I bought the cheapest Ryzen pre-built "Gaming" PC I could find.

When I saw this HP 285 G3 Ryzen APU powered pre-build I had to just grab it. It was super cheap to buy which is amazing to see but can we actually game on it? Let’s find out!
System Specifications
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 2200G
- MB: HP B350
- RAM: 8GB DDR4
- Storage: 128GB NVMe SSD
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[@lemagreengreen]

This anti-upgrade stuff really bugs me, they have to know that office PC's just become e-waste faster by doing the things they do with PSUs. Feels like back in the old days you were far more likely to find a crappy PSU in a cheap office PC but at least had the option to upgrade it. This one is really a shame since it's a case that can take a full height graphics card, AM4 with upgrade options etc.

[@TechLabUK]

I have notcied while picking up these "office" type PCs, they newer you go the worst they get for this kind of thing. I had a 2nd gen Intel office PC not so long ago that was from either HP or Lenovo (Can't remember now) which was all normal, non-proprietary components aside from a green motherboard. That was cool.

[@donaldnemesis393]

as long as they have pci-e there'll always people who bought them and slap the cheap low power gpu on it, but yes having low power psu really rescrict your gpu options

[@lemagreengreen]

@@TechLabUKOn one hand I sort of get it, Dell in particular find their brand plastered all over lots of cheap "gaming" PCs being thrown together from enterprise e-waste piles but... it is at least re-using something that would otherwise mostly end up landfilled. It would be cool if we could get some low power, single slot graphics cards maybe using mobile GPUs that could still fit in these machines.

[@TechLabUK]

@@lemagreengreen Yeah that would be cool, help save so much being thrown in the ground.

[@minecraft__guy]

I have one of these exact PCs with the 180W power supply and I managed to put a GTX 1050 in the system with no problems. It works as a nice little gaming PC for even newer titles at medium settings

[@TechLabUK]

We have bigger plans for this one :D

[@scruffynrfhurrdurr6627]

For an APU System you really want a dual channel RAM config

[@TechLabUK]

Definitely. Can't wait to upgrade it, have a plan for it and hoping it works.

[@matthewday7565]

Yes, because it's also your VRAM

[@TechLabUK]

@@matthewday7565 Yup, I think it's a shame they only stick one stick in here but we will fix that on the upgrade 🙂

[@taekooksquad2432]

Yeah, most office based desktops don't bother with that. Because office users don't need duel channel, gaming of course is a while different fish.

[@Kevin-vh6nn]

These mobo's can run anything up to ryzen 5 so technically you can put a 5800x3d in this mobo and you will be good for years to come. if you do decide to put the 5800x3d in a rig like this you might as well get 16gb x2 ram bc the 5800x3d can game anything for years to come, but yes 8x2 gb ram is a must... i highly recommend a GPU like the intel arc 310, OR A380 DEPENDS ON YOUR POWER SUPPLY amd 6400 LP 3060 LP OR 4060 LP you will need a better PSU for them cards, im sure this case does have 400-500w PSU, maybe 750 you still have pcie ports available for extra nvme/m.2, 10 gb ethernet, HD audio and or type c expansion pcie type c expansion and is a must for a rig like like, and yes they do come in pcie x1, x4, x8 and x16 pcie ports honestly you can buy nvme/m.2 enclosure that comes with both type c and usb 3 and buy a 2 tb nvme and have plenty of storage i have this enclosure om my rig and strictly keep movies, music, backup docs/pics on it and sometimes add games so i can unplug and take to my family and friends house to give them whatever they want if their pc does not have type c these nvme enclosures still have usb 3 and transfer way faster than ssd portable drives... i'd say 2-5x faster than any ssd, type c transfers 1 gb movies if 2 seconds, usb takes like 5 seconds when i have this 2 tb nvme enclosure plugged into my pc their is no lag at all for movies, music, etc. just buy a enclosure that has a heat sink and your more than fine

[@jasont5618]

That's a great deal for a fully functional PC with W11 and an AMD Ryzen APU, even if it's a bit older. That's about $65 USD.

[@TechLabUK]

Was a pretty good deal, I was looking at a lot of Intel based systems for around the same price and then noticed a couple of these and thought the Ryzen ones with APU will be loads better.

