re: Best gaming PC

1) looks like the one you had originally suggested is only available after Christmas as wel
2) my local store had them in stock to pick up and go when I was there a week ago if you do have a local one to shop.



I will keep looking to see what is out there, but sort of as it has been said earlier- the GPU are in short supply and people will sometimes buy computers they aren’t happy with just to get the GPU they want (even worse- the one they can get!), so fast turnover of inventory is sort of the standard right now + low availability of stock

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Is this available at a nearby bestbuy in time?

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If he's actually from Tuscaloosa, it looks like no.
He should have two options for in-store pickup sub $1k though:
Both happen to be Lenovo Legion 5 boxes. I'll point out that I don't like/dislike these at all. They just apparently seem to be the best at being on sale right now.
1) Ryzen 5 3600 8GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super - 512GB SSD for $730
2) Ryzen 7-3700X - 16GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super - 256GB SSD+ 1TB $850


OP, #1 has a comparable CPU to the one I linked earlier with a somewhat weaker GPU. A little hard to estimate if this GPU is "enough" for the little guy, still. Fret not, though, it's still a step up from the one you had originally found (though a step down from the Costco model for a few bucks more, unfortunately).
Cons: GPU a bit weaker. Should be easy to upgrade later. The difference between the 1650s and 1660s is reportedly significant, but it's a step up, not a leap/bound up from what I gather (please correct me anyone who has a differing opinion. This really is not my strong suit). As before, this box should be able to take an upgrade fine. The three things we would consider upgrading
a) GPU. The next step up is the 1660 super. It is a $250 card if you can find it. If you want it now, the EVGA model is on amazon for just under $240. The current ebay price on a 'used' 1650 super (only looking at "buy it now") is $200 + $15 to ship. So, oddly enough, you can recoup quite a bit of value if you want to sort of 'aim low' and 'move up' as needed
b) storage. This has 512gb. Extra storage is super, super cheap now. I almost consider this a plus because it has a 512gb SSD rather than 256 + 1tb HDD. Given these two formats, I'd much prefer the single 512gb ssd vs the 1.25TB total in that configuration, but this is preference. I was an early-adopter of SSD and had a 32gb one with just my OS and a few key apps while everything else went on an HDD. 256gb is just sort of small for a primary drive when you can grab a WD Passport for $80 for 3tb, $140 for 8TB and have other stuff there. I don't think that it's particularly difficult to save stuff in different locations, but 256-->512 on a primary partition is just nicer unless you're going to need all the space soon and currently own no external or cloud storage
c) memory. The motherboard has 4 slots. 1x8gb slot is filled. Again, I'd wait and see how things ran if choosing this option. Memory isn't horribly expensive, especially with 3 empty slots (vs 1 empty slot that is often found on cheaper motherboards)

#2 is essentially the one I linked before with a different brand of processor (User Benchmark actually has the 10400, Ryzen 5 3600 and Ryzen 7 3700x all neck and neck. For all intents and purposes, there is not a huge difference for what it sounds like it will be used for), but it's about $150 more expensive. Other than the price, you are looking at a smaller primary partition that should be fine given the secondary spinning drive. And it should be at the Tuscaloosa Best Buy.



ETA: One final somewhat controversial option: HP Z640 towers (renewed)
These are workstations (remember earlier in my long-winded post about how the lights are the big difference and nothing stops you from using a 'gaming' desktop for work or a high-end workstation with a GPU for gaming? Yeah. These are pretty ugly. And fairly robust).
Most of these can be in by Christmas. There is a wide variety of range in combos of CPU and RAM. A few have larger SSD. Basically I'm too lazy to parse through this and find an exact one for you, and part of the reason is that I don't really recommend these as much.
But why?
Well, the CPU is sort of 'different.' It's a Xeon. Can you use it for gaming? yeah. But it's pretty much made to have a load spread onto multiple cores and the focus isn't on single-threaded performance. Can you game on it? Yeah. Are there threads on reddit touting these guys? Yeah. Does the GPU have a higher wattage rating thus allowing a future expansion to a 'heavier' card? Well, the wattage part yes. But I have no clue what the connectors inside are and the 1660s doesn't require extra power. Is W10Pro better than w10home? For you, probably not.
But I would feel remissed if I didn't include the existence of these (where else are you going to find an e5-2650v3 with 48gb RAM (they don't mention if it is ECC or not) paired with a decent card for under $800?). Now, this socket was released in something like 2014. And they're renewed. And the businesses that bought these machines probably abused them. But they exist and are pretty capable.

There are other GPU that are comparable, but like I said, price/performance/availability has lead me to buy a 1660 super for myself, and from my searches over the last week in this price range, it is still not easy to beat its availability and the performance you will get with it in a prebuilt system too.

Are there any on GameStop that you guys recommend?

Both those Legion PCs aren't bad, but kinda weird specs.

Like a 3600 with 8 GB of memory and a 512 GB SSD, but with a 1650 super? Seeing that just is irritating

Honestly, the $850 build is the better deal, even if it would be a little more overkill for the OP.

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The board has some borderline functioning adults

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Hey frick you, I resent that.

That should serve him well!

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Ryzen 5 3600 8GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super - 512GB SSD for $730
We chose this

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That'll work

And if he finds himself a little choked on RAM in the future, this is, literally, a 60 second upgrade:

LINK

ETA: Assuming what you bought was one of the rigs with 8gb of RAM.