Most PS3/X360 games i can run pretty smoothly. Most. I just want something that can handle this next wave fairly smoothly.

G1820 is a solid processor.

 

[john925]

G1820 is a solid processor.

That's what i was thinking. You showed me one earlier. I'm just thinking instead of building everything which would cost no less than $300, i could buy something older but still compatible. Worst case scenario, i wind up having to gut it anyway and replace most of the components.

 

[escrow4]

G1820 is a solid processor.

It isn't. It drops frames on 1080/60p Youtube videos and heavy javascript pages stutter. Desktop usage is sluggish. I had a G1840 and they are rubbish. For basic desktop use anything lower than an i3 is a poor compromise.

 

[Yuriman]

An i3 is the lowest-end processor that won't really feel slow doing anything. Pentiums and Celerons are great chips for 90% of what you might do, but you'll feel the lack of hyperthreading (the biggest difference between a Pentium and an i3) in that last 10%.

Of course, it's hard to budget out a $350 PC when you're spending $120 of it on the CPU.

 

[frozentundra123456]

For the absolutely lowest price I would look for an Athlon X4 860k and a dgpu in the range of the GTX 750/750Ti. An i3 would be a good choice as well, but somewhat more expensive. I would not go with a non-hyperthreaded dual core like a pentium or a celeron, but an i3 performs very well, and in quite a few games even beats an 8 core AMD processor. Even with an OS, 350.00 is still pretty tight. The cheapest athlon X4 and GT750 will run you about 180.00, leaving 170.00 for motherboard, case, ram, and psu.

 

[john925]

For the absolutely lowest price I would look for an Athlon X4 860k and a dgpu in the range of the GTX 750/750Ti. An i3 would be a good choice as well, but somewhat more expensive. I would not go with a non-hyperthreaded dual core like a pentium or a celeron, but an i3 performs very well, and in quite a few games even beats an 8 core AMD processor. Even with an OS, 350.00 is still pretty tight. The cheapest athlon X4 and GT750 will run you about 180.00, leaving 170.00 for motherboard, case, ram, and psu.

I've seen both the AMD Athlon X4 860K and an AMD Radeon R7 240 4gb for under $100. I'm not saying the R7 is the best out there, but it's decent enough to run modern game fairly well. I want to be able to run new games like The Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 when it comes out. I've seen the requirements for Fallout 4 and they're pretty high even for minimum requirements. I think it may change once it releases, but the minimum now is an i5 or a Phenom II X4 (which is available for half the price of an i5) with 8gb of RAM.

 

[frozentundra123456]

I have a HD7770. It is quite a bit stronger than an R7 240 and the HD7770 struggled mightily with DA:I and even more so with W3. That is why I would recommend something at least as powerful as a GT750/750Ti or R7 260x as an absolute minimum to play the most demanding current games. I suppose you could go lower if you were willing to go to 720p resolution, but I really consider 1080 the minimum resolution for PC gaming these days.

Edit: Honestly these super low budget builds really bother me. A decent gaming PC should last several years, and it seems false economy to skimp to save a couple hundred dollars or less and end up with a system that one is not satisfied with and immediately feel the need to upgrade. Seems to me, even with an OS, the 500.00 range is much more realistic for a decent system that will last at least a couple of years and give a good user experience. Otherwise, unless there are certain games one wants to play that are only on PC, a console seems a more logical choice, and would most likely play current AAA games more satisfactorily than a super budget PC.

 

[john925]

I have a HD7770. It is quite a bit stronger than an R7 240 and the HD7770 struggled mightily with DA:I and even more so with W3. That is why I would recommend something at least as powerful as a GT750/750Ti or R7 260x as an absolute minimum to play the most demanding current games. I suppose you could go lower if you were willing to go to 720p resolution, but I really consider 1080 the minimum resolution for PC gaming these days.

Yeah bottom dollar for either of those are still around 100 bucks. So you think an i3 or equivalent is still doable for these modern day games?

For the absolutely lowest price I would look for an Athlon X4 860k and a dgpu in the range of the GTX 750/750Ti. An i3 would be a good choice as well, but somewhat more expensive. I would not go with a non-hyperthreaded dual core like a pentium or a celeron, but an i3 performs very well, and in quite a few games even beats an 8 core AMD processor. Even with an OS, 350.00 is still pretty tight. The cheapest athlon X4 and GT750 will run you about 180.00, leaving 170.00 for motherboard, case, ram, and psu.

 

[john925]

I'm still seriously considering getting some cheap desktop and just swapping out parts. Worst case scenario is I have to swap out the whole MoBo, which actually may be a better idea in the long run

 

[frozentundra123456]

Yes, in this price range I think an i3 or even the Athlon X4 860k would be adequate. You will most likely be gpu limited anyway. I would not get a Pentium or Celeron however, unless you are particularly interested in playing mainly older less highly threaded games.

 

[john925]

Yes, in this price range I think an i3 or even the Athlon X4 860k would be adequate. You will most likely be gpu limited anyway. I would not get a Pentium or Celeron however, unless you are particularly interested in playing mainly older less highly threaded games.

Yeah I'm trying to get something that can still keep up with today's games.

 

[iSkylaker]

It isn't. It drops frames on 1080/60p Youtube videos and heavy javascript pages stutter. Desktop usage is sluggish. I had a G1840 and they are rubbish. For basic desktop use anything lower than an i3 is a poor compromise.

I don't know, I have been using an AMD Athlon 5150 for a while now, which is WAY slower than the Celeron G1840 and I haven't noticed none of these issues you talk about. Granted, it uses a faster iGPU. For basic use, mostly youtube and internet browsing, this thing is been doing great. Someone in the first page suggested a GTX 750ti which shouldn't be a problem when playing 60fps/1080p youtube.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post it but there is subreddit where people sells PC components, I've seen people selling the Pentium G3258 around $50, that CPU is really great for what it cost and handle most if not all recent games decently well.

 

[john925]

I don't know, I have been using an AMD Athlon 5150 for a while now, which is WAY slower than the Celeron G1840 and I haven't noticed none of these issues you talk about. Granted, it uses a faster iGPU. For basic use, mostly youtube and internet browsing, this thing is been doing great. Someone in the first page suggested a GTX 750ti which shouldn't be a problem when playing 60fps/1080p youtube.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post it but there is subreddit where people sells PC components, I've seen people selling the Pentium G3258 around $50, that CPU is really great for what it cost and handle most if not all recent games decently well.

Well this will save a ton of money that's for sure. Now I just gotta get the right parts

 

[john925]

I don't know, I have been using an AMD Athlon 5150 for a while now, which is WAY slower than the Celeron G1840 and I haven't noticed none of these issues you talk about. Granted, it uses a faster iGPU. For basic use, mostly youtube and internet browsing, this thing is been doing great. Someone in the first page suggested a GTX 750ti which shouldn't be a problem when playing 60fps/1080p youtube.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post it but there is subreddit where people sells PC components, I've seen people selling the Pentium G3258 around $50, that CPU is really great for what it cost and handle most if not all recent games decently well.

What about a G3220? I found one for like 18 dollars which makes me a little worried

 

[tenpole]

Get a G3258 with a H81 mobo. Worry about the graphics when you can afford it. For most applications it is just as good as wife's haswell i5.

 

[john925]

Actually I just ordered both of those today. Got the g3258 for 50 bucks and the H81 MoBo for 35

 

[tenpole]

I hope you read the thread somewhere on here about which boards clock the G3258. Some are not so good. Some of the pentiums also dont always clock upto 4.0ghz. Hopefully you have the Costa Rica? one and not Maylasian.