Returning Player. used comp purchase decision need assist

New Citizens Q&A
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Hi folks. Old comp finally died so new(used) comp hunting.
I set my budget at around $700 but always had a few things I wanted to upgrade so instead of that I just upped my budget.
New budget around $900. This is what I’m looking at.
Question: does it look like a good buy? Haven’t built/purchased a comp in about ten years.
Processor:
7th Generation Intel Quad-Core i7-7700 3.60 GHz Processor (4 Cores 8 Threads, 8M Cache, up to 4.20 GHz)

Storage Drive:
256GB Solid State Drive + 1TB (7200 RPM) SATA Hard Drive

Memory RAM:
24 GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2133MHz

Graphics:
AMD Radeon RX 480 with 8GB GDDR5

Operating System:
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Ports:*
7 USB3.0
2 USB2.0
Thanks

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Not my area of expertise, but as a thought: that 7th generation Quad Core i7 is four years old - and the world moves on. For the same price you can get a 10th generation i5-10600K @ 4.10GHz, a six core chip a much better performance.
The comparison is: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i7-7700-vs-Intel-i5-10600K/2905vs3735

Now, that’s not a definitive answer - but it does mean that there are likely to be better more cost effective processor options for you.

A quick look at the video card as well: that’s another four year old component. Judging by benchmarks alone a GeForce GTX 1660 out performs it and is cheaper. And being a newer card it’s likely to be supported for a little longer.

24GB of memory is excessive for now. 16GB is more than adequate, but configure it so you have free slots and can drop more in later (when you actually need it and when it’s cheaper).

I’d not want to go back to having a spinning metal HDD, SSDs aren’t horribly expensive compared to HDDs any more - I’d only go for an HDD if I’ve a need for “silly amounts of storage” (dozens of TB). But I suspect for most needs a well configured SSD/HDD pair is fine. I see a lot of builds like that.

It feels somewhat as if you remember what good was from five years ago and haven’t realised that things have really moved on a lot (I’m guilty of the same thing. A quick bit of Google gave me: https://digitaladvisor.com/pc-builds/for-700/ which may be a thought (AMD caught up and arguably passed Intel…)

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It will be only EVE machine or you will be doing something else on it? Some sort of work or only gaming?

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Thanks I’ll check this out after work.
Man I’m ten years behind computer building.
I didn’t realize the i5 was compatable. Totally took those out of my search but I wasn’t seeing any above 3.2 - 3.4 in my price range.
Thanks

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The most demanding will certainly be Eve. I will be using it for entertainment like Netflix ect but that was working fine on my old system.

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If you are reusing a motherboard then you may need to worry about compatibility (Google is your friend). But beyond performance (cores/caches/threading) there’s no fundamental differences between the Core processors. A more recent generation will out perform an older chip of the same variety.

I’d not want to reuse an old motherboard, that’s going to be a false economy against something with a longer life.

I’m running on an old 3rd (if I remember) generation i5. Best part 8-10 years old. I’ve upgraded to an SSD and a 1050 Ti card. It’s happy. I’m happy.

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Sorry compatable was the wrong word. I thought the i5 was outdated and buying one would put me further behind than the i7 (2017) I am looking at.

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In each generation Intel do i3, i5 and i7 chips. The number indicates the generation, i5-3xxx is a third gen. chip, an i5-10xxx is a tenth (current) generation chip.
There are design improvements between generations and critically a reduction in component size on the chip permitting more “stuff” on the silicon and lower power consumption (normally outweighed by the more stuff!).
The last three digits used to be clock, but that seems to not apply any more…

On a reasonable budget, the i5 chips are often the sweet spot for cost/performance.

Also, don’t just dismiss AMD: their current processor lineup is getting good reviews and they are the same architecture so will happily run Windows and Windows based games.

Eve Online isn’t a hugely demanding game for a modern PC - though you will benefit from a better graphics card: Eve is pretty when the settings are all at maximum.

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This very much. OP don’t think you “need” an i7, you just don’t. Cost/performance is fine on the i5. Only if you do specific stuff like running games in 4k, lots and lots of video editing or perhaps streaming “professionally” or something like that is where you’d really need an i7.

The i3 is meh, the i5 is the sweet spot for normal users. I run an i5-8400 with 16GB ram and a 1070Ti on a 1080P screen. It runs everything smoothly.

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Thanks folks. This has helped the search out a lot.
I’m trying to find a decent tv to use as a monitor.
When I played last in 2017 I used my 40inch tv and it worked …okay. The size made up for any faults. To me anyways.
Now I’m checking out TVs good for gaming in the $300 range and they look amazing.
Any do’s n don’ts I should look out for?

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