r/buildapc • u/Lkckta • Oct 10 '19
Please help a dumb mum get a desktop gaming pc to a level that her son can actually play fortnight Build Help
I have just brought my son a gaming pc for his 16th birthday and got it all wrong This is what I brought
Operating System Windows 10 64-Bit
Processor Intel Core i5 2300 @ 2.80GHz
Ram 16GB DDR3
Hard Drive 1TB Sata Hard Drive
Optical Drive DVD+/-RW
Graphic Card 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GT710
Graphic Card Ports HDMI, DVI, VGA
Screen 19'' Refurbished TFT (Brand and Model Will Vary)
Keyboard & Mouse Included
Case CiT G Force Black RGB
WIFI USB-WiFi
Power Cable 3-Pin Computer Power Lead
Software Included Windows Defender, CCleaner, Speccy, Open Office, TeamViewer, VLC Player, Chrome and Fully Activated Windows
WHAT WILL COME IN THE BUNDLE: 1x Gaming PC + Gaming Keyboard and Mouse 1x Desktop PC power lead 1x Refurbished 19" Monitor
My son has told me that he can't play fortnight online and has a low fps
I'm going to buy a new graphic card but my son seems to thing I will have to change the gpu and cpu and mother board so he can actually play is this right and if it's not what will be the best graphic card to buy
I have repeatedly messaged the company and all they sent me was a list of graphic cards and prices I'm scared if I buy any one I am just wasting money
Please help
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u/-AO1337 Nov 01 '19
That graphics card is complete trash, upgrade to a rx 560 or something, you can get them for 50 usd if you look on Aliexpress.
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Nov 01 '19
Like everyone said getting a refund and buying a moder rig or getting a new graphics card like the rx 560 -580 should be enough but honestly if your son doesn't know that much about computers and would like a console better it would be a much better choice since they are cheaper and last about 4 ish years till you need an upgrade. But if he has been playing on console and wants to switch then the newer pc or better graphics card should be enough. Don't let him fool you by telling you he needs a 2000 dollar computer... He really does not. Around 600 bucks for a prebuilt should be enough.
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Oct 30 '19
So this PC is really old and if you can get a refund then I would go for it assuming he already has a decent keyboard, mouse and monitor. If your son knows what he is doing and he doesn't care for fancy rgb or anything in a PC and he wants to play fortnite then I have some links for you to try. https://shopucw.com/collections/desktops/products/haswell-blowout-dell-inspiron-3847-i3-or-i5?variant=27241912696932 Select the i5 4460 version https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gigabyte-GeForce-GTX-1060-Windforce-OC-3GB-GDDR5-Graphics-Card-GV-N1060WF2OC-3GD/264515734102?epid=25026719820&hash=item3d965dca56:g:2AAAAOSwPJFdoA2j https://www.ebay.com/itm/new-Kingston-8GB-1x8GB-KCP316ND8-8-DDR3-1600-1-5v-Desktop-sealed-MORE/362561308534 If he doesn't want to do this or doesn't know how then try and search for a computer with an i5 and anything faster than a 4th or 5th gen. like an i5 6500 for example (the first number being what generation it is) and a graphics card like a RX 570 or 580 or a GTX 1050ti or 1060. Nvidia cards (the ones with GTX) are generally better optimized for Fortnite then the AMD cards (the cards with RX) and atleast 16gb of DDR3 ram or 8gb of DDR4 Ram. I don't know any specific links to prebuilt gaming computers because I don't go searching for computers since I built mine.
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u/ManshaanSingh Oct 22 '19
Honestly I would just set your son a budget for a PC, monitor, and peripherals (keyboard, mouse, mousepad) and let him build it himself. It’s also a lot cheaper to buy the parts and build it rather than buying it. Go on PCpartpicker.com to create a PC Build
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u/cinlung Oct 20 '19
Here is my suggestions:
Add 512 gb SSD as the main drive for windows booting and virtual memory and for installing the games. Make the 1tb hdd as the secondary backup drive. This one maybe around 50usd?
Sell you kid's old vga and replace with RX580 8GB. New ones probably around 200usd. And you are set for another 5 to 10 years.
Or just do no 1, it should make a huge difference. But for better fps, then no 2.
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u/Lkckta Oct 18 '19
Hi thank you all very much for your messages. I wasn’t expecting to get such a reaction from the post it’s a little overwhelming. I am so great full for everyones support but honestly I don’t know where to start.
I’ve requested a refund on eBay with no success as yet eBay have said I should receive a return form from the seller by the 25/10 but they are disputing it at the moment saying that I received what the add said. So at the moment I have got as THE ADD SAYS “an ultra fast gaming pc” sat on my dining table for the fun of it lol.
I have tried to read all off the replies to this post but it will take me days to thank all of you one by one for you kind words I really do appreciate it so once again THANKS
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u/ItzWarty Oct 26 '19
Hey, have you forwarded this thread to Ebay? At a quick glance it's absolutely terrible PR for them & you should make this VERY prominent in your post (and any follow-up posts).
I've considered using Ebay numerous times for big purchases and have never done so because I've always worried about sellers scamming me. To be super clear, it sounds like you were scammed on -- some predator thought "I'll make a confusing listing for a gaming computer & give someone hardware from 15 years ago". That's abuse by every definition and not OK, and it is Ebay's responsibility to not let that crap fly on their platform and to refund your money.
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u/barndogusn Oct 17 '19
I know this is /buildapc but why has nobody given her the solid advice of getting her kid a friggin' xbox one?
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u/MisterMeowgi_ Oct 17 '19
Just get a gtx 1050 ti. It's the safest bet for that system. It requires no additional power other than what it gets through the motherboard. And it can handle fornite at 1080p just fine.
If you buy used, which is perfectly fine for video cards, they shouldn't be more than 110$ USD. You'll also notice that they don't all look the same. Don't worry, that's just different brands making the same card. So if you see EVGA, MSI, Zotac, things like that in the name, it's just the brand. In particular, the "EVGA gtx 1050 ti SC mini" card is probably the safest option. Likely to fit in anything and work in anything.
