Best products from r/computers

Edit: prebuilt included at bottom of post.

If your issue with building a pc is taking time to select parts, you can have the friendly people at r/buildapcforme put together a list of parts for you, and then you'd only have to visit their neatly organized set of links and put the items in your cart (usually just on amazon.com and newegg.com, occasionally ebay.com as well).

As for prebuilts, just look for something cheap. Basically anything nowadays can run the games you've listed.

If you want to go for dirt cheap, and don't mind ordering parts, you can build a computer with the ryzen 3200g APU (no dedicated GPU), 8 GB of RAM, and a b450 motherboard for... cheap. Just off the top of my head... $100 for the CPU (Actually APU), 8 GB RAM, currently $30ish, though usually around $50 (and the prices are in flux right now), Almost $100 for a motherboard with wifi, though this can be $50 if you plug it into your home router with an ethernet cable. Add a $50 case, a more than adequate, good quality $50 PSU, as well as a small-ish SSD (the linked one is a 512 GB priced at $70) and you've got yourself a completed build. Note that you'll need a desk, chair, monitor, speakers/headset, keyboard, and mouse to use this as well, and a pci-e wireless adapter if you want wifi (assuming you didn't spring for the motherboard that has built in wifi.)

Edit: Ran that through a calculator. Assuming that RAM ends up costing you $50 instead of $30, and you spring for the motherboard with WIFI, your computer will cost $350 $420. A monitor, keyboard, and mouse will jack the price up another $150ish, since most decent 1080p monitors are $100 new. You'll also need speakers, or a headset. I've edited my list above to add this, but didn't factor in price. You're most likely looking at an additional $200 for perhipials, including moniotor, if you go the cheap route; this also assumes that you have a desk (any kind that will fit a monitor, keyboard, and mouse up top, in addition to your computer tower below, will suffice) and a chair to sit in.

If you want to go the laptop route, used gaming laptops with a 960m or similar dedicated GPU usually go for about $500-$600 on Ebay. Feel free to shop around; I recommend looking specifically for a model that has support for an M.2 SSD, as you can rock a small (200-512 GB range) m.2 SSD in addition to a large (but cheap) 1 or 2 TB laptop (2.5 inch) HDD. Install the OS to the SSD, and enjoy fast as hell computer speeds; install games to the HDD and enjoy vast amounts of storage for super cheap. (This can also be done for your desktop, but most laptops only support 1 SATA storage device.)

And, hey would you look at that. I forgot to include a storage device in your system build! I'll add it in and adjust the price accordingly (probably up $50, for a total of $400.)

For comparison, I found this prebuilt computer It's got a better GPU, but the CPU is a generation behind what I've listed. It even seems to come with a keyboard and mouse. All in all, a better gaming machine, but with a price tag to reflect it; It was at $580 when I posted the link. Which honestly isn't all that bad. At all.

You know what. Screw the rest of my post. Buy that prebuilt and you're all set. Well, except for the monitor. And maybe Wifi? And speakers. But still, it's a good price. Note: There's a $530 option, the GPU is a massive downgrade and it's not worth saving $50 to get it instead of the $580 computer. Although, truthfully, both will serve your needs just fine.

• Get an SSD, ASAP. Single best upgrade you can make to ANY PC - 250GB Samsung 840 Evo is $75 on Amazon, the 850 Evo is $90. If you want 500GB, you'll pay about $150 for the 850 EVO, 840 EVO doesn't have the 500GB available (Amazon shows it at $272 for a 500GB?! I think it's no longer produced)
  
  
• Max out your RAM. Your MoBo can support 32GB of RAM -- 16GB should do you plenty of good. $67 on NewEgg
  
  
• So far that's only $142 of your $350. That leaves you with $208 for a nice GPU. I have a GeForce GTX 750Ti that does great, and I'm not a gamer at all, so I really only bought it in case I decide to game later on (Dark Souls 3 will apparently run perfectly on my machine, which makes me very happy). You can get a GTX 950 or 960 under that price limit, both are mid to high tier graphics cards (980 is the highest in the series, atm [correct me if I'm wrong I don't know shit about gaming GPU's])
  
  
• If you don't want to spend $200 on a GPU, or if you can up your budget to $400, you can get both a really nice GPU and a better motherboard that supports DDR4 RAM, which of course increases the cost of the RAM, but it's all about future proofing.
  
  TL;DR: For the amount of your budget, buy the SSD and RAM I recommended. Either spend $200 on a GPU or spend $150 on a mid-tier GPU, up your budget to $400 and get a better MoBo for future upgrades. Good luck!
  
  Edit -- I just saw you have an AMD CPU. I've heard that nVidia & Intel work better together, and AMD works best with the other cards. Adjust accordingly.

Man, I just did this a few weeks ago. I got rid of the DVD drive and moved the 1TB HDD that it came with over to where the DVD drive was at and installed the Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD where the 1TB drive is now, that's because the connector where the HDD is now connected to is SATA III vs SATA I where the DVD drive is at. In other words if you want to better speeds remove the HDD and put the SSD in, then if you want the extra storage space (1TB) remove the DVD drive and put in the HDD there using a caddy.

I found myself needed the DVD drive ZERO (0) times since I've bought the laptop but everyone is different. By the way I highly recommend upgrading the RAM as well, it cost an extra $58 but it's totally worth it. My laptop, fully loaded with Norton 360, Office 2013 Pro, Adobe Acrobat X Pro, and all my other programs boots up in about 7 seconds. Here is the parts I used..

USB to SATA III cable

RAM

You need a T5 screwdriver to remove the screws to get into where the components are, I bought this set because it's handy for other things as well. BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU LOOSEN AND TIGHTEN THOSE SCREWS, THEY STRIP EASILY. Don't tighten them like the lug nuts on your car, TRUST ME!
Just use the cable and the software that came with the SSD to migrate the OS over from the HDD to the SSD, it's that easy!! If you want I can find the caddy that I used to replace the DVD drive, mine fits perfectly but I had to buy 2 because the first one was the wrong one. The outer plastic shell would not fit on the first one, but the second one fits perfectly. I can even post pictures showing you where the parts are located once you open the laptop.. Let me know, and I hope this helped!

