I’ve recently started to get into playing more games on my laptop. Currently the laptop I use is limited in terms of specs and really only designed to do basic tasks on, but light gaming is still pretty good. I’m able to play Fallout New Vegas and a few other small games work well too. Lately though I have been getting into emulation and playing old games from my youth. Quite a few games work fine, but when I try to play something more demanding like COD then I find my PC really struggles. I am loving emulation and feel like getting more into PC gaming as a whole.
I have done some research and found some mini PC’s people online have used for emulation that work well like the Beelink SER5 Mini PC on Amazon. What I am wondering though is if it will be more worthwhile to spend a bit more and build a similar PC with the same specs that I can upgrade later. I popped into PC picker and put together a build that I believe replicates the specs of the mini PC, but I wanted to get some feedback on if this build would be good for emulation of PS2 and PS3 at 1080p as well as average Steam gaming. I am trying to keep my budget under $600, so the absence of a graphics card is intentional. I am hoping that I can get away without one now and invest in one in the near future.
Your PC Partpicker list won't work without a GPU. You need to replace the CPU with something that has integrated graphics like the 5600G.
At this price range I would recommend looking at used or refurbished options since they are much better value.
Edit: a 500 build
You can build a perfectly fine gaming PC with a decent GPU for $600, that will blow any mini PC out of the water. If performance is more important to you than a small form factor, that is the way to go.
You can get a refurbished computer for the same price as a beelink:
$170 HP Elitedesk 705 G4 AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 3.20 GHz 16 GB 256 GB SSD Windows 10 Pro
The build isn't that bad, but the 5600x has no integrated graphics. consider a model with a G. the case isn't that bad but $70 (i assume canadian but still) is a lot for case for starter pc (though it will be nice to build in, i'll give you that).
the average steam gamer uses a Geforce 1650 as a GPU. have you looked at second-hand prices for those? they're not really that powerful but they'll get you gaming in 1080p.
Thanks for your feedback, I made some changes based on your recommendations
. Does this look like it would work better? I wanted to pick a case I could build more in in the future. I would prefer to buy parts that are more future proof and would make it easy to upgrade the system when I have more money again later.
Better for the CPU yes. Honestly given the meagre savings on the case I recommend going with the original one, you're right that upgrades will be nicer.
I don't know if the 5600G has already a heatsink in the box. If it does, AMD stock heatsinks are very capable and you do not need an aftermarket one for this kind of workflow.
Do you need WiFi? Motherboards are generally cheaper without (though exceptions exist) and WiFi is generally of lesser quality than wired.
I again recommend searching Craigslist or your local alternative for a second hand GPU. GPUs from the 10xx (1070, 1080, 1080ti if you find one) series, the 1650, or possibly a cheap 20xx (2060, 2070, 2080) series can go very far (though avoid 1030's at all costs, they are absolute trash). On amd's side these would be equivalent to the 5xxx series (5700 mainly). given your budget, you're trying to find these for less than $200 CAD, which isn't unheard of but definitely on the "what a deal" side.
You can get a RTX 2060 for $200. You won’t regret getting an actual GPU for PC gaming or emulation at 1080p.