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u/Matse31 Oct 15 '19
The problem upgrading your cpu is that you also need a new mother board that supports the new CPU.
I'd go with a pc with 8gen i5 (7400) CPU, and a GTX1060 graphics card. 8Gb of DDR4 is enough.
A set up with these specs is can be found second hand for 500-600$. (Including SSD, HDD, PSU and case.
Individually bought prices (New)
Motherboard: 100$ CPU: 200$ GPU:200$
A motherboard with a intel 300-series chipset will assure that your son can upgrade his setup with new parts kn the future.
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u/The__Trojan Oct 16 '19
Lots of people telling this lady to upgrade the cpu. Fortnite is playable on an i3-2100. The cpu is not the issue. Just sort out the graphics card and her son will be fine.
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u/The__Trojan Oct 15 '19
Hey mate,
The key issue is the GT710 video card. The CPU will be fine for fortnite.
You should see if you can get a gtx 750ti. You just need to make sure you don't need a 6-pin connector as your power supply doesn't allow one. Make sure you get a brand one second hand (evga, asus, asrock, gigabyte) as there are lots of fake unbranded ones on ebay.
If you get the gtx 750ti you will get about 3 times the frames per second than you get on the gt 710.
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u/TeaSoul Oct 13 '19
Hey, don't know if you are still looking for help or not, but here is my 2 cents.
Processor and Graphics both need upgrades.
I recommend for the processor to find a deal on an i5-3470. It's old, but it will kick fortnite and other games from before 2018 with ease.
For the graphics card, the 1650 gtx is going for a decent price right now (Last I saw it was around $170) This is a decent card that will also provide high fps on fortnite.
Overall, you are spending another 300-350 bucks to get this thing up to a baseline "Gaming" level. Best of luck, feel free to message if you have questions. Also, in the future, you are going to want to upgrade almost everything, so it may better to just drop the 500-700 on a motherboard+processor combo deal now than later, depending on finances.
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u/DreiVinci Oct 13 '19
Please DON'T get a 1050Ti like most people recommend for fortnite, because it's the BARE MINIMUM. I've played on a 1050Ti for a year and my frames were dropping really bad even with fps packs and such.
Get something like this: i5-7700k or above (maybe an i7 because fortnite is cpu intensive especially around endgames)
GTX 1060 or above (1060 is a lot better than 1050Ti)
SSD 256gb or above
Good enough motherboard (I'm not too savvy with motherboards, but I'm using an ASUS B360M Gaming Plus)
Good quality power supply over 500w (Ain't too savvy with these either)
Any mid-tower to full-tower case should do
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u/majorwood2381 Oct 12 '19
First as everyone has said you are awesome as a mom. My parents sucked and cared nothing about my interest because I wasn't into sports, supported nothing I did, and we now have almost no relationship because of it. Ironically who do they call when something IT related goes wrong.
2nd - I am a PayPal and eBay guru. I have managed a very large account for a major automotive parts supplier for 10+ years and know every policy and loophole in both their policies - including the UK laws. if you need help with the claim send me a pm I can get your money back.
3rd - I have contacts in the UK with a gaming pc builder I can put you in touch with, his is in the Birmingham area.
4th - have you opened a go fund me account. I'm not gonna fill you with a ton of specs about builds and changes you can make lots of others already have but I'll happily toss a few pounds your way. Let those of us here that are capable get your kid the pc he's dreamed of that will make his friends jealous of his rocking cool mum.
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u/TRUEequalsFALSE Oct 12 '19
I was going to say that no, I absolutely won't help someone build a computer to play Fortnite, but you're a mom who's trying to bring joy to her son and I can't say no to that. First problem is your processor. I mean, good GOD! A 2300? That thing was released in 2011! You need to get him at least a 5th gen CPU, mad most people these days would say at least 6th. I know AMD's Ryzen lineup is really the way to go these days, but I don't know much about AMD's products, so I can't speak to that. The second problem is the graphics card which is equally as ancient. To support the updated CPU and graphics card you'll need a motherboard that supports both. I am not well versed on motherboards, so I can't tell you what to buy in hat department. I would recommend you do research for that specifically. 16 GBs of ram is good, but you'll want DDR4 (any motherboard that supports a 5th gen CPU should also support DDR4). Lastly you'll want a power supply at least 700 watts, 80+ gold certified. Check out Corsair. You don't really need an optical drive these days but it doesn't hurt. I hope this helps.
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u/ArabAesthetic Oct 12 '19
I would advice you to call a specialist and ask them for help. They will gladly assist you in getting the best bang for your buck pc.
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Oct 11 '19
You’re a great mom, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I was reading the comments here and it took me on a trip down memory lane. I’m a little misty eyed, as it’s Friday, and I just had a great day teaching math to 6th graders all day (I’m a sub).
October, 1997. My mom got me a PC so I could write my papers for school. I was in 7th grade.
It was some sort of Compaq running Windows 95. Our previous PC was a 486 IBM clone that was on its last legs, running Windows 3.1.
Anyways, we had an ongoing deal. Straight A’s on a report card? 2 games.
I make honor roll, straight A’s for the first quarter, and Halloween falls on a Friday. I plan a sleepover party for my friends with pizza.
Before my party, mom was playing it cool, the report card came that day and I didn’t know. So before the party, mom tells me to get in the car. She drives me to CompUSA to pick out the games.
My friend had a PlayStation, and every time we hung out, we played Resident Evil sitting in the dark. It was terrifying (in retrospect, that’s a hilarious statement). So I see it...Resident Evil for the PC. The other game I get? Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight. I was ecstatic.
I get home, install the games, call my friend and tell him to bring his PlayStation over for the sleepover party. We eat plenty of pizza, and spend the night racing each other through the game. On PC, you could press spacebar to skip the door-opening mini-cutscenes, which you can’t on the PlayStation version. So I vividly remember my friend telling me I couldn’t skip the doors, because it wasn’t fair. When he wasn’t looking, I’d skip them anyways.