*Edit - Found the Caddy

Definitely head to /r/buildapc when you're ready to go. As the other 2 people have said, go desktop over laptop if possible. Seriously, it's waaaay more worth it. They cited the overall cost as a main concern, but another key note is that if something goes wrong and parts need to be replaced, it's much easier to do it with a desktop than a laptop. There are a multitude of other reasons, but I won't bore you.

That said, the good news is this is an excellent time to build a PC. The current gen entry level cards are total tanks compared to last gen and priced under $300 [RX 480 and GTX 1060, don't bother going lower than that]. AMD and Intel are also both getting ready to release new processors, so you've got the pick of their competition with each other [which will probably be priced competatively as well]. DDR4 is now standard, and the price has dropped significantly over the last year or so.

Another key note is that the games you listed above aren't very resource intensive; I hover around 60 maxed on all of them, and I've got an FX8320 @ 4.5ghz and a GTX 960 4gb. This is pretty dated hardware [I need an update preeeeetty bad], and I run them without my computer breaking much of a sweat.

As for the issue of portability, chromebooks are your friend. I can't recommend them enough. You can sink a good amount into a PC, then use the leftovers to pick one up dirt fucking cheap. Many are also linux compatible if you're looking for a full OS experience, but heavily research this first. It's not as easy as writing a new OS to the ssd and calling it a day.

edit:: If you do decide to go the laptop route, this is a pretty good contender for the price - https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-NVIDIA-Windows-E5-575G-53VG/dp/B01DT4A2R4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474336950&sr=8-1&keywords=acer+gaming+laptop. But really, you're selling yourself short by buying a gaming laptop. You'll get much better durability, performance, and repairability out of a desktop.

Just know that you can really get an extremely good, top of the line PC for $2,000

I highly recommend trying /r/buildapc and /r/pcmasterrace, and check out 4chan's /vg/ if you want to see what people think about games right now.

From what I can see, you could save some money in a few ways:

• Buy your peripherals on sale; Headphones, keyboard, mouse, you can get better deals on those. I recommend you shop around in stores for some good deals.
  
  
• I believe you can get a copy of Windows 8 64-bit (home) at Staples for ~$80
  
  
• I've had trouble with EVGA power supplies before, such as 24-pin ATX not fitting into the motherboard, bad cables out of the box, etc., although this was with the G1, and you have a G5, so I'm not sure.
  
  
• You can save on RAM (three links included)
  
  
• If you're a student, you can get Microsoft Office for free.
  
  
• Your case does come with fans, but I assume you'd like the red lighting.
  
  If you're really looking to cut costs down, you could probably live with a smaller (or without) an SSD, and mod the case fans yourself with red LEDs (quite easy to do with some wire and solder), and check out /r/microsoftsoftwareswap if it'll work out for you.
  
  I saw you hadn't gotten any thought-out responses, good luck to you.
  
  P.S. On a personal note, I would recommend an NVIDIA (I like MSI) graphics card, as they perform exceptionally well for the power usage, or an AMD Radeon, which is cost-effective and I like their software interface, especially for overclocking.

League is one of the easiest games to play. My 4 year old Laptop can play it with 4 GB of Ram and an intel i3. Yes 4 GB is enough but if you can get 8 GB that would just make everything more enjoyable.

https://m.newegg.com/Product?ItemNumber=34-315-713&iscoz=true

Found this one. It has a dedicated graphics card. Won't be able to run games on high settings but it should play League fairly well. It has 1 TB storage which is pretty good. The CPU is also alright and it has 8 GB of DDR4 RAM. Alternatively if you believe he doesnt need that much storage (1 TB) you can buy him the one with 256 GB SSD storage. It would make loading LoL faster.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01DT4A2R4/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480120731&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=laptop&dpPl=1&dpID=41HfDkXXyeL&ref=plSrch
This one is 500 dollars though.

That is better, but you still run into integrated graphics which are extremely inferior to dedicated graphics.

On the product page, scroll down to "Product Features." About halfway down that list it shows "Intel HD Graphics 620." These are integrated graphics. This means the CPU is doing what a dedicated GPU would normally do.

If you see Nvidia "something" or ATI Radeon "something" these companies produce dedicated graphic cards.

I did a quick search on Amazon and found these:

Acer Aspire E5

ASUS 2-in-1

These might not be the best laptops for you, but it gives you an idea. In the names of the devices, it lists a Nvidia GeForce 940MX. Sometimes stores like Amazon, Newegg, or BestBuy might list the PC as having integrated graphics or dedicated, but it is always best to rely on your own knowledge.

Consider purchasing an external drive and do a back up NOW. They are relatively inexpensive, and space keeps getting cheaper so it is likely you can store all your legacy data in a backup on a single drive (or more than one backup on more than one drive) so the data is safe. SATA to USB is still very much alive. I recommended this and this today to someone else on reddit. This fixes the data part of this discussion, I hope.

As far as Win 10 goes, when operating on legacy and lower end equipment, Win 10 does a pretty good job. It does not follow the typical microsoft trajectory of BLOAT until the machine can actually handle it. I have found that Win 10 will sort of scale back on lower end equipment and works rather well. Further, with the Internet, drivers that are not recognized by windows as appropriate (and fully functional) should be easy to find. To this end, though, I would suggest not relying on legacy equipment forevermore; have an upgrade or replacement plan in mind.

I guess I don't truly understand what info you are looking for. Any feedback to guide the discussion?

LinusTechTips did a video on positive vs negative air pressure and found the difference in temperature settings was negligible at most. Positive air flow, however, should reduce the dust that enters your pc, assuming you have dust filters over your intakes.

Liquid cooling should not be remotely necessary. Yes, it will improve performance over air cooling, but for most users air cooling is plenty good. /u/smgswattted, are you using the stock cooler? if so, get an inexpensive aftermarket (hyper 212 evo probably still best value) instead. Make sure you also have at least one case fan.
As far as airflow, this video shows that the key factor is having an adequately sized heat sink.
Personally, I'd wager your problem stems from bad/old thermal compound (and possibly using a stock heat sink). [This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2p6Hk4IfqI} video explains what thermal compound is, and this video talks about how to apply it most effectively.
That said, /u/desuemery's list is very comprehensive/covers all the bases, but personally I'd suggest just getting that hyper 212 cooler and some new paste before getting liquid cooling or anything fancy unless you just want to be cool. That and get dust filters.

