My 14 y.o. is into some games. I don't want to get an expensive gaming computer. I'm looking for something that doesn't lag. She plays Fortnite, Roblox,Genshin Impact and Resident Evil. I already have a Dell Optiplex 3020 laying around. Can I just add ram and a vid card to this and get away with it?
Need an adequate gaming computer.
- Thread starter daves66nova
- Start date
Ram is easy, GPU you’ll be limited as Dell is notorious for using proprietary power supplies and from what I can find online the Optiplex 3020 has a proprietary 290w PSU. An AMD 6600XT or RTX 4060/4060Ti call for 550w PSU’s. The newer Resident evil games are calling for an Intel i5-7500 as a minimum on the CPU.
This Google search, "Dell Optiplex 3020 spec", reveals the following:
Overview
This Google search, "What computer specs are needed to play Resident Evil Village"? returns the following information which immediately indicates your computer will not play this game. Look up min specs for the other games, then determine if the Dell motherboard supports newer processors and video cards.
Here are the Resident Evil Village System Requirements (Minimum)
Overview
- Core i3 4160 / 3.6 GHz.
- RAM 4 GB.
- HDD 500 GB.
- DVD-Writer.
- HD Graphics 4400.
- Win 7 Pro 64-bit (includes Win 8.1 Pro 64-bit License)
This Google search, "What computer specs are needed to play Resident Evil Village"? returns the following information which immediately indicates your computer will not play this game. Look up min specs for the other games, then determine if the Dell motherboard supports newer processors and video cards.
Here are the Resident Evil Village System Requirements (Minimum)
- CPU: Intel Core i5-7500 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200.
- RAM: 8 GB.
- VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 560.
- DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 4096 MB.
- PIXEL SHADER: 5.1.
- VERTEX SHADER: 5.1.
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit.
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Do you have the skills to build your own PC? Perhaps your 14 year-old would be interested in learning how to build a PC? When I built gaming PCs, I went to sites like Tom's Hardware to look at their builds and chose a motherboard which is the foundation of a good build. Then I chose the other components that fit my budget. This could be a great father-son joint effort. My sons have fond memories of a 4-PC home gaming network for multi-player games. Naturally, I always lost as their skills were sharp and fast and yet they loved it.
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based on previous threads I'd say not likely.
Kids though are amazing.. watch a couple youtube videos and unleash them at the project.. no fear.
That 3020 is abit crusty for this.
Min spec you want a 3060 gpu or better 16GB ram and a processor that isnt 10 years old.
Interested in a laptop at all. or desktop?
I'm using an i7-4790k (ancient cpu) with an RTX2060 gpu and it runs modern games great in 1080p. The key is you need at least 4 cores. That 290W power supply will work fine with some low power modern gpus (such as the RTX2060). My power supply is 300W. Use a watt meter and see what your system draws. My system draws less than 230W in the most demanding games. My point is you have options. Maybe upgrade the cpu in your current system, maybe buy a used system and a GPU, or some other combination. Doesn't have to be a new, expensive system.
There are different standards of adequate. a 2060 though is quite decent only about 10% slower than a 3060 esp for 1080p
That computer is about the speed of my overclocked i5-2500k sandybridge from 2011 though.
throw in needing a SSD, Ram, Video card, and possibly power supply and I'd start with a better base.
gathermewool
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As another anecdote, I have an old gaming PC with an i7-920 (1st gen) and a 1070 ti (bought used from a member here, interestingly enough), and I can play Devil May Cry 5 and Resident Evil 2 remake on mid-high settings 1440p. I was as surprised as some of you might be.
Suggesting a mid-high-end PC for Roblox seems a bit much.
As another anecdote, my new laptop with a 3050 ti runs newer games just fine and older games really well (1080p). I got that Lenovo Gaming 3 laptop for $435.
Used 1660 supers on Ebay seem to be good value for 1080p gaming right now. You're able to find them around $100 if you are patient (bidding and making offers, etc.) The 1660 super will handle the games listed above with ease. It also has more modest power requirements than some of the other cards mentioned here.
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nah, his PC is still far below the power supply requirement. Ugrading it is a wild guess. Most dell's i've torn down have/had propitiatory shaped PSs so upgrading is out the window too.
I know what you're saying, going by specs, but in reality, it will work fine. My i7-4790K / RTX 2060 system consumes about 40W at the desktop, and <200W during gaming. I've been running this config for about a year and even tortured it with FurMark while running a CPU stress test and it still barely creeps over 200W.
Father - daughter in this case.
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For the cost of the upgrades you could get a low end gaming laptop. $500-700.
I believe we can build one, just need to know what parts to put together.
What is your budget?
Everyone talks about building is better but lookign at whats available from ym recent build I paid 2100 in parts and I see pre built computers for 2300 that are have the same GPU, a better processor but less RAM. So about a wash.
I ma looking to buy the 14th Gen processor thats coming out soon and maybe pair it with a 4080 or even 4090.
Dillemma is, a 4080 doesnt seem like enough of an upgrade to tear everything down, since I already have a 4070.
But if I go with a 4090, I will need to upgrade my PSU from 850w to 1000w (and my PSU it pretty new) ...
Everyone talks about building is better but lookign at whats available from ym recent build I paid 2100 in parts and I see pre built computers for 2300 that are have the same GPU, a better processor but less RAM. So about a wash.
I ma looking to buy the 14th Gen processor thats coming out soon and maybe pair it with a 4080 or even 4090.
Dillemma is, a 4080 doesnt seem like enough of an upgrade to tear everything down, since I already have a 4070.
But if I go with a 4090, I will need to upgrade my PSU from 850w to 1000w (and my PSU it pretty new) ...
How's this one? Like I said, I'm not into paying a lot for a computer. https://www.ebay.com/itm/3039378553...px/rvfD7wJ+IsWYqVDsQL25w==|tkp:Bk9SR6re34XVYg
That Dell optiplex is good for watching YouTube and posting on BITOG, that’s about it.
If you’re on a budget, I would get a cpu with integrated graphics. They are quite powerful these days. My son and I built a pretty powerful rig for him with Ryzen 5700g. It plays everything for him quite nicely. And I can always upgrade it by throwing a graphics card in there.
Him installing the cpu heat sink mounting bracket.
If you’re on a budget, I would get a cpu with integrated graphics. They are quite powerful these days. My son and I built a pretty powerful rig for him with Ryzen 5700g. It plays everything for him quite nicely. And I can always upgrade it by throwing a graphics card in there.
Him installing the cpu heat sink mounting bracket.
