Brands matter less than components. Are you sure you don't just want to build? What kind of budget do you have? You'd be surprised what you can do with a few hundred bucks.
Otherwise I would just recommending going around eBay and seeing what's for sale. I got my Minecraft server for like $150. Anything with a modest amount of RAM and a low-end video card probably won't be too much (if we're strictly talking about desktops, that is).
By the time you dick around upgrading everything you're probably found you've spend almost as much as if you'd bought a more up-spec system in the first place.
If you really did want to go the upgrade path, you'd probably better off with AMD. Intel changed just enough each time they've bought out a new generation of chips that you need a new motherboard (though in Haswell to SKylake it changed from DDR4
or put another way - if you board an Intel system with a Haswell series i3 processsor you might be lucky and add broadwell i5 or i7 processor but not a Skylake processor.
AMD on the other hand have had the AM3+ has been around a few years for a variety of process ranges but its reached it's EOL with the latest chips being AM4.
While writing this post I check on the different CPUs and Sockets - what a fucking nightmare trying to keep track of them.
I don't dislike the current APU's, they would still make a really nice desktop machine and even allow you to play older games and so on, it is just that the new ones would probably be a lot faster and have even better on chip graphics.
Just had a though - with the new range of APUs being AM4 perhaps AMD wants to give people an upgrade path to Ryzen or the Raven Ridge cpu's down the track rather than doing an intel.
I agree with you on this, you now can have APU's on AM4 and if needed later on either go Ryzen + dedicated GPU or Raven Ridge, AMD has been making it possible to use older chips/sockets in the past in any case.
Thanks for the advice. I was thinking between $500~$750. I have a couple of older desktop computers (one Dell, one HP), with very nice cabinets, which I was thinking perhaps I could leverage... but then a casual look around and it seems that it's probably better to buy something new on closeout. Do you tend to pick off bargain priced components off eBay or have you found any particular on-line stores good for periodic computer component deals?
Since used computers tend to go for rather cheap prices, I was thinking of keeping a lookout on Craigslist for some possible deals. Something with a respectable CPU, but just needing some more RAM and a better graphics card. But it does look like pickings are slim for fairly recent systems... most of them are quite old.
I've been out of the loop on processors. You're right, it's complicated! I thought that at this point with all the rage on mobile devices, that the desktop system choices would converge and simplify.
For that kind of money, you can definitely build.
If you've never used PC Part Picker, I highly recommend it. You can spec out your entire build to ensure compatibility between parts as well as watching the overall cost.
PC Part Picker is great for helping you find the lowest-price components. You can even see pricing trends on any individual part.
$500-750 can get you a totally respectable system if you spend wisely. I'd be happy to spec one out for you (via PPP) if you know what you want to focus on (light gaming, web browsing, storage, etc.)
As an example, as a joke I challenged myself to come up with the cheapest PC build possible with current parts and still hitting the 4GB RAM threshold. Looking at only the main unit (no monitor or peripherals), I was able to put together a system for about $170. Threw in an old video card and ended up with a perfectly nice machine for web browsing and light gaming.
^ Thanks, Robert. That PC Part Picker site looks very useful! I like the concept of starting out with a a primary intended use as a focus for the build. I'd love to build a game system, but... I used to be a serious gamer (about 15 years ago), but I had addiction problems. Had to go cold turkey and just stick to rather simple games. The worst of it for me was Half-Life / Team Fortress. Got sucked in big time. And now? Holy crap... from what I've seen, the realism is scary good. Halo was such a major graphics breakthrough. Since then, it seems that the curve is still soaring upward.
Anyway, my main focus will probably be video editing, web page development, etc. I'll fiddle around with the PPP site and throw some questions your way if you don't mind.
Anyway, my main focus will probably be video editing, web page development, etc. I'll fiddle around with the PPP site and throw some questions your way if you don't mind.
By all means! I am happy to help!
OK interesting thing I found while playing with my floppy disk..
It saves files with long filenames..... So I don't have to get creative when saving all my word documents to disk, that's why I wanted this to have s small backup of all my stories and stuff, plus to use a floppy disk again.
It's a Sabrent branded usb 2 drive. About $12 on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E9MD700/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It saves files with long filenames..... So I don't have to get creative when saving all my word documents to disk, that's why I wanted this to have s small backup of all my stories and stuff, plus to use a floppy disk again.
It's a Sabrent branded usb 2 drive. About $12 on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E9MD700/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I am baffled that anyone would use floppies to back up anything in 2017. I can understand the recreational/hobbyist use of floppies for retro computing/gaming, but as a practical backup solution? Might as well write your data out on bar napkins. It would probably be safer.
Thumb drives or SD cards are a much more versatile option and are, of course, inexpensive.
I do have them saved on proper media but this is for my own interest, I just wanted to see if it would work that way. I bought the drive to play around with.
Well, as long as you aren't using them as "real" backups! 
Well, as long as you aren't using them as "real" backups!
Yes I bought the drive to experiment with. Not for actual backup purposes. There was no documentation in the box either. I was sure it would be stuck in 8.3 filenames.
Could you use Linux instead or do you require certain apps that only run on Windoze?I really detest Windows 10.
Kor
I hate the mega Windoze updates that take hours to install. I guess they're necessary to fix security vulnerabilities but they seem to occur at inopportune times.
At least with Linux, one has more control over applying updates. I don't have the Pro version of Windoze, which allows more control of when updates are applied, I understand.
I did make the switch to Linux, been using Linux Mint 18.x now for almost a year and I am happy that I can avoid using M$ buggy spyware 10, I only have one game machine left but that is all, it runs 8.1 so I have time until 2023 IIRC before I have to switch to something else, I have three older machines running Win7, in 2020 they'll be so old that I can put them in storage like I did with machines that run XP, Win2K, 98SE and 95, I keep them around for when something can't work on modern OS's.
I'll consider Linux. Though it's a notebook... I had turned a previous notebook into a dual-boot system with OpenSUSE, but I could never get some of the hardware to work right under Linux.
Kor