You need an SSD. HDD's are very slow on modern operating systems and will bring any PC down. I dont even know why they still put them in computers. Otherwise your specs are not that bad.

I'd get a Kingston A400 assuming you're on the cheap side, but if you want best of the best in every category you can get a Samsung one. I can help you through the installation, cloning, ext, processes if you wish once you get the drive.

Samsung: https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-250GB-Internal-MZ-76E250B-AM/dp/B07864WMK8/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=samsung+ssd+240gb&qid=1567214881&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Kingston: https://www.amazon.com/Kingston-240GB-Solid-SA400S37-240G/dp/B01N5IB20Q/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=kingston+a400+240gb&qid=1567214901&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Something like this...

https://www.amazon.com/Unitek-Adapter-Converter-Optical-Support/dp/B00GLL41MA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1549732557&sr=8-5&keywords=usb+sata

They have some without power but they are for 2.5" drives. You will need one that has power. Or you could by a dock like this https://www.amazon.com/10Gbps-Single-Bay-Dock-SATA-HDDs/dp/B00XLAZTWA/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1549732639&sr=1-2-spons&keywords=usb+sata+dock&psc=1 or a new enclosure like this

https://www.amazon.com/ORICO-Toolfree-External-Enclosure-Support/dp/B00GAML7OK/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1549732670&sr=1-3&keywords=3.5+sata+enclosure

*the above links are examples, I am not saying these are the best quality or best price.

What the guy said, cooling can be fixed with something like a cooling pad, which you can buy for like 30 bucks on Amazon. A laptop without a dedicated graphics processor for games won't be able to play very powerful things. Also since it's modern, it won't be able to run really old things (not sure how old Sims is, but you might still have problems playing it)

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-i5-8250U-GeForce-E5-576G-5762/dp/B075FLBJV7/ref=asc_df_B075FLBJV7/?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=%7Bcreative%7D&hvpos=%7Badposition%7D&hvnetw=o&hvrand=%7Brandom%7D&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=%7Bdevicemodel%7D&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583795260789354&psc=1&th=1

This is a good laptop with a little memory, but you could definitely upgrade it with a 1tb ssd or hdd and get more ram. You could also get an external drive. But this one has a graphics processor called an mx150 that can even play most triple a games at 1080p 30 frames per second on low graphics. This will play modern games, but you would need to upgrade the ram to play better games.

#1, Upgrade to Windows 10 right now. There is ZERO reason to be using Windows 8, It's all but deprecated at this point. It will detect your Windows 8 key and convert it to a 10 key. Download the iso, do an "In Place Upgrade" by mounting the iso (double click it) then run setup. Download HERE. Make sure you have a good 60GB of space for rollback if needed.

#2 Since Windows 7, drivers and libraries are cached. What you see as 4.5GB in use is not correct at all. There is likely less than 3GB actually in use, the rest will dynamically move out of RAM the MOMENT you need the RAM for something else.

#3 Don't use antivirus, there is no need these days. Windows Defender is fine. Install Malware Bytes if you need to do some cleaning, then uninstall it. (which will free up more memory)

#4 open up task manager, go to the startup tab, and see what you have that opens on startup. Disable crap you don't need.

#5 RAM is astonishingly cheap right now, but because of chinese tariffs, may be going up. You can grab another 16GB for $60. you have two slots free, Do it up. Looks like 1333Mhz DDR3. $60 for 2x8GB DDR3

Edit: #6 and if you don't have an SSD get one now, they are also astonishingly cheap. Get a Samsung, use the live data migration utility with a USB to SATA adapter. You can literally copy the entire OS to the SSD while the computer is running. Then just rip out your mechanical drive, and install the SSD in it's place. Done. Lighting fast computer. Samsung 860 Evo 500GB/ USB to SATA/ 2.5" to 3.5" adapter / Samsung Data Migration Utility

RAM: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005T63BJM (Replace what you have)
GPU: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07115GPN7

​

That's about as close as you'll get, but if you're wanting to play newer titles at graphic quality settings above medium, you'll need to increase your budget. If you're wanting hardware to play "high end games on great graphics" and 2 8GB sticks of DDR3 RAM, you'll want to save up at least $600 (accounting for shipping and tax).

Nothing will beat a wired connection. And you will never get that download speed on wifi... You have no access to your basement or attic to run ethernet? 100 feet is cheap.... Pair it with a 5 port gb switch for your desk would be a nice upgrade if needed...


With ~40 feet of distance, and everything in between like walls and doors, even with the best USB or PCI adapter, there will be signal loss.

A good way to test and see connectivity is to use your cell phone where your PC is located... speedof.me in your web browser, or the Speed Test Ookla app... Also, I know on android, you can see the properties of the access point you are connected to and see the current speed you care connected at, ( n130, dual band n300, ac900~ish)

The Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I you linked would be a decent choice, especially being it has a better positionable antenna... Anything PCI and that type of antenna would be better than usb.

TP Link could work as well

If you are going to be gaming, you can look at the recommended specifications for the games you want to play. This will give you an idea of the amount of power you will need from your laptop. Sims 4 and WoW.

The problem is trying to find a laptop with a graphics card that is suitable to play these games that isn't ridiculously expensive. You're going to want a graphics card with around 1ghz and 2gb GDDR5 for the recommended settings. I would recommend no less than 4GB memory (ram) and a 750GB - 1TB hard drive. Both of these games also recommend an Intel i5 processor or better (i7).

Just doing a quick search, this computer should be good enough to run both of those games at the recommended settings, with a 17.3 inch screen ($999). Link. If you're looking for cheaper, you can get it with a 15.6 inch screen for $100 less ($899). Link. Here is one that is even less and should be good enough, although the amount of storage worries me a bit ($799) Link. If you would post your budget it would be easier to get a computer in your range though.

The Z77 board should be completely compatible with your CPU the question is HP and other manufacturer have been known ro glue or even sodder CPUs to the boards. Don't know if they still do but they've done it in the past. While your at it get a after market cooler ideally this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005O65JXI/ref=pd_aw_sbs_1?pi=SY115&simLd=1 it cools the best for almost any price point including lower end Water Cooling systems. And it's one of the quietest. Good luck

Just buy a roll of this and run it to the room you would like to use it in.