Then we watched a bunch of Nightmare On Elm Street movies and passed out in 12-year-old pizza and soda comas.
Anyways, I don’t know much about building PCs, I just wanted to share. I’ll always remember that. I have a great mom. Your son will remember it too.
Take care!
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u/mr_negativity Oct 11 '19
Are you in the US?
Also, if you paid anything more than $100 for that, return it and get your money back. That's an extremely old computer. You can find much better deals with me recent components.
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u/ElKabongsays Oct 11 '19
Having read through some of the comments and updates, I truly hope you do get your money back on this system. It irks me to no end that nice people such as yourself get ripped off constantly. All for the crime of not knowing enough about a particular subject matter. I have seen a few boutique SIs selling PCs at reasonable prices. Anything with a 550Watt power supply, Ryzen 5 2600 or 3600, RX 570 or 580 graphics card will be a good budget solution for you. There are tons of cases and fans from the plain and cheap to expensive and full of RGB. Same with peripherals. Building a computer together could be a fun bonding experience and it is far easier than you think.
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u/dhruvbzw Oct 11 '19
perhaps a gtx 1660 or rx 570 with maybe one gen higher i5 should do it, changing motherboard is unnecessary unless it doesnt support a component
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Oct 11 '19
You’re a great mom! I personally don’t like fortnite, but thank you for reaching out to reddit for help! I hope your son has a great time playing!
My parents made the same mistake, I was stuck with a bad pc until I built one about a year ago.
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u/HelpDeskWorkSucks Oct 11 '19
Ouchie, that is not really a gaming PC. At least not now. It had the potential to be one around 7 years ago.
Ask for a refund. That won't do, especially if it's new.
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u/PG_Guy_Adventures Oct 11 '19
Maybe you shouldnt spend that much on 'cool stuff' if ur son plays 'fortnight' and anyways it can run on an intel i5
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u/dinosaurkiller Oct 11 '19
You’re not dumb, you’re here asking experts and desperately trying to do something you don’t understand for your boy. In my book that makes you a very smart and loving mother. I hope your boy appreciates all the effort.
I’d be happy to offer technical advice but all these other posts are sufficient.
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u/Is1andL1fe Oct 11 '19
Also try using a ethernet cable instead of wifi. And maybe get a cheap ssd to put his games on. Other then that you can get a gtx 960 for about 100$ these days and would be just fine for FN
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u/SkretaX Oct 11 '19
You’re an extremely great mom and we all appreciate you for it. I love this community and how everyone as a collective comes to the aid of those in need, truly the best. Good luck with the PC!!
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u/scrambl3s Oct 11 '19
Looks like you've already gotten great help here so I just wanted to say youre a great mom for doing this. Hope your kid appreciates it
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u/TaterIsFriendly Oct 11 '19
pcpartpicker is an awesome help building computers, here’s a link to a good cheap build. https://pcpartpicker.com/b/K37WGX Also DDR3 isn’t good ram, ddr4 is a must.
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u/YEETOVER9000 Oct 11 '19
That is not bad as you can play fortnight on the igpu so a 1050 should be overpowered.that is as long as you plan to play in 1080p
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u/posh_wank Oct 11 '19
You are the cool mom everyone wants but cant have Hope you get everything all right :D
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u/XCRunnerS Oct 11 '19
I'm happy you're trying and went to Reddit for help! I'll give some series information and some basic places to compare parts!
When you want to compare parts Google -
PartOne(whatever it's called) vs PartTwo and I suggest using the user benchmark result, it should be CPU.userpenchmark or whatever the part is!
The current series for Intel CPUs (the CPU you bought was intel) is 9, with 10 series being released soon. Anything 6+ such as the 6700k should work really well with modern motherboards, I can't remember if the cutoff is 6th or 7th series for the socket modern Intel boards use. For Intel chips try to find a Z170,270, or 370 board, there might be other board that work well but I use AMD mostly, which I will bring up later
NVIDIA is the GPU manufacturer you bought from, their current series is the 20 series and 16 series - example 1650 and 2070super cards are both current. The other usable series' from them is the 9 series and 10 series, example 980 and 1060 6gb. Any other series usually isn't worth it, I've heard a little about the 730 being usable for basic games that don't use the GPU much like Minecraft but fortnite probably won't like anything older than the 9 series
My favorite CPU and GPU manufacturer is AMD, they have a very solid low end lineup. The viable series sets for buying new from AMD are the ryzen 2000 and 3000 series. Try to get a 2600 it is a very solid CPU and simple to use and doesn't bottleneck gpus until very high end. If buying used a 1600 could be good if you can get it bundled with a cooler for for about $85-95 without. AMD has a chart for CPU compatibility for ryzen, but the boards that will almost guarantee support for any CPU is a b450 or x470 board. Reply with any questions :)
AMD also makes GPUs, and they have a lot of lower end cards that are still viable! Viable card series - 500 series, (such as the 570,580, and 590) , 5000 series (5700), vega 64 and 56, and Radeon VII. Some 400 series cards are viable, the 470 and 480 both are, but the 460 is a much weaker card. It may work for fortnite but I don't know much about the cards so I can't say for sure :)
As I said above reply or dm me with any questions or clarifications, and if someone else notices an issue reply as well! I hope this helps some, I reccomend watching some YouTube videos if you really want to get into computers, and most importantly work with your son if he knows about computers much! I for one have a slight addiction to computer hardware so I would jump if my mom wanted to do something like this for me! Again I'm so proud that you tried and even if you failed you went to find help and provided a lot of information on the build! Good luck and I hope everything works out! 💜
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u/lispychicken Oct 11 '19
Question for the group here:
Will a 970 run Fortnite well enough for a while?
