With this sort of a budget, I highly recommend against 4k. At the moment, it’s unlikely OP could push 1080 on most games. Spending extra on the monitor isn’t really an option here. I do understand the benefit of a 4k display though. It is nice, but putting together a full system for $500 is not an easy task to begin with.
That’s the thing. You say “no GPU”, and I understand you mean no discrete GPU, but AMD’s APUs have always been known for being pretty badass when it comes to performance in a small package. I think you’ll be pretty satisfied with the performance if you go with a 2400G. The benefit of using one of those is that if you decide to get a powerful GPU later, you can. That will also allow you to upgrade the CPU to a non-G sku (more cores or whatever).
Additionally, it’s important to note that with an APU like the 2400g, you’ll see larger benefit from high frequency RAM. getting memory that does 3200mhz vs 2400mhz is going to make a significant difference in your gaming performance.
EDIT: Linking to anandtech.
While this is comparing mostly iGPUs, you should take those 1030 scores with a pile of salt. expect a good variance on what you can actually pick up because nvidia rolled out a lower performing card and called it the GT 1030 and kept the same SKU. Shady, but it is what it is. source
I asked this a few days ago. I think the motherboard needs to support HDMI 2.0 or display port? to run the desktop using the 2400G at 4k60. As far as I know we don’t have a B350M with HDMI 2.0
Is there a reason to believe 2400G cannot into 4k60 desktop (think text editors like visual studio code and web browsers like Firefox). IIRC Wendell used to be enthusiastic about 32" 4k monitors. Maybe it is worth it. With HDR10 being a focus, maybe the older 4k displays can be had for less?
Another 2400G owner here (on my HTPC) and I have been very impressed with the APU running with 3200MHz RAM. You can also stuff this into a really small system (see In Win Chopin case) and still have a little OC headroom. But choose the motherboard carefully in this instance, as I get terrible vdroop under load when I set Vega to 1300MHz and the SoC voltage to 1.2v (Gigabyte GA-AB350N-Gaming WIFI).
I do mean to pull the box out and do some more in-depth testing with it, but I’m lazy, and it works right now.
My Omen is 32" and 75Hz with FreeSync = $250 on sale. The performance hit going from 1080 to 1440 isn’t bad but the quality is much better. I was using a 32" TV as a brief experiment because my 75Hz 24" monitor was getting too small for my old eyes to read. That TV actually damaged my eyesight to the point where I went to the optometrist. Once I got a proper monitor again, my vision problems disappeared. 75Hz is way better than 60 Hz. Better than pure numbers would lead you to expect.
Even at 32" the QHD picture quality is amazing! It’s hard to see pixels in a static Windows display (I mostly do Photoshop and CAD, not gaming). In an animated game the pixels are completely imperceptible, and gorgeous. Standard 1080 HD at 32" is barely tolerable. I would say it’s the upper limit for pixel density.
I like to say that 2560x1440 is more like “a little less than 4K” instead of “a little better than 1080p”.
My rationale is that this is an extremely tight budget and if monitor is incorporated into it, it would be better to go for a less expensive, 1080p monitor and shift a bit of that budget over to getting a better PC.
That’s just my opinion though.
1440p is also a good option, as @positron mentioned.
get on ebay or craigs list and find an old business ‘HP Pro 3500 MT’ they have an i5 3470 and usually 4gb ram.
everything in it can be swapped into a new case or upgraded so find some used ddr3. 8gb or 16gb in 2 sticks and resell the 2x2gb that comes with it. Then use your SSD and a shiney new case and bang in a 1050ti ‘asus phoenix’ is my personal one of choice as no extra power plug and re use the HDD in the donor hp pro for bulk storage. Since you have some bits in stock at home this should cost you a lot less than your budget and leave you $150 to $200 for a decent 1080p monitor
This will also give a lot more fps than a 2400g ryzen apu
This GPU but new from like newegg it should be like under $200. this ad is overpriced
This ram upgrade
Then the case and SSD you own and sell the 4gb ram in the donor pc and whatever is left should buy you a decent 1080p monitor, possibly a used one. I found a nice acer freesync 28" for a friend last week here in England for £80 so you can do a complete pc and peripherals build for your $500 if you shop around, buy the right items and build it yourself 100%
I agree on the “buy a refurb” option as cme suggests. However I suggest stepping up to the 4th Gen CPU.
Typically these come with a Windows COA (license sticker) and you can perform a fresh Windows 10 install which activates.
Depending on where you buy, you can get a 3 month warranty. These are built to be stable and reliable. Companys sell them off after the 3 year warranty expires - not because they’re no use or broken - just because the warranty has expired.
You have a SSD to use, so just add a GTX 750ti or GTX 1050 (or ti) depending on what you can get in budget.
HP Example:
I have the same type of HP Elitedesk with a GTX 1050 ti installed. Its quite a good PC, even for new games at medium/high settings.
Here is an example Dell Optiplex 9020. Note this is the tower version, not the SFF (small form factor). The tower models have room for dual slot video cards, so don’t get a SFF.