To make it pretty, I would run the 100ft cable to the back of this

Get two more smaller Ethernet cables, run one from the outlet into this switch (any port on it) if you want more ports in the other room, and then the other short cable from the switch to your PC.

This would be the best, most professional way of getting Ethernet into your room. It'll be much more stable and provide better performance than a WiFi dongle.

You can get an Acer Aspire with a fairly new i5 and a 940mx for under $600.

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-E5-575G-53VG-15-6-Inch-Windows/dp/B01DT4A2R4

That's pretty much the best you're going to do at that budget without buying used.

You really want to pay attention to the video card and how old it is. The 940mx is bare minimum, any weaker than that and integrated graphics on a newer cpu is going to be better.

Notebookcheck is great for gaming benchmarks on laptop video cards.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-940MX.156033.0.html

If you increase your budget by a couple hundred bucks you can find something with a GTX 1050, which would be great. If you can't and you buy used I wouldn't go with anything weaker than that 940mx - try for maybe a 960m

If everything is we asked look into a chromebook, because they are the bottom $200 range computers, for under $550

I recommend these 2

Acer Aspire E 15 Laptop, 15.6" Full HD, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8250U, GeForce MX150, 8GB RAM Memory, 256GB SSD, E5-576G-5762- $560

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075FLBJV7/ref=twister_B076919RKR?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

HP - 15.6" Touch-Screen Laptop - AMD Ryzen 3 - 8GB Memory - 128GB Solid State Drive - Chalkboard Gray- $519

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-15-6-touch-screen-laptop-amd-ryzen-3-8gb-memory-128gb-solid-state-drive-chalkboard-gray/6344776.p?skuId=6344776

Lastly this one is good but it's on clearance and it's hard to find while on clearence

HP - 15.6" Touch-Screen Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5 - 8GB Memory - 128GB Solid State Drive - Ash Silver Keyboard Frame, Natural Silver- $398, it's on clearance on best buy

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-15-6-touch-screen-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-8gb-memory-128gb-solid-state-drive-ash-silver-keyboard-frame-natural-silver/6338059.p?skuId=6338059

I think the two things you'll get the most benefit from are: good GPU (for gaming) and good display (I think you'll notice the difference between a good quality display and a not-so-good one more than a lot of other things).

The Dell Inspiron 7559 and the HP Pavilion Power are both good options at this price point. For a slightly cheaper one with a less-good GPU that should still enable Overwatch to be playable in decent settings, the Lenovo Ideapad 700.

PCI has enough bandwidth for wifi adpaters. The difference is pcie has more bandwidth, but PCI has gigabit speeds, so like I said doesn't matter in this case.

And yeah, tplink is something i'd recommend. But i would recommend this instead. More antennas will provide better connection, and you're not going to be able to us 802.11ac through multiple floors.

Ok:

I've been searching around on US amazon, assuming its 500 USD.

I would say for streaming you need at least 8 gigs of ram and a pretty good processor, so like intel core i5..

Here's what I found:

Acer Aspire E 15

The reason being its pretty up to date, and it has an SSD. Also a dedicated graphics card. It's a bit over budget but I have one similar, and it works for game streaming so Audio streaming should not be a problem.

There is also a refurbished option for the same laptop:

Refurb E 15

which is just $10 over budget.

And lastly, I found the

ASUS VivoBook

It's the same price as the refurb E15 but it's brand new. Also it has USB C which neither of the previous options have.

Hope this helps.

I would definitely get a better wireless adapter if I were you. Those little usb dongles don't tend to get very good reception.. and your D-link adapter has pretty awful reviews in general.

If you don't mind spending a few bucks, I'd suggest getting a good PCI wireless card.

This one would probably do wonders for you: http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Wi-Fi-Express-Adapter-PCE-AC56/dp/B00JNA337K/

One important standout feature here is that it lets you move your antennas away from obstructions, so you'll have a clearer line of sight for your wireless signal.

Also..

• Make sure to move your router away from other electronics if possible to avoid interference.
  
• Download Wifi Analyzer if you have an android device (link) and find the least congested channel in your area. You have to change this in your router config (usually http://192.168.0.1 in your browser)
  
  

standard 'laptop' sized hard drive. 2.5" form factor. Since you already did the work to pull it out please please please do NOT put a spinning disk Hard Drive back in there. This is your chance to upgrade to a Solid State Drive (SSD)

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-500GB-Internal-MZ-76E500B-AM/dp/B0781Z7Y3S/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1541455552&sr=1-4&keywords=ssd

​

The cable actually detaches from the drive itself. It looks like you detached the cable from the board. Hopefully that can easily be put back on. There's nothing special to removing the SATA cable from the drive, just pull on that wide black part and it will come out.

Thanks for the advice! I'm going to be buying this 400W supply cause I'm cheap.

On a side note, why is power usage not really looked at or even shown in the specs of many websites? It seems like an incredibly major thing, but websites like Amazon and even the AMD website don't include it in the "specs" of the cards.

I never even considered the fact that my PSU could be limiting my current GPU, but for some reason the power usage isn't even shown on the specs on the AMD website so I have no way to check if just getting a new PSU will drastically improve my system.

Totally worth the money, it is a little bit older of hardware, but with a more modern graphics card you could play all modern games at high settings at 1080P. I'd buy it, take the whole thing apart, blow out any dust, clean it up, apply more thermal paste on the CPU and put on a new CPU cooler. AMD is known for heat issues so I'd probably get a better aftermarket cooler, the coolermaster hyper 212 is one of the highest rated ones and it's only $30 https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-212E-20PK-R2-Direct-Contact/dp/B005O65JXI/ref=sr_1_22_sspa?keywords=cpu+cooler&qid=1550607885&s=gateway&sr=8-22-spons&psc=1.

Brand wise I recommend: Asus, Lenovo, Toshiba, etc. You should browse Dealzon when you have a rough idea what you want, to help yourself save money.

And as /u/morsmage said /r/suggestalaptop is a better place to ask.