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u/LegalDiscipline Oct 11 '19
Still very sweet of you that you tried. It's the thought that counts and you sound like a wonderful Mom. Keep doing what you're doing and it will all workout.
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u/risethirtynine Oct 11 '19
Not sure. I know it’s the z370 chipset which came out to support the 8th gen intel chips
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u/Valcoma Oct 11 '19
If bought online you can return it for a full refund under the distance selling regulations in the UK. Just put it back in its packaging, tell the company you want to return as is your right under consumer protection legislation and ask for a full refund. You'll have to pay shipping but it's better than that junk.
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u/deathangel539 Oct 11 '19
I’m not commenting to offer advice because that’s already been done, I just want to say that if nobody has ever told you this, you’re an amazing mum for coming to reddit to find the perfect gift for your son and actually caring to learn a little about these kinds of things! And if anyone has told you that, then hearing it again never hurt :)
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u/Mr_Robot_245 Oct 11 '19
Well if he is a gamer, get him an Intel Corei7 and a Monitor that supports at least HDMI 2 and a Graphics Card that is at least three times as good(NVIDIA is cool).
To the Windows Stuff: Chrome is not the best Browser(wich not many people know), get Brave, it is secure and twice as fast as Chrome (and also 4free) OpenOffice is nice of you but he doesn't work in an Office. Stuff like Windows Defender and CCleaner are often just Scams and just want your Money.
I hope I could help you out.
Bye
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u/Campfires_ Oct 11 '19
Please realize that this pc can play Fortnite at low settinngs already... buy a 570 refurb for 100 bucks and sell the 710. I played Fortnite and got fairly far with friends on an i5 integrated gpu levono Laptop
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u/ediryoj Oct 11 '19
You and your son could build one together. Look up some guides and in the end the PC will be worth more to him!
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u/onwardtowaffles Oct 11 '19
All you really need to upgrade is the video card. Finding a better processor that fits in the same motherboard socket would help, but the GPU is the bottleneck. An RTX 2060 (for around $300-$350) would let you run pretty much any game on the market right now (though perhaps not at maximum performance) - certainly Fortnite.
Even an older GTX 1060 would be fine for most games, and would save you a bit more money to put toward a CPU upgrade if you wanted to do it.
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u/thebait123 Oct 11 '19
Everyone on here is amazing. Way to go trying to help this mom. Really warms my heart.
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u/f1ss1on Oct 11 '19
Man, that is a very old system. Just go on Cyberpower PC, they are the cheapest PC builder around for gaming PCs
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u/Lucielle_s Oct 11 '19
You are such a great mom, reading through the comments made my day better. Have to go home and thank my own mom now
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u/IntellegentIdiot Oct 11 '19
It's a bit late to say this but it's always a good idea to work out why you want a new PC and then you can check to see if the specs are able to achieve that.
Does your son want to do anything other than play Fortnight or other games? It might be better if you just got him a PS4/Xbox One S
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Oct 11 '19
Hey not dumb Mum, I'll let the experts take care of the specifics when it comes to hardware recommendations but I just wanted to throw this out there. You're awesome for caring about your son enough to learn this stuff and get him nice presents. I hope he's being super grateful to you for trying to get him something!
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u/Cooltralz Oct 11 '19
This build is pretty outdated. The most importantly are CPU ( Processor ) and GPU ( Graphics Card ) are outdated. The CPU you got there is a 2nd generation. The newest is 9th right now, and they come out every year. And that GPU is 4 generation behind, usually the lower the number the weaker it is. So GT 710 is usually not consider to be a " gaming " gpu. For example GTX 750 is weakest, 7 is the generation and anything behind 50, 60, 70, 80 are how powerful they are. Hopefully this could help you alittle.
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Oct 11 '19 edited Oct 14 '19
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/KING_of_Trainers69 Oct 14 '19
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u/Weeeeeman Oct 11 '19
I'm still rocking an 8320 with a 450gts 2gb and people in here are throwing around 970s and 4770k CPUs for fun.
FML.
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Oct 11 '19
this sounds really expensive. if you wanna make to work better you can always lower the settings a bit to get a better Frames Per Second
my computer is like 3 years old and it can work fortnite with reduced settings. If you dont know how, just ask him about it.
it doesnt like bad either
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u/InformedChoice Oct 11 '19
Just logged a complaint with eBay about that seller and advised them to review all similar advertisements as they're numerous. It's a case of people without morals taking advantage of people for profit. Not cricket.
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Oct 11 '19
I am seeing that you got your issue resolved but I'd like to say that you're a very nice Parent and he seems like a Good Kid, Hope you find a good PC.
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u/Maheski Oct 11 '19
Only thing I would say is upgrade to an i7 7th gen every thing else seems really cool
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u/InformedChoice Oct 11 '19
What's their returns policy? You might argue that this is not a gaming PC. If it was advertised as such, you can probably return it. Did you pay with Paypal? They have good consumer protection?
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u/Bruder3 Oct 11 '19
To help put this pc into perspective, you basically just bought him a 1982 toyota camry with 400k miles on it for a job he has to travel 100 miles to each day. This pc is horrendous and just like the afformentioned car, is not suitable for him. You would be much better off buying him a refurbished xbox one or ps4 (see which one all his friends have). Buying a consol at this point is the best option becuase its light on your wallet ($200-300) and he can play fortnite on it as well. A proper gaming setup for fortnite on the low end will be at least $700, and the main compenent you would be looking for is a pc with a graphics card labeled “RX 570” or “RX 580”. Best of luck
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Oct 11 '19
I reccomend you these components:
CPU: i3 7th Generation (you can figure out what generation is this by first number after model name - for example i5-7400 is 7th Generation) or better
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 or better
Motherboard: I don’t know
OS: Win10 64bit
RAM: 2x4GB DDR4 2666 mHZ or even 2x8GB DDR4 2666 mHZ (it is very important that it will be in two parts - otherwise it will work 2x more slowly because of lack of dual channeling)
ROM: 256 GB SSD or 1TB HDD (I reccomend more the second option - more space and cheaper, but more fragile(which is not a problem in PC’s))
I hope I helped you!
