$500 Workstation + Gaming PC

As we all know that GPU prices are just absurd right now, so I decided to build a used Workstation + Gaming PC without breaking the bank. 

1) The main PC :
I am a huge fan of pre-built workstations like Dell's T series and Lenovo's S series. So, i jumped into Ebay and searched for a workstation and I found a Lenovo S30 Workstation with a Xeon E5-1620 CPU, 16 GB RAM, 2 TB HDD, Ouadro 2000 GPU and a 128 GB SSD for $300. It is not a bad deal considering that it has a good capacity HDD with an SSD.



2) The Upgrades :
CPU :
I decided to upgrade the quad-core E5-1620 with a better 8 core E5-2670. The new CPU has a clock speed of 2.6 GHz and turbo upto 3.3 GHz. It has 8 cores and 16 threads and costs around $90-$110. It is very good for rendering and editing and not too bad for gaming too. 
GPU :
And for the GPU, I found an EVGA GTX 770 4GB for $100 on craigslist. On Ebay I saw a listing for the same card for $117. If you don't play games then the included Quadro card will do just fine for video editing and rendering purposes. You can also upgrade the RAM for very cheap as this PC supports cheap ECC memory.


Benchmarks :
Cinebench R15 Multi-Threaded - 1039
MS-Excel 2013 Monte Carlo - 2.9 s

*PUBG 1080P not 1090P

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$350-$400 Gaming PC for 2018

After a long wait AMD has finally released their Ryzen APUs. Both Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G are great for a budget build. So, I am presenting you a cheap and good $350-$400 Gaming PC.

CPU:
The CPU I have decided to go with is the Ryzen 3 2200G. It costs just $99 and is great for our build. It has the following features:-

• Built-In Radeon Vega 8 Graphics
• 4 Cores UNLOCKED
• Frequency: 3.7 GHz Max Boost
• Socket Type: AM4
• Thermal Solution: Wraith Stealth Cooler

 Motherboard:
The Motherboard I have chosen the MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX Motherboard. At the time of this writing, it only costs $55 after a $20 rebate. It has 4 DIMM Slots and supports up to 64 GB of memory. It has both Raid Support and Crossfire Support.

RAM:
Since DDR4 prices are over the head right now, I picked the cheapest 2x4 GB kit available. At the time of this writing, the cheapest 2x4 GB kit is the G.SKILL NT Series 8 GB (2x4 GB) kit. This ram is only 2133 Mhz but it can be overclocked up to 2666 Mhz.

Storage:
For storage, I went with a SanDisk SSD PLUS 240 GB SSD. It is fast enough for an SSD and costs about $69(LOL). If you want then you can add a Seagate Barracuda 2 TB HDD which is just $54 right now.

Case:
For the case, I went with a Cougar MX330 ATX Mid-Tower Case. This case just costs $24 and has good features for the price like 2 front USB 3.0 headers, high motherboard compatibility, etc.

PSU:

For the PSU, I have chosen the EVGA BT 450W 80+ Bronze Certified PSU. It is from a reputable brand and can provide more than enough power to our system. It costs just $20.

Benchmarks:-

Cinebench R15 Multi-Threaded : 581

3D Mark Firestrike : 2751

Witcher 3 : 34.1 FPS

Doom : 23.0 FPS

CSGO : 114.5 FPS

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