This is something I bought, it's not an i3/i5, but it's not a normal i7 either. I present the 14" Lenovo Y40 gaming laptop for $750: w/ coupon @ Dealzon. It's a dual core i7 w/ hyperthreading, so has 4 logical cores. The one I purchased I bought an SSD, but the hybrid this one comes w/ might work for you. I'm happy w/ the battery life, can get up to 4 hours or more, depending on what you're doing. If you want a better battery life get rid of any mechanical HDD, and get an SSD. I personally bought this one, the 840 EVO series has the lowest idle power usage: Samsung 250GB SSD. If this laptop is too much for you, Lenovo has a bunch of other decent laptops for a lower price.

PSU should be fine. around the max you could do for it. use sites like :
http://www.coolermaster.com/power-supply-calculator/

or

http://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator

both should give you around 250W of needed and recommmend 300W PSU, but if you want to get new PSU I would recommend to get 400W to 450W and not 600W that is way too big for your system.

also check that you have all cable installed to your GPU. I do not know if it needs 6-pin additional power cable. If it does and your PSU do not have it then you need new PSU. also if you go for getting new PSU. get something like this: https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Warranty-Power-Supply-100-N1-0400-L1/dp/B00LV8TZAG/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1482836063&sr=1-2&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_two_browse-bin%3A6906983011

corsair is decent brand as is EVGA, do not get any no brand PSU. Also check carefully that you new PSU has all the connections your computer need it is HP prebuilt one and they might have some kind of propietary connectors there.

your problem is not likely to be with the PSU, but graphics drivers. here is some kind of guide.

1. Connect your GPU to your motherboards slot and you should see the the picture.
   
2. download display driver uninstaller from here : http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html
   
3. download latest catalyst/crimson/whatever amd GPU drivers are called today
   
4. run DDU and follow its instructions. You should go to safe mode to remove all drivers.
   
5. then connect back to your new GPU and install latest drivers.
   
   
   that worked for me on spring when I moved from GTX 660 to GTX 970.

For heavier gaming focus: (good price btw)


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B074Q54GSR/ref=mp_s_a_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1521752253&sr=8-9&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=laptop+nvidia&dpPl=1&dpID=51RRmfUEm-L&ref=plSrch


More class focused, can still play some games:


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B075FLBJV7/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1521752366&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=laptop+nvidia&dpPl=1&dpID=41HfDkXXyeL&ref=plSrch


Really good middle ground, good Graphics card for gaming, you do lose the SSD in favour of a bigger graphics card though so not as good for day to day tasks


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06XFG7157/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1521752410&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=laptop+nvidia&dpPl=1&dpID=41zfabBnrLL&ref=plSrch

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00AWRUICG/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1449729777&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=ethernet+over+power+adapter&dpPl=1&dpID=31IYBNuPwFL&ref=plSrch

This one will work fine, honestly most power line adaptors will work for you. Be sure to order from somewhere that offers returns. You'll need to be sure that both adaptors are plugged into the same wall circuit. The only way to check without trial and error with the adaptor is by flipping fuses with something like a lamp plugged into each outlet you intend to use. If you flip a breaker off and both lamps turn off they are on the same circuit.

I got the best $800 laptop that I recommend a lot to people on that subreddit, it's highly rated and popular, premium features galore. Suitable for anyone.

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-763BLK-Full-HD-GeForce/dp/B015PYYDMQ/ref=zg_bs_565108_10

Edit: Also, your current graphics card is not removed. I've drawn a box around it in red. It may not be functional, and it's certainly not worth using anymore, but it's there.

You don't need to factory reset it.

• Download a windows installer and put it on a USB drive.
  
• Buy a cheap SSD. This one is fine for $30.00
  
• Disconnect the current hard-drive and connect the SSD instead.
  
• Insert your USB and install windows. (you may have to change the boot priority from the BIOS, but it should boot the installer from the USB.
  
• You should now have a usable Windows 10 computer. You don't even have to pay for Windows yet. If you're real budget conscious, you could try to extract the Windows key from your old hard-drive. I've done this successfully twice.
  
• Browse r/hardwareswap until you find a GTX 1050ti for under $100. I saw one go for $75 3 days ago.
  
• Install that.
  
  Now you have a perfectly fine gaming PC. You'd have to spend $500 to build something that will outperform this $100-$130 version.
  
  If you really don't want it, you can drop it off at my place. I'll put it to use. ;)

You can probably find a decent laptop for $500. It won't have a DGPU, but if you buy a modern one the integrated graphics should be good enough for very basic gaming.
This way you won't have to worry about the cost of a monitor and such.
Here is one for $550 that has a dedicated graphics card if you really want one, although it's not very good.
If you need under $500, here is one without a dGPU but should do a decent job.

Indeed, heres a cheaper GPU bracket too:

https://www.amazon.com/upHere-Graphics-Anodized-Aerospace-Aluminum/dp/B079HSVSLR/ref=asc_df_B079HSVSLR/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309743296044&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10665687362373943921&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007224&hvtargid=pla-571699433718&psc=1

​

Its a good idea as you will face some major sag.

​

You may also want to get something to better organize your cables:

https://www.amazon.com/Viaky-Adhesive-Backed-Adjustable-Management/dp/B01M6U9Q9C/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=cable+management&qid=1571599718&sr=8-8

​

There are other options for making your setup look a little more tidy like cable raceways:

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Raceways-Concealer-Wall-Raceway/dp/B07KBYFQY8/ref=asc_df_B07KBYFQY8/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309750549985&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17039843953418155208&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007224&hvtargid=pla-582137656261&psc=1

Some coolers can get quite large, make sure you have enough space in your case. Some of them also require access to the backside of the motherboard to install.

I recently did a build for my friend, using [this cooler](http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Contact-Heatpipes-RR-T4-18PK-R1/dp/B00BSKY1M4). It was for the 1150 socket, but should be similar to the AM3. The Hyper 212 EVO is an even more popular choice (performance vs money), but my friends case wouldn't fit that cooler, so I chose the T4 instead.

Some coolers orient more on cooling, and are a bit louder, while some are near silent but don't cool as good. It all depends what you want.

Yes absolutely.

However you may be better off getting a 2.5" size drive. The 3.5" drives take more power to run, and the external enclosure will require an external power source. A 2.5" drive can be run off the power from the USB alone. So if you want something portable, get a 2.5" drive for sure, or if it's just going to sit on a desk or in a closet you can get a drive like the one you linked and get an enclosure for it.

