Somebody stop me... (Gaming PC Build Thread)

[drew]

Luckily, out of the 10s of 1000s of dollars I've spend on shit in the last 15 years, I've only had two bricked parts out of the box. A power supply, and an H81 Asus motherboard.

I recycled my old desktop from home into a work desktop (because their laptops are absolute shit), and both of these were to build a new PC. I thought my Z97 was roached, but it came back to life. So the Asus wasn't necessary anyway.

Hell, I'm still using a 750W PC Power and Cooling power supply on my home machine, that I bought in 2005? I've used it on 7 builds since. I don't even know if they're still in business!

[Alan P]

Luckily, out of the 10s of 1000s of dollars I've spend on shit in the last 15 years, I've only had two bricked parts out of the box. A power supply, and an H81 Asus motherboard.

I recycled my old desktop from home into a work desktop (because their laptops are absolute shit), and both of these were to build a new PC. I thought my Z97 was roached, but it came back to life. So the Asus wasn't necessary anyway.

Hell, I'm still using a 750W PC Power and Cooling power supply on my home machine, that I bought in 2005? I've used it on 7 builds since. I don't even know if they're still in business!

Yeah this was the first item I’ve received damaged too. New one arriving tomorrow though!

[Yw-slayer]

PC Power and Cooling is old-school stuff, built to last. Props, man.

[21Kid]

https://www.theverge.com/good-deals/...-discount-sale

Lots on sale today

[George]

Gents, I could use some advice, please. My son is asking for a more powerful video card for Christmas.

I think buying a better card to replace an average card is silly when there's a justifiable "need" for another PC in the house...namely, that I can never get near the new Dell XPS8900 (I think that's the number) that I bought for "the family" a couple years ago.

And, for once, I'm not trying to go cheap. In fact, I'm willing to pay more (gasp!) to get a more powerful video card, as long as it's attached to a different computer. Now two can play instead of one, right? And maybe, for once, I can have something decent to use for myself, once in a while. My last old wreck running Linux finally died, or at least I'm not willing to put any more time in with the Disc Repair Tool on a bootable USB stick trying to repair stuff that I don't really understand.

So, in looking around for a general-purpose PC with a pretty decent video card, I stumbled upon these. There were six in stock when I checked on Thursday or Friday of last week. Now there are three. Is this a good deal, or should I keep looking and figure on spending more?

The only thing that gives me pause here is the processor, which I've never heard of. I bought a Dell Outlet PC a couple years ago and didn't even see anything that looked like this, yet the specs look okay to me, but all I know are specs. I don't have real-world experience in A vs. B.

https://www.microcenter.com/product/...-(refurbished)

Intel Xeon W3565 Processor 3.2GHz; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB GDDR5; Microsoft Windows 10 Pro; 16GB RAM.

It's $600.00, in stock, and sold by a reputable company that I have always been happy doing business with. Great deal, or a foolish waste of money that should go toward something newer/better and with a longer useful life ahead?

[drew]

I've got a GTX 1080 sitting in the closet. Just saying...

[Alan P]

Gents, I could use some advice, please. My son is asking for a more powerful video card for Christmas.

I think buying a better card to replace an average card is silly when there's a justifiable "need" for another PC in the house...namely, that I can never get near the new Dell XPS8900 (I think that's the number) that I bought for "the family" a couple years ago.

And, for once, I'm not trying to go cheap. In fact, I'm willing to pay more (gasp!) to get a more powerful video card, as long as it's attached to a different computer. Now two can play instead of one, right? And maybe, for once, I can have something decent to use for myself, once in a while. My last old wreck running Linux finally died, or at least I'm not willing to put any more time in with the Disc Repair Tool on a bootable USB stick trying to repair stuff that I don't really understand.

So, in looking around for a general-purpose PC with a pretty decent video card, I stumbled upon these. There were six in stock when I checked on Thursday or Friday of last week. Now there are three. Is this a good deal, or should I keep looking and figure on spending more?

The only thing that gives me pause here is the processor, which I've never heard of. I bought a Dell Outlet PC a couple years ago and didn't even see anything that looked like this, yet the specs look okay to me, but all I know are specs. I don't have real-world experience in A vs. B.

https://www.microcenter.com/product/...-(refurbished)

Intel Xeon W3565 Processor 3.2GHz; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB GDDR5; Microsoft Windows 10 Pro; 16GB RAM.

It's $600.00, in stock, and sold by a reputable company that I have always been happy doing business with. Great deal, or a foolish waste of money that should go toward something newer/better and with a longer useful life ahead?

The only problem with Dell's is they're not designed to be upgraded so changing the graphics card will likely entail changing the PSU. And then you'll need to check an upgrade will fit into the case as Dell cases tend to be designed to be just the right size for the components.

You'd likely get a way better experience from something like this then convince Drew to sell you the 1080 at a good price as he has PC parts coming out of his ears. Windows can be had for <$20 legitimately and a mouse and keyboard don't need to be anything special. $25!

[Blerpa]

It is a 2009 server CPU with a low end Nvidia graphic card, odd combo. Also it has no USB 3.0 and the 16GB of ram are probably old DD3.
I think 600$ is double what it is worth. I'd say go check Newegg or some other retail store.
I'd get an i5 7 series and a 1060 6GB at least (or a cheap RX 570 8GB) with a mobo capable of USB 3.0 and DDR4. Otherwise change the CPU with a cheap Ryzen 2400g or higher by AMD, for example.

EDIT: What Alan linked is perfect. Not familiar with the PSU and the case could be better, but quite decent built, I think.

[Blerpa]

I've got a GTX 1080 sitting in the closet. Just saying...

Fuck, if it wouldn't cost me a shitload in postage I'd buy that off you (no idea what it's going to cost, I'm just guessing).

[George]

Thanks, everyone! I really appreciate you guys taking the time to reply. More from me later...