WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:05.920 4 years ago, we went to the local Best 00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:10.080 Buy and bought whatever gaming PC the rep recommended in our price point. We 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:14.719 were expecting disappointment, but ended up pleasantly surprised by how 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:18.480 competitive their offering was. But it's a new decade, and there's been plenty of 00:00:16.720 --> 00:00:21.760 time for them to bung things up since then. So, we decided to take another 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:27.519 swing at it and see what your hard-earned dollars can get you from the 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:29.359 folks over at Best Buy. iixits mahi 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:32.480 driver kit includes their quarterinch aluminum screwdriver handle with a 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:37.150 magnetic bit socket nurled grip and swivel top and 48 driver bits. Check it 00:00:35.040 --> 00:00:45.200 out at the link below. 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:50.800 Now, to keep our test somewhat controlled and in the spirit of our last 00:00:48.879 --> 00:00:55.920 attempt, we needed to send someone with limited gaming PC knowledge and who 00:00:53.440 --> 00:01:00.960 wouldn't be immediately recognized. So, we enlisted special agent Janice to 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:05.840 crack the case. Buy the case. A PC case that is with a 00:01:03.680 --> 00:01:10.080 with there's a PC. Anyways, you get the point. Her mission was simple. Buy a 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:15.439 system for her imaginary little brother with a budget of around $1,000. And in 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:19.759 case she runs into a very inexperienced Best Buy staffer, to make sure the 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:24.080 system has a graphics card at the very least. You might recall that last time 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:28.880 around without Ivon's quick thinking, we would have been left with a gaming PC 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:32.720 that didn't have a graphics card, which isn't much use to anyone. Upon arrival 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:36.799 to our local Best Buy's computer section, Special Agent Janice was pretty 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:40.240 much immediately helped by a pretty knowledgeable staff member. He walked 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:44.159 her through, in layman's terms, the performance benefits of having an SSD 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:49.119 over a standard hard drive and mentioned that her little brother might actually 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:53.119 prefer an i7 over an i5, but that it wouldn't necessarily make a huge 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:58.159 difference just for gaming. The sales associate also made sure to clarify any 00:01:55.360 --> 00:02:03.600 gaming PC he would try to sell her had a GPU and was in stock. Very important. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:07.680 Overall, the experience was actually really solid and a huge step up from 00:02:05.600 --> 00:02:12.000 last time where we actually had to go to three different stores just to buy the 00:02:09.679 --> 00:02:17.920 system the first store recommended and reserved for us. GG, Best Buy. But your 00:02:15.200 --> 00:02:23.200 mileage may vary. So, what did we end up with? I'll be honest, when I first saw 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:25.520 the box, my first thought was, "Oh no, 00:02:23.200 --> 00:02:31.680 we ended up with an Optiplex." But after cracking it open, things started to look 00:02:27.440 --> 00:02:34.080 up. I present to you the Dell G55090 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:39.280 gaming desktop, which we spent a cool $929 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:41.200 on before tax. Might I say, she sure is 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:45.120 a be. Just like this shirt from ltdstore.com. 00:02:43.040 --> 00:02:50.000 Jokes aside, what really matters is what's inside in life and in PCs. In the 00:02:47.920 --> 00:02:55.840 configuration we bought, the G5 features an Intel Core i5 9400 6core processor 00:02:53.280 --> 00:03:02.000 clocked at a cool 2.9 GHz with a turbo of 4.1. It's paired with a single stick 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:04.000 of 8 GB 2666 MHz DDR4, meaning you're 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:08.720 running in single channel mode, but at least the proprietary AF H370 Dell 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:12.560 motherboard in this system has four slots, so that's an easy enough upgrade 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:17.440 if your budget allows. The rest of the board is pretty lackluster with no video 00:03:15.200 --> 00:03:23.360 outputs despite our CPU being equipped with integrated graphics. On the back 00:03:19.440 --> 00:03:25.120 are four USB 3.1 and two USB 2.0 ports, 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:29.680 gigabit Ethernet, and your standard audio jacks. Up front is a pretty 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:35.599 similar story. Back inside, we find a total of three PCIe slots, an integrated 00:03:32.480 --> 00:03:38.080 Aquantia AC Wi-Fi card, precisely enough 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:43.280 SATA ports to fill this specific case, and a single M.2 slot. I also noticed 00:03:40.799 --> 00:03:48.080 the board doesn't have a 24 pin ATX power connector. They instead opted for 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:52.959 a proprietary six pin connection with SATA power coming from a header on the 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:57.200 board. So, good luck upgrading the power supply without also getting an entirely 00:03:55.040 --> 00:04:01.200 new case and motherboard. Thanks for the unnecessary engineering, Dell. Now, 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:07.040 let's get back to that M.2 slot for a sec because in it is one of the cutest 00:04:03.920 --> 00:04:10.879 little NVMe drives I've ever seen. This 00:04:07.040 --> 00:04:14.400 little nugget is a DRAMless 512 GB 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:17.040 Toshiba TLC NVMe SSD. Normally, we 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:21.440 recommend against DRAMless SSDs as both performance and write endurance or the 00:04:19.280 --> 00:04:26.400 longevity of the drive can be a lot worse without a cache. You can check out 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:30.560 this tech wiki for more info on that. However, as Lionus mentioned in a recent 00:04:28.479 --> 00:04:35.520 video, this SSD makes use of a cool technique called host memory buffer, or 00:04:32.960 --> 00:04:39.040 HMBB for short, allowing it to ask the computer's processor if some of the 00:04:37.280 --> 00:04:43.600 regular system memory can be used as a cache instead, which for general 00:04:41.280 --> 00:04:48.080 consumer use does help mitigate these issues. As for the graphics card, our 00:04:45.919 --> 00:04:53.680 configuration comes equipped with an OEM single fan NVIDIA GTX 1660. So, nothing 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:57.520 special there except you do at least get the new Turing Envank encoding chip on 00:04:55.919 --> 00:05:01.280 this card. So, this rig should actually be pretty solid for streaming. