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OS Neutral Is this too good to be true?

skippymac

skippymac

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 9, 2010
592
3
Hampshire, UK
I'm a complete noob when it comes to PC gaming. I've got an xbox 360 and I am considering for the first time getting a gaming PC instead of the next ten consoles.

I was just toying with the idea and looking around and I found this PC on ebay. I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for but a quick google search of some of the components makes me think that this looks like an incredible deal!

My question is this: Is this PC an amazing deal, or is it just not that good? If it is a great deal is it potentially a rip off?

PS I have access to any version of windows since XP through university, and I have a monitor/speakers/keyboard/mouse so I wouldn't need to buy much else.

Bonus question, would this be feasible/easy to upgrade in the future if I wanted to?
 
Since I got the Mac, I stopped following the flood of PC components completely and I used to be such a geek.:D

But yeah, this looks like a solid deal.

The price is lower probably because it doesn't come with a pre-installed OS and there is only 1 year warranty.
 
It's using an AMD CPU, which isn't bad, though not as fast as an i5 equivalent from Intel. I'd say it's decently good for the price.

I'll tell you what I suggest. With the Steam Machines coming out fairly soon, I'd recommending waiting a few months and see what comes up there. They'll use standard PC parts, but since they're mass produced, they'll be a bit cheaper than their off the shelf equivalents.
 
That thing is features a AMD "APU" simply put, its a AMDs integrated graohics solution. It's utter crap.

When building a gaming pc, don't cheap out. You'll just end up having to buy a new one in a year or so. If you're looking at spending the same amount on a PC as a console, get the console.

Tips:

Nothing wrong with AMD, their CPUs have a bad rep, but they will work. Intel is better, but more expensive. Gaming rely mostly on the graphis card these days. Put most of your money into a proper graphics card.

8-16gb of memory, more is always better.

Stay away from integrated graphics cards, like the one you found on ebay just now.

If you have no clue on what you're doing, get it built by someone who do know ;).
 
bkar89 said:
That thing is features a AMD "APU" simply put, its a AMDs integrated graohics solution. It's utter crap.
Click to expand...

You're not wrong about integrated cards, but that system is being advertised with an HD8570. The APU might just be there as standard with the CPU (okay, yeah...I need to read a little more into what the guy's selling).

Though it's not the end of the world even with an integrated only GPU. Provided it has the appropriate PCI-e slot, he could use that machine as a base, and grab his own graphics card later.
 
Renzatic said:
It's using an AMD CPU, which isn't bad, though not as fast as an i5 equivalent from Intel. I'd say it's decently good for the price.

I'll tell you what I suggest. With the Steam Machines coming out fairly soon, I'd recommending waiting a few months and see what comes up there. They'll use standard PC parts, but since they're mass produced, they'll be a bit cheaper than their off the shelf equivalents.
Click to expand...

iBuyPower's proposed $499 steam machine (with an AMD Radeon R9 270 graphics card) sounds interesting. Said to be available "sometime" in 2014...
 
That doesn't sound like a very good computer, even for the low price.
They've used super cheap components. Without bulk discount:
motherboard = £30
CPU = £75
case = £30

I don't know what kind of power supply or RAM they used, but it's unlikely to be the best. Say £60 for the RAM and £10 for a bargain basement power supply. DVD drives cost about £15. Everything else listed as a feature is stuff that comes as part of the motherboard or case, so it's 'worth' £220, max.

You couldn't game on it, though. The built-in graphics are rubbish, so you'd have to buy a graphics card straight away. As for expandability, it's a really basic micro-ATX board which doesn't support things like fast SSDs (they'll only work at half speed). Those boards are meant to be fitted to tiny home theatre PCs, not giant gaming rigs.
 
localoid said:
iBuyPower's proposed $499 steam machine (with an AMD Radeon R9 270 graphics card) sounds interesting. Said to be available "sometime" in 2014...
Click to expand...

Yup. That computer is the sole reason why I even brought Steam Machines up here in the first place. It's looks like it'd be a solid performer in a really small package, and pretty inexpensive for what you're getting.

The only problem is that Steam Machines are still at least 3-4 months away. So if he wants something now, it won't be doing him any good.
 
we're all creatures of habits. I've never bought anything that didn't have Intel and Nvidia in it. It's strange, but I just feel uneasy thinking about AMD and their drivers...
 
BRLawyer said:
The price is low because it's a Winblows PC - who buys them nowadays anyway?
Click to expand...

How about anyone who wants a games machine that comfortably outperforms, say, an iMac 27" Core i7 3.4GHz, 16GB RAM, 2GB GPU, for about 70% of the price?
 
8570D is a low end card. Quick search shows that GPU with CPU for £73.98 from AMD, so you can probably find it cheaper elsewhere.

Operation system not included. I don't keep track of PC motherboards but only SATA 2 means it's an old or low-end board.

garnerx said:
How about anyone who wants a games machine that comfortably outperforms, say, an iMac 27" Core i7 3.4GHz, 16GB RAM, 2GB GPU, for about 70% of the price?
Click to expand...

Well price is not everything. Trade off: much larger, much more power consumption. A 2560 pixel IPS display is also expensive.
 
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