That 120W figure you're looking at—if you're just reading what MSI Afterburner or similar software reports—isn't actually the total power draw of the GPU. 😁 That means you definitely need to look at a different power supply. Whether it's because the current one is getting old, simply lacks enough wattage, or just isn't built with high-end components, it won't cut it.
To $167 handle this properly, you need something that offers both solid build quality and plenty of headroom. Honestly, your best bet might be to go with this instead.
You can definitely snag a solid monitor for that kind of money. Take this one I have, click; the reviews are excellent regarding image quality for this price range (though honestly, curvature doesn't make much sense on a 24" 1080p screen). It features a VA panel . When I picked mine up about two or three years ago, it was on sale for roughly $433 (down from 1500-$533), and they even threw in an extra 3 years of coverage after the initial warranty expired (so 5 years total). That makes it quite a bargain now.
You’ll also find plenty of other 24" monitors with IPS panels out there, though I’m not entirely sure what the user feedback looks like on those specifically.
To break it down: an IPS panel offers the most realistic colors and the best viewing angles, whereas a VA panel provides superior black levels and contrast. Go with IPS if you're doing video or photo editing, but stick with VA for watching movies and series. Whatever you do, don't even look at a TN panel—it's not even the fastest option for gaming anymore, and it offers zero advantages since the image quality is just terrible.
Andrew Miller102 said:You could consider that a solid purchase—the Intel Core i3-10100 would be a great choice for... $317The integrated graphics barely even keep pace with the AMD Athlon 3000G.
We aren't even talking about any i3 for this. $317Actually, you can grab an Intel Core i3-10100F for just over $100.
I am looking for price comparisons and availability for the Intel Core i3-10100F.
So, it stays over. $200 Regarding the GPU (for those specific ones)... $433)
Joshua Garcia3 said:Yeah, even a tiny bump in specs means you need a bigger budget, doesn't it? 🙄
Look, it’ll run just fine on a Boeing 737, but honestly, it’s a missed opportunity if you don't grab an AMD B450 with four RAM slots and a decent VRM heatsink—like the AsRock Pro4 or the Gigabyte DS3H $200 . With an AMD B450, you get much better RAM speed support (which modern games actually care about now, even with a dedicated GPU), overclocking headroom, and a guaranteed upgrade path to the Ryzen 5000 series (BIOS updates should be rolling out by January if they haven't already).
Sure, there are some Boeing 737 boards that might support Ryzen 5000 via beta BIOS updates from AsRock, and maybe official support will follow later, but sticking with the 400 chipset is the much safer bet for long-term support.
A brand name alone isn't a guarantee of quality or failure. Every manufacturer has their hits and their misses. For instance, last generation, Dell had some seriously subpar cooling solutions (especially on their Intel-based builds), and the ROG Zephyrus line often struggled with thermal issues. However, this latest generation of ROG Zephyrus models actually features excellent cooling. That's why you have to evaluate every single product on its own merits by digging into actual reviews. There are no perfect products out there.
We’ve kicked things off here, so all previous posts have been migrated to this new thread: shortage and growth in PC hardware prices
The title of this section has also been updated from "Useful Pages + Best Buy Components & Builds + HTPC" to "Sales, Discounts, and Best Buy PC Components & Configurations."
This space is intended for sharing links to sales, discounts, and absolute best buys. Remember, a great deal doesn't always need a massive "SALE!" banner to be worth it—often those hidden gems slip by unnoticed, so we're providing this dedicated spot for them. Naturally, feel free to comment on specific deals or share your own experiences with items currently on sale.
Andrew Miller102, honestly, quad-cores for $433? Even if they had some incredible APU built-in, they aren't worth that kind of cash anymore, not even exceeding $333. Those were the glory days. Now, Intel is selling 4c8t chips for just over $600 (though without integrated graphics), so this just doesn't make sense—especially since AMD itself was moving the R5 4650G (a 6c12t APU with even better Integrated Graphics) for around 1450-$500 before these unfortunate shortages hit...
It turns out that for $433, you can grab a faster CPU (Intel Core i3-10100F) and pair it with a dedicated GPU for under $433. And with the leftover $200, you could pick up a used GPU that’s actually decent—I mean, you can find an RX 570 4GB for maybe 500-$200. AMD really needs to recalibrate the pricing on these APUs
My apologies, the ASROCK H410M-HDV/M.2 actually features that connector 🤦
It’s honestly hard to believe there are still boards out there lacking this. It’s been the industry standard for at least 3 or 4 years now.
EDIT
Just grab the cheapest H410 you can find that includes an M.2 slot. That is, unless you’re planning to upgrade to an i7 or i9 down the road—in that case, you should look into B460 boards priced around $80. You'll need decent VRMs for those chips, and that's usually where the pricing starts to climb.
Now all that's left is the graphics card. The suggestion was either gtx 1650 super or gtx 1050 ti?
Honestly, I would ditch the HDD and that SATA SSD entirely and just grab a 1TB NVMe SSD instead (every modern platform supports them now). Look for something with a 5-year warranty—starting with options like the Kingston A2000 or the Crucial P1. You can find them here:$300
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=1tb+A2000 - Best Buy has some decent deals, though search engines don't always show everything. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=crucial+p1+1tb
Of course, you know how much storage space you actually need. Judging by the architecture of the next-gen consoles that just hit the market, an SSD is going to become a requirement for gaming.
Regarding the GPU—definitely go with the gtx 1650 super if the budget allows. Pay close attention to that "super" part; it’s noticeably better than the standard gtx 1650, and it doesn't cost significantly more.
If your power supply is reliable, stick with it. It won't be a major drain on your resources.
