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The "$60 Gaming PC" – AMD BC-250 (2025)

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31–40 of 116 posts

Re: The "$60 Gaming PC" – AMD BC-250 (2025)

#31
There's a similar board called the AMD 4800S (or 4700S). These are also repurposed PS5 SoC that didn't pass the graphics quality control. So what you get is a motherboard with CPU and 16GB RAM soldered on. No HDMI out, but it has a 16x PCIe slot (PCIe 4x 4.0) to connect a graphics card. The 4700S model is limited to 4x PCIe 2.0.

Re: The "$60 Gaming PC" – AMD BC-250 (2025)

#32
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. I bought it for about 150 shipping included from Canada to Spain. I reckon I spent about 300$ in total, the most expensive thing being the 1Tb NVMe. I don't have an ethernet cable where the box is, so WoL is not an option for me either. I could have used something similar to your approach (very smart, by the way!) but decided to go ESP aiming for the most console-like experience of just grabbing the controller an…

WoWLAN is a thing. On my motherboard it works so well that it wakes up whenever my phone, laptop or steam deck connect to the WiFi, not just when I actually send the magic packets!

First time I hear about WoWLAN, thanks! I will check if it can work with my cheap usb Wifi adapter.

Yours seems a bit too eager though! I wouldn't want the thing to start up every time I get home as it turns the projector on, which lowers the projector screen, which blocks the (small) apartment's main entrance when lowered and would make me enter home on my fours ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: The "$60 Gaming PC" – AMD BC-250 (2025)

#33
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's advertised as a case and it works, why is it a scam? I don't own a 3D printer, nor do I know anyone who does. If someone is designing, printing, and selling a useful product, why is that a scam?

Automatically no 3d printed case is worth $300 because it's not possible to make it good enough quality. A metal and wood case could be worth $300. A good design is worth something, and a good printing job is worth something, and the convenience of a service is worth something, but no amount of good design and quality printing job and service convenience can make a 3d printed case worth more than about $50 before shi…

$300 is too high, but $50 is too low. 3D print sellers aren't doing injection molded parts at scale, nor offshoring the labor. For GP's linked case file; between the filament, the compatible linked switch and fan hardware not purchased by the thousands, and someone paying themself at least minimum wage to print all 46 individual parts and then to partially assemble and package it up nicely (and not counting printer hardware depreciation or electricity), $50 for it is not a viable product to sell or to run as a business. That's the price I would budget for making it myself with the 3D printer I already own and not counting my time as a cost, not something I would waste my time with selling.

Re: The "$60 Gaming PC" – AMD BC-250 (2025)

#34

You are _not_ getting one of these for less than $300, and because of this post and many like it, there are countless scams selling just cases for them at this price from a dollar or two of filament.

This always makes me ambivalent about enthusiast blog posts. Like on the one hand, cool that the knowledge gets spread. On the other hand, whenever one gets popular, another hidden gem skyrockets in price or becomes semi-permanently low in stock.

Re: The "$60 Gaming PC" – AMD BC-250 (2025)

#37
post #24

Is this the only piece of hardware that can be repurposed like this or are there other crypto mining (or AI?…) devices that have similar potential?

There were cheap nvidia crypto GPU's based on the A100 that recently got unlocked. They are no longer cheap.

Re: The "$60 Gaming PC" – AMD BC-250 (2025)

#39
post #12

I built one of these. It is not possible to do so for 60$ anymore since the board itself goes for 150+. On top of that you still need a PSU, NVMe, a high pressure fan, DP to HDMI adapter, possibly BT and Wifi adapters, and a 3d-printed or DIY case. It is also a very hacky build. You need to flash the BIOS which enables a few interesting unlocks: from 24 to 40 GPU compute units and 6 to 8 CPU cores. It's a bit of a si…

> you still need ... DP to HDMI adapter

what for? just use DP

Re: The "$60 Gaming PC" – AMD BC-250 (2025)

#40
post #12

I built one of these. It is not possible to do so for 60$ anymore since the board itself goes for 150+. On top of that you still need a PSU, NVMe, a high pressure fan, DP to HDMI adapter, possibly BT and Wifi adapters, and a 3d-printed or DIY case. It is also a very hacky build. You need to flash the BIOS which enables a few interesting unlocks: from 24 to 40 GPU compute units and 6 to 8 CPU cores. It's a bit of a si…

> you still need ... DP to HDMI adapter what for? just use DP

In my particular case the HDMI goes directly into a sound bar which does not have a DP input. I assume most people building a box like this will connect it to a TV, which is most commonly HDMI-only. So technically not a strong requirement but practically almost
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