[@robertjohn5093]

The quality control on applying the crooked Ryzen sticker on the case says it all.

[@xtremezone987]

I've seen some YTberz buy replacement PSU's for prebuilt OEM machines that looks identical with much higher wattage (about 200-300 W) & will fit just the same then you could go upto about a GTX 1650 without the need for a separate PCI-E connector. Definitely needs another stick of RAM & possibly a bigger storage drive. 128GB is just enough for Windows & about 3-5 games (depending on the games you pick).

[@TechLabUK]

Apparently these came with two PSU options, 180w and 310w. There are a ton of PSUs that look similar on ebay going all the way up to 500w but a lot of these have different pin configurations and setups so it's hard to tell what could / couldn't work.

[@retrorevolution6534]

It's actually not a "standard" micro atx motherboard. It is also proprietry, the holes don't line up in a standard atx case

[@TechLabUK]

"Standard" size but everything else is proprietary. I am sure with a bit of creative thinking (and a lot of modding) people can get them into a new case but hardly worth it tbh.

[@CoolTI-Daniel]

The Games you ran on that PC would potentially gain quite a few additional frames if you gave it dual channel. Certainly an awesome little computer. Those still work perfectly for all basic uses and light gaming. I think it could run games far better if one could find it a Geforce 1050Ti... My TV computer is basically an HP SFF I7 6700 maxed to 32GB Ram. Runs games surprisingly well for such an old mediocre combo. (I found it funny that you mentioned adding a GT710... that's a huge nope, the integrated graphics are superior.)

[@TechLabUK]

Yeah, we recently took a look at the GTX 1050Ti on the channel and it was quite surprising. Unfortunately the PSU in this system only being 180w could cause some issue as I believe the 1050Ti's recommend 300w at minimum. I would never put a GT710 in a system lol, we use them for testing weird stuff so we don't care if it blows up lol

[@CoolTI-Daniel]

@@TechLabUK Indeed the 1050Ti's recommendation is 300w however that's a highly conservative recommendation :) The pull on the card is max 75w and as much as I dislike HP, Dell and so on for their proprietary hardware, their low wattage PSU are usually of good quality.... Well my EliteDesk 800 G3 has a 180W PSU which has not yet exploded. PC runs an I7-6700 @ 65W + 1050Ti @ 75w... lets say 40w for the rest of the system and we are right at 180. Certainly isn't recommended but on such low cost computers, it's fun to push to it's limits and if it blows... Well picture the Rocky meme where the Russian is saying if he dies, he dies.

[@TechLabUK]

@@CoolTI-Daniel Sounds like fun so I might give it a go if my current plans all fall apart lol. Thanks for the info 👍

[@terryedwards6011]

I used a "Dual PSU Multiple Power Supply,Add2Psu ATX 24 Pin to Molex 4Pin Connector" to run a ATX PUS for my 750Ti on the same PC

[@TechLabUK]

Cheers. I will take a look into it, pesky HP and their need to block us doing cool things lol

[@johnpaulbacon8320]

It looked like there was a 2nd ram slot you could add a ram stick in or switch to a ram kit with a matched set of modules.

[@cgriggsiv]

Believe it or not they actually have a low profile GeForce GTX 1650 with a full bracket and it does not require anything additional all from the PCIe slot for the power there's also an a2000

[@TechLabUK]

A normal sized GPU would fit in the case but anything over maybe an RX 6400 requires bigger than a 180w PSU. Even then I think it's cutting it close.

[@Kevin-vh6nn]

intel arc 310

[@TechLabUK]

@@Kevin-vh6nn Might actually be the fastest thing that will work on a 180w psu.

[@cgriggsiv]

@@Kevin-vh6nn That's actually worse than the 1650

[@Kevin-vh6nn]

@@cgriggsiv you have wrong information bud

[@johnpaulbacon8320]

Using a Type A to Type C cable is always a good option if you need Type C access

[@R3AL-AIM]

All HP desktops are just this chassis with a different faceplate. Many of the parts like the mobo, PSU and side panels are interchangeable between the other HP models (excluding the OMENs) - but including the Victus. Secondly, you can get 500w PSU's for this chassis, but they are expensive. Around $100+ on eBay, but if you have a system with a 340w PSU you can get buy on upgrades with some undervolting. I have a 5600G /cooler, RX 7600 and other hardware running around 200w average at 1440p

[@johnpaulbacon8320]

I preffer a Controller to a Mouse / Keyboard combo. But I am from the time of the start of the video game industry - Atari 2600 ( VCS ) and grown-up with the industry.

