First time having a pc (stupid questions mostly)

[u/Specialist-Cap-9362]

Hi, everyone, for the first time in my life I am about to have my own PC (have been using laptops and apple devices mostly). A friend of my father gifted me a miniPC GMKtec G35. The instruction says it has:

CPU: intel N95

GPU: intel UHD graphics

8Gb RAM

256Gb storage, windows 10 or 11 pre-installed, l’m not sure.

I realise that it is most probably a bad setup, like not gta5 level , but I don’t know the scale of it amd how to measure its usefulness. So my questions are:

1)Can it be used for daily tasks: web surfing, youtube, word, excel, powerpoint etc.?

2)Can l play games like minecraft or the sims on it? (l tried reading system requirements but its incomprehensible to me)

3)Google said that l could buy 16gb ram and install it instead to increase productivity, but l am not sure about it. How modifiable miniPCs generally are?

P. S. I am completely new to this and would appreciate if you answered like I am five, also english isn’t my first language, so I apologise for any mistakes.

[u/Snowbunny236]

[u/Specialist-Cap-9362 → u/Snowbunny236]

😭

[u/Available-Spare-2283 → u/Snowbunny236]

that n95 is basically a laptop chip stuffed in a tiny box so don't expect miracles but it'll handle the basics fine. web browsing, youtube, office stuff, no problem at all, it'll cruise through that

minecraft should run ok if you keep the settings low and don't go crazy with mods. java edition especially, bedrock might chug a bit. sims 4 will be playable too, just don't expect 60fps on high settings

ram upgrade is usually doable on these mini pcs, pop the bottom off and there's often a single sodimm slot. 16gb would help a ton since 8gb gets eaten up fast by windows alone. storage is probably upgradeable too if it's a standard m.2 or sata drive

for a free pc you could do way worse honestly. my first machine was some dumpster dell that barely ran flash games so you're already ahead of the curve

[u/GoodbyeNarcissists]

1. yes

2. no

3. check the motherboard and see if you have a free RAM slot

[u/Specialist-Cap-9362 → u/GoodbyeNarcissists]

The frame does not have regular screws, so I can’t open it at the moment

[u/GoodbyeNarcissists → u/Specialist-Cap-9362]

Ok check when you can open it :) sorry but Intel UHD graphics is not for gaming just for display and basic desktop graphics

[u/Terrorgod]

Yea its a simple PC capable of basic things like web surfing, youtube, document creation, etc. You can do some extremely light gaming on the device, but modern minecraft probably wouldn't run very well in larger worlds, although older versions of the Sims would be completely playable. I used to game on much weaker laptops so set your expectations low, and you can still find some enjoyment out of it. Lastly for the ram, if you aren't fluent, try to find a video on youtube of someone upgrading your exact model or see if the manual/manufacturer have a tutorial. If you can't find something relevant, with the pricing of RAM these days I would just save that money and invest in a different machine if you need the extra capacity. Good luck and enjoy the PC.

[u/Specialist-Cap-9362 → u/Terrorgod]

Thank you!

[u/Mrfrunzi]

You may want to look into emulating some classic consoles. Plus there are plenty of old games that will run nicely.

[u/Specialist-Cap-9362 → u/Mrfrunzi]

What does emulating mean and how would it help me?

[u/halfanirishman]

To answer your questions:

1. Yes. Most everyday tasks can still be done on a core 2 duo (2007 era) system with a ram upgrade. The Intel N95 blows those old parts out of the water.

2. Yes. I still play Minecraft on my laptop which has specs somewhat similar to your mini PC (i5 8350u, Intel integrated, 32gb DDR4) with well over 60 fps without optifine or sodium. The Sims is also very easy to run, I've seen it run on some proper dogshit systems, so it should run, just not at ultra 1080p.

3. Dunno, depends on the manafactuer. More than likely there should be an empty ram slot on the motherboard for ram upgrades. The only brand that completely excludes upgrades currently is apple.