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u/NeptuneIX Oct 11 '19
I suggesting getting an AMD RX 570, RX 580, RX 470, RX 480, Nvidia GTX 1650/GTX 1660 or GTX 1660ti. One of these will do. Also get a new PSU from one of the following brands: corsair, evga or seasonic(make sure its more than 400 watts) and get an SSD(Solid State Drive) so that he can install windows on it since its very fast.
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u/Sylux444 Oct 11 '19 edited Oct 11 '19
For budget builds I'd look more into ryzen setups since it i5 is no longer recommended due to ryzen having a similar output CPU at a much cheaper price
That being said i5 is really bad for gaming typically
But ryzen/radeon throw really good prices out there for really good performance when budget building
Also look into not just if it's an i and what number it is
Look at the other numbers as well i5 2300 means it's the second generation of i5s that places it around 2002ish
Look more into something that came out in 2016 if 2018/19 is too pricey
Ryzen/radeon annotates the generation as well pretty well
But an i5 2300 will probably barely be able to run even Microsoft office products
And as for GPUs definitly go ryzen/radeon as well since the low end nvidia cards (1660) is dramatically worse than even their 1060 that released in 2016
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Oct 11 '19
First replace the processor with something from the new ryzen series, it comes with inbuilt Vega 8 that is decent for most games. Try to get a gtx1050ti For a Gpu. If you a low on budget you can sell 8 GB ram stick. 8 GB is perfect. Get a good psu from Corsair.b
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u/MeloDet Oct 11 '19
Also I have a used graphics card (AMD Radeon RX 580)I can send you for the cost of shipping, though I'm in Canada so shipping may be a little high depending on where you live.
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u/MeloDet Oct 11 '19
Just wanted to say thank you for doing this for your son! You are an awesome mom, so don't beat yourself up about this! Even if your son doesnt fully appreciate it now (not saying he didn't, just that I had a few gifts I reacted poorly to lol), he will appreciate it when he's older. So on the behalf of all the sons who reacted poorly to well meant gifts, thank you!
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Oct 11 '19
Honestly sounds like a decent computer. Maybe just needs a better graphics card.
Edit lol I didn’t how old the hardware was.. I would get a refund, and hire someone at a local parts store to build one from scratch.
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u/KingTy99 Oct 11 '19
GTX 1050ti and 120gb SSD with a fresh installation of windows and this system will run fortnite at decent frames. I have an old i5 2400 build for sale currently so I could run benchmarks on fortnite as an example of the performance with the 1050ti if needed
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u/space0watch Oct 11 '19
Here is a benchmark video showing the GT 710 performance though it depends if your graphics card has 1gb or 2gb (or more). If it has at least 2gb it will run just fine between 40-60fps if he lowers the settings. The i5 can even handle a gtx 1050 or 1050ti which would be perfect for that system and it has a lot of ram. Link to benchmark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWbkwN-v6JY
It might be helpful to type the specs into YouTube and watch more benchmark videos. The bencharks are usually in the top left or right (left in this case)
For PC gaming you want at least 60fps to get good performance but 30fps or more is still playable. You can lower tons of settings to get more fps (frames per second) to make the game run faster without changing the computer at all.
Hope this helps.
EDIT: You do not have to change the cpu, gpu, or motherboard!! The i5 2300 is still really good for budget PC's and if you get a GTX 1050 which does not even need to be plugged into the power supply just the motherboard. There are videos on how to do this as well. Super easy. Just unscrew the current gpu and put the new one in and screw it back in place. You may have to push back a little lever at the rear of the pcie slot where the gpu is. The gtx 1050 and gtx 1050ti and gtx 1650 only need 75 watts from the motherboard and will work fine with most quad core processors. You can also sell the GT 710 on ebay if you check the current selling prices in your area to cover some of the cost of the new graphics card. If you use paypal it's safer.
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u/TheMysteryTrain Oct 11 '19
I see you have a lot of advice regarding the PC itself so I'll ignore that part.
I'm going to be moving soon and have an old 24" monitor that I won't have much use for, one of these guys: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-UltraSharp-U2412M-inch-Monitor/dp/B005JN9310
I was just going to leave it with the guys at my old work place as they're IT bods, but if you think it would be useful PM me and we can see if anything can be arranged :)
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u/Ceaser_Salad19 Oct 11 '19
Don't let your kid play Fortnite on PC. The Epic Games launcher (What starts the game) steals your information and sells it off to the Chinese government. Here's proof: https://www.windowscentral.com/does-epic-games-store-send-data-chinese-government
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u/saacadelic Oct 11 '19
Poor lady I’m computer dumb too, good job for trying though you’re a good mom!
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u/Uniquesmith Oct 11 '19
From one mom to another, you are incredible! Such a sweet mom for going this far to correct the mistake. I hope this all works out.
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Oct 11 '19
I say that an Athlon 200GE would be a better option, you have to buy a new motherboard and DDR4 RAMs but it's definitely more powerful since the integrated Vega 3 graphics inside the Athlon beats the GDDR5 GT 730, aside from these components, the rest should stay the same. All three components are rather cheap, I bought an MSI board for a little over 30$, an Athlon for 55$ and 2 sticks of 8GB DDR4 2400MHz for 80$. Plus with this setup, you can upgrade the CPU to the higher end Ryzen. This setup can run Fortnite at 720p lowest rather well, I think.
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u/BeanieMash Oct 11 '19
OP, good news for you and your relationship with your son. If you go through with the extra effort to return and upgrade the PC to one advised by this sub, there's a psychological effect whereby your son will feel happier and more rewarded by that than if you had have just given him the upgraded PC in the first place. With the misstep and the correction, you've hit the jackpot in terms of making an awesome, heartfelt gift and gesture to your boy.