Here, go ahead and compare prices across different retailers.
i3 10100f ASRock H410m-hdv 2x8gb ddr4 3000mhz - BTW, the H410 chipset can't actually push memory at 3000mhz, but buy it anyway since it isn't any more expensive than 2133mhz (plus, it might come in handy later or make it easier to resell). GTX 1650 super - Prioritize a GPU with a 3-year warranty over one with two. A single-fan model is more than enough and stays quiet.
The market fluctuates constantly. There are stretches where Micro Center becomes the absolute go-to for building the most budget-friendly rigs. Right now, they’re actually among the top contenders, plus they’re one of the few places consistently stocking the latest GPUs at somewhat reasonable prices. For instance, earlier this morning, they had two different versions of the GTX 1650 available, but they were snapped up by the end of the day.
My advice? If you're hunting for those new GPUs, just refresh their website a few times a day. You don't need to be quite as lightning-fast as the folks out there dealing with automated bots buying everything instantly, but you definitely need to be ready to pull the trigger within a couple of hours during the day.
Lawrence Garcia89 said:What's the deal with those Palit graphics cards anyway? I haven't really heard of them (to be honest, I haven't followed GPU manufacturers in quite a while).
It really comes down to the specific cooler design and which particular model you're looking at.
Basically, they are one of the largest vendors for NVIDIA GPUs—they actually oversee several brands, including Gainward, NVIDIA, and KFA.
Generally speaking, their coolers are solid to excellent, especially over the last four or five years. If we're specifically talking about the 3060Ti, you can feel very confident picking up those Palit or Gainward models.
It’s hardly a massive upgrade compared to a nearly identical GTX 1660 super
Besides, I don't see much of a budget being discussed here; he only mentioned a CPU, motherboard, 8GB of RAM, and a smaller SSD, so there isn't really room in that price range for a GPU of this caliber
If you’re planning on playing Fortnite, my advice is to budget for a dedicated graphics card. It’s not exactly a lightweight title; honestly, I think even the most powerful AMD APUs would struggle to keep up. Right now isn't the best time to be shopping for hardware. We’re dealing with shortages and price hikes—though SSDs and RAM are at an all-time low, which is a silver lining. Plus, many retail sites haven't updated their stock, so some of the advice floating around online might be outdated.
Looking at the current market, the real "best buy" is the i3 10100f (the version without integrated graphics). You can snag it for under $233, and it performs right up there with the old flagship i7 7700. Pair that with a budget-friendly H410 motherboard and 16GB of DDR4 RAM. Make sure you get two 8GB sticks; they are incredibly cheap right now, and you really need that dual-channel setup. Buying just 8GB is a waste of money given current prices, and since H410 boards only have two slots, you don't want to clog them up with smaller sticks.
For your first serious GPU, look at the gtx 1650 super (which is a noticeable step up from the standard GTX 1650). Or, as Timothy Kim60 pointed out, you can find a GTX 1050Ti 4GB for around $333 lately. Either way, you'll have a smooth gaming experience, provided you don't dream about turning on ray tracing settings 😁
So, less is more, just like the other guys have been saying.
I’m not sure if you’ve been following the news regarding the supply shortages, but the next generation of graphics cards hasn't even hit the shelves in decent quantities yet. Every time stock becomes available, it vanishes instantly, which usually drives prices through the roof because demand far outweighs what's sitting in the warehouse. From what I've seen, Best Buy occasionally gets them at reasonable prices, but you have to be incredibly fast to snag one.
In my opinion, your best bet is to try and hunt down an RTX 3060 Ti for roughly $400-$$1333 (you'll mostly see NVIDIA brands like Palit or Gainward at Best Buy) or perhaps an RTX 3070 for around $1667. If you can manage to pull that off, building out the rest of the rig around those specs will be a breeze.
You eventually get used to anything. For me, jumping from 3,600 to 12,000 overnight wasn't even an issue, though hitting 16,000 was a bit more of a struggle—but even that's starting to feel easier lately.
Adam Williams2 said:So, what exactly is DPI in layman's terms? 😁
Think of it as pure sensitivity. Basically, if you crank your DPI to the max—most mice have a dedicated button for that—moving your hand just one centimeter might send the cursor flying from one side of your desk to the other. Low DPI is the opposite; you’re moving your hand like an idiot, yet the cursor barely budges an inch on the screen.
Now, gamers tend to love high DPI (and then they just dial down the in-game sensitivity settings), mostly because they fancy themselves skilled and precise, so they feel like having that extra responsiveness helps them perform better. 😁
I actually just picked up a Roccat Kain 122 AIMO on sale recently. For me, 16,000 DPI is a bit overkill; I usually stick to 12,000, but I'm getting used to it. I've started testing out the full 16k during gaming sessions and then just lowering the sensitivity in the game menus.
I read somewhere that it's technically better to set a high DPI on the mouse itself and lower the in-game sensitivity, rather than setting a low DPI and cranking up the in-game sensitivity, but I'm not exactly a hardcore pro gamer, so I can't say for certain...
Roger Booth2 said:Alright, thanks for the suggestion and the advice. I actually have a buddy who can put a rig together without any trouble at all.
It doesn't need to be some top-of-the-line beast with the latest and greatest parts. I'm building this configuration for my sister, and she doesn't play anything else outside of the games mentioned. We're aiming to pick up the PC before New Year's, despite how things are looking in the stores right now.
The bottom line is just making sure those games run smoothly so she's happy. If the suggested build hits that mark, then we're good to go. Just please tell me: were you aiming for an HD setup or 1440p when you put this together?
I wasn't focusing on a specific resolution; I just put together the strongest, most balanced gaming setup possible for that budget.
Since those aren't extremely demanding games by today's standards, it should perform perfectly fine at 1440p too. Just tell her not to turn on ray tracing in Minecraft if they've added it. 😁