Specs:
Dell Inspiron 660
Intel Core i7-3770
MSI Gaming X RTX 3050 6 GB
Windows 11 Pro
16 GB DDR3 1600MHz
1TB total storage:
500 GB SanDisk 3D Ultra SSD with DRAM
500 GB WD Green Label HDD
My family hadn't used their Inspiron 660 for a few years, because the original HDD had taken a dump, so I decided to turn it into a nice budget gaming build. I posted about upgrading it on Reddit, and a kind stranger sent me a faster (same capacity though) DDR3 kit than what I had in there, an SSD (which I didn't end up using since I had a nicer one laying around unused), and an i7-3770 they had just laying around.
It originally came with an i3-2130, 1 TB Seagate HDD, and 6 GB RAM (which was upgraded to 1333 MHz 16 GB when my family still used it). I had a 160 GB Seagate drive that I planned on using as extra storage but I plugged it in and just like the original Seagate drive it was dead, so I shucked an unused external HDD my family never used for a nice 500G WD Green Label HDD!
It runs all of my games at high/ultra settings at good FPS! I feel like people greatly underestimate the power of these old i7s. Many still use Ivy Bridge and Haswell era i7s for gaming and they run just fine, and they're phenomenal at normal tasks as well, and run new Windows 11 very nicely too. I already had basically everything. The $200 went to the 3050 6G, an HDMI to DVI-D cable, and Corsair TM30 thermal paste. The 3050 6G can be maxed out by the i7 depending on the game too, which is nice to see that such a new GPU can be fully utilized by such an old CPU. I also love the 3050 because it needs no external power!
Happy gaming!
31 Comments
For 200 that’s good
The 3050 has always been poop but hell, even that cheap I wouldn’t pass up the deal.
Objectively true but whatever.
Thats awesome man! Very cool that someone random from reddit sent you stuff to help too. Reddit is cool.
That’s phenomenal dude. Congratulations and enjoy!
that’s awesome (: i hope it brings you many joys
good stuff man, I’d get a proper desk next just bc it looks like you dont have too much room for mouse clearance.
That is one of the builds of all time
For $200 this is based
as long as your games run well that what matters . for sure it cant run modern games some of most popular games still would run good on low end machines
Gotta start somewhere.
Intel 3k series is still getting used. I think i still have a 3570k somewhere around here.
Love budget builds, good job my man. Im also still rocking a i7-3770 (k) in my second rig
Hell yeah
I have two i7 3770 builds as well, 1x P8B75-M with a RX 580, 1x GA-H77D3H with a GTX980 Windforce, they are sweet rigs; I’m personally not into the latest games, GTA IV, BF4, MAFIA 1,2,3, Grid 2, Sim City 4 are the ones I currently am playing, etc
These builds I respect a lot because they give me nostalgic feels from those good old days.
Also because it remind me of my stupid ass who bought a 1156 board with a 1st gen i3, then a couple of weeks later 1155 came out 😭😭.
Dude ive totally been there. Dont worry though. One day it’ll end you’ll start working an you’ll be able to build whatever you want. No more hand me down chopped and modded dells lol.
That awesome man!! Hope u have fun
For 200$ this is awesome
Those old i7s were a decent budget option a few years ago, but they have ran their course. You really want 8th gen minimum for a good experience today.
Nice gaming setup computer man
Hol up. That Dell motherboard that originally took i3-21330 will take an i7-3770?? I’m not doubting you. I’m just shocked. The Dell mobos aren’t exactly robust. Hell, with those OEMs, you’re lucky the damn thing isn’t welded on there.
oh man. that mic is a blast from the past!
but good job. for next to nothing, that is a solid little fun machine. u should be proud!
Wait what? I have the same build, but with a 1660 super and its hard bottlenecked by the old cpu. What games do you play?
nice what are you gonna play?
Awesome job man. I just build a $238 dollar one myself, with a 1060 SSC and a i3 7th gen.
F the haters, not everyone has to own a damn 40 or 5090.
I can’t hate on the Ivy Bridge CPU, I retired my 3570k a couple of years ago. Still snappy on a fresh W10 install, but going to an NVMe drive on my ryzen systems made me not turn back. Makes for a great emulation machine though.
The nice thing is you get to play a massive backlog of older games at your leisure.
Good luck and enjoy it!
I just realized the pictures are super grainy but I have another post under my profile that you guys can view if you’d like 🙂
Gra5z bro!
you must be playing old games
For a sec I thought it came with free dust
This is sick actually.