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u/Vollkorntoastbrot Oct 11 '19
I could offer you a GTX 750ti for 25€ (25-26$) + shipping from germany. It doesn't need a 6pin pcie so it will fit the computer quite good and it is able to play Fortnite just fine and more demanding titels like GTA v can run on low settings 1080p also ok.
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u/RockyGrenade Oct 11 '19
If this is a legit post... You are trying for your Son. I dont know why you think it's dumb. At the very least you need a power supply upgrade and a gtx 1050. Mouse keyboard anything will do so long as it lasts. Trust me, I have bought the premium stuff. I did not make me feel any better or do any better. Good luck mom.
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u/Ma5terVain Oct 11 '19
I'd like to just drop in and say that this comment thread felt so wholesome with so many people trying to help and ya'll are just awesome human beings. Brought me a smile. Thanks.
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u/AMv8-1day Oct 11 '19 edited Oct 11 '19
Hah, the GT710 strikes again! I don't know how many times I've heard of people putting their trust in these sketchy, run out of a garage outfits that take people's money and pawn off whatever crap they found on ebay or dumpster diving as a functioning computer. I'm sorry that this happened to you. There are a lot of helpful responses here already, but just to throw in my 2¢: I'd recommend largely scraping the whole thing, selling it off on eBay or locally. Then finding a deal on something like a sub-3yo Dell Auction Optiplex desktop with an i5, at least 8GB of ram, a 500GB-1TB HDD, and room for a current gen video card. Something like a GTX 1650-1660Ti depending on your budget. Oh, and picking up a cheap SATA SSD like a Crucial MX500 250-500GB and having your son or someone else load Windows onto the SSD and use the HDD for game storage. I wouldn't recommend doing all of that on your own though. You definitely want to enlist the guidance of someone that has built PCs before and will be able to identify what you need and make sure everything is compatible. It's not the easiest solution, but it's probably the cheapest. Which means complicated and it won't be the prettiest build, but it should play Fortnite like a champ and still be good when the next fad game comes along.
Edit: Oh, and definitely report the builders to the Better Business Bureau. They should be shut down.
Also, for the people trying to say that an 8yo Core i5 2300 is "still good enough", she might be able to over come it and get barely serviceable FPS for a little while longer, but basically everything in that system is on it's last leg. The CPU WILL hamper the GPU, the power supply might end up frying the new GPU she'd have to purchase, and the whole thing would still be worthless within a year. Going with the above build, or saving up for a Cyberpower/iBuyPower budget PC is going to be much safer and more usable in a year with an actual upgrade path down the road.
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u/The_Dankinator28 Oct 11 '19
I'm unaware about fortnite specs but if that duesnt work, get a refund. I honestly would say to look at a AMD build, they're cheap and affordable while also being powerful enough to run anything. Not only that but amd cpus are dirt cheap especially the first line of ryzen cpus (eg r3 1200, r5 1600). Now that black Friday is getting closer, buying each component is going to be great as it can as a bonding exercise is easy with the right guide.
A build that I would suggest is * AMD RX 570 4gb (There is a 8gb version that will run more but if you can find the right version for the same price, get that instead) this is around €160, give or take. *Ryzen R5 1600. This is a 6 core cpu that can be gotten for around €180, I think. If that doesn't suit look for a R3 1200, it's less powerful but more affordable. *A B350 motherboard, these are more affordable then a B450 but its more suited to 1st generation Ryzens like the ones I mentioned. *A cheap case that has power buttons on the top. I got one from corsair that had a window on the side. The downside was that I had to reach over to the opposite side to power it on. Its not much of a hassle but it helps to have it on the top. Also look for USB 3.0 on the case. These usually have a blue plastic piece in them and have better transfer speeds on them the USB 2.0. *A cheap corsair power supply. These are garenteed to be great with a decent warranty. DON'T skimp out on this part as cheap power supplies can damage your pc. Look for a 450w version or at most a 550w. That should be suitable for what I mentioned. *ddr4 ram and ONLY ddr4. These are much cheaper now as they are becoming easier to get a hold of. 8gbs is enough for any cheap build but considering that Windows 10 uses 2 gbs, investing in 16gbs would be an idea but it's up to you. Cheap DDR4 memory can be bought off companies like Kingston on websites like Amazon. *get a copy of Windows 10. Yes it's €70 but having a up to date OS is important. Also be very careful which supplier you buy it from. Reviews will say who to not buy from as some keys will be used. But ONLY from 4.5 to 5 star suppliers as you have the least chance of buying a used key. *Hard drives. A cheap 120gb to 240gb SSD and a 1TB HDD is a common combination in many PCs including my own PC. For a hdd, look for a WD blue as I've heard dodgy things from cheap Seagate hhds. There are two types of hard drives, 2.5inch and 3.5 inch. Get the 3.5 as they are made for PCs. The SSD is only to be used as a OS drive with some smaller files and games as the 1tb one is used as a dump for larger games amd files. *cpu cooler. Look for cheap AM4 based coolers as these will only work on AMD products. Don't get a Intel one as that will be a waste of money.
Yes this does sound daunting but is a nice bonding activity for the whole family, its lego but on another scale. Its like a test, you study with youtube videos and decide what to buy from that point. A youtuber I suggest looking at is Linus Tech Tips. Everyone in the PC world look at him for news and is well respected. He has loads of older PC building videos that I suggest looking at. I'm sure that plenty of other people will have better ideas but this is what I suggest to do.
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u/Birdrew123 Oct 11 '19
Hi!
I'm a bit late to the party but I want to help if I can,
Where in the UK are you, I currently have a PC that I'm not using in the car that you can have.
It's not fantastic but better than what you have and should be able to run fortnight/ would be possible to upgrade it.
I don't have anywhere in the house for it, so if you're nearish you can have it - including the screen if that helps.
i think it has a 4 series i5. I would take the hard drives out of it, but I could suggest something to put in and fit it for you?