3.5" HDD enclosure

2.5" HDD enclosure

Honestly I don't really understand what you try to do but if you want to have ethernet cables go from your router to you pc and Xbox over the same cable I would suggest you get a switch, it basically turns 1 cable into multiple cables, that way you'll have internet access on both your pc and xbox and they can also communicate over your local network.

Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0000BVYT3/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1504975974&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=lan+switch&dpPl=1&dpID=41trKxv8qKL&ref=plSrch
(I'm on mobile so I can't make the text the link xD)

Edit: actually now I just realized you probably want your pc that is on WiFi to share its connection with your Xbox over a cable, if that is the case why not just use the WiFi from the Xbox? As it is the same thing (maybe even faster) as using your pc as a repeater.

Depending on what router you have an what it’s capacities are in terms of wireless. This will impact your WiFi speed and latency.

Best connection will always be cabled but this can be messy so your second best option will more than likely be using a power line Ethernet adapter.

Here is an example from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Powerline-ethernet-Adapter-TL-PA4010KIT/dp/B00AWRUICG/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541363837&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=network+over+powerline&dpPl=1&dpID=41SIVgLUmaL&ref=plSrch

i5 or i7 matters less than what generation the chip is, a current gen i5 with four cores will outperform a last gen i7 with two. For games you’d want to focus more on what GPU it comes with though.

I’ve done a bit of research on this recently, and I’d recommend this laptop as a good bang for your buck that I believe would be plenty capable of running Fortnite.

This would be a two piece setup but it supports PCIe m.2 nvme drives. It also has m key support. The first part is the drive adapter and the second is the adapter from the adapter to USB. It comes out to about 45.96 not including shipping for both parts.

https://www.amazon.com/Startech-M-2-U-2-Adapter-Interface/dp/B073W65QX6/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1504427625&sr=1-1&keywords=pcie+m.2+enclosure+nvme

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-SATA-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84/ref=pd_bxgy_147_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=G63VTGMKHZPAMDF3K5BS

I think this would do pretty well for you
https://www.amazon.com/VivoBook-Nanoedge-i5-8250U-Processor-Fingerprint/dp/B0762S8PYM/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1542051316&sr=1-2&refinements=p_36%3A-50000

If you can squeeze another $100 eventually, I would recommend getting an SSD to upgrade it with. SSD will make it much faster.

Also, /r/SuggestALaptop

Do you have an external USB to HDD/SATA reader? This is the perfect time to backup your files somewhere. If you don't have it, you should get one, it's very handy not only when diagnosing boot errors. I've got this exact model, it has been working great since two years ago.

Edit: grammar.

Hey :)

Would you consider this if you have the budget for it? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DT4A2R4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?&ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=D63V2G3K1VF23RDWZ1RY&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=6aad23bd-3035-4a40-b691-0eefb1a18396&pf_rd_i=desktop&linkCode=sl1&tag=jokerprodu03-20&linkId=a0853d0a414a45922ca9214ec5ae2a78

I dont think you can go any cheaper and still play overwatch at low settings. Here is a video about the laptop, highly recommended!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVXR05dSqrs&t=1s

Any other questions?

Actually, if you want to get wifi for your PC, you don't need to buy a new motherboard. There are wifi cards you can buy, like [this one](https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Express-Adapter-TL-WDN4800/dp/B007GMPZ0A (which plugs directly into your motherboard) (which plugs directly into your motherboard) or this one (which you plug into a usb port in the front/back of your computer).

But yes, the motherboard generally doesn't get upgraded on its own too often.

Here's the thing though, different generations and brands of CPU use different motherboard sockets, meaning that if you were to buy a new Intel CPU, it wouldn't be compatible with your current motherboard. You'd have to buy a new motherboard that is compatible with the series/generation of the CPU you're buying.

The power supply doesn't really need to be upgraded unless you need the extra wattage or you currently have a lower-quality power supply. A higher-quality PSU should last several years.

You're right about the ram - it doesn't usually get upgraded unless you need more. However, with Intel's skylake chips that came out a year or two ago, DDR4 ram became the new standard. It's not cross-compatible with DDR3, the previous standard; as a result of that, when you buy a new CPU and motherboard (if it's Skylake or newer), you'll also have to buy all new DDR4 ram as well, as you won't be able to use DDR3.

Depending on usage case, I'd say the most often upgraded part is the GPU.

Here are some options that you might find suitable:

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Notebook-i3-7100U-Processor-Keyboard/dp/B077RML4SK/ref=mp_s_a_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1536554606&sr=8-12&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=laptop

https://www.amazon.com/VivoBook-i5-8250U-NanoEdge-Fingerprint-F510UA-AH51/dp/B0762S8PYM/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1536554606&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=laptop&dpPl=1&dpID=41ep9XKCNHL&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.com/8th-Gen-i5-8300H-GeForce-FireCuda-Windows/dp/B07BP9QG2J/ref=mp_s_a_1_25?ie=UTF8&qid=1536554790&sr=8-25&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=laptop

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Touchscreen-Notebook-Processor-Bluetooth/dp/B078BQVGFV/ref=mp_s_a_1_42?ie=UTF8&qid=1536554902&sr=8-42&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=laptop

Amazon has tons and tons of these. All of the brands you have mentioned are great and more often than not build solid, well done notebooks. Something you might want to look for with the notebook is either an SSD or at least a 7200RPM drive, most of these low end laptops will usually come with a 5400RPM drive that's just super sluggish

So.. bad news. Wanted to wait a bit to see if it was just a small period of bad connection, but it's still really bad. Definitely a lot better than before, but still makes games unplayable at times and have trouble streaming video as well when the connection gets all shoddy. Think a powerline adapter would work any better at all? This one look good?

