$620 build. Suggestions, Comments, /facepalms?

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kindasmart

[H]ard|Gawd
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ANOTHER EDIT: I asked another question post #10.

EDIT: I pulled the trigger and ordered. Thx for the suggestions.
Edit: I want to keep this as cheap as possible, but decent parts.
Edit2: I can reuse optical drive.

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/noviceAZbuilder/saved/P6wMVn
Newegg base price < $15 over pcpp base price, so no biggie.

I threw this together by using the Newegg specials page and working with the pcpartpicker site. ZERO GAMING. Integrated graphics OK. I'm not stuck on any particular part. Can be Intel or AMD. Any decent CPU, case, PSU, cooler, ram, ssd, or mobo. I need a legit Win 10 Pro key.

The out-the-door (tax+shipping) price of my current Newegg cart is $622.05. This is with the current black Fri/Monday/Holiday sales.

My must-haves:

-Win 10 pro 64-bit key ... (buy anywhere SAFE for LEGIT key)
-16 GB ram
-SSD boot drive

Any advice, suggestions, comments very welcome. Thanks in advance.
 
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The Intel 670p SSD is a QLC NAND unit and won't perform as well as a TLC-based unit. I'd spend the extra ~$10 and get a Samsung 970 Evo Plus or SK Hynix Gold P31.

Any chance you can wait until the lower-end Alder Lake parts are introduced? They may cost a little more initially, but I'd expect a longer useful service life.
 
Edit: I swapped the Intel SSD for the Samsung 970 Evo Plus.
https://pcpartpicker.com/user/noviceAZbuilder/saved/P6wMVn

^^ thxs for the tips.

I should have had the machine done a week ago, so can't really wait. I't replacing a 9 year old Lenovo crapbox so no matter what it will be better. More than I wanted to spend but oh well.

Any other "spend $10-20 more for" xyz suggestions?
 
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If your 9 year old "lenovo crapbox" has a Windows 7 key on it, you can recycle it and use it on your new machine to install Windows 10. That way, you'll save $140 to go to something else, like a much better CPU. Just use the key on the Windows 7 sticker and it should work fine. While Microsoft officially ended the "free" Windows 10 upgrade several years ago, they never actually stopped. You can still use a Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 key to install Windows 10.

If you can do that, I'd recommend getting a better CPU. It's almost 2022, you can do better than a quad. Maybe an i5-11600k if you want to stay with your current motherboard, or a Ryzen 5600G if you want to try AMD.
 
GiGaBiTe said:
If your 9 year old "lenovo crapbox" has a Windows 7 key on it, you can recycle it and use it on your new machine to install Windows 10. That way, you'll save $140 to go to something else, like a much better CPU. Just use the key on the Windows 7 sticker and it should work fine. While Microsoft officially ended the "free" Windows 10 upgrade several years ago, they never actually stopped. You can still use a Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 key to install Windows 10.
Click to expand...

Any such key would be an OEM license tied to that particular system, which is not transferable to another.
 
Edit: the i3-10105 went on sale, $40 off, so it's now the same price as the i3-10100. It only a tiny bump from 3.6 to 3.7 GHz but there's no additional cost so build updated.

Yeah the ole crapbox came with Win 8 or 8.1 and upgraded to 10. It was an OEM key, not even a sticker on box. OEM bios key? So doubtful I can reuse it.
 
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BlueLineSwinger said:
Any such key would be an OEM license tied to that particular system, which is not transferable to another.
Click to expand...

Windows 7 was the last OS Microsoft had OEMs attach a physical key sticker to the machine, and you could reuse those if the original machine was scrapped for whatever reason.

kindasmart said:
Edit: the i3-10105 went on sale, $40 off, so it's now the same price as the i3-10100. It only a tiny bump from 3.6 to 3.7 GHz but there's no additional cost so build updated.

Yeah the ole crapbox came with Win 8 or 8.1 and upgraded to 10. It was an OEM key, not even a sticker on box. OEM bios key? So doubtful I can reuse it.
Click to expand...

Ah, yeah that won't work. I was thinking you might have had Windows 7 and a product key sticker on the machine. The OEM keys are usually an offshoot of VLK keys that are OEM only, if you try to use them on another machine besides the original hardware it was installed on, it usually won't work. If it does work, it usually won't activate.
 
Why not get a laptop? Lower end machines have gotten cheaper again now that kids are back in school instead of remote. $600 might get you more kit and will include a Win 10 license.
 
THANKS FOR ALL THE SUGGESTIONS. I pulled the trigger. Ordered machine after being wish-washy for around for 2+ weeks.
https://pcpartpicker.com/user/noviceAZbuilder/saved/P6wMVn

The i3-10105 processor went on sale for the same price as the 10100 so I got that plus a combo deal with the HSF for an additional $10 off.