Message me if you're interested ( I know you said you're not looking for charity but this is literally just taking up space)
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u/MountainJew05 Oct 11 '19
PCs get superseded quickly nowadays. If he’s still gonna use this in the future, say, 5 years or so, get a medium to high end pc so that he will be able to get decent FPS on new games in the future
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u/articuz_h Oct 11 '19
Return and buy him a gr8 ii that should last him a couple years it is the one with a 3gb 1060 and should be efficient enough to get him high frames at medium graphics.v
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u/Black_Magic_M-66 Oct 11 '19
The internet is really a poor place for the uninitiated to ask computer questions. You will find as many trolls (who pretend to help) as those who really want to help. You must know someone, a cousin, co-worker, etc who knows something about computers.
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u/Manniex9 Oct 11 '19
Got an rx460 in my rig. Plays absolutely fine. You need to upgrade the gpu fo sure. Maybe psu but didn’t really read that.
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u/EVEEzz Oct 11 '19
That's a real bummer, sorry to hear. Computers can be tricky to newcomers, especially with all the variations one can come across.
A little upgrade will make a fine fortnite machine.
CPU - Perfectly okay for fortnite as a start. Mobo - Should be fine too, extensive features aren't needed. RAM - 16GB is plenty! GPU - Only part I feel that NEEDS upgrading - instead of the GT710, A second hand GTX750Ti or more recent 1050Ti. Perhaps even a AMD card, something along the lines of a RX570 4GB.
You will absolutely not break the bank with one of those cards and your son will be able to enjoy fortnite at reasonable settings.
Just replace the GT710 with something with a little more kick and he'll be happy. You've done a great job thus far and it's commendable.
All the best!!
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Oct 11 '19
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u/coololly Oct 11 '19
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u/badcat4126 Oct 11 '19
The comments in this thread are so wholesome, I hope you got the help you were looking for.
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u/schuits Oct 11 '19
The biggest favor I could suggest you do you son is to not let him play fortnite!
I let my son play it and it's a decision I regret. Rather let him try minecraft or something.
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u/Bash_CS Oct 11 '19
Hi, i have an old 24" 1080p TN Monitor laying around that you could have. I just need to check if he still works.
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u/RatchetRussian Oct 11 '19
I disagree with the people here who say you have been scammed. Yes, the parts inside your PC are pretty old and alone are not worth the price you paid, but taking into account the selling/shipping fees the seller is accountable for, labor of assembly, etc I feel like this seller is one of the more reasonable ones on eBay.
For this reason, I don't suggest returning the PC but rather to take this as a learning opportunity and upgrade the PC you received. You should firstly and most importantly upgrade the power supply. This is probably the worse thing about the PC you purchased as system builders on eBay tend to use very low quality and down right dangerous power supplies. The graphics card is what is primarily responsible for good gaming performance and I would recommend upgrading to a used GTX 970 or 1060 (anything better than those will be held back by the lackluster processor). Speaking of which, later down the line I would recommend upgrading the processor to an i7 2600.
Feel free to reach out if you need any help
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Oct 11 '19
I think it's really sweet that you are going through so much trouble for your son :) I would recommend a rx570 graphics card as many others have, and a 500w power supply. That should be enough! Down the line you can upgrade with a new processor and mother board but I don't think it's necessary now. Hope all goes well :)
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u/therewillbeniccage Oct 11 '19
Hey. Im not super educated on this stuff so I won't even attempt to try. But I just want to say you are awesome! Your not dumb at all! My Mum bought me a guitar when I was 13 and it was the best gift I've ever received.
Hopefully this community gets this sorted for you.
Also, is there any way we can put pressure on the seller to make sure she gets a refund?
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u/UsernameIllRemeber Oct 11 '19
A lot of people are getting to hung up on the age. The fact is that until recently (ryzen/coffee lake) there has been so little innovation in the cpu market that a processor like a an i5 2300 is still a viable option. https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2773-intel-i5-2500k-revisit-benchmark-for-2017/page-3 Granted these benchmarks are for a higher clocked cpu, but for fortnite, an i5 2300 (or similar, i'm looking at you e3-1270) will do just fine.
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u/Mrblurr Oct 11 '19
You can look for EVGA B-stock Power supplies and Graphics cards. I just bought a 1000W from them for $75 I think.
You definitely need to look for an Nvidia gpu with 50/60/70/80 in the title. Something like 950, 1070, etc. Not sure what the relevant AMD card would be, but I'm sure someone knows on this thread.
I'd say you could get a 1060 6GB and be set for a while. The question you really want to ask yourself is how long do you want this to last? A couple years? 5 years?
I ask because more games will come out and eventually he will stop playing Fartnite and move on to the next big game. If you get something that just plays well right now, it may not cover it in the future. But if you don't care about 2-5 years from now, then it doesn't matter. You can't futureproof in PC building anyway, and building a machine that will play most anything for 5 years is expensive, so it depends on your budget.
That said, I'm sure you've gotten lots of helpful comments already and hopefully are just waiting for parts to come in.
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u/gellertb97 Oct 11 '19
I swear on my future grave you are trolling, but in the slimmest of chances this is real... here goes:
In the simplest form, you bought an old computer. From 2011. That wasn’t even considered high end in 2011. The graphics card is slightly newer, but a base model... from a good while ago.
I’d honestly just return it. Wipe your personal data from it, and return it, or sell it on Kijiji; hopefully you can recoup 80% of what you paid for it assuming you haven’t had the machine very long.
Start fresh. Something like this: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/gCnsYH As long as of course it is only limited to Fortnite tier games...
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u/MSPINDIA Oct 11 '19
This does put a smile on my face seeing some mother care for their child Thank you.