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:05.759 Bafflingly though, the case is limited to a single 80mm exhaust fan for 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:10.160 cooling. I mean, does a bigger punch out really cost that much more, guys? And 00:05:08.479 --> 00:05:15.360 unsurprisingly, it's fitted with a basement tier 360 W Dell power supply. 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:19.360 So, as for performance, it actually seems like it should be okay. We've got 00:05:17.280 --> 00:05:23.680 six decently clocked Intel cores, a modern NVIDIA GPU, and a pretty solid 00:05:21.440 --> 00:05:27.919 SSD. I would have liked to see 16 gigs of dual channel RAM in 2020, and this 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:33.199 tier of power supply wouldn't be acceptable in a custom rig. But this is 00:05:30.960 --> 00:05:39.199 a Dell pre-built, and you get what you pay for, or do you? To find out, we 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:44.240 fired up Amazon to see if we could build the same thing for less money. Specking 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:48.880 everything as close as we could while still including Windows 10 Home Edition, 00:05:46.400 --> 00:05:52.479 a crappy keyboard and mouse, AC Wi-Fi, and the labor to have someone like 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:56.400 MicroEnter build it for you. Wow. It turns out you would end up spending 00:05:53.680 --> 00:06:00.320 nearly $100 more than Best Buy's price for the G5. Now, you do end up with some 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:04.880 creature comforts, like easier upgradability thanks to non-proprietary 00:06:02.400 --> 00:06:09.759 parts, a better power supply, and more SATA connections, but it's still pretty 00:06:07.280 --> 00:06:13.919 dang hard to be competitive with OEMs on pre-built systems due to the cost 00:06:11.840 --> 00:06:17.840 benefit they have thanks to bulk part ordering, as well as the vastly 00:06:16.080 --> 00:06:22.319 discounted Windows pricing Microsoft offers them. But we don't have to play 00:06:19.440 --> 00:06:27.039 by their rules, do we? Just like a Mac is often a good deal if you compare it 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:32.639 to exactly the same hardware, but a bad deal if you get a bit more creative. We 00:06:29.520 --> 00:06:35.440 think we can beat this DIY style kung 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:38.639 fu. Let's assume you're an avid LT viewer. You can build a machine for 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:42.400 yourself, and you don't need to add another crappy keyboard and mouse to the 00:06:40.400 --> 00:06:47.840 pile. Now that we have the flexibility to choose whatever parts we want, a 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:50.160 Ryzen 3600 is a lot better value with a 00:06:47.840 --> 00:06:54.400 lower price tag and performance that should be slightly better in virtually 00:06:52.000 --> 00:07:00.479 every workload thanks to its six extra threads, better IPC, and higher boost 00:06:57.280 --> 00:07:02.240 clock. It pairs nicely to an ASRock B450 00:07:00.479 --> 00:07:07.599 motherboard. And with the money you save building it yourself, 16 gigs of 3200 00:07:05.039 --> 00:07:12.400 MHz DDR4 fits wonderfully into the budget along with an 80 plus bronze 450 00:07:10.400 --> 00:07:17.840 W power supply. Then for the cream cheese icing on top, we can spend just 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:20.720 $80 more than you would on the GTX 1660 00:07:17.840 --> 00:07:27.280 and jump up to a full fat 2060 KO from AVGA, which should give us vastly better 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:29.599 performance. But does it? 00:07:27.280 --> 00:07:33.680 Yes, of course it does. Computers aren't magic, and assuming no egregious 00:07:31.840 --> 00:07:39.280 configuration errors, they behave more or less as the sum of their parts. So, 00:07:36.080 --> 00:07:41.199 at 1080p medium settings using DirectX12 00:07:39.280 --> 00:07:46.400 in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, frame rates get a big old bump, nearly 34% 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:52.160 higher than our Best Buy special. Both GTA 5 and CS:GO show even more 00:07:48.880 --> 00:07:54.319 impressive gains with 43 and 44% higher 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:58.479 frame rates, respectively. Rendering in Blender, while not as huge of an 00:07:56.240 --> 00:08:03.680 improvement, was still very noticeable with the BMW Blender test finishing 25% 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:09.680 faster. And in the seven-zip compression benchmark, the 3600 absolutely wipes the 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:12.080 floor with the more expensive i5 9400 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:17.120 from our pre-built thanks to the six extra threads. So, conclusion time. If 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:22.319 you're in the market for a pre-built, honestly, Best Buy has proven again to 00:08:20.080 --> 00:08:25.360 not actually be a terrible choice. You may still be able to find a slightly 00:08:23.919 --> 00:08:29.599 better deal from one of the system integrators out there who don't have the 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:33.360 same retail overhead as Best Buy. But before you do, make sure you check out 00:08:31.520 --> 00:08:37.519 our Secret Shopper series if you want to see an in-depth investigation on the 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:41.440 entire purchasing experience of a bunch of major SI. Oh, and get subscribed so 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:48.080 you don't miss out on future videos like the very different unlimited budget 00:08:43.680 --> 00:08:49.279 gaming PC. Sounds pretty cool, huh? 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:54.560 This video is brought to you by drop.com. 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