My son wants to get a gaming computer, primarily to play Minecraft: Java Edition, DOOM (2016) & DOOM Eternal.
He (w/some of our help) definitely does not have the budget for DOOM (2016) & DOOM: Eternal. But does anyone know if this HP Pavilion Desktop will be able to handle Minecraft: Java Edition?
First, look at a few web sites that "can my system run this" and the games themselves. These will tell you the minimum and recommended specifications to play the game(s). Then use that information for prebuilt gaming rigs.
If looking for a gaming rig...I'd start looking at the pre-assembled rigs from ABS, CyberPower and other brands like those. I'd stay away from the OEM gaming rigs (hp, dell and the like)....as most of those still use proprietary components. Whereas with the ABS and CyberPower brands....they use all alter market hardware, including cases. RGB fans and PSU's. You have to take into consideration that these type of gaming rigs, while using after market hardware, that hardware is on the lower spectrum of the build component scale.
Start looking at newegg.com for those brands and just start comparing what hardware each has versus price. Now the thing to keep in mind is; PC components pricing has gone through the roof due to covid and in the USA with the new tariff laws that were enacted.
I would not think so because it only has the graphics integrated in the CPU. For any gaming above Facebook games like Candy Crush, you are going to want a discreet, separate graphics card. Now, some of the retail off-the-shelf computers can be upgraded by dropping a video card in them (if they have the proper PCIE slot and power connector from the power supply). But you have to be careful and make sure it has a powerful enough power supply to handle it. You need a minimum 500 watt power supply to upgrade with a single graphics card.
The computer you linked to has a 180 watt power supply
My son plays Minecraft on a HP Desktop SFF, 2nd Gen I5, 8 GB of DDR3, running Ubuntu 20.04. He also plays it on an HP laptop with an A8 processor, 8 GB DDR3, running Windows 10. The desktop is using onboard Intel graphics and the laptop is using the graphics on the chip.
Minecraft seems to run on just about anything. My son just told me it runs at 60 FPS on the HP Desktop.
Pretty much any PC will handle Minecraft. Doom 2016 would be the challenge and you'd want a midsize GPU for that. Or if you decided on a laptop, you'd want one with a dedicated graphics card.
DOOM (2016) System Requirements
Good luck :)
sygnus21 makes a good point. In the system requirements for Doom there were links to some pre-built systems that would do what you want and were way better than the HP you asked about. The price was better too.
I haven't played any games in like almost a whole decade, but I do know that getting a mid-priced laptop is never a great choice for games like Doom 2016. There's no doubt that a similarly priced desktop with a dedicated graphics card will always be much better for any games that can benefit from having more processing power on tap, especially in the graphics department of course. As long as the CPU choice doesn't create a serious bottleneck that holds the GPU back noticeably, the GPU is the most important asset for running these type of games without sacrificing too much on the game's own graphics quality related settings/adjustments. But a desktop isn't a laptop so, if gaming on higher than the lowest graphics quality settings with these types of games that are more or less "demanding" isn't the only thing that's important to you, then getting a good laptop can still be a worthwile buying decision, as you can't really carry a desktop with you everywhere you want to travel.
I would just like to add that, depending on what your budget is like, right now the generalization of "you'd want one with a dedicated graphics card" doesn't necessarily always apply to laptops anymore. I mean, everyone wants one with a dedicated graphics card. But that doesn't also mean that getting one with a dedicated graphics card will always be the best choice, even if it's going to be used for gaming. Please see my specs. You know as well as I do that there's always going to be more than a few clever salespeople who will insist on selling the kind of similarly priced laptop that does have a dedicated graphics card, yet, the reality is that the dedicated graphics card that's inside there actually is significantly slower than what I have. Which isn't very special in any way, I am sure you will agree. My little piece of advice to those who must have a laptop is, don't be so easily fooled with common, outdated, misconceptions about the performance of integrated graphics vs that of a dedicated graphics card. This thing beats the vast majority of similarly priced dedicated graphics card type of laptops in gaming, contrary to what you might assume. That's just because Intel mobile 11th Gen CPUs with Iris Xe are not really comparable to the older generations, also including from AMD (Ryzen 5). I'll just leave this on here like this.
My head hurts!
These are the parts I'm leaning towards:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600
Mobo: ASUS Prime B450M-K or MSI B450M Pro-M2 MAX
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8GB or Patriot Viper 4 8GB
PSU: Corsair TXM Gold 550W
Unfortunately, price is an issue; but I think these should be good for his 1st build.
I already have a HDD he is going to use, a DVD-RW (if he wants) & I'll let him pick-out the case.
I'm just stuck on the video card. He doesn't need top of the line, but something that will last awhile.
Last edited by CJW; 26 Jan 2021 at 15:51.
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