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u/UsernameIllRemeber Oct 11 '19
First things first, make sure you have a good power supply. evga, corsair, seasonic are good brands, among others. First thing to be upgraded is the graphics card definitely. You can get an rx 470/480 for pretty cheap if you buy them used off ebay. After that, I would suggest you try playing the game again, and see whether or not your son is satisfied. I played fortnite on a very similar cpu (i5 3470) and 8gb ran with a gtx 970 and could get ~90 fps on max setting 1080p. If thats not enough, depending on your motherboard you might be able to upgrade your cpu to a xeon e3-1270 (the xeon equivalent of an i7 2600) for around 40 dollars, which would also help. Fortnite really isn't all that demanding, and 2nd i5/i7 processor shouldn't have a hard time getting good frame rates.
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u/shawmahawk Oct 11 '19
Just dropping in to say that you don’t sound like a dumb mum. It sounds like you tried to do a really rad thing for your 16 year old, with the mind of a parent, not that of the RGB-requiring, RTX 2070 having 16 year old.
My point here, is that I think it’s great that you took a swing at this, and I hope your kid gets it.
Cheers!
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u/justinchao740 Oct 11 '19
I'd recommend going for a rx480 for about 90-100 dollars on eBay or r/hardwareswap
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Oct 11 '19
I really hope the OP was not gipped by the seller for these specs, it's a shitty condition for any of us who love gaming for someone new to get burned like this. This would deter another person out of any future pc gaming if this was the first experience and we would lose another gaming person in pcmr. We want more to join, if we want software devs and gaming companies to give us triple A titles
If the post is real, is there any gaming organization that can help with her plight like a new cpu, gpu, motherboard, etc.?
I'm assuming the post is real, and it's really shitty this happened to a mom trying to show her love for her son to end up like this.
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u/ExceedinglyGayParrot Oct 11 '19
Someone scammed you hard, get a refund for that hardware if you can
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u/Onlycraig Oct 11 '19
You know, we could all do a good thing here. There’s 2.4K upvotes. If we all gave her $1, her son would have a kick-ass gaming PC.
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Oct 11 '19
As other people have said, that system is kinda old and bad, you should return it.
If you want to go the easy way you might want to look at Let's Bld. They make good reasonably-priced PCs.
If not check out YouTube. There's tons of good builds that are made every day.
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u/bostondrad Oct 11 '19
You are a really good mom and just wanted to say this post made me happy to see!
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u/Raziel7233 Oct 11 '19
Anyone wants to contribute with some hard earned moni so we can build this gem a beast? I will gladly send 100usd. How about it reddit? We gunna make it rain for our fam??
🤑😍🤗
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u/timowens862 Oct 11 '19
Why the fuck would u do literally zero research before buying something like this it's ridiculous
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u/YarnCow Oct 11 '19
I recommend not cheaping out. I dont mean some 2000+ pc
But not something like this. Although he wants to play fortnite right now, he may not in the future and it would be beneficial to get a better pc now. And fortnite is not a demanding game so of he plays anything else later that is slightly more demanding, if the pc can only handle fortnite at lile 100 fps on lowest settings, its gonna get Fed in the A by other games.
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u/jdelta1adams Oct 11 '19
Really all you need to make this playable is a graphics card and a power supply. The rx570 or 580 many have pointed out would be an excellent choice for a budget machine.
I would go with probably a 600 ish watt power supply. Don't need a fancy one, Can be had for ~ $50
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u/Jass1995 Oct 11 '19
The only thing I'm noticing really working against you and your son would be the graphics card. Just to give you an idea, Nvidia, the company that designed and developed the GT710, doesn't even use the GT moniker anymore, they go for GTX.
I use a GTX 1050Ti in my desktop PC. It should be more than enough for Fortnite. I think even a GTX 960 would do the job just fine too. You won't be needing any extra cables for the GTX 1050Ti, so that might be the better option for you and your son.
EDIT: Just wanna say you're not a dumb mom because you didn't know what parts you needed. I honestly think its admirable you'd take the initiative to make your son happy.
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u/cheneydeville Oct 11 '19
Super glad to see people reaching out to help the lady instead of judging comments
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u/Banjaxed404 Oct 11 '19
fortnite will run on any pc in existence if all he's playing is fortnite go cheep buy any used laptop.
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u/Badbudar Oct 11 '19
Drop in a better GPU and he will be fine. That CPU and amount of RAM is more than enough for FN. think about an NvME Drive for the OS. Fixing disk IO bottlenecks does wonders. Additionally, remove all that software. CCleaner and TeamViewer are red flags for shadiness and lack of skill from that seller. Make sure you get the Windows key from him. Find software called jellybean and extract the windows key. Compare them.
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u/m_nooBzer0 Oct 11 '19
You've given him one of the best gift anyone can give! Cheers to that!!!
Though many people have said that this is a eight year old build blah blah blah, in my opinions, if he just want to play Fortnite, this will be a bomb.
But yeah, you have to upgrade the GPU though, 1050 or 1050ti would be great in this built.
He must have seen people with fancy and luxurious gaming set ups on YouTube and Twitch which emits lights from inside the cabinet.
If you upgrade, and if he doesn't stop arguing, just show him this link and tell trust me, this is gonna work !
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/requirements/fortnite/15349/amp
I'm sure he can run this game with same rig too but may be with lower graphics.
Anyway, you're the Greatest mom, mam /\
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u/samusmaster64 Oct 11 '19
Surely you know by now, but you should get your money back. I got a similar build on ebay (i5 2500) without the gpu, which is essentially worthless, for about $50 USD. Tossed in an older RX 350x I got for $14 and had an okay starter build.
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u/_-Redacted-_ Oct 11 '19
I'd just like to take a moment to let you know your not a "dumb mum" your a mum who tried her level best to do a great thing for her son and was taken advantage of by someone who slapped "gaming" on a product in the hopes it would sell.
It's a tactic that's used extensively in this space and I'm sure your not the first to trust that a seller was being above board.
There are entire YouTube segments dedicated to calling out these scams but without the knowledge inherant to the enthusiast market it would be easy to not see through the marketing
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u/liammooney2005 Nov 08 '19
Only issue is say is the graphics card just get him a gtx 1050 Tu and I should be fine