WTB budget Gaming PC Desktop for a Senior Citizen

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motolube

Gawd
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Dec 18, 2006
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OK, One of my neighbors is around 70ish and he games but nothing serious and mostly old games (Crysis, Spores, SIMs) etc, etc his old PC died recently (capacitors went bye bye) and I was trying to help him out with his HP laptop that I am sure it could handle those game but the problem is that the laptop does not have a CD/DVD Rom and the SSD is pretty small so there would not be enough room to install all of his games. I am sure I could rescue the PSU, CD/DVD Rom and Chassis but everything else is not worth keeping.

My thought was to get him all the necessary hardware and build it for him but to be honest, I have been out of the building stage for so long and I really don't want to get involve too much for fear of botching something and then having to pay it myself so... best scenario will be to buy him a pre-own from one of you guys whom I trust more that ebay sellers or somewhere else.

He would rather not pay more than 500 USD and that would be including shipping to Miami, FL. 33196 . I am sure that whatever you have tossed aside would be better than what I could build him for that much. I also think I have an old Asus GTX660 dual fan that I will pass onto him because what he has is even older than that.

Not really looking for new gen stuff, more for Reliability, something that he could use for another 8 to 10 years (the one that died recently was built in 2004 so this tells you how much he uses and/or how hard he used it). I am sure that he could use his old Windows 10 from the old PC.

I am willing to entertain whatever suggestions you have but again, I rather not get myself involved in building it, I am kinda down right now, personally speaking, but I still would like to help him before he goes to Best Buy, ebay or Amazon and get taken for a ride.

Sorry if I have structured this wrong, it has been a while and I can't remember the rules all that well.

i5 or i7 would suffice 6th Gen and above
550w PSU should also be enough for the GTX660 I would assume?
1TB SSD would be more than ok but a 512GBs would do
Decent Brand Mobo with Gaming capabilities
10/100/100 Ethernet card
CD/DVD Rom
Modest Chassis
No need for Monitor, Keyboard or Mouse as the one he has still do the job

Let me know what you have, how much are you willing to part with and if I think is a good deal I will convince him to go for it but I do ask you to try to remember that I am just trying to help and pass the favor forward. Thanks guys.
 
I can get you an Dell Optiplex 3050 MT with i3-7100, 8gb and 128gb nvme. You'll need to add a larger nvme and a GPU that is pci bus powered (gtx 1650, 1050 ti). LMK if interested.

Edit: $75 shipped
 
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I have a Dell XPS with a i5-8400. Hardly used as it was a file server.I could probably pop in a video card, 8GB ram and a 512 or 1TB SSD and be around $300 or so.
 
WOW, Let me preface this by stating that I am overwhelmed by the replies and the willingness to help. And Yes, I am almost 60 years old and known this gentleman for well over 20 years, he has always been nice to my kids and I have always tried to help him out with his PC purchases and issues so this is very cool of all of you. I am going to go back and reply to each post. Tried to Multi Quote but it didn't work out for me so I have to do it the long way, apologies for that.
 
boss99 said:
I have an I7-975 with RAM and mobo that I would part with for just shipping. We older gamers (I'm 45, gonna be 46 in a month) gotta stick together.
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Boss99, much appreciated, let me see if I can understand what you are willing to offer... Mobo (which brand & Model), RAM (how much and I assume that it goes with the Mobo) + the i7-795 CPU?

Just trying to figure out if I am going to have to use the old case + whatever else I need to use what you have because like I said before, I have been out of the building Rigs for a long time now and I don't want to screw anything up so I would rather get him something that is fully built, hell, if it comes with Windows would be even better.

Don't get me wrong, the guy is not poor per say, I just don't want him buying a PoS Dell that we all know has run of the mill hardware, lacks the room for anything else, I rather get something that was top shelf a few years ago and has been taken care than crappy run of the new gen that won't or not be able to accept a dedicated GPU, Sound Card, etc, etc, as he also likes to listen to music and can't seem to find him a Mobo with Optic ports (is there a reason for this?) I mean, hell, the one I built for him back in 2004 (the one that just died) had an optical port.
 
kyang357 said:
I can get you an Dell Optiplex 3050 MT with i3-7100, 8gb and 128gb nvme. You'll need to add a larger nvme and a GPU that is pci bus powered (gtx 1650, 1050 ti). LMK if interested.

Edit: $75 shipped
Click to expand...
I'd appreciate it but I am looking for something a bit more than that but hey, if nothing else comes along, I will be sure to give you a buzz.

I do thank you for helping out.
 
SamirD said:
This should work if the budget can stretch a bit or OP is willing to move the price to help out:
https://hardforum.com/threads/dell-...rtx3070-16gb-ram-nvme-1tb-wifi-win11.2023140/

You're awesome for doing this btw--people like you doing little kindnesses are what make the world a better place. :) Hope that helps lift you up because it's the truth!
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He probably is but that is OVERKILL to be honest, I mean I doubt he will use 10% of the RTX 3070 for the old games he play but I will take a look at it and PM the seller to see if we can swing something.
 
DPOSCORP said:
I have a Dell XPS with a i5-8400. Hardly used as it was a file server.I could probably pop in a video card, 8GB ram and a 512 or 1TB SSD and be around $300 or so.
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Can you do me a big favor, can you send me some pics of what you are thinking on buiding it with, will it have Windows as well? I ask because I doubt I will be able to find his windows CD/DVD, also does it have an Optic audio plug? for some reason he wants to have it but won't be a deal breaker if it doesn't.

In short, give me a run down of what you would be willing to offer and I'll take a look at it and talk to him about it.
 
Having windows or not should not be a issue. Easy to download a copy to a flash drive and load. Windows keys are available easy enough and not too pricy. A decent 8th gen Intel and a 1060 would work good for him. Case wise if you can't reuse his. They can be bought for less than 50 bucks. A 450w psu look ar EVGA b stock. Less than 30 bucks. I'm sure someone has a 8th gen Intel for cheap. If you don't think or want to build it. Send everything to me and I'll put it together for you.
 
The major issue at this moment is that I am not equip (mentally or otherwise) to take on a build, my head is just not in it but I guess this is the path that will yield better results for him in the long run and I don't want to feel guilty that I didn't do all I could so, there is where I am at the moment because, sure, I can reuse a lot of the old stuff

Old drive with Windows already installed plus all of his apps and games, etc. Even if the drivers are not the same I could work that out I guess.
I could also use the old CD/DVD ROM
Multi sdcard reader.
Dedicated usb 3 port card.
Sound Blaster gold sound card with the optical port... I don't even know if Windows 10 will have drivers for it or if SB will have them and compatible with Win10

I am just not in a good place at the moment, hence, why I was thinking something already built that wasn't run of the mill like HP, Dell and others use but I still want to help him and avoid him paying a lot of money for a crappy build.

P.S.: Apologies for asking this again but, can someone school me on why it seems like new gen Mobos no longer have the option of an Optical Audio Port???
 
motolube said:
Can you do me a big favor, can you send me some pics of what you are thinking on buiding it with, will it have Windows as well? I ask because I doubt I will be able to find his windows CD/DVD, also does it have an Optic audio plug? for some reason he wants to have it but won't be a deal breaker if it doesn't.

In short, give me a run down of what you would be willing to offer and I'll take a look at it and talk to him about it.
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Let me see what video card and SSDs I have.
Will a 256GB SSD work? I know I have 8GB ram. Video card will probably be something like a GeForce GT520 or GT 610 2gb, if not better....will that be ok?
It does come with Win 10; I actually have a couple of pics I got from my google drive.
 

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