^^^The machine will be used by my soon-to-be 90 yo pops so a tiny laptop screen is a no-go! I also will need to upgrade his 23" monitor to at least 27 or even a 32" 1080p screen.
 
Did I make a big mistake with my build or is it not a big concern?
Build: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/noviceAZbuilder/saved/P6wMVn
Mobo spec page: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B560M-DS3H-rev-10/sp#sp

Rocket Lake is 11th gen intel, but I bought a 10th gen i3-10105.

Capture1.JPG

Capture2.JPG

Capture3.JPG


Q1: My spec'd Samsung 970 evo plus is 2280 so it should fit and work in the second M.2 slot?
Q2: Any real speed difference between those two M.2 slots?
 
kindasmart said:
Did I make a big mistake with my build or is it not a big concern?
Build: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/noviceAZbuilder/saved/P6wMVn
Mobo spec page: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B560M-DS3H-rev-10/sp#sp

Rocket Lake is 11th gen intel, but I bought a 10th gen i3-10105.

View attachment 419570
View attachment 419571
View attachment 419572

Q1: My spec'd Samsung 970 evo plus is 2280 so it should fit and work in the second M.2 slot?
Q2: Any real speed difference between those two M.2 slots?
Click to expand...

Damn, yeah. Intel desktop CPUs prior to Rocket Lake (11th-generation Core) only have 16 PCIe lanes coming directly off the CPU, and those are all for a discrete GPU. Rocket Lake added four more for a NVMe SSD.

But, the good news is that in the real-world usage described putting the SSD in the second m.2 slot will have no practical impact. Synthetic benchmarks might have shown a slight gain hanging a PCIe 3 SSD (like the 970 Evo+) directly off the CPU, but meh. And physically the 970 Evo+ will fit fine.
 
GiGaBiTe said:
If your 9 year old "lenovo crapbox" has a Windows 7 key on it, you can recycle it and use it on your new machine to install Windows 10. That way, you'll save $140 to go to something else, like a much better CPU. Just use the key on the Windows 7 sticker and it should work fine. While Microsoft officially ended the "free" Windows 10 upgrade several years ago, they never actually stopped. You can still use a Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 key to
Click to expand...

Does this work on OEM version of Windows 7? I thought those are not transferable to a new PC?

Edit: Saw you answered this already. I usually buy Windows retail versions since you can move those.
 
Varmint said:
Does this work on OEM version of Windows 7? I thought those are not transferable to a new PC?

Edit: Saw you answered this already. I usually buy Windows retail versions since you can move those.
Click to expand...

In the Windows 7 era, you got two different product keys when you bought an OEM machine. The first was a vendor specific SLIC key stored in the BIOS, this key was the same across all vendor machines and could only be used on that vendor's machines. The second was a generic OEM key on a COA sticker stuck somewhere on the exterior of the PC. This key could be removed from the machine and used again on a different machine.

MS changed this in Windows 8 and vendors stopped providing OEM keys on the exterior of machines because of "key theft" and other asinine reasons. More like they didn't want you taking your license with you when you eventually scrapped the computer.
 
Nasgul said:
If it's a computer for your "Pops", then get this: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pav...gb-ssd-natural-silver/6477686.p?skuId=6477686

Just add another 8G of RAM and call it a day.
Click to expand...
Well, not really a good idea. There are differences between Windows 11 and Windows 10. And anybody that old may have trouble adjusting from Windows 10 to Windows 11. And AFAIK HP does not have downgrade privileges for any of its home (consumer) PCs.

And its included internal storage is only half that of the OP's planned build. Moreover, with HP's typical preinstalled bloatware and trialware that usually cannot be uninstalled the usable internal storage might not be enough for the pop's needs. And adding more RAM and getting a larger SSD (500-ish GB) would have put the total cost of the pre-built to higher than the total price of the planned parts.
 
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Also for the love of God don't pay $140 for a windows key. Even if you can't reuse the windows 7 key there are many cheap keys out there.
 
E4g1e said:
Well, not really a good idea. There are differences between Windows 11 and Windows 10. And anybody that old may have trouble adjusting from Windows 10 to Windows 11. And AFAIK HP does not have downgrade privileges for any of its home (consumer) PCs.
Click to expand...

I got a new CyberPowerPC that came with Win 11 installed, I just downloaded the Windows 10 installer and installed over it (hopefully the license worked) - does HP prevent that somehow?
 
Yes. HP's consumer home PCs do not allow this. Only its business PCs allow it. Worse, downgrading HP's home PCs may completely void all warranties.
 
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