No, but I used to have a similar issue with my super fat RTX card so that occasionally the mobo couldn't detect the GPU on boot, dropping me into the bios on boot. Bought one of these and it never happened again. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079HSVSLR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Powerline networking might be an option. It uses the powerlines in your house to extend your network so you don't have wires running every which way. Here's an example of one of those products: Link

Here's one that also serves as a wifi extender if you need a better signal in a certain area: Link

https://www.amazon.com/VivoBook-Nanoedge-i5-8250U-Processor-Fingerprint/dp/B0762S8PYM/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=laptop&qid=1555618995&s=gateway&sr=8-5

​

or

​

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-i5-8250U-GeForce-E5-576G-5762/dp/B075FLBJV7/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=laptop&qid=1555618995&s=gateway&sr=8-7

​

both are great. one's got an ssd ones got a normal hdd (ssd= faster loading times)

Yeah SSDs have come down in price by a lot . It does leave a little to desire in the write department but as an OS drive where it's going to be mostly reading data. Here's the link if you're interested. https://www.amazon.com/Kingston-240GB-Solid-SA400S37-240G/dp/B01N5IB20Q/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?keywords=ssd&qid=1556762476&s=gateway&sr=8-6

You need to purchase a small ethernet switch like this:

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-GS105NA-Ethernet-Replacement-Unmanaged/dp/B0000BVYT3/ref=sr_1_6?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1496096921&sr=1-6&keywords=ethernet+switch

Plug all the cables (Roku, PC, connection to router) into the switch and you will be good to go.

This is what you're looking for.

There are other options but this one is pretty inexpensive.

Did you know Amazon will donate a portion of every purchase if you shop by going to smile.amazon.com instead? Over $50,000,000 has been raised for charity - all you need to do is change the URL!

Here are your smile-ified links:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000LGKKSU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_OF5IzbQ2DC6Z6

---

^^i'm ^^a ^^friendly bot

This one's pricier but better:

Acer Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM 15.6-Inch FHD Notebook (Intel Core i3-7100U 7th Generation , 4GB DDR4, 1TB 5400RPM HD, Intel HD Graphics 620, Windows 10 Home), Obsidian Black

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K1IO3QW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_pWh.zbSQF83MY

I recently bought the Dell Inspiron i7559-763BLK. Quite happy with it. I'm adding a PNY XLR8 480GB SSD for ~$125 since it has space for an additional hard drive. Less than $1000 without any company discounts.

I don't have personal experience, but this is usually the recommended adapter. You don't need anything fancy and unless you have fiber internet, you won't need more than the one linked.

I recommend checking out this thread as there is one important factor explained in various comments (the second has the most detail). It doesn't impede anything, just might make it a little more difficult to setup.

I just bought a 240 GB Kingston for $27 on Ebay. It's around the same price on Amazon

SSD's are pretty cheap right now.

Ideally, if you're talking about a desktop you should wire it via Ethernet cable. If that's not an option, I recommend going with a PCIe card. PCI and PCIe both deliver data faster than USB so they are a better choice, but you sacrifice the convenience of a USB adapter.

I use this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007GMPZ0A/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1415887470&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40

And it works flawlessy

Yep. Here's a really fast 120gb for $90: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-EVO-Series-2-5-Inch-MZ-7TE250BW/dp/B00E3W1726

It will improve battery life but perhaps not noticeably.

For anyone that would like to buy these for spreadsheet planning
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LGKKSU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_OF5IzbQ2DC6Z6

If you are tight on budget, [this] (https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-E5-575G-53VG-15-6-Inch-Windows/dp/B01DT4A2R4/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1487011123&sr=1-4&keywords=Acer) is pretty good. It has small capacity, but has another slot for another hard drive and another stick of RAM, so you could buy a large drive and stick it in.

Dell 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop (6th Gen Intel Quad-Core i5-6300HQ Processor up to 3.2GHz, 8GB DDR3, 256GB SSD, Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M, Windows 10) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PYYDMQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_qOPxybNQM77PB

(Comes with an ssd and has a good graphics card for the $800 price range)
(EDIT: If you want an i7 you can switch but then you get an 8gb ssd so pick your poison)

This is the one I use and it's never given me problems. It actually just plugs in and works fine. It is $8 more expensive though.

This is the list from the post. He bought the suggested parts.

Published on Jul 5, 2019

Gaming Benchmarks & Prices for this PC: https://youtu.be/L8hmFm_Z2NM Here is my step by step tutorial on how to build my $600 Spark V2 gaming PC! Links to parts, tools, and resources are below. How to install drivers on this PC: https://youtu.be/uDHeIx9CNxA How to install windows on this PC: https://youtu.be/AfC5ViBiRQM Social Media: INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/scattervolt DISCORD: https://scattervolt.com/discord TWITTER: https://twitter.com/MarcAranibar ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Parts List: Buy the CPU here: US: https://amzn.to/2RLpfGS UK: https://amzn.to/2IZGktR CA: https://amzn.to/2Xe48mu EU: https://amzn.to/2FINgcH Buy the CPU Cooler here: (optional) US: https://amzn.to/2NmbjVh UK: https://amzn.to/2YpAib8 CA: https://amzn.to/2LuP2BR EU: N/A Buy the MOTHERBOARD here: US: https://amzn.to/2Xa6VZb UK: https://amzn.to/2FJUYU1 CA: https://amzn.to/2NxkQJk (ATX version, cheaper) EU: https://amzn.to/2xjq00m Buy the RAM here: (different brand, same specs) US: https://amzn.to/2LzikiK UK: https://amzn.to/2IXjWkW CA: https://amzn.to/2JjrtJN (single stick, still 8GB) EU: https://amzn.to/2YjTgA8 (2800mhz, still fast though) Buy the GPU here: US: https://amzn.to/2ZXbCal (different model, cheaper) UK: https://amzn.to/2xmm3Z2 CA: https://amzn.to/2RLlVLI EU: https://amzn.to/2JgfXyG (different model, cheaper) Buy the SSD here: US: https://amzn.to/2Ls5ClV UK: https://amzn.to/2XftxY6 CA: https://amzn.to/2RQ59ve EU: https://amzn.to/2xlJstn Buy the PSU here: US: https://amzn.to/2XEqgWp UK: https://amzn.to/2xrGu6x CA: https://amzn.to/2XJW9gi EU: https://amzn.to/2XeVHlW Buy the CASE here: US: https://amzn.to/2XEwuWm UK: https://amzn.to/2xvOTpX CA: https://amzn.to/2NpVKMe EU: https://amzn.to/2IYym44 (Optional) RGB case fans: US: https://amzn.to/2XhH7z4 UK: https://amzn.to/2LsQmW9 CA: https://amzn.to/2XgfNMX EU: https://amzn.to/2J2T82u ---------------------------------------------------------------- PC Upgrades: If you have $25 More to Spend: (SSD Upgrade) US: https://amzn.to/2Nxsvaa UK: https://amzn.to/2Lzj8Ei CA: https://amzn.to/2RONZy6 EU: https://amzn.to/2LptJlc If you have $75 More to Spend: (CPU Upgrade) US: https://amzn.to/2XhOou4 UK: https://amzn.to/2FCNzpB CA: https://amzn.to/2XBPkxr EU: https://amzn.to/2XimLWs -------------------------------------------------------------------- PC Accessories/Building Tools: Handy Magnetic Screw Driver Kit: US: http://amzn.to/2Fdh03o UK: http://amzn.to/2FWsndf CA: http://amzn.to/2FROG3u DE: N/A Bios Speaker (for troubleshooting): US: http://amzn.to/2FokCi6 UK: http://amzn.to/2FokKOC CA: http://amzn.to/2oK2DsU DE: http://amzn.to/2FTLSmv USB Wifi Adapter: (For a wireless connection) US: https://amzn.to/2WsrqE3 UK: https://amzn.to/2JNrNDp CA: https://amzn.to/2M8FXk9 EU: https://amzn.to/2VVLEl8 PCI Card Wifi Adapter: (For a faster wireless connection) US: https://amzn.to/2XCtslr UK: https://amzn.to/2IYnnrw CA: https://amzn.to/2ZXccVz EU: https://amzn.to/2FHN65u Cat7 Ethernet Cable: (For a wired connection, fastest, plug into router) US: https://amzn.to/2W9dShq UK: https://amzn.to/2MfphaM CA: https://amzn.to/2W4XNt0 EU: https://amzn.to/2JK1DkP Windows 10 Home: US: https://amzn.to/2EByu7c UK: https://amzn.to/2HEIIWj CA: https://amzn.to/2YRlbqJ EU: https://amzn.to/2YRIxgc *Here's how to install Windows 10 for free on your own USB drive: https://youtu.be/AfC5ViBiRQM