[@charlesuk5358]

Really is amazing just how good the low level early APU's were, i wonder if they have better software support now that boosts the older gen stuff, i dont remember it being this decent

[@TechLabUK]

I think they improved over time and they are "ok", the new 5000 series versions are much better but then their software support was most likely directed to them to sell them.

[@candidosilva7755]

Runed a power suply like that one same voltage and a gtx 1050 ti was possible. Sold it but i kept in talking to the person i sold it for and belive it or not stil works.

[@JohnVmc2]

APUs do not work well with single channell, so the results are to be expected. If you try to upgrade the ram, you'll have a more resonable performance.

[@chris_hertford]

Cool little case from HP, I tried to shoehorn a GPU into one like that before and had to trim the GPU fan shroud!

[@TechLabUK]

No way lol I am sure we will try and cram something into this one, hopefully wont have to go to that length though lol

[@erictrauman2879]

mount a portable monitor to the side or top and make it an AIO

[@RandomPCGamer]

omg its faster than my pc 😆 thanks for the video 👍

[@TechLabUK]

No problem. It will be much better once we upgrade it.

[@WnDTech]

Great system buddy.

[@TechLabUK]

Thanks. It's pretty cute and soon, hopefully it will be pretty fast too lol

[@judasthepious1499]

airflow is really bad.. it's okay if you live in cold climate or have ridiculously cold AC like in some of those office buildings

[@TechLabUK]

Yeah, doesn't seem great. It get's even warmer after what we did to it after this. Video will be dropping soon lol

[@cgriggsiv]

You could also change the CPU cooler for a be quiet Tower 4 pipe 90 mm fan and it will work better than you think not only that for the RAM try to find one more stick of the 8 GB that it's already comes with or 2 16 gig for a total of 32 at 3200 MHz with the video card that I mentioned earlier I will mention it again which is the MSI 1650 low profile OC with full size bracket and you have one massive excellent gaming rig low end but still better than what you got and if you need more CPU power the maximum you can go is The AMD 2700 not the AMD 2700X and that will boost performance even further there might be one or two bio update that you might have to do but if you do the bios update first then put the CPU in change the cooler add the RAM and the video card it's a beast of a machine and a 2TB m.2

[@TechLabUK]

@@cgriggsiv have been looking at different coolers but they would need a modification to the case as the stands are built in.

[@cgriggsiv]

@@TechLabUK that is the cooler that will fit that particular mount

[@TechLabUK]

@@cgriggsiv So it screws into the backplate like the current one?

[@NemusDark]

Great find!

[@TechLabUK]

It is and it will be even better soon :D

[@mkrleza]

This is the last time I listen to your advice. Bought an HP 705 G4 piece of cr.ap with Ryzen 2200G. I've updated the BIOS from the HP web site. None of the following CPUs work - 1600, 2600, 2700, 3400G,4350G, 4650G... Only that bloody 2200G... And the first three are actually listed as supported on the HP website...

[@TechLabUK]

I didn't provided advice on a HP 705 G4, I didn't even provide buying advice for the model of HP DeskPro I did get.

[@mkrleza]

@@TechLabUK Chill. It was a reflection on my own impulsivness and adiction, LOL Also, on my ever growing hatred of those proprietary HP, DELL etc crap. Btw, this particular model (705 G4) has a weird 7pin (small, white one) PSU cable. All the 24pin HP adapters have 6pin... Can't find it anywhere online...

[@TechLabUK]

@@mkrleza They can be quite annoying. I did look up your model and could only find support up to a 2400G. If the 7pin is the little cable from the PSU then it's the same as the one this 285 G3 has which seems to be a bit rarer to replace.

[@mkrleza]

@@TechLabUK Thanks, m8. And, no hard feelings. Right?