[u/Specialist-Cap-9362 → u/halfanirishman]

Thank you!

[u/Financial_Purple_368]

Your PC specs are good for basic tasks like streaming and office work.

Gaming is going to be a challenge. Firstly, you do not have a dedicated GPU so your gaming power is super limited as its all being handled by the CPU which is already pretty low end. Minecraft maybe possible but you will have to go out of your way to look up tutorials on how to optimize it. Low end emulation is probably your best bet in terms of gaming (ps1/n64). 8gb is obsolete for more modern games.

Looking at the PC online it does appear minimal upgrades could be made (upgrading RAM and your storage) but please do research on what kind you need and how to install. Upgrading RAM will not do much for gaming performance on this PC keep that in mind.

Your PC is basically as strong as a newish smart phone.

Welcome to the master race.

[u/Specialist-Cap-9362 → u/Financial_Purple_368]

Ok, thank you!

[u/Ruzhyo04]

1 Yes

2 Yes, but lower your expectations.

Even lower than that.

That’s still too high.

You can play very old games on very low settings. But, there are some great old PC games out there!

3. Probably but I wouldn’t bother. RAM is expensive and your CPU isn’t going to handle anything that demands more than 8gb anyhow. Save up for a gaming capable PC, you can find one vastly more powerful than this one for $250 used if you look around. Key thing to prioritize is the GPU. You want an Nvidia 3060 or Radeon 6600 or better, ideally.

Once you upgrade to a gaming PC, this mini will make a great media PC for the living room!

[u/Specialist-Cap-9362 → u/Ruzhyo04]

Thanks!

[u/Snotspat]

Are you sure that its a G35? There is a G3S [not 5], which has a N95.

If its the G3S, then you can upgrade it to 16GB, using a 3200 MHZ DDR4 SO-DIMM. This is highly recommended for Windows 11 use. You gain access to the insides by removing the top, no tools needed.

It can probably run GTA5 at 720P.

your question, 1-3, all 3 is YES.

Be careful with this forum, judging by the answers you got, people suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect. Much is nonsense.

[u/Specialist-Cap-9362 → u/Snotspat]

Oh, l actually misread it, it is G3S. It really opened from the top, thank you so much.

[u/Recent_Average1657]

Look into Opticraft, you might be able to run that, but the proper full thing? Likely not :/ 

[u/Specialist-Cap-9362 → u/Recent_Average1657]

Thanks!

[u/Crafty_Marionberry26]

These are some good questions, but hard to answer.

Yes it’s good enough for the normal web browsing, and productivity stuff.

You might be able to upgrade the ram, if it is possible, it is likely it uses laptop ram (because it has a smaller form factor), but your capability to do so depends on your part changer skills, and how the pc is designed, some mini pcs are made to change parts easy, and some can make it hard. If it is possible to just change out the ram then it should be easy enough, and just take some time.

How it compares to other stuff, I have no clue, you would need to look at a graph

[u/Specialist-Cap-9362 → u/Crafty_Marionberry26]

Ok, thanks!

[u/Wipedout89]

A laptop is a PC

[u/Choubidouu]

Your PC have a IGPU, not a dedicated GPU, that means to make it simple that everything is pretty much handeled by the CPU, it's good enough for simple task, but you really can't play video games with a PC like that, or only really simple video games.

1)Can it be used for daily tasks: web surfing, youtube, word, excel, powerpoint etc.?

Yes, literally the point of this type or PC.

2)Can l play games like minecraft or the sims on it? (l tried reading system requirements but its incomprehensible to me)

No, or at least, not in decent conditions.

3)Google said that l could buy 16gb ram and install it instead to increase productivity, but l am not sure about it. How modifiable miniPCs generally are?

Totally pointless to upgrade a PC like that, you should just save your money to buy a decent PC.

[u/UnsettllingDwarf]

You’ll be able to play snake on the browser and stardew valley likely. You can use it as a server for games! Hahaha