Don't waste money on computing power which you will never need. You will probably use it to write assignments, surf the web etc. This is more than enough: https://www.amazon.com/Acer-E5-575-33BM-15-6-Inch-Processor-Generation/dp/B01K1IO3QW/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1498013428&sr=1-4&keywords=laptop

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-15-6-Inch-Quad-Core-i5-6300HQ-Processor/dp/B015PYYDMQ its a dell inspiron 15 and packs good enough specs to do everything you need it to do. It stretches your budget but you can also buy a hard drive to put in if you need more mass storage

This

You can setup a network over the power line. Check this out:

TP-Link AV500 Nano Powerline Adapter Starter Kit, up to 500Mbps (TL-PA4010KIT) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AWRUICG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_0.UkzbQ3Q9P2P

Check on the restrictions though...

What adapter?

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-SATA-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492887608&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=usb+to+sata+adapter&psc=1

Acer Aspire E 15, 15.6 Full HD, Intel Core i5, NVIDIA 940MX, 8GB DDR4, 256GB SSD, Windows 10, E5-575G-53VG https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DT4A2R4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_w.n0xbE7VWQAZ

Splurge and get this

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-E5-575-33BM-15-6-Inch-Processor-Generation/dp/B01K1IO3QW/ 1TB of storage, AC Wireless, plenty of power.

cheapest laptop that can run it

Cheap fix: https://smile.amazon.com/Kingston-240GB-Solid-SA400S37-240G/dp/B01N5IB20Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?keywords=kingston+256bgb&qid=1568935412&s=electronics&sr=1-1-fkmr0

+

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 (and a flash drive)

Ditch the 2-in-1s. Absolute trash. They only add $200 on a normally $500 laptop. Get thi instead: https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-i5-8250U-GeForce-E5-576G-5762/dp/B075FLBJV7/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1522972688&sr=1-1&keywords=acer+aspire+e15&dpID=41HfDkXXyeL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Acer Aspire E 15, 15.6" Full HD, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8250U, GeForce MX150, 8GB RAM Memory, 256GB SSD, E5-576G-5762 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075FLBJV7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_taJ4BbKKGR0DM

Here you go brother

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0762S8PYM/ref=pd_rhf_ee_s_vtp_ses_clicks_0_2?ie=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0762S8PYM&pd_rd_r=JB6ZMTR6H75Q8H152NYW&pd_rd_w=gW8kG&pd_rd_wg=FZlfc&pf_rd_i=desktop-rhf&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=05d75987-58ed-4d36-bbfa-515cd87e4ee3&pf_rd_r=JB6ZMTR6H75Q8H152NYW&pf_rd_s=desktop-rhf&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=JB6ZMTR6H75Q8H152NYW

This'll work for web browsing and basic applications. Don't expect to game on it, but it'll work for most simple tasks.

I have a version of this that doesn't have the SSD. With the version I'm linking you can add an extra hard drive. You can also add an extra 8GB of ram, I did.

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-15-6-Inch-Quad-Core-i5-6300HQ-Processor/dp/B015PYYDMQ/ref=sxts_k2p_hero1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=2668835642&pf_rd_r=7TXPMJRHEDE0BWT6GDSW&pd_rd_wg=5m0mW&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-top-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_w=LgHan&pf_rd_i=dell+inspiron&pd_rd_r=2MMP8V5YMEFTTTW32GK1&ie=UTF8&qid=1478471063&sr=1

For in between $500 and $550, I would take a look at the ASUS VivoBook F510UA. It's a 15.6" laptop with an i5-8250U, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, 1TB HDD, and is only 0.8" thick and 3.7lbs. Unfortunately, the configuration to add a 128GB SSD is an extra $100 for some reason, but if you aren't happy with the HDD's speed, it has an M.2 slot that you can utilize to add an SSD, or just remove the HDD altogether and put in a 2.5" SSD.
Laptop: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0762S8PYM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_EJzOBb55QX1BW
250GB M.2 SSD: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077SL4FZG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_4RzOBbG2KAX60
240GB 2.5" SSD: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F9G43WU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_2TzOBbVDPPT1E