[@TechLabUK]

@@mkrleza Never! PCMR for life! 👍

[@Roman00744]

Cute little system but I hate proprietary stuff and SFF, tried both, never again but for 50$ it's an ok HTPC. IMO it's not worth upgrading, better to start with a non proprietary case, mobo, PSU, CPU cooler and only PCIE power GPU.

[@TechLabUK]

Yeah, they sometimes aren't worth upgrading but we tend to do it just for fun to see if we can lol

[@raminpro9765]

you must buy real 2ual channel ram 2 stick in 1 box (3200mhz gskill or giel AMD special ram ). now your cpu GPU. work with 50% power

[@RuruFIN]

RTX 3050 6GB would probably work with that PSU.

[@johnpaulbacon8320]

Current Mini-PC's vs SI / Name brand pre-built ; give me the Mini-pc.

[@dagdamar2000]

I would be very interested in seeing what boost you get by using duel channel.

[@DiddyReviews]

great video, man red faction, what a game that was

[@TechLabUK]

Thanks dude :) I know, what a game. TBH just capturing those games made me want to replay half of them again and Red Faction was high on that list. What a game.

[@DiddyReviews]

@TechLabUK watching them made me wanna play too lol. It was an epic game

[@SeeJayPlayGames]

the APU is running at 1333% LOL. I think it's reading the RAM frequency and HP used some cheap Chinese board that doesn't do sensors correctly. Why they have such difficulty with that, I'll never know. This has been a "thing" for decades.

[@TechLabUK]

I know lol, no idea why and I couldn't get it to say anything else. Must be a bug in the drivers or afterburner or something.

[@SeeJayPlayGames]

@@TechLabUK IDK, here's an example of the sensors in my Dell Optiples 3020 SFF as seen from the Linux command line: ╰─λ sensors acpitz-acpi-0 Adapter: ACPI interface temp1: +27.8°C temp2: +29.8°C coretemp-isa-0000 Adapter: ISA adapter Package id 0: +51.0°C (high = +80.0°C, crit = +100.0°C) Core 0: +48.0°C (high = +80.0°C, crit = +100.0°C) Core 1: +50.0°C (high = +80.0°C, crit = +100.0°C) Core 2: +50.0°C (high = +80.0°C, crit = +100.0°C) Core 3: +48.0°C (high = +80.0°C, crit = +100.0°C) Obviously those temps are from the processor, but for some reason it's saying ISA adapter? WTF? There isn't an ISA anything in the whole thing! It has 2 PCIe slots; 2.0x16 and 2.0x1. And I don't know what the first set of temps is. Motherboard?

[@TechLabUK]

@@SeeJayPlayGames Could be lol I don't know, these pre-builds can be weird.

[@donaldnemesis393]

the 180w psu is what makes it bad, otherwise it would be decent option for budget gaming build

[@TechLabUK]

Yeah, shame they included them in there and not something even a little bit bigger.

[@bhirawamaylana466]

single 8gb ram is a crime in these days and age, heck if you found new hardware ship with 4gb or 8gb ram just skip it, its better if you save little bit more money and get 16gb ram instead even if you not do gaming in it.

[@andystech101]

Nice little system 😎

[@TechLabUK]

It's pretty cool tbh especially for the money, it's a real shame HP bottled them with the PSUs but I think I have a plan and if it pays off it's going to be insane.

[@debashisraykarmakar836]

You can use frame generation to boost fps

[@TechLabUK]

You can if the game supports it but there aren't many games with FrameGen yet that will work on a 2200G.

[@drewnewby]

There are a few ways to add frame gen still, maybe worth a laugh on that 2200G. LukeFZ, Lossless Scaling, etc.

[@ThugWaffIe]

dual channel ram and overclock the igpu

[@dusanmilovic7421]

Nice thing.

[@bryandrobny7690]

Did he say Hate ch P

[@TechLabUK]

H P

[@donaldnemesis393]

what about upgrade the cpu to like Ryzen 7 2700, upgrade ram to 32gb and RTX 3050 6GB GPU

[@TechLabUK]

Sounds like a good idea.

[@SpecBench]

Good video!

