It's been several days since my last post on here. I've been really busy with ordering stuff for my upcoming budget gaming PC and doing tons and tons of research on my PC, especially when it comes to the GPU that I'll be getting for it. I figured I'd give you all a quick update on what all has happened with it and what I've found out since ordering it.
First, everything that I've ordered has now been delivered to me except for the most important part, the PC itself lol. My monitor was the first thing to come in which came in Wednesday. I paid $55 for it shipped and I'm very impressed by it. It's a 24" 60 Hz 1080p monitor and the picture looks pretty damn good for a monitor in this price range. I could have opted for a brand new version of this monitor (instead of the used one that I got), but sadly I didn't have the extra $15 to get a new one. I talk a lot about budget gaming, but now you know what kind of budget I really have lol. I hooked it up to my terrible laptop and while my laptop struggled to display anything at 1080p, it had a great picture. Overall the monitor is a bit bigger than I thought. I'm really happy with it!
Second, both my HDD and my USB wifi adapter came in the mail just today. I only paid $2 (which included shipping) for the USB wifi adapter and it seems just fine (and brand new). Since I don't have home internet (and have to use my neighbor's wifi) it was something that was an absolute must have for me. As long as it works, I'll be happy. My HDD, however, really surprised me. I ordered an $8 "Major Brand" 7200 RPM 500GB HDD. It was the cheapest HDD that was available on eBay at the time I ordered it (or at least a 500GB one). I didn't expect it to be very good. When I opened the package, I was greeted by a 500GB Seagate Barracuda HDD. This thing was both in flawless condition (pretty sure it's brand new), and it even came in a brand new anti-static bag (I just checked the listing now and it turns out that it's not a used HDD, but an "open box" one so that might explain that). This exact HDD sells for around $38 on Amazon plus shipping so I got a damn good deal on a good HDD.
Third, my PC itself. My Dell Optiplex 7010 MT is scheduled to be delivered on Monday and I've been so excited to get it that I've tracked where my package is no less than 15 times today... and no.... I'm not even joking! I have everything I've ordered except for the most important thing lol. In fact, I just checked it now and it actually seems like it could even be delivered today (fingers crossed)! Once I get this thing and play on it for no less than six hours, I'm definitely going to make a post about it and probably several more after I get my GPU for it.
Lastly, I'll be ordering both a cheap gaming headset as well as a GPU for my PC (hopefully this coming week). For a couple days my initial thought was just that I'd probably get an RX 570 4GB, but I realized something from the endless hours of research that I did, most full-lengthed GPUs won't fit in it without removing the HDD cage in it. It seems like any GPU that's 10 inches or longer simply won't fit due to the HDD cage being in the way. The best deal currently on a used gaming GPU is an RX 480 8GB for only $90 with shipping! It performs almost as well as an RX 580, uses less power than an RX 580, and has 8GB of VRAM which a few modern games can use most of that on ultra settings, so it seemed like a cut and dry decision until I learned about the possible card length issue. I have a few options here. 1) I can buy that GPU and hope that my neighbor will let me borrow his cordless drill to drill out where the HDD cage connects to the case. 2) I can buy that GPU and a rotary tool kit ($26 on Amazon) and just do it myself, but I really don't want to have to spend extra money on something like that since I'd probably only use it once. 3) I could simply buy a shorter GPU and not have to worry about any of this. Right now, this is the option I'm leaning the most towards. Once I get my PC, I'll be able to measure to see for sure how long of a GPU will fit inside it without any modifications.
If I decide to go with a shorter GPU, there's only a few options that I could go with besides getting a low profile or mini ITX GPU which tend to be WAY over priced. One of those being a Sapphire Pulse GPU or a Gigabyte GPU as both the RX 570 and RX 580 variants tend to be right at 9 inches in length which would be perfect for my build. I've checked all the other major brands: MSI, XFX, PowerColor, and other Sapphire cards... none of them seem like they would fit. Ideally, I'd love to get a Sapphire Nitro+ simply because, from what I've read, they have the best cooling and even have easily interchangeable fans in case one of them ever goes out, but I digress. At this point, I may just get an RX 580 8GB because I'd really love to have 8GB of VRAM as well as the fact that it's the best card that I can get within my budget.
Well that's it for the updates! I'm pretty tired so I'm going to get off of here for the night (plus it'll keep me from constantly checking where my package is lol). I'm excited to not only be getting a, MUCH needed, upgrade over my current POS laptop, but one that I'll soon be able to run any game that I want on and actually have fun again!!!
As always, I wish everyone the best! I'm sorry that I haven't posted anything in several days, but I'm sure you can understand.
...and of course, have an awesome day! :)