Is this an absolute steal?

Chloe Morris12 said:So, someone is offering me a full setup—including the keyboard and mouse—with these specs for $320. Does that sound like a fair deal? Also, will I actually be able to run games on this thing, or is there no dedicated graphics card included?

Intel Core i5-3470 3.2G 6M HD 2500 CPU

16GB DDR3-1600 DIMM (4x4GB) RAM

500GB 7200 RPM 3.5 HDD

Hmm, you've really only listed the processor, the RAM, and the hard drive—do you happen to have any other details on hand? For instance, things like the power supply, the motherboard, the case, or if there's a dedicated GPU tucked in there somewhere? At first glance, the price seems alright, but—and this is a big "but"—if there isn't a separate graphics card, you might run into some trouble; trying to play modern titles on just integrated graphics is usually a recipe for frustration. Just so I can give you better advice, what exactly are you planning to use this PC for most often?

Chloe Morris12 said:Unfortunately, those are the only details I have on hand—which is exactly what’s bothering me! All I know for sure is that it's an HP Compaq 8300 elita MT He Chassis, and the graphics are most likely integrated.

Let's say I don't need it for gaming, just for basic everyday home stuff. Is this actually a great deal, or am I just seeing things?

Look, the price seems alright, but where did you even find this thing? Was it at a local shop or some online marketplace like Craigslist? Drop a link if you have one!

HP Compaq 8300 elita MT He Chassis

This is essentially an HP enterprise-grade machine...

It likely comes with integrated graphics and a pretty weak power supply—standard for these models. If you end up wanting to throw a dedicated graphics card in there down the road, you’ll probably have to swap out the power supply too...

But honestly, if you're just looking at home use—surfing the web, streaming movies, YouTube, that kind of thing—it's more than enough. These things were built specifically for the business world...

http://www.nabava.net/search.php?tp=0&q=i5+3470
http://www.nabava.net/search.php?tp=0&q=4x4gb+
http://www.nabava.net/search.php?tp=...B+7200+3.5+HDD

Furthermore, let's be realistic: you don't actually need 16GB for casual home use or even standard gaming. More importantly, relying solely on integrated graphics means you won't be able to run any modern AAA titles at all—you'll be stuck playing Flash games or small indie projects.

Honestly, I wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole... You could put together a pretty decent custom build for around $350—and you'd still have enough left over to grab a mouse and keyboard from $33 😬

New stuff just hit the market:

Zalman micro tower case black, ZAL-ZM-T4
HDD Desktop TOSHIBA DT01ACA050 (3.5", 500GB, 32MB, SATA III-600) HDD Desktop
AMD Athlon ii x4 760 k
ASRock FM2A88M EXTREME4 + Chicony Active 400 w ATX pas
Chicony Active 400W ATX PSU, CHI-HPA-400W
Patriot Sig. DDR3 1333Mhz, 4GB PSD34G13332
Sapphire Radeon R7 260 x OC, 1GB GDDR5, DVI, DP, HDMI 11222-05-20G

Total: $2.900,98+$27 plus shipping from Centro.hr

It might be a good idea to grab a CPU cooler too. You could check if they have a Thermaltake Contac 21 or maybe a Zalman CNPS5X Perform in stock at the store, though it looks like they might be out of stock right now.

Chloe Morris12 said:Alright, thanks for all the info. It sounds like it’s just not worth it after all. I honestly don't get why the retail price is over $850—it was listed at Best Buy, though I managed to snag a lower price through work since they were slightly used machines.

It sounded way too cheap at first glance, and I probably would have pulled the trigger if you guys hadn't walked me through everything.

On a different note, I actually have a pretty solid gaming rig at home—built it myself for about $500 and it handles even the newest titles beautifully. My only issue is that the cooler is incredibly loud, and the whole tower runs way too hot, so I definitely need to upgrade. Any suggestions? I know I'm running an AMD Phenom, but I can't recall the exact model off the top of my head. :/

Wait a second... are you actually going to buy a new tower or what? If the main headache is just the cooling situation, here is what I'd suggest:

Thermaltake Contac 16 CPU Cooler

$41 Centro.hr

I wouldn't go with that Contac 16. It uses a 3-pin fan that hits 2400 RPM, so it probably won't be particularly quiet.

That LC Power one over at Links 😉

Chloe Morris12 said: . My only issue is that the cooler is incredibly loud and the PC is running hot, so I need to pick up a new one. Any recommendations? I know I have an AMD Phenom, but I can't recall the exact model off the top of my head.

First, you should probably check which specific Phenom you're running and what the rest of your system looks like. Run AIDA64 or something similar and let us know what you find.

It’s probably this PC:
http://www8.hp.com/ca/en/products/de...#!tab=features

The price is decent enough, I guess, but I’m not sure if it’s actually worth it. For just browsing the web and basic home stuff, an i5 and 16GB of RAM feels like total overkill. Also, looking at the photos, the power supply seems non-standard. That usually means the connectors are weird, so you probably won't be able to plug in a decent graphics card. Upgrading this thing would likely be a huge pain.

That’s just my take based on the pictures, though nothing is certain until we actually see the internals and the machine itself.😁

You can grab tx3 on sale at this link, though honestly, even this one would get the job done perfectly enough.