Greetings,

I have been 10 tabling on my MacBook Pro for far too long and I'm seeking help from anyone who can on what equipment to buy. I am not computer savvy whatsoever so I desperately need help.

Equipment Needed:

Desktop Computer
Keyboard
Mouse
Monitors
& Whatever else you guys believe I need

The $800 budget is for the pc, etc. and I'm willing to push it up if need be. I will be maxing out at 12 tables.

The desk, chair, etc is not part of the budget. I'll take care of that myself.

Ideally looking for a nice, clean set-up.
Please help!

Oh! And to add, I would prefer to have 3 monitors total ( 1 being the desktop )

Thank you,
Steve

are we talking pc or mac?
800$ with or w/o the 3 monitors?

Hello there!

I would like to have windows and $800 w/o 2 additional monitors let's say. Thank you for the help!

Steve

To be more specific, I'm mostly concentrated on purchasing the best desktop computer for that budget that I can rely on and can handle the poker playing.

I think you should look for a refurbished pre-built like Dell/HP/Lenovo from a few years back with an i7 2nd gen or newer cpu and preferably 16gb ram and an ssd, there are tons of these on ebay if you're from US, 250$+ depending what you go for

refurbished monitors 23"+,1080p or 1200p, ~100$ a pop

wireless keyboard+mouse kits ~50$ on amazon

you might need to invest in a dedicated gpu to run 3 monitors, ~50-100$

possible to squeeze everything in for 700$ if you do some digging

Thank you! If I push my budget up a bit, how much would a new one cost me of everything? Thoughts on me being hesitant on refurbished items?

Also, could you give me an example of one of the refurbished computers so I know what to look for?

Is this a good one?

10-Core Gaming Computer Desktop PC Tower HDMI 8GB DDR4 R7 Graphic CUSTOM BUILT

Or this specification?

Custom Built Gaming Desktop PC Fast Computer AMD 6 core 16 GB 1 TB SSD GTX 1060

Refurb pcs are perfectly fine in my experience, if you're worried about buying from some unknown on ebay, you can get these in big retailers too, like Walmart or Bestbuy, with a 1y+ warranty. I used to co-own a small pc shop and our best sellers were always refurbished pre-builts that we used to slap a decent gpu in and call it a good all round pc that can do both office work and play most games. Never had one sent back in the 2-3 years we were around.

For your needs and budget I think these suit you best, I'd actually recommend you this one https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-refu...?skuId=6358981 .Has everything you need for half the price you'd spend on a new one. I have an i5 3rd gen with 8gb ram as my 3rd system and even though I don't use it to multi-task, I did try it out and it feels every bit as snappy as a modern system. Furthermore, you have no need for any upgrades, it's good to go (Windows and Wi-Fi included) and the price is fair.

So that PC I linked has 2 display ports and 1 VGA port. That means 2 of your monitors will get digital signal and one will be analog, of lower quality. If that bothers you, you need one of these https://www.walmart.com/ip/Refurbish...Card/736404921. Don't worry, it's simple to install, just pop it in and Windows will do the rest.

3 of these, they look like good deals
https://www.amazon.com/BenQ-propriet...9086195&sr=8-3

mouse and keyboard, w/e, you pick https://www.bestbuy.com/site/mice-ke...d=abcat0513005

all these would come to around 700$ + shipping

actually you get keyboard+mouse included with the refurb

can you tell me what mac pro you're using now? I assume it's a laptop? I'l be able to tell you how it fares vs my recommendation

https://www.microcenter.com/product/...r-(refurbished)

better cpu, better value

Hello again ionutd!

You are absolutely amazing. Here are the specifications of my MacBook Pro:

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)
2.3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5
8 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 1536 MB

Absolutely horrible when I multi-table on Global Poker as I continuously get the notification "This webpage is using significant energy"

I am about to take a look at these links right now as well. My time frame to purchase is literally asap when I find the right one.

Also, just to confirm:

https://www.microcenter.com/product/...r-(refurbished)
(This is your #1 suggestion?) If so I will purchase immediately

Additionally, would you go with those monitors for this computer?

Thank you!!!

Is this the same one?

https://www.amazon.com/HP-EliteDesk-.../dp/B077RWCGZL

Also, at the store near me the initial one you sent was sold out. But they have this one here.

https://www.microcenter.com/product/...r-(refurbished)

Sorry for the bombardment of messages, this will be the last one before your response. What about this one here?

https://www.amazon.com/HP-EliteDesk-..._t2_B077RWCGZL

Look forward to hearing from you soon. I hope I'm not bothering you too much here.

I've browsed microcenter, bestbuy, walmart and newegg and https://www.microcenter.com/product/...r-(refurbished seemed like best value at a glance

those 3 monitors should be fine, they seem of decent quality. like I said, 2 of them will work perfectly out of the box with display cables but 1 one of them will receive analog signal via VGA, which is of lower quality and can sometimes be a bit fuzzy / washed out. Which is why I recommended that 16$ gpu, that has the additional display port you need. you can try with the VGA on your system at first and if it bothers you, get the gpu as well, I will assist you with installation, it's easy.

you're welcome

sure but are you comfortable with buying and installing an ssd and windows on your own? you really don't want to run windows off of a hard drive, much much shittier experience.. and slow

Hey,

No I am not comfortable installing anything quite honestly because I have no idea how. I wouldn't want to do that. And yes, I will purchase the monitors now. Just still trying to figure out which computer to get.

Is this one essentially the same thing? I don't mind the spending the extra bucks in the end, I just want the quality and overall playing experience to be smooth.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Refurbish...ll&athena=true

Or should I go for the first one you originally told me?

if you want the best out of the box experience, I would look for a system with an ssd, not a hdd (hard drive). that alone will slow your pc down by half.

the one you linked has a hard drive

doesn't microcenter offer shipping?

Yes, unfortunately microcenter doesn't have that model available I believe.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-refu...?skuId=6358981

Should the overall performance be solid on this computer? This was the 1st one you suggested. Also, what would be the difference between this one and the other one that I couldn't find in stock?

I found one available in Maryland, I'm going to see if I can have that shipped to me actually. Would you recommend getting the protection plan or not necessary? I would only be using this for poker.