[@TechLabUK]

Thanks :) Starting to get the upgrade parts ready for it and hoping I can pull it off. It's going to be insane lol

[@SpecBench]

@@TechLabUK I can’t wait to see that!

[@TechLabUK]

@@SpecBench So far 🤞 it's looking as though what I want to do with it will work but it will be a lot of luck lol Darn HP and their weird systems lol

[@TOSStarTrek]

They are good as a non gaming PC. Gaming is very limited.

[@Tech-Nerdrome]

I didn't think the Ryzen 2200G was on the support list for Windows 11, being based on the original zen core. I thought they had to be zen+ which means 2000 series, and 3000 series for Apus. Did this just work with Windows 11?

[@TechLabUK]

Yes worked fine, people have windows 11 working with old CPUs, not 100% sure how they do it but seen it running on 4th gen intels etc. Never had an issue with installing it on Ryzen's myself even the first generation.

[@AlistairBrugsch]

The Rufus iso to USB utility has a built in set of options for disabling all the checks win11 does to allow installation on unsupported hardware when you create the usb stick. However the newer win 11 version has a hard requirement for a certain instruction set that's not available on very old CPUs (like pre Core2 i.e. C2Q Q6600 etc generation old IIRC) so those are out of the question but anything within at least 10 years will be fine (for now)

[@XaFFaX]

This is not too good of a choice to buy. I learned it myself - all proprietary systems are baaaad. Other than what you already mentioned those usually have terrible BIOS/UEFI which also hard limits max CPU you can install. Usually you can install a handful of CPUs and mostly APUs, since graphics does not make much sense in such a computer usually with this poor PSU. So despite the fact you have a AM4 socket, you actually have an "AM4 lite" board with no upgrade path what-so-ever. Would not recommend that. if you think about expanding and/or gaming - It is way better to buy a used, working "normal" PC with say 2200G or 2400G if you are on a budget (even B350 will do) and then you can upgrade to even 5700X3D with RTX4070 if you wanted to. And this system for gaming will run anything you throw at it. There is no need for AM5. So yeah, would not recommend this HP abomination. In terms of those proprietary ones, I would only recommend those really small ones like 705/800 G4/G5, Lenovo has similar ones. In such case you have exactly the same thing - Ryzen APU and 2 sticks of RAM with poor BIOS and no option to expand (also no overclocking and no fan control). But the advantage is it takes no space at all, uses very little power (like 65W PSU) and you technically can install a GPU (RX560 only AFAIK though, better than an APU still). You can also install 2 drives (NVME and SSD). Way better option IMHO. Check my channel for videos on this.

[@TechLabUK]

They are quite limited, the bios looks soooooo old lol but they are fun to play with. We will see how far we can take it.

[@XaFFaX]

@@TechLabUK Sure, and I agree, for the fun of it/how far it will go or for office use - sure, maybe even for a home lab. However if you plan to game on it and possibly expand it then this is a bad idea. I commented just as an FYI for others considering buying this. Also - if you could test what other CPUs work with it it would be great. At least up to 4xxx gen. Something like 3200G, 4350G and maybe 5600G (but would not count on that). I know one can read "CPU support list", however sometimes you can get CPU to work even if it is not officially supported.

[@TechLabUK]

@@XaFFaX Currently digging out the specs of it to see what it can go up to, so far 4000/5000 seem a no go but will keep digging, see how far the latest bios can go.

[@bentabiche3101]

can ryzen 5 5600g play rpcs3 games Xbox 360 emulateur

[@TechLabUK]

Not sure what GPU is recommended for that but if it's anything like an RX 480 or above then probably not lol. Even the latest 8000 series APUs fall very short of that kind of performance.

[@bentabiche3101]

i7 4770 rx 580 8gb.gtx1060 6gb can it play rpcs3.xbox.emulator😊😊

[@TechLabUK]

I can't see what that wouldn't tbh

[@Rohityt0290]

Can i update amd 3 2200g to 5 5600g 😅

[@TechLabUK]

No, the latest Bios I can find only supports up to a 2nd generation Ryzen 7 2700. We did a video on it after this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4u4p4qZmd6tepo

[@KASHI.THATKID]

1st

[@TechLabUK]